1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime

[Bronzebeard]

combat feats (or class abilities) for barbarians and berzerkers, that trigger when based on the damage taken or damage dished out respectively.

[Garryl]

Additional uses for skills.

Tumble: Avoid attacks of opportunity from forced movement.
DC: 25 + 2/enemy after the first + 1/5 feet forcibly moved. Modifiers and restrictions for suboptimal surfaces apply.

Use Rope: When disarming with a whip, spiked chain, or similar weapon, pull the disarmed object into your space.
DC: Result of opponent's attack roll to resist your disarm attempt.

[Garryl]

Precognitive Jaunt
Conjuration (teleportation)/Divination
Level: Sor/Wiz ???
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 minute/level or until discharged
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

This spell combines a constant divination that looks ahead a moment into your future for any harm that may befall you, plus a repeated conjuration that teleports you slightly out of the way of oncoming attacks. You gain a +1 insight bonus to your Armor Class and on all saving throws, as the divination warns you of incoming attacks, and a +2 competence bonus to your Armor Class and on Reflex saves as you are shunted away from them (for a total +3 bonus to AC and Reflex saves, and +1 to Fort and Will saves).

Additionally, when you cast this spell, you can specify a single criterion that will discharge the spell, ending its effects in order to teleport you entirely out of harm's way. This criterion must only involve observable effects of an attack (for example, an area spell or an acid effect) or its effects on you (for example, paralyzing you or killing you). If you would be subject to such an attack, this spell discharges to teleport you up to 30 feet out of danger. If you were subject to an area attack, the spell attempts to teleport you to just outside the nearest edge of its area. If you were subject to an individually-targeted attack, it attempts to teleport you out of range or to outside your attacker's line of effect, whichever is closer. This will never attempt to teleport you into an environment that is obviously even more dangerous (such as under lava or inside a solid object).

[Garryl]

Fighter rewrite

• 4+Int skill points, not 2+Int, because everyone that's not a purely Int-focused spellcasting class deserves at least 4+Int.
• Instead of automatic tower shield proficiency, can select from an exotic weapon, armor, or shield proficiency at 1st level.
• Still heavily about the feats, although obviously less single-minded about them. Might be a bonus feat every 3-4 levels, but not every 2 levels. Probably has some other class features, however, that enhance the normal effects of certain feats.
• Oh boy. I'm going to wind up writing out a set of extra benefits for each and every PHB fighter bonus feat, aren't I? Possibly multiple benefits so there's some scaling into higher levels. I'm glad I'm just outlining an idea, rather than trying to do that now.
  
• Maybe instead of automatically getting the improved effect on every feat you take, every couple of levels (starting a couple of levels in, but faster than the rate of bonus feats), let you pick a feat you already have to "focus" on and get its improved benefit. More "feat focuses" than your bonus feats so you wind up multi-focusing at least one of them to get the higher-end benefits.
• Any benefits for focusing on Weapon Focus might need to be tailored to the specific weapon, or at least the category of weapon (melee, ranged, reach, light, two-handed, etc.).
• For feats that start a distinct chain (like Weapon Focus and Two-Weapon Fighting), the focused benefits might scale automatically with further feats you take along the chain, rather than needing to focus on those later feats as well. The ones that just serve as gateway feats (Combat Expertise, Improved Unarmed Strike, Power Attack, etc.) don't necessarily count for that.
• Minor maneuver-like abilities. Not actually maneuvers, as they are all usable at will. Sort of like the mechanics of my Monk rewrite's pressure strikes, although less of a mystical martial arts theme.
  
  • Most of the pressure strikes would work for melee weapon techniques with only a refluffing.
  • Need some techniques specifically for ranged weapons.
• Maybe something to do with Tome of Battle's duel of wills mechanic? It's a minor thing as part of the Intimidate skill that sounds like a cool concept if it were expanded enough to build around (as opposed to a +/-1 bonus against a single opponent, often for only the first round of the encounter).
• Trigger a duel of wills when you first enter melee with an opponent, not just at the start of the encounter.
• Force opponent to participate (and not ignore or submit).
• Increased bonuses if you win the duel of wills.
• Extra effects (beyond just +/-1 attack and damage) if you win, like not provoking AoOs with your combat maneuvers or something silly like that.

[Garryl]

Cleric rewrite

• 4+Int skill points, not 2+Int, because everyone that's not a purely Int-focused spellcasting class deserves at least 4+Int.
• Remove the heavy armor proficiency (although some combat-focused dogmas give it back).
• Basic spellcasting principles are the same (9th-level, Wis-based), but you don't get the whole wide list, and you don't get bonus domain spells.
• Instead of a whole wide spellcasting list, you get a themed list based on the dogma you select at 1st level. This also determines what spells you get to spontaneously cast. Which dogmas are available would depend on the deity, but I honestly doubt I'd care enough to write out which deities get which dogmas.
• You fully add your chosen domains to your spell list. Probably get additional domains beyond the first two at higher levels.
• Turning or rebuking undead depend on your chosen dogma. Some dogmas may replace it with something else entirely.
• Faith points, from that variant and feats in Complete Divine, I think. It's basically like action points. Maybe also some class features to give you new uses for them. I don't remember exactly how they work, so it may need adjusting.
• Since not all dogmas get turning or an equivalent, use faith points instead of turning uses for divine feats.

Some ideas for dogmas:

• Beneficence: Spell list is primarily support, buffing and utility spells (and probably the only dogma with the full gamut of Cleric healing spells, although the others will have at least a few). Spontaneously casts Cure spells. Turning is replaced by the Pathfinder Channel Energy thing (standard action, heal everyone nearby, damage undead).
• Crusade: Spell list is a lot of self-buffing and combat buff spells, plus some support and battlefield control spells, with a minimum of blasting and utility spells. Spontaneously casts some self-buff spells. Turning is replaced by heavy armor and martial weapon proficiency.
• Judgement: Spell list is primarily buffing and debuffing, and the utility side of things has a lot of things like Zone of Truth and Atonement. Spontaneously casts ??? spells. Turning is replaced by ???.
• Wrath: Spell list is a lot of blasting and battlefield control, with a minimum of support, utility, or buffing spells (and even then, primarily those that let you or your allies hit harder). Spontaneously casts some blasting spells. Turning is replaced by domain spell slots (the standard PHB stuff, 1 slot/spell level usable only for domain spells).

Note: All dogmas have a bit from every category, even if I'm not spelling it out for every single one.

Hmm... Might wind up separating out the spontaneous casting bit from the dogma selection, or removing it entirely. If it stays, maybe tie it to your domain choices instead? Either spontaneously casting from all of your domains, or more likely just one "prime" domain.

Nyeh. I've lost sight of my original goal of having a pared down spell list that forms the core of what you can expect from a Cleric with further customization to bring some of the rest back (but not all of it). Dogmas and domains are doing the same thing, expanding your spell list and giving you a bonus ability.

[Stratovarius]

If you want the lazy way around dogmas, can make their spell list all the spells granted by domains under their deities portfolio. Somewhere I've got a class or two that does that. It cuts out all the splat book abuse in one go, which is nice.

[Quillwraith]

Precognitive Jaunt
Conjuration (teleportation)/Divination

Do multi-school spells exist? I don't remember having seen any, though it does make sense for something like this to be div/conj.

[Stratovarius]

They do. They were introduced late in 3.5s life, just can't remember what book.

[phaedrusxy]

They do. They were introduced late in 3.5s life, just can't remember what book.

It was either PHB2 or DMG2, I think the former. Kelgore's Grave Mist is the one that comes to mind, but I know there were more.

[Stratovarius]

If you want the lazy way around dogmas, can make their spell list all the spells granted by domains under their deities portfolio. Somewhere I've got a class or two that does that. It cuts out all the splat book abuse in one go, which is nice.

Domain cleric. My lazy ass fix to cleric spell lists. Hope it gives you some ideas, Garryl

[Garryl]

If you want the lazy way around dogmas, can make their spell list all the spells granted by domains under their deities portfolio. Somewhere I've got a class or two that does that. It cuts out all the splat book abuse in one go, which is nice.

Domain cleric. My lazy ass fix to cleric spell lists. Hope it gives you some ideas, Garryl

I'm kinda trying for only a part of that. Yes to the idea of paring down the do-everything nature of the Cleric spell list, but not to the extreme that restricting it to just domains would be. The thought process behind having different dogmas was to give a solid baseline spell list for whatever theme you would focus on (but not all themes at the same time), with the domains expanding it a bit. For a hypothetical example, a Cleric with the wrath dogma (lots of blasty and crowd control spells) might snag the Luck and Knowledge domains for a bit of buffing and out of combat utility. The domains spells should wind up more like a Beguiler or Warmage's Advanced Learning, adding a few spells you're looking for to fill out what your core list is lacking, rather than defining your spellcasting ability or being a secondary concern compared to the domain power (as is frequently the case with the PHB Cleric and its single domain spell slot per level).

[Samwise]

I've been thinking along similar lines of stressing the domains more.
Say splitting the difference - half the spells from domains, and half free choice, with fewer domains and free choices available for higher spell levels.

[Braininthejar]

A prestige class inspired by the Overlord manga - a necromancer optimised towards save or die effects.

[Stratovarius]

If you want the lazy way around dogmas, can make their spell list all the spells granted by domains under their deities portfolio. Somewhere I've got a class or two that does that. It cuts out all the splat book abuse in one go, which is nice.

Domain cleric. My lazy ass fix to cleric spell lists. Hope it gives you some ideas, Garryl

I'm kinda trying for only a part of that. Yes to the idea of paring down the do-everything nature of the Cleric spell list, but not to the extreme that restricting it to just domains would be. The thought process behind having different dogmas was to give a solid baseline spell list for whatever theme you would focus on (but not all themes at the same time), with the domains expanding it a bit. For a hypothetical example, a Cleric with the wrath dogma (lots of blasty and crowd control spells) might snag the Luck and Knowledge domains for a bit of buffing and out of combat utility. The domains spells should wind up more like a Beguiler or Warmage's Advanced Learning, adding a few spells you're looking for to fill out what your core list is lacking, rather than defining your spellcasting ability or being a secondary concern compared to the domain power (as is frequently the case with the PHB Cleric and its single domain spell slot per level).

The only way to shortcut that that I can think of at the moment would be letting Clerics have as their spell list all cleric spells that belong to a certain descriptor or subschool. And you'd need to eyeball that so there isn't one or two stupidly powerful ones (Conjuration subschools, I'm looking in your direction). An example would be a Cleric who natively knows all Healing subschool spells + whatever domains they have.

Otherwise, you're basically back to the 2E idea of Spheres, and those would require a lot of work to get settled in right.

[Bronzebeard]

...

These two looks suspiciously very similar to what I'm doing.

(click to show/hide)

Regarding fighter: I gave feats that supports a certain fighting type a "style" descriptor where each feat will grant a further bonus to that style attack. e.g. a character with the feats shield prof, shield bash and weapon focus: long sword will grant a +3 bonus for attacking in a sword and board as all of them have [STYLE:EINHANDER] keyword. ((all of this is work-n-progress and not in any way definitive)).
I got the idea from Baldure's Gate where they have weapon group proficiencies for specific weapons and at the bottom, for certain styles.

(click to show/hide)

Regarding cleric: I changed the turn undead thing into an epiphany counter as a points-based-mechanic that fuels both divine metamagic uses and special divine action that is based per deity. Necromancer-like clerics could still use turn undead, air cleric can use it to fly or glide, battle priests can smite, etc.

The spells-known derived from sphere's a-la 2nd' edition is what I use as well. Only that the spells part is stuck behind the arcane overhaul I'm trying to do.

[Garryl]

Rogue rewrite

• Nimble Movement: +5 ft. speed. Only applies while carrying up to a light load and wearing no heavier than light armor.
• Underhanded Defense: Add base Reflex save as a dodge bonus to AC. Applies against AoOs, and against opponents that you're flanking, that are denied Dex to AC, or that you have sneak attacked within the past 1 round. Only applies while carrying up to a light load and wearing no heavier than light armor.
• Sneak Attack's still there.
• Gets a number of tricks, which are at-will move action abilities. Many tricks give you movement and either alter it somehow or give an extra benefit. Some tricks are miniature attacks or debuffs and stuff that work against sneak attack-vulnerable opponents. Different tricks become available at different levels, so higher level abilities will be there (and the non-movement ones will be potent enough to be worth giving up full attacks for in the right circumstances).
• Some example ideas:
• Trail of Spikes: Move, drop a bag of caltrops in one of the spaces you move through.
• Freerunning: Move, can move across walls (like the Up the Walls feat).
• Distracting Feint: Make a Bluff check to feint flanked opponent. If you succeed, opponent also provokes an AoO from one of your flanking buddies. If you have Improved Feint, your flanking buddy gets the benefit of a successful feint, too.
• Dirty Trick: Blind, entangle, and/or sicken a flat-footed opponent for a few rounds (Will, Reflex, and Fort saves negate, respectively).
• Nimble Dodge: Move, no AoOs for movement, get AC bonus for 1 round based on a Tumble check.
• Shadow Step: Teleport into a flanking position.
• Pickpocket's Path: Move 1/2 speed, Sleight of Hand to lift something from one character you pass.
• Opportune Dodge: Spend a move action to set up future movement as an immediate action.
• Tricky Repositioning: Move, keep threatening from your original position for flanking purposes for 1 round. Can be used to flank with yourself.
• There will be a level 20 capstone. How the PHB rogue didn't get one still boggles my mind.

[Garryl]

More flaws
- Exposed: Critical hits against you are automatically confirmed. Opponents do not automatically miss you on a natural 1.
- Susceptible: Whenever you take 1 or more points of damage, the damage you take is increased by 2.
- Untrainable: The maximum ranks you can place in any skill is halved (2 + 1/2 levels after 1st for class skills, 1 + 1/4 levels after 1st for cross-class skills). You receive 1 fewer skill point at each level (4 fewer at 1st-level). This can reduce the number of skill points you receive to 0. You can never buy ranks in trained only skills. Eh, some combination of those.
- Sleeper Agent: You have been brainwashed or magically programmed. When someone says a specific phrase (a standard action), you are dazed while they give you commands (like the Suggestion spell, except not magical and no save), or for up to 1 minute if no commands are given. The bonus feat is part of the mental programming, so it can't be something overtly physical, like Warforged Body feats, and you lose it if you somehow get deprogrammed. Note: Blatantly ripped off of that homebrew Command Word flaw for constructs that's basically the same thing.
- Shattered Soul: Something sort of like the Shadar-Kai's Shadow Curse (Fiend Folio 150). Whenever you fail a saving throw against an effect that would render you stunned, dazed, or staggered, or when you fall unconscious (except for sleeping normally), you gain a negative level (DC 15 to avoid permanent level loss if not removed).

[Garryl]

Ranger rewrite

• Overall mechanical concept is somewhere between a Druid and a Rogue, with a bit of Fighter splashed in. Skillful hunter and combatant with a bit of nature magic.
• Spellcasting: Spells per day as Bard. Slightly expanded spell list.
• Hunter's Eye: Sneak Attack, except triggers on denied Dex or when you have concealment relative to opponent, and no (or at least much greater) range limit. Not the full Rogue amount, but maybe +1d6 per 3 or 4 or 5 levels or something like that (since you've got things like spells and bonus feats to rely on in combat, too). For the range limit, either there is none, or maybe it's something like each full range increment decreases the bonus damage one die (in addition to the usual -2 attack roll penalty).
• Trapfinding.
• A bunch of class features get moved up to earlier levels. Woodland Stride at 3rd or 4th level, Evasion at 5th, some others probably get moved up, too.
• Not sure what to do with Favored Enemy. Probably going to remove it. It always kinda felt to me like you needed metagame knowledge of what enemy types are common to make it work at all, and even then it still wasn't too great.
• Not quite sure what to do about the animal companion. If it stays (and it probably will, in some form), it'll be scaling at your full level's rate, not 1/2 ('cause that's just silly).
• Combat Styles replaced with just bonus feats from the Fighter list. No need to get fancy. It'll probably work smoother that way, aside from the whole actually needing Dex to do TWF thing now.
• Some more things at higher levels, naturally.

[Jackinthegreen]

Master of Masks addition:

Can progress a psionic or incarnum class instead of a spellcasting class.  The Mask Specialist ability can also work on Incarnum soulmeld masks.

[Amechra]

Master of Masks addition:

Can progress a psionic or incarnum class instead of a spellcasting class.  The Mask Specialist ability can also work on Incarnum soulmeld masks.

Master of Masks needs to be rewritten to be good in general.