FFXIV x D&D - White Mage as Druid Archetype: Circle of Life

This is part of a series of posts I'm making in prep for a FFXIV x D&D sourcebook I'm writing. Other related articles are:

• Astrologian
• Bard
• Black Mage
• Dark Knight
• Dragoon
• Gunbreaker
• Machinist
• Monk
• Red Mage
• Scholar
• Summoner
• White Mage

Here's a copy of the unfinished product if you want to see it in a coherent form: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/BkhxYHFIr

White Mage

One of the things that D&D 5th ed. doesn't really have, it's a pure healing subclass. The closest that we have is the Life Domain cleric, which is meant to be next to the action, making attacks of their own. This is probably done as a conscious design choice, as there will often be times when damage is hardly dished out to the PCs, or at least not enough to warrant a "pure healer" in the party. So I went into this subclass with the idea in mind to allow White Mages to do something else besides healing during their turn. 

I initially thought that players that wanted to play a White Mage should just roll a Life Cleric, but after looking at it more, I decided it really wasn't the same, as the Life Cleric has heavy armor proficiency and the Divine Strike feature. Now, this would make for a badass battle White Mage, but that's not really part of the toolkit that White Mage is known for.

I thought of making White Mage into Cleric subclass at first, but the Channel Divinity and Divine Intervention turned me away from it. The cleric really lays on thick that you gain your abilities from a divine entity or power that you revere or pray to in some form. The astrologian can get away with this, because they get their powers from the stars that answer their calls. Sure, FFXIV White Mages have elementals, but.... it's not like the elementals grant them powers themselves.

I considered Sorcerer briefly, and it made a little bit of sense thanks to the idea behind the Padjal, but I ended up dropping it because it didn't feel right. And the sorcerer spell selection clashes with the White Mage way too much.

A gut feeling told me to look into Druid from the beginning, but I shrugged it off because Cleric always seemed to be the obvious choice. A White Mage Druid seemed like a scandalous idea at first, but the more I read into it, the more it made sense. They don't wear metal. Their spells are nature based (so they get stone, water, and wind spells that fill their motif). And it wouldn't be far-fetched to think that Kan-E-Senna is capable of transforming into a small animal to secretly check in on what's happening in the Shroud. They're really just missing a few essential healing spells, which is an easy fix.

I thought that maybe a White Mage player isn't interested in the idea of using Wild Shape, and I didn't want anyone to feel like they're playing sub-optimally because they want to stick to playing what they think is a faithful version of the job. So with Divine Seal, I thought it could use the same resource as Wild Shape, and therefore give the player the option to use it instead and never have to worry about Wild Shape. Divine Seal is really strong at the level it's available, since it's a "free" 3rd level spell you get when you're still only casting 1st level spells, and it recharges every short rest! 

I think this balances out at 2nd level because it's an action to cast, so you're not going to do any healing during that turn (or anything else for that matter, since druids don't have any non-spell options in the bonus action department at that level), and it's a concentration spell, so if you get hit at that level, there's a good chance you can lose it! Plus the effect of the spell, though very helpful, it doesn't really break the game. You can't combine it with your own healing spirit, for example.

This ability improves at later levels; you can use it twice per short rest at level 6, more or less around when you're supposed to cast the spell, and at level 10 you can cast it as a bonus action. Because this feature uses the Wild Shape resource as it's base, I used the Circle of the Moon's Wild Shape features as a reference to determine what is expected from an ability that is based on Wild Shape. Because Circle of the Moon's Combat Wild Shape allowed them to use the resource as a bonus action, it made sense for Divine Seal to do the same eventually.

This is where I come back to my earlier point of making sure the healer always has something to do besides healing. While the cleric does this by getting spells that allow them to use their bonus actions to attack while they use Cure Wounds or other restorative spells as their actions, the White Mage does the opposite; They use their bonus actions to heal, and their actions to do something else.

Because they get Secret of the Lily later (and because their healing is already greatly empowered by Divine Seal), I had to balance Tetragrammaton by limiting it in a similar way that the Celestial Warlock did in it's similar feature, in particular when comparing it to the Circle of Dreams feature that also has a pool of dice to heal with.

I was initially just going to have White Mages heal a little for each heal they dole out, but I wanted to include lilies in some way. I figured that a great way for them to keep having healing resources available without breaking the game too much is by letting them replenish their tetragrammaton dice pool, and we see this in action with Secret of the Lily.  

The White Mage's last feature, Temperance, was me trying to give them something really cool that didn't boost healing directly, but still could help in their healing duties. I yanked it right from the Divine Soul sorcerer, because I figured that flight would be extra helpful to stay in harm's way as well as increased mobility for reaching your allies.

I can't finish without mentioning that Divine Seal get unlimited uses at level 20. Compared to Life Domain cleric, who automatically maxes all their heals at level 14 at no action cost, I think the features balance out with each other.

I hope I don't get backlash from basing White Mage off of druids, but it's really what made the most sense to me. And I really like how this turned out. I think the subclass itself is solid; If anything, I could make a few druid spells to help them be a bit more offensive, magic-wise.

FFXIV x D&D - Warlock Archetype: Dark Knight

This is part of a series of posts I'm making in prep for a FFXIV x D&D sourcebook I'm writing. Other related articles are:

• Astrologian
• Bard
• Black Mage
• Dark Knight
• Dragoon
• Gunbreaker
• Machinist
• Monk
• Red Mage
• Scholar
• Summoner
• White Mage

Here's a copy of the unfinished product if you want to see it in a coherent  form: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/r1R7P-gUr

Dark Knight

This week I made the Dark Knight. I was originally going to make it a Paladin subclass, but the more I kept looking into it, the less sense it made. I felt like Dark Knights shouldn't have easy access to healing spells or party buffing auras. There were a lot of things that Paladins had by default that didn't feel right for a Dark Knight. I then considered turning into a Fighter subclass for a while, giving it the Paladin abilities it could use, and then cherry-picking from the wizards' spells. When I noticed that it was difficult for a Fighter subclass to really feel right, I looked to other jobs. And that's when I remembered... the Warlock's Hexblade subclass.

The Hexblade turns the Warlock into a melee fighter; a sort of "dark paladin", if you will. Looking at it now, I probably should have considered doing something similar to the Hexblade from the start, but I didn't think the Hexblade turns the Warlock into enough of a melee fighter to be receiving hits like the Paladin does. So that's my angle with Dark Knight: Take Hexblade, and make it a more martial counterpart of itself, all while molding it into a faithful representation of the FFXIV job. Because Warlock subclasses all have a patron, I named this one The Darkness Within, alluding to the fact that a Dark Knight gains it's powers from one's own darker alter ego.

For the most part, the Hexblade's expanded spell list was on point with what I would have had in mind for Dark Knight. I made some changes to add some more Paladin spells to include in the Warlock's very Dark-Knighty repertoire. I made sure not to include any healing spells on purpose. The most notable additions are Death Ward and Destructive Wave, which gives the Dark Knight more staying power and a powerful AOE, respectively.

I changed the Hexblade's Curse by, first of all, removing it's 19-20 crit chance feature that Champion Fighters (The flagship users of this ability) need to wait two more levels for. Instead of this, I decided to add a few options of Fighting Style, including Spellslinger, a fighting style I made for Red Mage. With the inclusion of the Fighting Style feature, it should help reinforce the Dark Knight as a martial character.

I then continued tweaking Hexblade's Curse further. I removed the ability to heal after making a kill and turned that into an invocation called Blood Weapon, which is essentially Dark Knight's version of the Fighter's Second Wind. Finally, I turned the feature from a curse to a form of rage, so that it may better interact with another feature I cover below, Living Dead. Finally, I toned down the damage bonus of Hexblade's Curse to use a 1d4 (later upgraded to 1d6) instead of a straight proficiency modifier. I called the final product Delirium. I wanted to add something like the Rage's resistance to nonmagical weapon damge, but I felt like I was already giving too much at level 1, and Delirium didn't need to have any restrictions.

I left Hex Warrior largely untouched, and just added Heavy Armor proficiency. I renamed it to Grit.

I was originally going to leave Living Shadow as the 14th level ability, but when I decided to include Living Dead, I opted in making a modified version of Hexblade's Accursed Specter instead. Living Shadow allows you to conjure it at will as an action, instead of for free after slaying a foe. The catch is that your Living Shadow stays just long enough for a fight, which Accursed Specter stays for the rest of your adventuring day. Their stats are largely similar, and the way you control Living Shadow is very similar to the Artificer's Iron Defender, which I thought was very intuitive.

The level 10 ability, Dark Missionary, follows the Warlock subclass' pattern of being a defensive feature. They gain proficiency to Constitution saving throws, which not only helps solidify their identity as a martial subclass, but it'll also help them with Living Dead. They also gain a limited version of a Paladin's aura by allowing them to use a reaction to grant themselves and others a bonus to constitution saving throws. 

I initially thought against adding Living Dead to the Dark Knight's repertoire, having them use Death Ward instead, but I figured that the lack of staying power that their d8 hit dice provided, compared to Paladin's d10, and Barbarian's d12, did actually merit a little more help. With their incredible constitution saving throw modifier, as well as the ability to cast Death Ward on themselves, Dark Knights can stay in the front lines for a very long amount of time.

I'm fairly satisfied with the end result. I think it encapsulates the feeling of Dark Knight well, and it looks fun to play. My two concerns with it are giving it three features at level 1 (even though I think they're all balanced) and any action economy issue that the Living Shadow might bring (since it requires a bonus action from you in order to attack, and your smite spells require a bonus action to trigger).

FFXIV x D&D - Wizard Archetype: Scholar

This is part of a series of posts I'm making in prep for a FFXIV x D&D sourcebook I'm writing. Other related articles are:

• Astrologian
• Bard
• Black Mage
• Dark Knight
• Dragoon
• Gunbreaker
• Machinist
• Monk
• Red Mage
• Scholar
• Summoner
• White Mage

Here's a copy of the unfinished product if you want to see it in a coherent form: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/SJbK-u2ICV

Scholar

The Scholar is one of FFXIV's healing jobs. Their method of healing involves planning, preparation, and prevention. In comparison to their more direct healer counterparts, the scholar has a wide toolkit of ways to keep their party up, often in roundabout ways.

It wasn't too difficult to pick the Wizard as the class to base this archetype upon. After all, it's the only pure spellcaster that uses intelligence as their spellcasting ability modifier. Wizard spells will give the Scholar many options to help and protect their fellow adventurers in and out of combat, with spells such as Magic Weapon and Leomund's Tiny Hut.

I had to be careful, however. Wizards are not commonly known as healers. Knowing that WotC has yet to release a healing Wizard when all other non-healing spellcasters had a healing subclass, I started looking for any reasons that the written class itself might provide, and I found it in the level 18 ability: Spell Mastery.

Spell Mastery grabs one 1st and one 2nd level spell and essentially lets you cast them at will. This immediately spoils any attempts at simply giving the Scholar an expanded spell list with Cure Wounds on it, because having Cure Wounds at will trivializes spending hit dice at a short rest.

Therefore, in order to make a healing Wizard, they would have to be able to use Cure Wounds in a different manner...

Originally, Aetherflow was going to be Scholar's Metamagic, usable only for certain healing spells. However, once the realization that the Wizard couldn't just have Cure Wounds dawned, Aetherflow then turned into a resource with which to cast "demi-spells". Through these demi-spells, or Aetherflow Maneuvers, they are able to cast heals with a resource similar to spell slots.

Emergency Tactics allows Scholars to "sacrifice" their spell slots and use them for healing instead. In a tough fight, they'll find their bonus actions occupied as they convert slots in order to heal their allies.

Originally, the Nymian Fairy was going to be a variant familiar, having no spells of it's own and instead healing with spells that you transferred through it. However, after seeing how critical it was going to be for the Scholar's toolkit, I realized the Scholar really couldn't afford the fairy having hit points, and therefore being capable of dying. It would suck that they'd spend aetherflow stacks on this thing, only for it to die a turn later from a stray fireball. Now the fairy is essentially a Spiritual Weapon that heals instead.


Deployment Tactics, partly a remnant of my idea of making this a healing metamagic subclass, this feature allows you to spread a spell's use to one more target than Twinned Spell can.  My logic behind Deployment Tactics being balanced is that, while Twinned Spell works on any spell that targets one creature, and so it can be used offensively, Deployment Tactics can only be used on lower level spells that targets allies. This is a very limited selection of spells, some of which already let you select more targets if you spend higher level spell slots; If anything, this ability allows you to save one high (i.e. 3rd, 4th or 5th) level spell slot and use the subclass's resource instead.

FFXIV x D&D - Wizard Archetype: Summoner

This is part of a series of posts I'm making in prep for a FFXIV x D&D sourcebook I'm writing. Other related articles are:

• Astrologian
• Bard
• Black Mage
• Dark Knight
• Dragoon
• Gunbreaker
• Machinist
• Monk
• Red Mage
• Scholar
• Summoner
• White Mage

Here's a copy of the unfinished product if you want to see it in a coherent form: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/Bkl_QkcnV

Summoner

The classic Final Fantasy Summoner job is one of my favorites in the series. The idea behind conjuring entities that are far beyond us, and making them do our bidding for a short time, has always been so enthralling. Their attacks are cinematic, often changing the environment, and the cost for their help steep, but worth it.

I have to admit that I've never been satisfied with the FFXIV representation of the Summoner job. Not only are Egis laughably lackluster, but the direction towards Summoners channeling Bahamut is something that clashes with the job's identity, in my opinion. I always saw Summoners as those who would call and command their summons, not channel or "become" them. As such, My take on the Summoner takes the best parts from it's counterpart, while hearkening to the classic iteration of the job.

In my research for this subclass, I looked to see how official resources handled summoners. The Conjuration Wizard focuses more on teleportation than it does summoning; a pity, since it looks like they've stripped Wizards of their summoning prowess from previous editions and gave it to Cleric and Druid. That's when I decided to make Wizard the base class for Summoner, because it would add something interesting to the class; the other option was Warlock, and maybe I'll do Warlock-Summoner in the future, which would focus on the Dreadwyrm Trance aspect of the job. Sorcerer would have made sense if Summoners were like in previous iterations, where you have to come from a family of Summoners to be one; in FFXIV's case, however, this is not the case.

Besides Conjurer Wizard, the other clear summoning subclass is Circle of the Shepherd Druid. I looked at their features and came up with Resilient Summons, Enkindle, and Focused Conjuration; Most of them are altered versions of other features.

Next, I focused on making sure that Summoners felt like they were always progressing on abilities that were summoning related, and I looked at their spell list for this. Their first level spells had Find Familiar, so I made a Carbuncle stat block that they can summon with this spell ( I didn't think it was necessary to make Topaz / Ruby / Emerald versions of the Carbuncle. Maybe another time. ). Because Find Familiar is a conjuration spell, it benefits from Resilient Summon's temporary hit points, helping your Carbuncle familiar become a fighting ally at lower levels. I made the Sustain spell for summoners that want to stand back and support their minions.

For the 2nd level spell slots, wizards don't get any good summoning spells. Clerics on the other hand, have a very cool spell called Spiritual Weapon; it summons a spectral weapon that they can use during their bonus actions. Very straightforward. Inspired by this spell, I made the Summon Egi spell, which works essentially just like Spiritual Weapon. I may not be a fan of Egis, but I do think they're a great stepping stone to summoning the actual primals.

For the 3rd level spell slots, I grabbed Spirit Guardians from the Cleric spell list. This spell can be easily flavored to conjure whatever Primal the Summoner wants to conjure that they don't normally have access to.

For the 4th level spell slots, I yoinked Conjure Minor Elementals from the Druid spell list. It already summons elementals, so all I had to do was make stat blocks for Demi-Primals, since it didn't seem quite like it was time to allow the summoning for actual Primals. I only made Demi versions of Ifrit, Garuda, and Titan, but I'd like to make Demi versions of other primals, but in lower CRs so that they can be used when conjuring multiple allies is preferred.

For the 5th level spell slots, I thought that Conjure Elemental was the perfect summoning spell to base the subclass around. Like Conjure Minor Elementals, it already summons elementals, so repurposing currently existing elementals into Ifrit, Titan and Garuda was easy. In the future, I'd like to make new summons for CRs 6, 7, 8, and 9; This way, Summoners will always have something new to add to their repertoire every time they gain a new spell level.

Conjure Elementals, however, has two big limitations. The first one is that they need an area of fire, air, earth, etc. for the spell to work. For this, I made a magic item that could be used to overcome this limitation easily: The Primal Element Crystal. The other "limitation" is that if the Summoner loses concentration, they also lose control of their summon. I like the idea behind this, because it makes Summoners be respectful and careful of their summoning procedures, but I understand how this could become a bit cumbersome. The Focused Conjuration feature certainly helps, but it doesn't stop the Summoner from losing concentration if they, for example, went unconscious. For this purpose, I made a limited version of Dominate Monster called Aetherpact, which only works for creatures you summoned, which gives Summoners another chance at seizing control from their summoned monsters.

For the 14th level feature, Swift Summons, I thought it would be cool if Summoners could use their more powerful summoning spells during battle. I took a page from the Evoker Wizard's Overchannel feature, and allowed Summoners to use this ability multiple times per day, at the cost of gaining exhaustion. I might change it to deal damage instead, if exhaustion isn't enough of a penalty.

Even though I think most of the subclass's features are solid, there is still a lot of work that can be done. More Primals and Demi-Primals can be made. Summoning the Warring Triad, Phoenix or even Bahamut is possible with the framework made in this subclass, the only thing that's necessary is stat blocks for each. I could also make variant rulings in case DMs want to use the Primal stat blocks for actual primal boss battles. It's all very exciting.

FFXIV x D&D - Fighter Archetype: Dragoon

This is part of a series of posts I'm making in prep for a FFXIV x D&D sourcebook I'm writing. Other related articles are:

• Astrologian
• Bard
• Black Mage
• Dark Knight
• Dragoon
• Gunbreaker
• Machinist
• Monk
• Red Mage
• Scholar
• Summoner
• White Mage

Here's a copy of the unfinished product if you want to see it in a coherent form: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/SkZnah0nKV

Dragoon

The Dragoon; Besides having cool-looking armor, they specialize in having mobility- specifically semi-aerial mobility. This informs their style of combat, which involves striking at their opponents with the momentum of their jumps.

The decision to make the Dragoon based off of the Fighter class was pretty straightforward. The other options were Ranger, Monk, and Rogue, but (respectively), the Dragoon has nothing to do with nature spells, doesn't really connect with unarmed attacks or flurry of blows, and is way too flashy for stealthy sneak attacks.

Looking at the Fighter's tools, they provided most of what a Dragoon needed, except for one vital thing: the jumping. So I designed the class into being the best at it in the game. In the process, it turned out to be a very mobile class to play, for those that like to move around in combat.

Most of this can be seen under the Jump Tactics feature. It doubles down on a Dragoon's Athletics skill, allows the use of the Jump spell (which is needed to use Dragoon Dive in lower-to-mid levels), and slowly removes restrictions from jumping.

Dragoon Dive, the feature that enables you to use your jumps for combat, manifests as extra damage if you're able to successfully make an impressive jump before your attacks. This was inspired by the Arcane Archer and was originally going to have cool stuff to do with your Dragoon Dive attacks, but I felt like it over complicated the subclass. I might bring it back in the future.

Slow Fall is ripped from Monk, removing the fear of heights from Dragoons, encouraging them to pull off crazy stunts from high above. Elusive Jump is like the Dodge and Disengage actions combined into a bonus action that must involve jumping. 

Because I felt like a plain damage boost to Dragoon Dive felt too dry, I added Higher Jump as a helpful ribbon feature, which should encourage Dragoons to truly feel like they are unparalleled jumpers. 

It would have been easier to give them limited flight, but I felt like that would have taken away from the job's identity. I tried, best as I could, to present the jumping features as simply as possible, so as not to make them appear too intimidating, since not many players might feel like studying and keeping the jumping rules to memory.

In the end, I feel like the job is well balanced; It should be attractive enough for those looking for a subclass that can hit very hard in bursty situations, and even more appealing to those that want to really feel like a dragoon when they're playing. That being said, I'd like to keep an eye out, in case the Dragoon Dive mechanic is too cumbersome or boring.

FFXIV x D&D - Red Mage as a Bard Archetype: College of Flair

This is part of a series of posts I'm making in prep for a FFXIV x D&D sourcebook I'm writing. Other related articles are:

• Astrologian
• Bard
• Black Mage
• Dark Knight
• Dragoon
• Gunbreaker
• Machinist
• Monk
• Red Mage
• Scholar
• Summoner
• White Mage

Here's a copy of the unfinished product if you want to see it in a coherent form: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/S1VZ0k2FN

Red Mage

The FFXIV Red Mage is a jack of all trades. It swaps between going in close with melee attacks and casting spells at a distance. It can cast healing spells as well as explosive spells, and it can buff party members as well. And it does all of this in bursts and with flair.

This description makes it pretty obvious that the Bard class should be used as the base for this concept. If we look at the basic Bard's toolkit, it does almost all of what a Red Mage does already. In fact, one could argue that you could make a College of Lore or College of Swords and call it a Red Mage, but one lacks the blade flourish aspect, and the other lacks the ability to cast flashy explosive spells, respectively.

The mission behind the Red Mage subclass (called College of Flair) is to merge the best of the College of Lore and College of Swords in a cohesive way to come up with a result that truly feels like a Red Mage.

At level 3, they gain three features. The first one is an evocation cantrip from the Wizard spell list and the ability to select evocation spells from the Wizard spell list when they learn new spells. This way, they get all the flashy spells they want, without stepping on the Wizard or Sorcerer's toes too much.

The second one is their Fighting Style; I made a new Fighting Style called "Spellslinger", which allows them to reroll their damage dice from their cantrips. This should more or less average out in a damage increase from their cantrips, similar to the +2 damage bonus from the Dueling Fighting Style.

The third and last ability they gain at level 3 is Battle Flourish, which is inspired by the College of Swords' Blade Flourish. This grants them a +2 bonus to AC when using the Attack action, effectively granting them the same bonus that a shield would, which Bards are not proficient in. The Battle Flourish options are mostly there to give the Red Mage options to swiftly get in and out of combat.

By the time the Red Mage reaches 6th level, they would have access to Font of Inspiration, which allows them to recharge their Inspiration points every short rest. This would encourage them to use their Battle Flourish abilities more often, and so it seemed fitting to give them an extra attack at this level. By now, the Red Mage should be very good at using flashy spells and entering melee combat for a short time.

An ability that seems to be a staple for Red Mages, is the ability of Dualcast, which allows them to cast two spells at once. That's why, at 14th level, I gave them the ability to cast a cantrip as a bonus action after they cast a lower level spell (4th level of lower). I felt like this was balanced because, at these levels, 4th levels spells or lower were still used and were still useful, but were nowhere near as devastating as the current 7th level spells that they could cast. Plus, the number of spells they could cast under this dualcast feature was limited. I would like to test this ability out, since it could be the case that it needs to be changed to only include 3rd levels spells or lower, or even 2nd level spells or lower. 

I'm very satisfied with how this subclass turned out, and I'm eager to see more of how it works in actual play. Perhaps in the future, I might have to make adjustments to the Dualcast feature.

FFXIV x D&D - Fighter Archetype: Machinist

This is part of a series of posts I'm making in prep for a FFXIV x D&D sourcebook I'm writing. Other related articles are:

• Astrologian
• Bard
• Black Mage
• Dark Knight
• Dragoon
• Gunbreaker
• Machinist
• Monk
• Red Mage
• Scholar
• Summoner
• White Mage

Machinist

Here's a copy of the unfinished product if you want to see it in a coherent form: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/ByUh8YqE4

The FFXIV's Machinist main in-game mechanic involves playing around with a "Heat" gauge while you shoot your gun and manage your ammunition, all the while aligning everything inside a window of time in which you use another ability called "Wildfire". You also get to occasionally use a flamethrower and a turret that you place and forget for the most part. I think I just described 90% of the job.

I just want to say that, first of all, the concept for this job as executed in FFXIV is not enough to make a D&D class out of. I know the Champion Fighter exists if we're arguing about class simplicity, but I don't think Machinist is supposed to be simple at all. I do feel that, if we explore Machinist's roots in the series, with the likes of FFVI Edgar's Tool ability, there could be enough to make a Machinist Class if done right; that is, if we look outside of the purview of FFXIV.

           

Illustration by Halsh on Deviantart

However, I didn't really have the time to make a whole new class, so I decided to opt for making a subclass instead. I initially thought about basing it off of Ranger and Rogue, but the Machinist neither casts spells nor does it make sense for it to have a Sneak Attack. Then I went to the Fighter class, and the more I thought about it, the more sense it made to me. I'm aware that there's an Artificer class Unearthed Arcana article coming really soon, and I will revise my work after it comes out, because it's likely that there could be some synergy with it.

Let's talk about using Fighter as the base class. When one thinks about Fighter, the first thing that comes to mind is a heavy armor warrior; However, that doesn't have to be the case. If the Fighter favors Dexterity over Strength (as a ranged combatant would), they don't meet the requirements for heavy armor. Additionally, the machination mechanic uses intelligence for it's abilities, both balancing it out and also forcing the Fighter to be more careful with their Ability Score Increase selection. It also doesn't hurt that the Fighter kit allows a Machinist to choose their fighting style; So you can build your own Hammer-wielding Machinist a la FFIV Cid if you choose to.

I considered the possibility of simply repurposing the Battle Master, but it didn't feel like it did the Machinist justice. When I thought about Edgar's abilities, I felt like the Machinist needed to have a repertoire of gadgets they could have at their disposal, perhaps mimicking the effects of some spells. That's when I turned to the Way of the Four Elements monk subclass, and realized that the general idea of what I had in mind had been done already, and I could take that as a model.

For the backbone of the subclass, I essentially took the Battle Master, and replaced the superiority dice mechanic with a specialized version of Ki Points. Battle Master's "Know Your Enemy" goes too well with some Machinist's Analyze ability. 

I listed out all of Edgar's abilities (and I'm proud to say I was able to incorporate most or all of them somehow), as well as other Machinist-type abilities throughout the series. I noticed that both Battle Master and Way of the Four Elements subclasses had 16 or more abilities to choose from, and I tried to reach that number. Perhaps in the future, I can implement some sort of Bazooka and/or lazer gun, which I think are missing.

One thing I still have second thoughts about, is the fact that it took two pages to list out all the machinations, and that I had to basically repeat stuff that was already said in the spell that a machination was emulating. My reasoning is that machinations don't work like spells; they don't require the same components, and they can't be dispelled. Repeating effect descriptions also allowed me to tweak abilities for the purpose of balance.

All in all, this is a subclass I'll be dying to see in action. It encapsulates that over-the-top feeling you get when you play FFVI Edgar, and if you pick certain abilities (namely Flamethrower, Spiked Chain Cannon, Autoturret, Windblower, Debilitator, and Flash), you'll also be able to play like a FFXIV machinist. I might come back to it in the future, though maybe with the mind of turning it into it's own class.

FFXIV x D&D - Astrologian as a Cleric Archetype: Star Domain

This is part of a series of posts I'm making in prep for a FFXIV x D&D sourcebook I'm writing. Other related articles are:

• Astrologian
• Bard
• Black Mage
• Dark Knight
• Dragoon
• Gunbreaker
• Machinist
• Monk
• Red Mage
• Scholar
• Summoner
• White Mage

Astrologian

Here's a copy of the unfinished product if you want to see it in a coherent form: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/B1rRfxLw4V

For Astrologian, it took me a little while to determine whether it deserved it's own class. After realizing that it shared a lot in common with the D&D cleric's toolkit (and could even gain something from it), I decided to turn astrologian into a cleric subclass.

Introducing the Star Domain:

• Uses the starglobe as both spellcasting focus and holy symbol
• Draw Allows you to use cards from level 1, as a mechanic very similar to Bardic Inspiration.
• Die starts at 1d4 so as to not step on the Bard's toes and make up for the fact that some card abilities can prove to be pretty strong.
• Further Domain abilities like Spread, Royal Road, and Sleeve Draw play around with the card mechanic, allowing more flexibility.
• Channel Divinity: Sect Attunement involves increased healing or shielding with temporary hit points.
• This way, this domain remains useful without encroaching too much on the Life Domain cleric's territory.
• Domain Spells include three Star Domain specific spells:
• Earthly Star is an AOE healing spell that with increased healing, depending on how long you wait.
• Collective Unconscious is an healing spell that trades your mobility for consistent heals.
• Celestial Opposition is an AOE stun spell.

I'm very satisfied with this subclass and I can't wait to test it out! The main thing that I need to determine now is whether having Draw is satisfying enough to have as an action instead of a bonus action. My reasoning is that bonus actions are supposed to be quick, and the Draw mechanic can be as complicated as a lower level spell. I'll see what the results are and adjust accordingly.

FFXIV x D&D - Bard Archetype: College of Archery

This is part of a series of posts I'm making in prep for a FFXIV x D&D sourcebook I'm writing. Other related articles are:

• Astrologian
• Bard
• Black Mage
• Dark Knight
• Dragoon
• Gunbreaker
• Machinist
• Monk
• Red Mage
• Scholar
• Summoner
• White Mage

Here's a copy of the unfinished product if you want to see it in a coherent form: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/Hy7u0YWw4E

I know I said I was working on Warrior next, but when I was figuring out what a Barbarian subclass would look like, I realized that the Path of the Berserker fit the bill for what people look for a Warrior anyways. So here's Bard instead!

Bard

For Bard, I thought that Soren's take on it was on point. However, when one of my players asked whether this subclass was going to be on Bard or Ranger, I realized that the Archery style of it needs to be prominent, something that the Bard class doesn't have on it's own (And the Ranger doesn't really fill what the FFXIV Bard does anyways). So I checked the Bard's College of Swords, which turns Bards into competent enough melee fighters, and worked something around that.

The end result might be a little *too similar* to the College of Swords subclass, so I might come back to it and add a little more diversifying flare to it, but for the most part, I think it does the job right.

FFXIV x D&D - Sorcerer Archetype: Black Mage

This is part of a series of posts I'm making in prep for a FFXIV x D&D sourcebook I'm writing. Other related articles are:

• Astrologian
• Bard
• Black Mage
• Dark Knight
• Dragoon
• Gunbreaker
• Machinist
• Monk
• Red Mage
• Scholar
• Summoner
• White Mage

Here's a copy of the unfinished product if you want to see it in a coherent form: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/S1YXOxGNE

My FFXIV x D&D adventure preparation is well underway. I'll post details about the adventure itself once the players start going through it and I don't need to worry about spoilers. In the meantime, here's another one of my takes on a FFXIV job for D&D play.


Black Mage

This time, I'm tackling the Black Mage. For this class, I thought it would be better to make a subclass for it instead of a whole new class, since I felt like the FFXIV Black Mage isn't a broad enough of a concept to branch out into multiple subclasses without diluting the essence of the job.

While one would initially think that Wizard would be the correct class to base FFXIV's Black Mage off of, my argument is that Sorcerer is the better choice. Black Mages in XIV don't really base their power off of studies as much as they do from their aether within; We can see this in the Job Quests themselves when the group of Lalafell Thaumaturge sibling mentos have one brother that, as much as he tries to study the arts, just doesn't have the capacity practice the magickal arts. Therefore, we can infer that in order to be a Black Mage, you must be born with a certain aptitude for it; Also it doesn't hurt that the Sorcerer class design, mostly talking about Sorcerer Points and Metamagic here, merges better with the Black Mage playstyle.

Here are some of my thoughts behind the decision process of making these abilities:

• Manaward and Ley Lines
• Sorcerer's 1st level abilities mostly settle the tone of what the class is supposed to be, granting minor yet important abilities that set the tone for the subclass. Manaward allows the caster to take more hits than usual. Ley Lines gives them an ability to freely roam within a chosen space that they'll want to stay in throughout a battle.
• None of these abilities really tell of a Sorcerous Origin by themselves, but it could be argued that they enable their user to tap into their inner potential by allowing them to focus better- and the best way they can do that is by staying still in a battlefield. Knowing this, we can make sense of why a Black Mage would need to learn these abilities first.
• Enochian
• This ability then becomes the result of a Black Mage's training coming to fruition. In order to execute this ability, they can't move. Their previous abilities allows them to feasibly pull this off. The main reason for this ability is to give Black Mage's cantrips a bit of a boost without having to increase it necessarily.
• Aetherial Manipulation
• In the game, one would normally use this ability to get out of harm's way at the last minute, and this ability reflects that.
• Polyglot
• This ability should encompass everything a Black Mage has been working towards into a single, satisfying display of power. The idea was to give them a passive ability that helped them always, and then another ability that they could use to nuke their enemies, at the cost of them losing something. In retrospect, it might feel a little too limiting for the result, but at the time of writing it, I felt it was balanced against other 18th level Sorcerer subclass abilities. We'll see what the future tells!

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how this subclass turned out. I'll probably come back and add some flavor to it so it's not so cold and crunchy. I'm pretty sure I can word some things a lot better, too. Next up, I'll be working on the Warrior.

FFXIV x D&D - Monk Archtype: Way of Rhalgr

This is part of a series of posts I'm making in prep for a FFXIV x D&D sourcebook I'm writing. Other related articles are:

• Astrologian
• Bard
• Black Mage
• Dark Knight
• Dragoon
• Gunbreaker
• Machinist
• Monk
• Red Mage
• Scholar
• Summoner
• White Mage

I've finally convinced my FFXIV buddies to play D&D. The idea pitch that worked is for us to play a D&D game using our own XIV characters. I already knew of the existence of a homebrew version of the classes (found here) so I thought that transitioning one from the other might be easier.

I started looking at this homebrew stuff in more depth and it turned out that I wasn't entirely convinced about the end result; With all due respect to the man who put it all together, it must have been a massive undertaking to do so. The following is just my take based on his work, of which I am completely grateful for.

Keep in mind, none of this belongs to me or this person.


Here's a copy of the unfinished product if you want to see it in a coherent form: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/BJrIkCw5QE

Way of Rhalgr

I'm starting with this Monk subclass because I thought it was short enough to get started quickly. It turned out that I wanted to make more changes than I anticipated. Let's have a look. I wrote the text description of the abilities in italic and blue.


Greased Lightning

Beginning at 3rd level, you are able to launch attacks at an incredible rate. If you use flurry of blows and successfully attack your target with both of the unarmed attacks, you may make an attack roll for one more unarmed attack with double the proficiency bonus.


I see two issues with this ability:

1. The wording behind "succesfully attack" is a bit confusing. Does it mean that you need to hit with both of your flurry of blow attacks? Or is it enough to just make the attacks?
2. If we look at every other level 3 Monk ability, none of them allow you to deal more damage, and instead you're offered more things to do with your flurry of blows, or even different ways to attack an opponent.

This ability, as presented, does bring out the spirit behind Greased Lightning to being, but the issue is that it kind of doesn't work along the rest of D&D 5e's design. Also, while I like the idea of putting in a prerequisite to be able to execute something, I think having to hit with both of your flurry of blows attack to trigger a fundamental ability could get frustrating if the dice isn't in your favor. So what do we do?

Why don't we implement "positionals" instead? Not in a literal sense, of course. Perhaps the Monk has to move at least 5 feet every turn in order to get their Greased Lightning bonus; It would certainly give them the feel that they have to position themselves in a different place each turn. Opportunity Attacks in this edition are now only triggered when leaving your opponents' threat range, so it's feasible to do expect players to perform maneuvers like this.

As for the benefit of Greased Lightning, I would grant advantage on Flurry of Blows attacks; This way it's like they're using the momentum of their movement to perform faster attacks, giving them advantage. It's something they'll be able to use a lot more often. It loses a bit of that combo feel, but maybe we can get that in one of the later features.




Touch of the Elements

Beginning at the 6th level, you have learned a variety of elemental attunements which dictate your day. When you complete a long rest you may select one of the following boons. You receive the benefits of that element until you next complete a short rest. You may only change your selected benefit after a short rest.

Hands of Earth. You gain proficiency in your wisdom ability checks which you do not already have proficiency in. You may change the damage of your unarmed strikes to poison. You may use 1 Ki point to use the shove action as a bonus action.

Hands of Wind. You gain proficiency in your dexterity ability checks which you do not already have proficiency in. You may change the damage of your unarmed strikes to lightning. You may use 1 Ki point to use the Disengage or Dash action as a bonus action.

Hands of Fire. You gain proficiency in your strength ability checks which you do not already have proficiency in. You may change the damage of your unarmed strikes to fire. You may use 1 Ki point to deal additional fire damage equal to your Wisdom modifier each time you land an unarmed strike.

• While the general idea gets across, the wording used to describe this ability can become problematic at the table. What if I take a short rest, which ends my stance, and forget to announce that I keep or change the stance? Also, forcing players to change this only at short rests kind of takes away from the fun of changing stances in the middle of a fight, and I wonder if we can somehow implement that instead.
• Hands of Earth: 
• Handing out proficiency to ability checks like this is like handing out interchangeable skill bonuses. If you plan your initial skill selection around this ability then you're basically able to roll almost any skill that isn't INT based with proficiency; I understand the idea behind this ability, but it shouldn't turn monk into a limited bard or rogue.
• Monks get Ki-Empowered Strikes at this same level, so there's no real need for them to deal elemental based damage.
• Allowing the use of a Ki point to shove opponents as a bonus action is a cool idea.
• Looking at other monk abilities of the same level, it's a little too powerful to grant them three separate abilities instead of the usual one or two.
• Hands of Wind:
• This has the same issues as Hands of Earth in regards to ability checks and elemental based damage.
• Monks gain Step of the Wind at 2nd level, which not only allows them to use the Disengage and Dash actions as bonus actions at the cost of 1 Ki point, their jump distance is also doubled for that turn.
• Hands of Fire:
• This has the same issues as Hands of Earth in regards to ability checks and elemental based damage. Also, while granting a damage bonus is on par with the idea behind Fists of Fire, I think I prefer a die roll than a straight modifier bonus; we can make this fire damage to balance it out, since some creatures are resistant or immune to it.

Now here's how I'd handle this ability:

First of all, I'd change the wording so that it's easier to change boons, and I'd call them stances. I'd make it so that you can change them during the middle of a fight as well. Hands of Earth and Hands of Fire are easy enough to adjust; Hands of Wind needs a big rework since the idea behind it is to make the character faster, which is something that the D&D Monk class already does in spades.


Beginning at 6th level, you have learned a variety of elemental attunements for which you developed a fighting stance. Once you're in a stance, it's benefits last until the end of your next short  or long rest. Once you change stances, you must take the benefits of the new stance. You cannot benefit from two stances at the same time. Each stance benefit is as follows:

• Hands of Earth. 
• You can enter this stance as a reaction if you are being forced to roll a saving throw. While you are in this stance, whenever you make a Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution saving throw, you can spend 2 Ki Points to make a second roll. You can choose to spend your Ki Points after you roll the die, but before the outcome is determined. Once you make a second roll, you must use the new result.
• Hands of Wind. 
• You can enter this stance before you use your Step of the Wind feature. While in this stance, you don't need to spend a Ki Point to gain the effect of Step of the Wind. 
• Hands of Fire. 
• You can enter this stance as a bonus action if you spend 2 Ki Points. While you are in this stance, when you hit a target with an unarmed strike, you can to cause your attack to deal an extra 1d4 points of fire damage to the target. 

I'm not entirely convinced with how Hands of Earth turned out, but I'll leave it like this for now.

Forbidden Chakra

Beginning the 11th level, you have gained a significant understanding of the Fist of Rhalgr style. After connecting with a successful Greased Lightning strike, you may spend 2 Ki points to deliver a powerful blow. The targeted creatures make the appropriate saving throw against your Ki save DC.

Dragon Kick. A leaping corkscrew kick aimed at the target's head, dealing 2d8 bludgeoning damage. The target must make a constitution saving throw, on a failed save, your attacks have advantage against that target for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Elixir Field. You leap into the air where you stand and unleash a wave of Ki energy downwards, suspending yourself in the air as you burn all creatures within a 10ft. radius centered on you. Affected creatures make a dexterity saving throw, receiving 4d8 radiant damage on a failed save and half as much on a successful save.

Howling Fist. You crash your fist into the ground with tremendous force, causing a shockwave of Ki powered explosions to travel in a 15ft. line in front of you. Affected creatures make a dexterity saving throw, receiving 4d8 fire damage on a failed save and half as much on a successful save.

Tornado Kick. You leap into the air and deliever a series of swift but powerful kicks to your target creating a small localized tempest. The creature makes a strength saving throw receiving 4d8 bludgeoning damage on a failed save and are knocked back 10ft, and half as much on a successful save, with no knockback.


First of all, I kind of broke this ability back when I changed Greased Lightning, but it's an easy fix; just allow a Forbidden Chakra move to be used after you hit with one of your Flurry of Blows attacks once on each of your turns. Second, I feel like there are way too many options in this ability, but I would leave this as is for now. The abilities themselves are okay, though I'd make some minor alterations to them just so they fit with D&D 5e's design better.



Perfect Balance

Beginning at the 17th level you may activate Perfect Balance as a bonus action. You can use any of the abilities offered by the Forbidden Chakra feature at any time at the cost of 6 Ki points. You may only do this once per long rest.

The wording in this is a little confusing to me. What does "at any time" mean? Does it mean that you don't need to connect a Greased Lightning attack? Does that mean it's a free action to use? Does the 6 Ki Point cost cover the 2 Ki points needed to activate a Forbidden Chakra ability? When does this ability end it's effect? I also take a bit of issue that it's so costly.

At 17th level, your training in the . You can activate a Forbidden Chakra ability after you hit with any unarmed strike you make once per turn. This ability does not replace your normal use of Forbidden Chakra, and you can still use a Forbidden Chakra ability after you hit with an unarmed stike during your Flurry of Blows on each of your turns.



Conclusion

I'm not entirely satisfied with the end result; As I kept looking into it, it turns out that the base D&D class already has a fire / earth / wind mechanic with Flurry of Blows / Patient Defense / Steps of Wind , and adding it the way we are is a bit redundant, if not forced. In a future iteration, I hope to break the Forbidden Chakra feature in two and play with the interaction between Greased Lightning and other features better.

I'm gonna keep going over the rest of the classes as I gain inspiration, going from just subclasses and races to later on, full classes. In the end I hope to this all leads to a fun game I can provide for my friends.

TOMB OF ANNIHILATION: Grung Playable Race

One of my players came up to me and asked if they could play a Grung character. After I investigated, I noticed that there's no official release for a playable version of this race, and instead there's a list of deduced stats taken from an article. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the result and decided to put my own spin on it.

Links involved:
https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Grung
https://www.sageadvice.eu/2017/09/05/grung-as-an-official-playable-race/
https://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/223738


Link of my final product: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/BkXEjZjtfE


Here's the stuff that I changed. I wrote the things that were extrapolated in red, and my changes to them in green. Finally, I explain my changes in italics.

Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Constitution score increases by 1.

Ability Score Increase: Your Constitution score increases by 2 and your Dexterity score increases by 1.

It's easy to give a small race a +2 bonus on dexterity, and though it would have fit for Grungs, there's something we need to consider. Their immunity to poison, as well as the fact that they live in a place where it's easy for them to dehydrate, should give the idea that they are naturally more hardy. The Grung monster stat block supports this by giving them a higher constitution score than they have dexterity.

Arboreal Alertness: You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Arboreal Mobility: You have proficiency in the Athletics skill.

Though giving them Perception proficiency would fit, we should consider that Grungs are meant to be more athletic than they appear. Their Standing Leap ability shows this. If you check the Grung's stat block, they have a +2 bonus for both Athletics and Perception, but their natural Strength of 7, compared with their Dexterity of 14, makes me believe that their natural bonus to Athletics was made to help them with their weakness. 

Poisonous Skin: Any creature that grapples you or otherwise comes into direct contact with your skin must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 1 minute. A poisoned creature no longer in direct contact with you can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. You can also apply this poison to any piercing weapon as part of an attack with that weapon, though when you hit the poison reacts differently. The target must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or take 2d4 poison damage.

Poisonous Skin: On your turn as a bonus action, you can choose to secrete poison. When you do so, you can choose to coat one slashing or piercing weapon or up to three piece of ammunition. Once applied, this poison retains potency for one minute before drying, or when you make an attack with the coated weapon or piece of ammunition. Alternatively, you can spray the poison as a bonus action on a single creature that is in contact with your skin. 

A creature that makes contact with the poison must make a Constitution saving throw, the DC of which is 8 + your proficiency bonus + you constitution modifier. The creature takes 2d4 poison damage and is poisoned for 1 minute on a failed save, and takes half damage without being poisoned on a successful one. A creature that was poisoned by this effect can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns. After you use this ability, you can't use it again until you complete your next short or long rest.

This ability had three issues:

1. It's not party friendly: This would make it difficult for fellow party members to heal or carry their Grung teammate.
2. The poison DC is set: Most, if not all, racial features that force a saving throw have a DC that adjusts to their proficiency bonus and one of their stats. A set DC just gets weaker as a character progresses.
3. It's always on: Racial Features are usually limited in a short rest or long rest basis. This one would have the Grung PC be able to add poison to all their attacks, forever.

I turned this feature into an attack that was not only simple to use, but would also be a staple for a melee Grung combatant. Adjusting the DC and turning it into a short/long rest ability helped balance it. I'm not entirely happy that the end result turned into a longer paragraph so this might be something I could look into adjusting in the future. 

Water Dependency: If you fail to immerse yourself in water for at least 1 hour during a day, you suffer one level of exhaustion at the end of that day. You can only recover from this exhaustion through magic or by immersing yourself in water for at least 1 hour.
Water Dependency: If you don't immerse yourself in water for at least 1 hour, you need to drink twice the amount of gallons of water required to stay hydrated at the end of the day.

We already have an end-of-the-day system that penalizes you if you're not taking care of yourself. Not only would the original version have worked on top of something that already exists, it would have made itself really annoying to play. 

Also, consider this; the wording implies that a Grung with no access to water would risk receiving two levels of exhaustion at a time. One from the normal dehydration rules, and another from their own racial features. Not just that, but their racial feature also doesn't grant a Constitution saving throw to save themselves.

What I did was add an extra condition to the system that already works. They just need more water than any of the other races, but they are penalized the same if they don't meet the requirements.

I'll probably come back to this as I continue playtesting it.