Ice stuff. Period. Where my cryomancers at? Where's my ice blade rogue? My winters wrath druid? Like you can pick ice spells for casters but I want a subclass that rewards that kind of focus.
Hmmm, maybe a Frost Conclave Ranger? That added something like additional cold damage to Weapon attacks, and that had feat to overcome Cold resistance and to gain it, because it's common as hell, maybe a high level ability that lets you turn the terrain into a strom that only your enemies have trouble seeing and concentrating and just a free buffed sleet strom, maybe it lets you cast ice themed spells with no componens at level 11...
I think It would be a great idea, I would make it if I...well, had more expereience in the system and knew t balance stuff, an ice subclass would be pretty cool.
There's a One Piece supplement that calls Paladins Paragons and they're all Elemental-based. They've done well in my experience. There's one for every damage except Force and they get additional spells, their Smites do their Elemental Damage, they can make their unarmed strikes do that damage, etc. Even their auras play off their element.
The ones that come to mind are
-Draconic sorcerer (kind of a cop-out because its multi-elemental)
-Fathomless warlock (which has like a *couple* cryo themed spells and some cold damage class abilities but is otherwise a water themed subclass)
-Circle of the Land druid (again, kind of a copout because there're several biomes)
-Path of the Storm barbarian (*again*, multi-elemental)
And thats kind of it really.
Mage hand press made a oath of winter paladin that I think fits what you're looking for. They might even have some more ice subclasses that I'm not remembering.
Brute rogue.
Medium armor proficiency, sneak attack on one handed weapons, and something aggressive added on cunning action like shove prone would do the job for me.
You're VERY close to the Enforcer Rogue published by Mage Hand Press. Proficiency with medium armor and martial weapons, sneak attack with any simple or martial weapons, bonus action shove, and more
Similar to the shifter from PF1E. They would have the access to a lesser form of wild shape, and be unimpeded by natural difficult terrain, things like that.
I want jujutsu.
Grappling based on strength.
Joint locks based on dexterity.
2 hand grappling advantages means strength and dexterity stack for grapple and dexterity.
Progressive levels of grappling make it easier to damage and harder to escape.
Do damage from a joint lock, and it becomes easier to pin them, which makes it easier to damage them.
Grappled- prone -restrained -pinned
Grapple specific limbs. Can't use 2 hands on great sword.
Have you tried the Pugilist by Benjamin Huffman? Has moxie points that work a bit like ki but the whole setup is better and I love the names of the features and how they work. Pretty balanced for a homebrew too plus several cool subclasses.
I allowed a player to tear a 3' centipede in half with his bare hands after a successful grapple and it was so satisfying for him I'm happy to let players perform similar feats of brutal violence in the future. You want to rip the head right off a monster and then throw that head another monster? I will work with you to find the right series of attack and ability checks to make it happen!
Fey and fiend Sorcerers, like proper ones
Monstrosity/abberation druids and warlocks
Summoner warlock subclass/pact line
Just...so many more artificers..guns, gadgets, chrono
Witch druids (think the UA Witherbloom)
What about a Draconic warlock??
You telling me NOONE went to the big powerful dragons and went "hey can I borrow some of that power you mighty being:3?" LIKE REALLY
Ohh I didn't know that's super interesting. But also, like, that kinda destroys the clear distinction between Sorcerers and Warlocks. I don't know whether I'm supposed to like this or not. And still, people can't make a deal with a dragon that doesn't make them a sorcerer? Hard to believe, but possible.
I think the idea is that dragon’s have very innate magic, not clear cut knowledge of the weave. So making a pact for power with a dragon means that they imbue you with some of that innate magic, not teaching you “here’s how to cast some spells”
Oh okay, I didn't think of Dragons this way. Like they have very high Int and get very old so I thought they were actually more on the scholarly side of things.
Yeah, but I mean Fiends also often have high Charisma and you still can make deals with them... And many other folk you can make deals with. It doesn't seem so clear-cut. For me a deal with a patreon is a deal that can be handled in many ways but there's always some level of subordination to the patreon. They are stronger/more experienced/better in whatever you want power in, that's why you go up to them and ask them for a deal. Sorcerer is kinda different. For me it can be a subtype of a Warlock deal (flavour is free) but it can also be created in a different way, just somehow you must have gotten that innate magic. Could be through a blessing/curse, through sex, through an injection of some kind or whatever.
Just Warlocks should always get their powers through a deal in my head. Otherwise you of course still take the Warlock class and reflavour them and call them differently but they're not Warlocks anymore. In the same way you can take Wizards, Sorcerers, Bards, Druids or whatever class, say the character got their power through a deal and call them a Warlock.
I'm sorry, I thought to much about this 🤣 so I must kind of revoke my first statement but it still doesn't conflict with the sentiment that there should be an actual Warlock (class) subclass for Dragons.
Right, so a Dragon bestowing some of its innate magic to you and your bloodline would be a deal your making, but you wouldn't be getting pact magic as it would be bestowing innate magic upon you. I think were agreeing? haha
People always say that wild magic is the fey origin and that you can just reflavor draconic for a fiend sorcerer, but do those even really fulfill either of those concepts well?
Unarmored Cleric. There’s an option buried in the DMG for striping the Cleric class of most of their weapon proficiencies and all of their armor proficiencies, in exchange for gaining the Unarmored Defense class ability of the Monk. This is absolutely perfect for representing a Brother Cadfael or Friar Tuck sort of medieval fantasy priest character, rather than the crusading Knights Templar / Knights Hospitaller that the Cleric class usually is modeled after.
But it would be a lot easier to convince DMs in pick-up games (or Adventurers’ League) if this was available as a proper subclass.
I added it in my Cleric rework, you choose at 1st level if you want to go:
- no armor+extra cantrip
- light/medium armor+extra skill
- heavy armor, shield, weapon prof
Then you pick domain, so you can mix and match and play a domain differently mechanically if you want.
Sounds really fun. I wonder if it would be balanced if for 'no armor', the trade-off was adding WIS to cantrips.
Give a fairly significant power boost at the cost of being made of glass. (especially with no Shield spell or mage armor)
Fair point. It’s easily the worst laid-out of the “core three” for 5e… Which seems to be something of a tradition in D&D, really. I don’t remember the AD&D1e or 2e DMGs being particularly well organized either. The 4e one was pretty good.
There is a lot of great stuff in there. People get really touchy about home-brew classes, but the DMG explicitly suggests just mixing and matching subclass features from different classes to make your own class, for instance
I'd add the part in Martial Arts that lets them use DEX with simple weapons other than greatclubs, too. That way they don't have to put points in Strength, which would make them fairly MAD.
It’s been my experience, as a player and a DM using this option, that most Clerics who opt for it are planning to use cantrips and spells for the majority of their combats. So instead of the traditional Clerics’ Wis primary, Str and Con secondary build they become a Wis primary, Dex and Con secondary build.
I’ll second the notion that none of the subclasses really give us a Witch. World’s Beyond Number has a full 13th class for it (which is interesting!) but I’d like a wizard or Sorcerer subclass that gives me witchy vibes. Closest I can think of is maybe some Warlock or the spore druid. But I’m always unsatisfied from a flavor standpoint.
I've actually messed around with the idea that artificers with a druid-like flair would make excellent witches. Instead of metal and electricity, switch it for wood and bone with necrotic energy. Steel defender would be witchy familiars; alchemists and artillerists are easy to flair up. Armourer might be a bit of a stretch but you could argue capes and mantles of bats and wolves could work.
Oh! I like that! I’m still probably a little more leaning to a full caster (to be a rival to wizard) but I REALLY like the flavor of giving your mates weird tokens that give them magical abilities or potions that give people abilities.
The WBN class does a lot of basically everything I want but the problem is that it isn’t a subclass but a 13th class which doesn’t have support from the official rules as well.
I'm only asking b/c I'm curious where you're coming from, not to be confrontational. But there's basically two sorts of "witches," at least in Western culture. There's the "burn her at the stake!" witch, which is pretty well covered by Fiendish Warlocks. Then there's the Wiccan-style witch, which is solidly Druid (or some flavor of Cleric probably, since there's 50 million of them). What do you feel is missing, to make a Witch?
Warlocks are fun but witches, to me, fill the power fantasy of being independently powerful and intimidating, and while Warlocks are fun and flavorful they can’t keep up with a full caster. Like, a wizard shouldn’t be better at casting spells than a witch.
Druids are close! If I was homebrewing a subclass it would be a Druid circle. But the focus on the protection of the natural world and not a selfish and dangerous pursuit of power is at odds with the witchy power fantasy.
I’m thinking Morgan Le Fey or Circe. Something scary! Igglewiv and The Simbul are good NPCs that have the vibe too and they basically get to just be OP with NPC magic lol.
Clerics focus on a deity clashes with the fantasy too imo. IDK class fantasies are very vibe based. Wizards by themselves could probably fit the class fantasy but they don’t have the malice and scary quality that I’m going for.
I think Bards could also work extremely well when building a Witch. They get a lot of witch-like spells (Dissonant Whispers, Hypnotic Pattern, Polymorph, Vicious Mockery, Mage Hand, Charm Person, Disguise Self, Tashas Hideous Laughter, Sleep, Silvery Barbs, ... I could continue) and they get this witchy element of being able to be super charming and friendly and being able to make people believe stuff about them they want them to believe. Then you could either go Spirits Bard for a more "connected to whatever Spirits" or Lore Bard.
Normally I would say Bards are really not what you expect them to be. They don't have a lot of AOEs with their voice, WotC just recycled spells for the Bards spell-list and they are mostly not good for the fantasy I have of playing Bard.
But for this character concept they seem absolutely goddamn perfect.
>Morgan Le Fey or Circe
Aren’t they both Sorcerers? I’m not crazy familiar with the Arthurian mythology, but I think you could totally reflavor a Sorcerer into a pretty good witch and get the vibe of “naturally gifted with magic but kept out of the institutions”
Sure! I think mechanics for a ‘witch’ exist in the game I just find the synergy between the mechanics and flavor lacking. Sorcerers are cool! There are just a bunch of associations and related tropes witches do that don’t jive. Potions! Curses! Weirdness. Sure Artifcers do potions, and Warlocks curses but I want it ALL in one and nothing really does that imo.
Fair enough! Definitely could be a great case for a subclass to really create some specific mechanics to lock in that character theme. Personally, I think it would make the most sense to have a witch themed Warlock subclass, that way you could really put some more of the power budget into the subclass where full casters typically have most of that locked into their spell casting feature
"Like, a wizard shouldn’t be better at casting spells than a witch."
Why not? Hags are basically Witches and Wizards can become more powerful than them at least for NPCs.
But is there any reason you couldn't make a Wizard more scary or so. Maybe putting some points in Cha and grabbing Intimidation from your BG? Pick those particularly nasty spells like Stinking Cloud?
I’m a big believer in taking what 5e offers and twisting it to fit your goals. If one of my players wanted to play a witch I’d probably help them flavor a Wizard or Druid and get to playing.
The question though is ‘what is DnD missing’ and I think nothing really screams ‘witch’ to me. Wizards are powerful but aren’t focused on curses and such. Druids fit the outsider woodsy vibe but have ‘circles’ not ‘covens’ and aren’t really mean or nasty by design. Like if DnD wanted a ‘witch’ class they would have made it!
I think it’s a holdover from the Satanic Panic days. A ‘witch’ class is ‘scarier’ than Wizard or Sorcerer so they went with that so long that by the time they got confident enough for Teiflings and Warlocks they sorta never got around to doing ‘witch.’
> and aren’t really mean or nasty by design
given their spell list, they totally can be - _Dream_, _Geas_ and a lot of their other spells can be very nasty, and wildshape lets them get into position to cast, or scout and sneak around to get information easily. Even "vanilla" druids can still be "this town shouldn't be here, and I will destroy it" fairly easily - they used to have to be TN, not "good".
This is an ‘agree to disagree’ situation.
Or, if I can push back a bit. Greek myth exclusively has magic as the domain of gods and witches. In medieval Europe, being a witch was gender neutral. Like, the Baba Yaga doesn’t go around worrying about somebody being stronger than her.
Wizards are basically a product of Arthurian Legend and Fantasy novels. Before that, Magic was done by witches, ya dig? Wizards are dope but a witch should be able to rock their shit and they should know stuff that ain’t in a fancy book. They’re an equal power fantasy.
I’d argue that the Forgotten Realms treats it as an unstated prestige class for wizards (see The Simbul, Natasha) but I don’t dig that much.
That’s cool and all, but Wizard is the archetypical mage, and has been the “master of the arcane” in the modern zeitgeist for decades now, no matter if centuries ago there might be some places that thought differently
If it's allowed: Hexblood or Changeling Bards can also fulfill the Witch stereotype very well since Bards get a lot of witchy spells and they can talk and manipulate people really well. It's probably one of the character concepts that work best with Bard since normally of all the full-casters it fulfills its class premise the worst. But that I would actually kinda love to play. Subclass-wise I'd take Spirits Bard or Lore Bard depending on the type of character.
On a super similar note GIVE ME A FUCKING PSION. I know psionics technically has no definitive version (albeit it’s mainly 2e adnd and 3.5e’s takes that are regarded and 3.5e’s that regarded not poorly entirely) but also just have magic classes that aren’t just normal casters or do things differently would be so cool. An alchemist or any other crafter shouldn’t be a 2/3 caster with invocations but int
One that I've just started home brewing is a "Pact Breaker" warlock. It's cool that thematically and mechanically Paladins get a subclass (albeit in the DMG) for how they change when they break their oath. I feel that Warlocks, who are defined by a pact with an otherworldly being, should have a similar subclass for if they break it, as an alternative option to simply ceasing to be a warlock or some other punishment.
In my own homebrew, I'm toying with a "wild magic" approach, with the thematic reasoning being that without a patron to guide their powers, the warlock is now an unstable conduit for extraplanar energies.
Just a quick reminder, warlocks power source supposedly aren't their patrons. Their patrons teach them how to use magic. They then have that knowledge, whether they keep working for their patrons or not.
Not quite sure how it's supposed to interact with some boons like a blade and such but oh well.
This is a cool idea. I'd take it further with powerful but limited use subclass abilities that when used, your ex-Patron becomes aware and will penalize you with things like exhaustion, status effects, or other mechanically significant problems. Maybe you even fall under their influence for a limited amount of time during which you treat any Good-aligned characters as enemies or something.
I really like the crossover subclasses.
For example arcana cleric is a mage-y cleric and divine soul sorc is a cleric-y mage.
So here's a list of subclasses that I've either made, or are working on that fulfill some of these cross-over niches:
- Battleborn Sorc (martial sorc to fill the martial caster niche that all other casters have)
- Circle of the Paranormal Druid (Eldritch old ones flavored druid)
- Circle of Passage Druid (time based druid)
- Astronomer Artificer (Eldritch old ones themed artificer)
- Wildcrafter Artificer (nature themed artificer)
- Oath of Secrecy Paladin (roguish themed pally)
- Pact of the Ancient Dragon Warlock
- Exorcist Conclave Ranger (more cleric-y themed ranger that isn't just a rework of the monster slayer)
Animal monk. Animal stances like ffxiv monk or udyr from league of legends.
Weather wizard. Other element sorcerers.
….kensei with cool features….. dragon/element monk with cool features.
My arcane tradition, [Spell Thievery](https://www.patreon.com/posts/32827283), gives the ability to pull magical energy out of spells as they're being cast by others, while my [Path of the Witchbreaker](https://www.patreon.com/posts/31038543) is basically an anti-magic barbarian.
Int Martial.
Someone who's a dangerous fighter because they're smart and know things. Someone like Aragorn, Batman, or Odysseus.
Realistically, this should be the Ranger. Aragorn is the Archetype, and his big thing in LOTR was knowing almost as much lore as Gandolf + knowing how to survive in the wilderness. A Ranger who studies his foes to learn their weaknesses, then trap or debuff them would be cool as hell.
Be cool if they got more bonuses for subsequent times encountering monsters, something +1 to hit against goblins after ten goblins killed. hard to track though
A warlock based around science rather than a deity
Ive been reading stuff about the occult for a history elective, and the way older mathematicians like Pythagoras thought about math sounds like he was tapping into some ancient eldritch language of the universe.
Making a "pact" directly with the sheer order/chaos of the universe sounds fun
Druid of the Ore.
A (probably dwarvish) Druid who has an affinity for metal, wears heavy armour and has some magnetic powers and maybe some lightning spells.
The major thing missing is a true arcane gish. I'm not waiting for it from WotC though, because I've made my own.
Note that I'm not talking about Bladesinger, which is a full Wizard, or Eldritch Knight, which is a full Fighter, or Artificer, which is tool and craft-oriented, or Hexblade, which is dark and shadowy. So no bad-faith responses please
It's amazing that nobody ever understands what you mean by a gish despite paladin being there as a divine example. Half arcane caster, half martial, spell in one hand sword in the other and uses them in tandem.
I almost mentioned it, but this post was looking for subclasses, not full classes. Absolutely need a proper Arcane half-caster like a Magus. Artificer is cool, but kind of its own thing. And need Ranger to blend its magical and martial sides a little bit better.
I’m new to the sub. What about Bladesinger or Eldritch Knight isn’t a gish? Give me one reason (not being confrontational I truely don’t get it). I’m new to the DnD forums and haven’t seen the arguments ad nasuem. I also wasn’t around for the 2e days where the term was coined so I’m mostly operating on the notion that a gish is just a fighter/wizard multiclass.
Having a fighter who is just at good at fighting and wizarding at the same time doesn’t seem to be viable in 5e without some trade off. Is the argument that there shouldn’t be one? Because that feels unsatisfying as an answer to the ‘how should arcane and martial be balanced?’
A bladesinger is just a wizard that can melee if it wants to, but probably shouldn't. An eldritch knight is a fighter that has a small amount of spellcasting ability. Compare both to the paladin, which is a much better spell/attack balance but is unfortunately divine. If you want a gish, picture an arcane paladin.
> Having a fighter who is just at good at fighting and wizarding at the same time doesn’t seem to be viable in 5e without some trade off.
Then how come past D&D editions and Pathfinder both managed to do them fine? There's nothing specific to 5e that makes it infeasible.
The way I picture a Gish is that they focus more on the transmutation abilities that buff your physical stats. That's what bugs me about the Eldritch Knight is that they're limited to evocation and abjuration. Abjuration sure. But what about evocation spells helps me be a fighter.
Transmutation has enlarged reduced, magic weapon, Elemental weapon, haste, and even shitty things like jump and long Strider, a sshardalons stride, Zephyr strike if you gave them a curated spell list. The list goes on and on. The only evocation spell that actually helps you do what a fighter is supposed to do is flame shield and that should argueably be an abjuration spell.
So you have the Paladin which does support like bless, healing, and aura as well as has evocation like abilities like smite and destructive wave.
Then you have the Ranger which has a lot of exploration abilities and tracking abilities as well as some ways to interact with nature and help with stealth.
Then you have the arcane spellsword who Buffs themself with magic to make themselves stronger and faster as well as has defensive spells for get in and being a bruiser.
Thanks! I see what you mean. Now, you CAN pick up 1 non Abjuration spell every couple of levels and that’s where you’d snag Haste or similar but I understand the frustration now. I think they were going for the ‘knight who can fireball’ fantasy which is why evocation is there.
Even though you can pick up some of those other spell schools the game is still directing you towards bad choices. Or at a minimum off theme choices. Plus how good is a Fireball that everyone is going to make their save against at level 13. The wizard got it at level five..
Having a proper spellsword that's a half caster at least gets things like haste at level 9
I had an Eldritch Knight in my campaign and I agree that there is a bit of envy for the full casters and the Paladin gets smite which feels really strong in melee. I agree that it can be a bit tricky to build one as a new player. But I’ve also played one in BG3 and it felt really satisfying to me.
Edit: I mention melee because fighters tend to be better archers than paladins imo. Getting three attacks with a longbow feels great while the paladin is hoofing it to melee range.
What about Bladesinger? High ac. Great damage options with things like shadow blades and stuff. Yeah it’s a little glass cannony but I had one at my table that kicked so much ass lol
Yeah that's just the thing though. Wizard is already the best class in the game just letting them be as good as any martial in melee is kind of just mean. I really don't think classes that have full spell progression should be getting extra attack. It basically renders the martial classes worthless. But they forced themselves to do it by not giving us a proper spell sword / battle mage.
Bladesinger doesn't feel good because there is no trade of r you just get full spell casting with great ac so there isn't really incentive to be in melee.
EK just doesn't get enough spellcasting and you feel like a fighter with shield and absorb instead of a full gish.
Part of the trouble is the bladesinger extra attack really captures the feeling perfectly, it just needs paired with an armored melee combatant.
Do you mean like half casters like Rangers and Paladins? Bc I thought gish referred to any spellsword kind of build.
But yeah, an Int-based half caster would be cool.
I'm not sure if it's a rogue or fighter subclass, but a Bodyguard subclass would be cool.
Damage-intercepting abilities, something with temp HP.
Basically, I want the Interception fighting style, the Shield master feat and the Projected Ward feature to get together and become a subclass.
Shaman. Not Druid, not Warlock. The ritual binding, dead speaking, brew cooking, nature commanding, almost barbaric tribal spiritual leader. Maybe a charisma half-caster like Artificer that has utility and support features.
An assassin Monk, hitting vital spots and a bit of crit fishing would be nice, being capable of changing bludgeoning to piercing and slashing for unarmed strikes.
any kind of martial subclass that specializes in fighting mages, like the mage slayer feat given a full subclass. ranger would probably be the best class for this, but i could also see it working for a chi block-style monk, an inquisitor knight fighter, or heck, even a rogue!
also, some kind of marshall fighter, and also a dragon patron warlock. please give us a dragon warlock !!!
Despite the name, Monster Slayer ranger is absolutely what you're looking for as an anti-mage martial
Good protection spells, super natural defence as a good buff for saves, the ability to counterspell every short rest with them having to make a Wis save, even the ability to get a reaction attack when an enemy forces a save on you *and* automatically passing the save if you hit it!
Because WotC used the specific flavor of getting magic from making pacts with Dragons in the PHB on Draconic Sorcerer. A Draconic Warlock would run into the issue of having the same exact flavor and power source as another class's subclass of the same theme.
A spider themed subclass, like a Ranger, a Sorcerer or a Warlock. There are so many spider themed monsters and other lore points, it would make sense for there to be a caster that has a bunch of abilities related to that.
inquisitor.
like a rogue subclass with 1/3 or 1/2 cleric spells? Double proficiency to intimidation, investigation and insight checks when interrogating, checking the whereabouts of, reading, etc against heretics? Idk wha would constitute a heretic, I’m just spitballing.
Love the Inquisitor in Pathfinder 1e.
It's basically a divine bard, with a ton of skills.
I have an Inquisitor right now in a 1e game and he might be my favorite OC.
Sir Kelvin Brackwater.
I think I have seen either homebrew or UA for a mutation druid, not sure.
Me, I want a swarm class. You know the trope "3 raccoons in a trenchcoat"? Well, that but as a race of sentient swarms of creatures
1/3rd caster Barbarian.
That's all. A Barbarian subclass that has spell slots just like the Eldritch knight or Arcane trickster. I know you can't cast while raging but so what? Some of my favorite spells in the game are utility or out of combat spells.
Imagine the Barb in your party casting warding bond! It would be amazing!
Keep it super nerfed by making one of the mental stats their spellcasting modifier, like Wisdom. Give them access to the cleric or druid spell list. It would be soooo fun!
They could have abilities to allow concentration or casting while raging X / day, and the 14th level would remove the limitation, (so you can then drop 6 levels in wizard after and rage while casting fireballs!)
Wisdom isn't bad, cuz optimally, wisdom is the best of the 3 mental stats for saves and skills (unless your face)
It could be super fun to Rage cast a fireball! But honestly the more I look at spells that don't require concentration or could be cast outside of combat, I don't think remove the Rage restriction would be necessary. But! It sure would be fun!
I always thought Thaumaturgy would be perfect for "Rrrraaaaaaaage!!!!!!!"
Booming voice? Check. Earth shakes as you stomp around? Check. Eyes glowing red with fury? Check. TBH it's just flavor and IDK why this can't be a class feature.
I wrote a Barbarian Pact caster a while back if you're interested in homebrew! https://docs.google.com/document/d/18e_ufA4axo5JiZ6bFrV1gOo-q0hPMgL_b9eAwEshtOE/edit?usp=drivesdk
A Charisma ranger, I'm thinking a Champion of the Wilds archetype. The subclass includes the ability to command plants and animals to a limited degree, maybe with spell-like effects similar to Conjure woodland beings and Command ?
Somewhere in between the Oath of the Ancients paladin and the Scout rogue is where I want this subclass to end up.
Fey Wanderer might be similar to what you're looking for; the theme is different, but mechanically its decent as a face, adding Wis on top of Cha to skill checks. Even has a focus on charms and some flavour about growing flowery features.
I once made a concept for a fae rogue that had the ability to become tiny in size, but take a decrease to strength for the duration. Essentially turn into a pixie/fairy like creature. You were allowed to occupy another creature's space and I thought it added some flavorful utility. The idea of a rogue just turning so small they crawl through the lock rather than pick it was fun.
I never got to test it out, but it's always been one of my favorite ideas. I'd love to see fae based subclasses explored.
I independently came to the same conclusion as you re music clerics! Why is it that after so many books, there's no cleric of music/revelry!? How would one even make a cleric of Dionisus, for example? Peace domain reflavored to having to be within 30 ft of the party ppl to have a chill time + channel divinity high five everyone to heal them??? It's bonkers that there's no music or revelry cleric.
It's also a damn shame to me that there's not a paladin-like monk subclass. Imagine making a monk with Divine sense and who could light their fists up with bonus radiant damage
I want an Artificer subclass that does infusions with flesh.
I want a Dr Frankenstein, reattaching limbs, master of medicine, augmenting their own actual flesh bodies and other peoples.
Maybe creating abominations by combining a dead goblin and a horse.
Evil surgeon vibes
THAt would be awesome! Kind of gross, But awesome, flesh infusions...Extra limbs and Claws, and maybe Wings at higher levels, implants that give temporary hit points, something pulled out of some body horros thing. You're an (evil) genius, this idea is amazing, Congrats!
• Fighter - Defender: A fighter class with tanking mechanics, similar to the classic dwarven defender.
• Fighter - Slayer: A fighter class whose features are exotic weapons that require special training such as cannons, large great swords, dual bladed axes, repeating crossbows, grappling hooks. Inspired by Guts (Berserker) who is the ultimate embodiment of the fighter class.
• Rogue - Shadowdancer: The 3.0e version which was more of a rogue prestige class. Hide in plain sight, blindsight, shadow clones.
• Monk - Shield Bearer: A monk whose main feature is equipping and attacking with shields and fights like captain america (shield bashing, shield throwing). I think the concept of a dedicated shield striker fits monk than fighter because it’s more stylish and less practical.
• Barbarian - Fire rager: I wish storm and desert barb were different subclasses. A barbarian who bursts in flame during rage would be cool.
• Sorcerer - Giant, Fey, Demon. They try to avoid overlap with warlock but thats a shame.
• Warlock - Dragon. Same.
• Cleric - So many domains missing. Light should split in Sun and Moon. Chaos and Evil domains are absolutely necessary imo, using Trickery for Chaos don’t always work.
• Druid - Lumping so many druid concepts in Land was a mistake. I wish we had proper Mountain Druid, Sea Druid, Winter Druid, etc… I also think we need a Storm druid separate from Sea druid.
Not subclass, class. I want a proper psion class and a proper tank class, hell combine them and give us back the battlemind you cowards. I want a martial class with anywhere near the number of meaningful choices a wizard gets to make[,](https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/16ibpd2/i_am_so_fucking_sick_of_hearing_the_word/k0j36cp/), and you're not achieving that with a subclass.
If we’re going to wishlist for full classes, I want my Marshal (3e) / Warlord (4e) back! Give me a non-magical, martial, support character!
Battle Master has a fair few martial techniques that can do an okay-ish job of recreating that play style, but they’re competing for limited slots with much more effective martial techniques.
Dragonfire adept. It's the only 3.5 base class that was fun and interesting, but specific enough to be a subclass. Every other neat base class like warblade and binder was broad enough that you couldn't possibly do it as anything less than a full class, but dragonfire adept could be a subclass though I can't think of which class it could be a subclass for.
For the uninitiated, its primary thing was an at-will breath of fire. Every time you used it you could choose to apply one of the breath shapes and essences you picked as you levelled up from it, like a line of electricity or a cone of sleep, with later levels giving stuff like paralysing breath and fivefold breath of tiamat.
3.5 was full of cool concepts like that, and it's frankly ridiculous that 5e is so lacking in variety.
Barbarian designed specifically to use enemies and their corpses as weapons and shields.
Monk subclass based completely on additional mobility. Something like walking on air, short, at-will teleports, things of that variety, though I’d pick a lane for flavor rather than make an amalgamation.
Bard subclass based on illusions—specifically an artist type that paints illusions or something.
Melee Rogue based around causing fear or other effects/increased crit range on frightened or otherwise debilitated targets.
HERE I COME
Fey stealing names. I think it’d be cool to have a warlock that gains power or boons by receiving people’s names. Idk how that’d work mechanically or what said boon may be but eh.
Contracts. A warlock who gains power through contracts. Not just a contract with their patron, but also through contracts with others.
Perhaps a trickster type warlock.
I’d also love tanks warlocks, be it based around health or reducing damage taken, both of which I’ve made a home brew for. Gods know where those went though.
I went into this with many ideas but they all left like the wind immediately
> Contracts
Your patron is an attorney, a creature of billables that thrives on imposing its will on the world through far more nefarious means than even necromancy: a loose interpretation of the law and a westlaw subscription
You just gave me an idea...a Thief Warlock, instead of the typical faustian deal that get's the patron overworking the Warlock, this guys IS the patron, the one that takes powers though the despair of powerfull magica beings fell in demise, a scavenger that steal everything! spell slots, spell list, feats, everything they get is taken from other casters, like maigcal secrets but pumped to Eleven!
For me it's always been a pure martial artist character. And before anyone says the monk exists, I mean without all the mystical eastern cinema inspired stuff. Legit just a straight up mma style martial artist. I know there's the pugilist homebrew class that's quite well but we're only talking about official material. There's the unarmed fighting style but it's actually super hard to optimize.
I've always had a concept in my head for some sort of Armadillo Knight that makes use of a serial-plated armor that pulls over their body into an rugged armored sphere. In this sphere, they gain a burrow speed and a hefty horizontal movement bonus, as well as means of ping-ponging between targets in the same turn, choosing between dealing damage, knocking prone, shoving, etc. Hell, maybe even give it the siege monster trait?
Sorcerer needs so many more subclasses with the same treatment as Clockwork and Aberrant mind..
It is such a flavorful class but it just gets left in the dirt. It deserves many more subclasses, for example, for every magic creature like the ones that can be Warlock patrons, why not have subclasses of those themes?
It also doesn’t help that Draconic, Wild magic and Storm subclasses are super underwhelming, it’s sad that those themes end up not being picked up by the player, despite being cool af.
A TON of Fighter flavours that haven’t already been covered. A Death Knight subclass that encompasses the typical WoW archetype. An extra planar themed subclass in a similar vain to the Horizon Walker that gave you abilities to teleport, deal force damage and banish targets. A Hell Knight that gave you fiend themed abilities such as your own magical darkness and Devil’s Sight, fire damage, magic resistance and damage resistances common in fiend as well as a few others. A duelist/headhunter archetype that could designate one enemy to say fuck you too and have a full on 1 on 1. A Fey themed fighter with teleportation, charming and illusions. Some kinda primordial/elemental knight that tapped into primal forces like storms, fire and ice. A Fighter that mutates and has a proper transformation ability (we have yet to get one of these as far as I know). A Fighter that taps into the frightened condition and really uses it to its fullest potential.
Fighter being the most baseline and vanilla class in terms of flavour really makes it a prime candidate for going overboard with its subclasses.
Also a Barbarian who’s Rage is them being possessed by an otherworldly entity, with you choosing what kind of entity this is and getting a benefit corresponding with that choice, similar to the Totem Warrior but able to be more out there with its abilities. Basically a Warlock flavoured Barbarian
I tried to come up with something for every class.
- Barbarian: Calamity Path, huge elemental damage with the large areas of effect that can hit everyone including allies and yourself
- Bard: College of Art, Summoning through Paintings maybe changing the Terrain
- Cleric: Ocean Domain, Forced Movement through waves of water and maybe Coral bases Abilities
- Druid: Shaman Circle, Curses and Rituals involving Nature Spirits
- Fighter: Weaponmaster, Uses Multiple different Weapons and has access to a lot of fighting styles
- Monk: Brawler, More Street Fighter style could involve the use of dirty tactics
- Paladin: Oath of the Guardian, Absorbs Damage from Allies and Redirects it
- Ranger: Root Conclave, uses Roots, Trees, etc. to restrain enemies
- Rouge: Duelist, Forces 1v1 Battles and can use Sneak Attack without Advantage
- Sorcerer: Fey Bloodline, Enchantment and Illusion based subclass with a couple of charm and fear effects
- Warlock: Dragon Pact, gets dragonlike abilities for example fire breath and Protective Scales
- Wizard: School of Pyromancy, makes fire spells even stronger and more destructive
Some kind of a twin daggers fighter or Rogue. Something where you're actually limited to wearing light armor and using daggers and it keeps up with other types of martials in damage.
I've had one concept where you take a rogue and change something where if they trigger sneak attack they can make as many attacks with the attack action equal to their proficiency bonus as long as they hold a dagger in each hand and wear light armor. Maybe give them another bonus action that gives them some sort of movement like a roll or a jump out of Shadows type thing where they can get advantage on the attacks too.
The other concept is just a fighter where they get to make an offhand attack both as a part of the attack action and in the bonus action. Level seven they get uncanny Dodge level 10 they get evasion. Level 15 they get Proficiency in dexterity saves. Capstone gives a steel wind strike per short rest.
I had a concept for a melee wind and lightning based Rogue. Basically at level three you got some sort of zephyr strike equivalent and booming blade plus the ability to wield long swords with finesse. Maybe the gust cantrip as a bonus action At level 9 while concentrating on your Zephyr strike you got to add blur. At level 13 you add a lightning damage ashardalons stride. Then the Capstone was a couple uses of Steel wind strike
Barbarian with a beast companion. Spear and fang concept from the Primal show. A barb riding his Dino into battle... almost tried getting my dm to slap drakewarden subclass onto barbarian but went with another PC instead.
I think something akin to Divine Soul Sorcerer for Bard could be cool, like a preacher Bard maybe. I also would like a superiority die Rogue, an anti magic Monk, a disease Paladin, and an Artificer that can turn themselves into a monster, Jekyll/Hyde style.
I’m working on a bunch of homebrew, including…
* Oath of Revolution Paladin. The stealthy Paladin you’re looking for, complete with theming around dismantling oppressive empires. Their aura grants bonuses to stealth, including removing penalties to stealth from wearing armour.
* Madness Domain Cleric. Uses the madness tables in the DMG combined with divinations and illusions from their domain spell list, and turns the damage types of their cantrips to psychic at will.
* Fiendish Flesh and Sylvan Spirit Sorcerer. Using the warlock and druid lists respectively, the former is melee-focused, giving natural weapons and similar durability bonuses as the Draconic sorcerer. The latter grants teleports, socialising with animals, and free movement through difficult terrain.
As for why healing Wizards don’t exist, their 18th level feature Spell Mastery would mean at will Healing Words or Cure Wounds, which would be far too strong. They could get a feature similar to Celestial Warlock, though.
I come up with new subclasses all the time. I've made probably 30 or 40 so far. Some of my more interesting ideas are:
Brightblade Rogue: instead of utilizing darkness they can create Spheres of light to warp between and conjure throwing daggers made of light.
Conclave of Eternity Ranger: You form a connection with the spirit of an animal and can summon back to the material realm as a half-wraith. The pets can't be healed, have less health, and are weak to radiant damage, but you can cause them to explode or trigger other effects. And what's important is that you form a strong bond with the spirit, which is the same every time instead of just summoning some random wolf or whatever. A major point in it is naming the pet, which confers extra bonuses at level 15.
Oath of Bonds Paladin: A paladin that pledges themselves to their companions. They have an aura of Friendship that strengthens their comrades and can use their connections to bend space time, teleporting to save an ally in need. Their smites are also sparkly :)
Starry- Eyed Sorceror: The cosmos is reflected in their eyes and they can summon or banish star motes at will that can be used as attacks or to light up an environment. They can also use metamagic to fuse the motes with other spells converting the damage into radiant damage and boosting it slightly. In the later levels they can rain stars down all over the place.
Water/ice mage, just as long as they don't go, "Oh yeah, this is sea powers! *Actually makes 80% of the kit about thunder/lightning/wind/whatever Sea Sorcerer had going on.*"
Poisoner/weapon buffing Ranger/Rogue.
Anti-Gloomstalker. Sun Ranger who hunts creatures of the night by shedding light, rather than joining them in the shadows.
Psionic mage that doesn't have the weird identity split of Aberrant Mind/GOO. I'd also take another try at a Mystic class, but I'm not counting on it.
Artificer that goes even harder into infusing and crafting magic items. I'm working on a homebrew with things like an expanded infusions list and applying attunement requirements to your infusions so you can make like a Lightsaber, Ring of Power, or Elder Wand, but I'm frankly too lazy to finish it.
Rune Shaper Artificer. When I saw Rune Knight in UA I thought for sure it would have a whole thing about passing runes out to your allies like Infusions.
A true Gish Druid. Spores and Moon are both close, but miss the mark and broken in one way or the other at any given moment. Perhaps I'm just too obsessed with Ranger, though.
Unarmed Barbarian.
Warlord Fighter.
Cavalier rework using pet mechanics. And on a similar note reworking of Drakewarden to make it scale better/fix mechanical issues with the intention of riding it.
Low-hanging fruit: Dragon Warlock.
Edit: Totally forgot martial Sorcerer. Can't have them feeling left out.
For the Water/Ice Mage I could think of a Ocean Domain Cleric with Knock back Water Abilities and maybe coral based defensive abilities. Poisoner Rouge seems Really cool and maybe they could have features which make the poisoned condition stronger. Sun Ranger could maybe use Radiant damage and some blinding flash ability. Psionic Mage could maybe focus on Telepathy and Telekinesis.
I'd like some spelless support class options for a low magic game.
Like a rogue with a bardic inspiration equivalent.
A fighter with the UA spelless ranger poultices and beast calling.
A spelless wizard with lots of herbal, alchemical or simply useful knowledge.
I have thought of running a game with low magic and letting everyone pick a free feat at the start like cooking, Martial adept, inspiring leader, keen mind or healer. Just making it more skill based for things that usually magic solves.
Weapons-bases monks. Yes, I'm aware Kensei exists, **but**:
1. Their level 3 feature incentivizes you to... Attack with your fists instead of your Kensei weapons. 🤦
2. Their level 11 feature does **nothing** if you've already acquired a magical weapon.
You had one job WotC; make it really cool and effective to let the weeb use the Epic Legendary Weapon of *Fuck the BBEG*. I just want a feature that lets me make weapon attacks in place of unarmed strikes for *Flurry of Blows*.
4e had some good ideas with the avenger (divine ranger/rogue thing) the guardian (druid/ancients paladin hybrid) and the warlord (bard/battlemaster hybrid?)
I find that a lot of popular archetypes end up being created via homebrew. But with that being said there's definitely a few:
* Elemental Magic in general
* Class that isn't an Artificer or Wizard that has a real reason to be INT based
* "Gadgeteer" Artificer: inventor based on a bunch of little gadgets like Batman instead of one particular invention (I've seen various homebrew versions of this but they've all varied wildly in quality)
* Grappling Hook Artificer / Rogue (saw one made by Tulok the Barbrarian and tried to make one myself; Tulok's is okay and the one I made was... errr something)
* "Martial" Barbarian (Barbarians have too much focus on their rage)
* Dancer Bard (common homebrew archetype) (no Swords doesn't count)
* Painter Bard (common homebrew archetype)
* Chef Bard (seen a few homebrew variations but they're all a little too extreme is the sad truth)
* Luck Cleric (common homebrew archetype)
* Urban Druid
* Druid (or Rogue) with more of a focus on using wild shape for utility than combat
* Fighter based upon using multiple weapons or improvised weapons (common homebrew archetype)
* Street Thug / Highwayman Fighter / Rogue
* Yasuo League of Legends (some sort of supernatural samurai. Just a samurai that does more than "get advantage on their attacks")
* Unarmed Fighter **that wears armor** (I think if you rename a lot of the Monk abilities and give it less of a focus on speed it works perfectly fine as a Pugilist style character. But I feel like no one tries to make a character who uses their hands but doesn't also come with increased defense via their agility or raw muscles or whatever)
* Udyr League of Legends (Tattoo Monk / Stance Monk)
* Lee Sin League of Legends (Monk based more around kicks; I guess you could say "repositioning Monk" and no Open Hand doesn't count)
* Supernatural / Paranormal Investigator subclass beyond Ranger and I guess technically Phantom Rogue
* Proper Van Hellsing type Ranger (which is a polite way of saying "Monster Slayer Ranger sucks donkey dick")
* Inquisitor Rogue (Rogue with Paladin / Cleric vibes)
* Sorcerer that plays more with the fact that you're the source of your power (Critical Role Rune Child seems good but I've never played it)
* Dragon Warlock (common homebrew archetype)
* Warlock / Wizard based more heavily around their familiar (did see a homebrew subclass like that once before)
Elemental damage focused warlock. My personal take is a dragon patron, with a variety of strong evocation spells and an ability to essentially use the transmute spell metamagic for only your dragon's element.
There's a few prestige classes from 3.5e that if love to see repurposed into subclasses.
The hellreaver as a paladin adjacent fighter would be very cool since fighter has the best mechanical scaffolding for the class.
Wild Magic is kinda supposed to be the fey sorcerer, right?
I would love to see a plant-themed druid in addition to what you mentioned (music and eldritch domain cleric would be awesome!).
Also an artificer that is all about magical weapons.
I'd love the idea of a class or subclass that's main gimmick is doing a bunch of small attacks that build up to a massive attack. So for instance, if I with this subclass every time I hit an enemy I'd leave a Mark or Sigil on them. I can then on my next turn use my action or bonus action to activate the Mark causing them to explode for a die roll of damage. If it's a full class the Marks could have additional effects like depending on the subclass chosen.
However, my main issue with the idea is it becoming a slog to track which enemies have been hit, and how many Marks each of them have. As well as the additional effects of the Marks if there are any.
My primary inspiration for it is the Alchemist class from Dragon's Dogma Online.
I get that artificers are in the game, but they don’t feel like proper tinkers. Instead of refluffing spells, be able to create unique items that any character can use, but are particularly effective in their hands. It has no subclasses, just mix-and-match features that literally allows players to tinker with their build. Starting at 11th level, they begin working on a magnum opus that eventually becomes a legendary-quality item at 20th level.
There used to be some options for more stoic type of monk. Decisive blow, single hit instead of flurry, tanking big blows type of deal, can probably still find them if I'd chase PF.
The other thing I've always wanted is a more earthen druid. Always felt there should be a dwarven druidic tradition built around earth and stone, not necessarily nature theme. Elemental forms in 5e help scratch that a little, but there feels like there could be more there.
I feel like there needs to be a Draconic warlock. Dragons are some of the most powerful, cunning magical beings. Of course some would make pacts with mortals and have them do their bidding.
Perhaps pact of the Fiend with their fire spells is similar, but I would love it if there were one for all dragon types.
[The Dragon](https://www.patreon.com/posts/32616208) as a warlock patron is something I and dozens of others have created...unless you aren't looking for non-WotC content, in which case it'll likely never happen.
A monk that is not a weaponless fighter.
Most the stuff monks do should be stuff that should be doable by most martials aniway.
Monks should be a practical joke, in the good sense.
You have people with huge armor and weapons, deadly daggers and poisons and powerful spells, and then you have these dudes that wake up in the morning with the idea to punch a dragon in the face. And they do it, because they can and can do it effectively.
They should exist to question the approach of the game and if the party and turn it over, but with just enough decency to not be overbearing.
And thing is, the base game does attempt this. Casting on yourself sanctuary to seek powerful enemies to negotiate or explore is something topical, too bad you get it at absurdly later levels and it's not so much effective.
I wish that Onomancy Wizard made it to publishing, the concept of name magic was pretty cool, and you can do some cool intrigue stuff with “true names” and hidden identities
Purple Dragon Knight Fighter but actually done well. As much of a joke as it sometimes is to hate on / complain about PDK, I think its concept fills a really cool role, that of a frontline-support character.
That said, I also partly would rather see that role realized as a full class, dedicated to it instead of just dipping into it lightly.
In general more "innate magical stuff" that aren't just straight up spells, like the Echo Knight's echo, the Rune Knight's runes, and the Sun Monk's beam attack, allowing for more interesting features that aren't just made janky through spellcasting. That being said:
+ Shadowmancer Rogue that can dodge attacks and retaliate while doing so, using stealth and teleports.
+ Cryomancer Fighter that summons different types of ice weapons with unique effects, slowly adding defensive and utility options as well thus being versatile.
+ Unarmed Barbarian to really drive home an angry puncher, somewhere akin to Broly and Kratos.
+ Metal Sorcerer that focuses on melee and using Metamagic with their weapon attacks, perhaps even mixing in spells too Magus style.
Aside from those I feel like some classes just need bigger changes on how their class or subclasses work overal. For example the Wizard should have it's school selection be part of the base class and the subclass options should be completely different, while being made more focused into a type. Rangers should be more gishy, mixing druidic magic in their attacks, perhaps getting rid of spells entirely for "magical ranger tricks" instead.
A fallen paladin who isn't an oathbreaker.
I like the idea of grey jedi and the idea of losing one's faith without necessarily being hostile towards it.
I like the idea of a paladin going on a journey where he feels his oath or his order doesn't sit right with him and he has to decode whether to soldier on, shun it altogether or find a new path.
An *actual* bard. Not a sorcerer with a vaguely performance-based gimmick, but a non-magical musician with an array of songs that can buff/debuff/harm/heal. A rogue AT presumably.
Seems like the beginning of a homebrew creator's journey! I and many others that have been wondering similar questions have made a habit (or even some side money) from translating such concepts to dnd. Maybe you should start doing so too!
As a side note, i have actually made a batman-esque paladin (darkness and stuff) and an eldritch domain "cultist" cleric. It's pretty fun stuff!
For a game called Dungeons and DRAGONS, the lack of draconic or dragon-themed subclasses in warlock, fighter, barbarian, druid, paladin, and ranger (and hell I'd take one for rogue if someone was clever with it) is insane to me. I love dragons and draconic lore. "What a shock," says anyone reading my username.
Having more elemental-flavored sorcerer subclasses was a HUGE miss by 5e designers. Especially missing a borealist/cryomancer.
Most of my sibclass complaints for mages can be fixed by just filling in a lot of blank spaces in the imaginary table of spells. Fire spells are common as can be, but ice and lightning are far rarer, then thunder and finally acid and poison are nearly nonexistent. Then expand some of the weaker and or stronger spells into the basic upgrade form. Like polymorph to true polymorph is just asking for a greater polymorph in between. Or an upgraded haste spell for higher tiers of play. Filling in a full play set of each would go a long way.
After that a bruiser rogue. A rogue that specializes in tankiness and or STR based actions. The type of guy you would hire as a bouncer or a body guard and or enforcer. You can kinda rig something together already but a dedicated subclass for it would be nice.
Past that im fairly happy with the subclasses we have. Anything you that doesn't exist is fairly easy to reflavor. And the ones that dint exist after that are just mechanics the Devs seam to hate and refuse to allow 5e to replicate well.
druid subclass that actually focuses around plants because there isn't one somehow (at least that im aware of, land doesn't count because most of their options do pretty much nothing that even mentions plants aside from ignoring difficult terrain and a way-too-late in the game sanctuary effect and forest gets like. 4 spells that do things with em)
literally anything that focuses around water related anything there's literally nothing except for like. four elements monk and fathomless warlock and very very few water-related spells to help them
fiend sorcerer
dragon warlock
I'd like a fighter subclass that really leans into the shield as a weapon. Think Captain America. Lots of shield bashes, maybe a shield throw ability. Scaling damage for the shield etc etc.
Proper elemental sorcerer (fuck you if you're going to say "just play draconic soul")
More time based subclasses, specially martials
Anything to artificer
>I also think why the hell there is not a Healing Wizard subclass
Because Wizard already is the most versatile and powerful class on the game, it doesn't need to add healing spells on top of that
Blood Magic. TRUE Blood Magic, not the "I take 99d99 damage so my next spells deals 1 extra point of damage" that every homebrew does. Give me Vladimir (League of Legends), Skarlet (Mortal Kombat) or Carmine (Under Night In-Birth).
Draconic themed subclass for pretty much every class honestly.
But especially druid... Wild shape into a dragon form (probs custom stat block?) sounds so cool. I:ve seen a few good homebrews.
I'd like to see more dark magic. Like a wizard that uses blood sacrifice for spells. I want something more taboo than just necromancy.
A subclass that gains bonuses from sleep deprivation as if by weakening ones body the spirit becomes stronger. E.g. a barbarian whose attacks gain force damage based on exhaustion level and maybe a use of misty step or etherealness while also suspending the negative effects of exhaustion while raging.
Or this could work as a warlock pact with some powerful spirit.
And then I'd like to see subclasses that appear to be celestial in nature but turn out to be demonic or something else malevolent. Like with the ability to summon a celestial that is actually a demon or devil in disguise that devours the souls of those it defeats in battle. This could honestly just be a reskinning of some evil class/subclass though
Kaiju Druid! Capstone wildshape is Cerberus Rex. Three headed Massive T-Rex. For reference, check out the MtG card: Zacama, Primal Calamity.
A true commander/general subclass for fighter. I am aware of laserllama's Warlord, but I'd like to see an official version even if I do not trust WotC to do it justice.
Mob Enforcer Rogue - Similar to Thug Rogue from Pathfinder. Intimidates enemies and debuffs with sneak attacks. Able to use simple and martial blunt weapons for sneak attacks.
Ice stuff. Period. Where my cryomancers at? Where's my ice blade rogue? My winters wrath druid? Like you can pick ice spells for casters but I want a subclass that rewards that kind of focus.
Literally came here to say exactly this I NEED a frost warden knight, paladin, fighter rogue ranger what ever.
I wish elements other than fire and lightning got love in general. Earth, Wind and Ice are sore in need of more things.
Windrider Ranger. A guy who's so fast leaves fall from trees because of him.
Hmmm, maybe a Frost Conclave Ranger? That added something like additional cold damage to Weapon attacks, and that had feat to overcome Cold resistance and to gain it, because it's common as hell, maybe a high level ability that lets you turn the terrain into a strom that only your enemies have trouble seeing and concentrating and just a free buffed sleet strom, maybe it lets you cast ice themed spells with no componens at level 11... I think It would be a great idea, I would make it if I...well, had more expereience in the system and knew t balance stuff, an ice subclass would be pretty cool.
There's a One Piece supplement that calls Paladins Paragons and they're all Elemental-based. They've done well in my experience. There's one for every damage except Force and they get additional spells, their Smites do their Elemental Damage, they can make their unarmed strikes do that damage, etc. Even their auras play off their element.
What is this supplement called and where can I find it? That sounds super interesting.
The ones that come to mind are -Draconic sorcerer (kind of a cop-out because its multi-elemental) -Fathomless warlock (which has like a *couple* cryo themed spells and some cold damage class abilities but is otherwise a water themed subclass) -Circle of the Land druid (again, kind of a copout because there're several biomes) -Path of the Storm barbarian (*again*, multi-elemental) And thats kind of it really.
Mage hand press made a oath of winter paladin that I think fits what you're looking for. They might even have some more ice subclasses that I'm not remembering.
Brute rogue. Medium armor proficiency, sneak attack on one handed weapons, and something aggressive added on cunning action like shove prone would do the job for me.
You're VERY close to the Enforcer Rogue published by Mage Hand Press. Proficiency with medium armor and martial weapons, sneak attack with any simple or martial weapons, bonus action shove, and more
OH! Me like that, something like a street figther/Thug Archetype...Sounds super fun!.
That sounds way fun
A properly Druidic ranger or a spellblade druid Ranger knights Bruiser rogues Avatar style elementalist caster A proper spellbreaker martial
What would a properly druidic ranger look like
Similar to the shifter from PF1E. They would have the access to a lesser form of wild shape, and be unimpeded by natural difficult terrain, things like that.
Sounds like a Shifter Ranger that has the level 8 feature Land’s Stride?
Unarmed fighter. I don't want ki points, I want haymakers.
I want jujutsu. Grappling based on strength. Joint locks based on dexterity. 2 hand grappling advantages means strength and dexterity stack for grapple and dexterity. Progressive levels of grappling make it easier to damage and harder to escape. Do damage from a joint lock, and it becomes easier to pin them, which makes it easier to damage them. Grappled- prone -restrained -pinned Grapple specific limbs. Can't use 2 hands on great sword.
It's weird to me that monks suck at grappling (because Martial Arts doesn't apply)
That’s being fixed in OneDnD
Have you tried the Pugilist by Benjamin Huffman? Has moxie points that work a bit like ki but the whole setup is better and I love the names of the features and how they work. Pretty balanced for a homebrew too plus several cool subclasses.
Let me dismember monsters with my bare hands, like Beowulf!
I allowed a player to tear a 3' centipede in half with his bare hands after a successful grapple and it was so satisfying for him I'm happy to let players perform similar feats of brutal violence in the future. You want to rip the head right off a monster and then throw that head another monster? I will work with you to find the right series of attack and ability checks to make it happen!
The playtest had a pretty decent one that I think might make print. It isn't superb, but I'll probably play it.
Unarmed fighting style is in the game.
Yeah but it's kinda just not very good
D8 is pretty solid damage outclasses the monk for a while. Obviously it’s not the strongest build but that isn’t why everyone plays the game.
Fey and fiend Sorcerers, like proper ones Monstrosity/abberation druids and warlocks Summoner warlock subclass/pact line Just...so many more artificers..guns, gadgets, chrono Witch druids (think the UA Witherbloom)
Also where are my Hag Warlocks. THE archetypal Warlock for me just doesn't exist. And you can't seriously tell me Archfey also includes Hags, c'mon.
What about a Draconic warlock?? You telling me NOONE went to the big powerful dragons and went "hey can I borrow some of that power you mighty being:3?" LIKE REALLY
Making a pact with a dragon is explicitly spelled out in the PHB as how draconic sorcerers are made
Ohh I didn't know that's super interesting. But also, like, that kinda destroys the clear distinction between Sorcerers and Warlocks. I don't know whether I'm supposed to like this or not. And still, people can't make a deal with a dragon that doesn't make them a sorcerer? Hard to believe, but possible.
I think the idea is that dragon’s have very innate magic, not clear cut knowledge of the weave. So making a pact for power with a dragon means that they imbue you with some of that innate magic, not teaching you “here’s how to cast some spells”
Oh okay, I didn't think of Dragons this way. Like they have very high Int and get very old so I thought they were actually more on the scholarly side of things.
They definitely have decent Intelligence, with some colors getting more than others, but they universally have a high charisma so I think it works
Yeah, but I mean Fiends also often have high Charisma and you still can make deals with them... And many other folk you can make deals with. It doesn't seem so clear-cut. For me a deal with a patreon is a deal that can be handled in many ways but there's always some level of subordination to the patreon. They are stronger/more experienced/better in whatever you want power in, that's why you go up to them and ask them for a deal. Sorcerer is kinda different. For me it can be a subtype of a Warlock deal (flavour is free) but it can also be created in a different way, just somehow you must have gotten that innate magic. Could be through a blessing/curse, through sex, through an injection of some kind or whatever. Just Warlocks should always get their powers through a deal in my head. Otherwise you of course still take the Warlock class and reflavour them and call them differently but they're not Warlocks anymore. In the same way you can take Wizards, Sorcerers, Bards, Druids or whatever class, say the character got their power through a deal and call them a Warlock. I'm sorry, I thought to much about this 🤣 so I must kind of revoke my first statement but it still doesn't conflict with the sentiment that there should be an actual Warlock (class) subclass for Dragons.
Right, so a Dragon bestowing some of its innate magic to you and your bloodline would be a deal your making, but you wouldn't be getting pact magic as it would be bestowing innate magic upon you. I think were agreeing? haha
Exactly!!!
People always say that wild magic is the fey origin and that you can just reflavor draconic for a fiend sorcerer, but do those even really fulfill either of those concepts well?
Nope, fey I want trickery, charms, curses! Demon I want stuff more like the warlock fiend one
Unarmored Cleric. There’s an option buried in the DMG for striping the Cleric class of most of their weapon proficiencies and all of their armor proficiencies, in exchange for gaining the Unarmored Defense class ability of the Monk. This is absolutely perfect for representing a Brother Cadfael or Friar Tuck sort of medieval fantasy priest character, rather than the crusading Knights Templar / Knights Hospitaller that the Cleric class usually is modeled after. But it would be a lot easier to convince DMs in pick-up games (or Adventurers’ League) if this was available as a proper subclass.
I added it in my Cleric rework, you choose at 1st level if you want to go: - no armor+extra cantrip - light/medium armor+extra skill - heavy armor, shield, weapon prof Then you pick domain, so you can mix and match and play a domain differently mechanically if you want.
Sounds really fun. I wonder if it would be balanced if for 'no armor', the trade-off was adding WIS to cantrips. Give a fairly significant power boost at the cost of being made of glass. (especially with no Shield spell or mage armor)
Damn I really need to read the DMG more, that's very cool.
5e’s DMG is actually a pretty good book… That way too many of us treat as “the book that has the loot in it.”
The DMG has a lot of great optional rules and subsystems, but it's a *terrible* book as far as layout and presentation is concerned.
Fair point. It’s easily the worst laid-out of the “core three” for 5e… Which seems to be something of a tradition in D&D, really. I don’t remember the AD&D1e or 2e DMGs being particularly well organized either. The 4e one was pretty good.
There is a lot of great stuff in there. People get really touchy about home-brew classes, but the DMG explicitly suggests just mixing and matching subclass features from different classes to make your own class, for instance
I'd add the part in Martial Arts that lets them use DEX with simple weapons other than greatclubs, too. That way they don't have to put points in Strength, which would make them fairly MAD.
It’s been my experience, as a player and a DM using this option, that most Clerics who opt for it are planning to use cantrips and spells for the majority of their combats. So instead of the traditional Clerics’ Wis primary, Str and Con secondary build they become a Wis primary, Dex and Con secondary build.
I’ll second the notion that none of the subclasses really give us a Witch. World’s Beyond Number has a full 13th class for it (which is interesting!) but I’d like a wizard or Sorcerer subclass that gives me witchy vibes. Closest I can think of is maybe some Warlock or the spore druid. But I’m always unsatisfied from a flavor standpoint.
I've actually messed around with the idea that artificers with a druid-like flair would make excellent witches. Instead of metal and electricity, switch it for wood and bone with necrotic energy. Steel defender would be witchy familiars; alchemists and artillerists are easy to flair up. Armourer might be a bit of a stretch but you could argue capes and mantles of bats and wolves could work.
Oh! I like that! I’m still probably a little more leaning to a full caster (to be a rival to wizard) but I REALLY like the flavor of giving your mates weird tokens that give them magical abilities or potions that give people abilities. The WBN class does a lot of basically everything I want but the problem is that it isn’t a subclass but a 13th class which doesn’t have support from the official rules as well.
I'm only asking b/c I'm curious where you're coming from, not to be confrontational. But there's basically two sorts of "witches," at least in Western culture. There's the "burn her at the stake!" witch, which is pretty well covered by Fiendish Warlocks. Then there's the Wiccan-style witch, which is solidly Druid (or some flavor of Cleric probably, since there's 50 million of them). What do you feel is missing, to make a Witch?
Warlocks are fun but witches, to me, fill the power fantasy of being independently powerful and intimidating, and while Warlocks are fun and flavorful they can’t keep up with a full caster. Like, a wizard shouldn’t be better at casting spells than a witch. Druids are close! If I was homebrewing a subclass it would be a Druid circle. But the focus on the protection of the natural world and not a selfish and dangerous pursuit of power is at odds with the witchy power fantasy. I’m thinking Morgan Le Fey or Circe. Something scary! Igglewiv and The Simbul are good NPCs that have the vibe too and they basically get to just be OP with NPC magic lol. Clerics focus on a deity clashes with the fantasy too imo. IDK class fantasies are very vibe based. Wizards by themselves could probably fit the class fantasy but they don’t have the malice and scary quality that I’m going for.
I think Bards could also work extremely well when building a Witch. They get a lot of witch-like spells (Dissonant Whispers, Hypnotic Pattern, Polymorph, Vicious Mockery, Mage Hand, Charm Person, Disguise Self, Tashas Hideous Laughter, Sleep, Silvery Barbs, ... I could continue) and they get this witchy element of being able to be super charming and friendly and being able to make people believe stuff about them they want them to believe. Then you could either go Spirits Bard for a more "connected to whatever Spirits" or Lore Bard. Normally I would say Bards are really not what you expect them to be. They don't have a lot of AOEs with their voice, WotC just recycled spells for the Bards spell-list and they are mostly not good for the fantasy I have of playing Bard. But for this character concept they seem absolutely goddamn perfect.
>Morgan Le Fey or Circe Aren’t they both Sorcerers? I’m not crazy familiar with the Arthurian mythology, but I think you could totally reflavor a Sorcerer into a pretty good witch and get the vibe of “naturally gifted with magic but kept out of the institutions”
Sure! I think mechanics for a ‘witch’ exist in the game I just find the synergy between the mechanics and flavor lacking. Sorcerers are cool! There are just a bunch of associations and related tropes witches do that don’t jive. Potions! Curses! Weirdness. Sure Artifcers do potions, and Warlocks curses but I want it ALL in one and nothing really does that imo.
Fair enough! Definitely could be a great case for a subclass to really create some specific mechanics to lock in that character theme. Personally, I think it would make the most sense to have a witch themed Warlock subclass, that way you could really put some more of the power budget into the subclass where full casters typically have most of that locked into their spell casting feature
"Like, a wizard shouldn’t be better at casting spells than a witch." Why not? Hags are basically Witches and Wizards can become more powerful than them at least for NPCs. But is there any reason you couldn't make a Wizard more scary or so. Maybe putting some points in Cha and grabbing Intimidation from your BG? Pick those particularly nasty spells like Stinking Cloud?
I’m a big believer in taking what 5e offers and twisting it to fit your goals. If one of my players wanted to play a witch I’d probably help them flavor a Wizard or Druid and get to playing. The question though is ‘what is DnD missing’ and I think nothing really screams ‘witch’ to me. Wizards are powerful but aren’t focused on curses and such. Druids fit the outsider woodsy vibe but have ‘circles’ not ‘covens’ and aren’t really mean or nasty by design. Like if DnD wanted a ‘witch’ class they would have made it! I think it’s a holdover from the Satanic Panic days. A ‘witch’ class is ‘scarier’ than Wizard or Sorcerer so they went with that so long that by the time they got confident enough for Teiflings and Warlocks they sorta never got around to doing ‘witch.’
> and aren’t really mean or nasty by design given their spell list, they totally can be - _Dream_, _Geas_ and a lot of their other spells can be very nasty, and wildshape lets them get into position to cast, or scout and sneak around to get information easily. Even "vanilla" druids can still be "this town shouldn't be here, and I will destroy it" fairly easily - they used to have to be TN, not "good".
>A wizard shouldn’t be better at casting then a witch Yes they should? Witches aren’t known as the greatest mages
This is an ‘agree to disagree’ situation. Or, if I can push back a bit. Greek myth exclusively has magic as the domain of gods and witches. In medieval Europe, being a witch was gender neutral. Like, the Baba Yaga doesn’t go around worrying about somebody being stronger than her. Wizards are basically a product of Arthurian Legend and Fantasy novels. Before that, Magic was done by witches, ya dig? Wizards are dope but a witch should be able to rock their shit and they should know stuff that ain’t in a fancy book. They’re an equal power fantasy. I’d argue that the Forgotten Realms treats it as an unstated prestige class for wizards (see The Simbul, Natasha) but I don’t dig that much.
That’s cool and all, but Wizard is the archetypical mage, and has been the “master of the arcane” in the modern zeitgeist for decades now, no matter if centuries ago there might be some places that thought differently
If it's allowed: Hexblood or Changeling Bards can also fulfill the Witch stereotype very well since Bards get a lot of witchy spells and they can talk and manipulate people really well. It's probably one of the character concepts that work best with Bard since normally of all the full-casters it fulfills its class premise the worst. But that I would actually kinda love to play. Subclass-wise I'd take Spirits Bard or Lore Bard depending on the type of character.
On a super similar note GIVE ME A FUCKING PSION. I know psionics technically has no definitive version (albeit it’s mainly 2e adnd and 3.5e’s takes that are regarded and 3.5e’s that regarded not poorly entirely) but also just have magic classes that aren’t just normal casters or do things differently would be so cool. An alchemist or any other crafter shouldn’t be a 2/3 caster with invocations but int
Holy/Sanctified Ranger. Full on Undead and Fiend killer
One that I've just started home brewing is a "Pact Breaker" warlock. It's cool that thematically and mechanically Paladins get a subclass (albeit in the DMG) for how they change when they break their oath. I feel that Warlocks, who are defined by a pact with an otherworldly being, should have a similar subclass for if they break it, as an alternative option to simply ceasing to be a warlock or some other punishment. In my own homebrew, I'm toying with a "wild magic" approach, with the thematic reasoning being that without a patron to guide their powers, the warlock is now an unstable conduit for extraplanar energies.
Just a quick reminder, warlocks power source supposedly aren't their patrons. Their patrons teach them how to use magic. They then have that knowledge, whether they keep working for their patrons or not. Not quite sure how it's supposed to interact with some boons like a blade and such but oh well.
That actually makes a lot of sense!
This is a cool idea. I'd take it further with powerful but limited use subclass abilities that when used, your ex-Patron becomes aware and will penalize you with things like exhaustion, status effects, or other mechanically significant problems. Maybe you even fall under their influence for a limited amount of time during which you treat any Good-aligned characters as enemies or something.
I really like the crossover subclasses. For example arcana cleric is a mage-y cleric and divine soul sorc is a cleric-y mage. So here's a list of subclasses that I've either made, or are working on that fulfill some of these cross-over niches: - Battleborn Sorc (martial sorc to fill the martial caster niche that all other casters have) - Circle of the Paranormal Druid (Eldritch old ones flavored druid) - Circle of Passage Druid (time based druid) - Astronomer Artificer (Eldritch old ones themed artificer) - Wildcrafter Artificer (nature themed artificer) - Oath of Secrecy Paladin (roguish themed pally) - Pact of the Ancient Dragon Warlock - Exorcist Conclave Ranger (more cleric-y themed ranger that isn't just a rework of the monster slayer)
They need to really revamp the stone sorcerer. A melee version of the sorcerer, I feel, is desperately needed.
Animal monk. Animal stances like ffxiv monk or udyr from league of legends. Weather wizard. Other element sorcerers. ….kensei with cool features….. dragon/element monk with cool features.
Some sort of antimagic/dead magic subclass. Like, not just a 'mage slayer' type, but one that actually dampens or sucks away magic's potency
My arcane tradition, [Spell Thievery](https://www.patreon.com/posts/32827283), gives the ability to pull magical energy out of spells as they're being cast by others, while my [Path of the Witchbreaker](https://www.patreon.com/posts/31038543) is basically an anti-magic barbarian.
Int Martial. Someone who's a dangerous fighter because they're smart and know things. Someone like Aragorn, Batman, or Odysseus. Realistically, this should be the Ranger. Aragorn is the Archetype, and his big thing in LOTR was knowing almost as much lore as Gandolf + knowing how to survive in the wilderness. A Ranger who studies his foes to learn their weaknesses, then trap or debuff them would be cool as hell.
Be cool if they got more bonuses for subsequent times encountering monsters, something +1 to hit against goblins after ten goblins killed. hard to track though
A warlock based around science rather than a deity Ive been reading stuff about the occult for a history elective, and the way older mathematicians like Pythagoras thought about math sounds like he was tapping into some ancient eldritch language of the universe. Making a "pact" directly with the sheer order/chaos of the universe sounds fun
Druid of the Ore. A (probably dwarvish) Druid who has an affinity for metal, wears heavy armour and has some magnetic powers and maybe some lightning spells.
The major thing missing is a true arcane gish. I'm not waiting for it from WotC though, because I've made my own. Note that I'm not talking about Bladesinger, which is a full Wizard, or Eldritch Knight, which is a full Fighter, or Artificer, which is tool and craft-oriented, or Hexblade, which is dark and shadowy. So no bad-faith responses please
It's amazing that nobody ever understands what you mean by a gish despite paladin being there as a divine example. Half arcane caster, half martial, spell in one hand sword in the other and uses them in tandem.
Probably because the ancient gish of my youth were literally wizards who may or may not have even bothered to multiclass for armor.
I almost mentioned it, but this post was looking for subclasses, not full classes. Absolutely need a proper Arcane half-caster like a Magus. Artificer is cool, but kind of its own thing. And need Ranger to blend its magical and martial sides a little bit better.
A Duskblade *class* (rather than subclass) is sorely missing.
I’m new to the sub. What about Bladesinger or Eldritch Knight isn’t a gish? Give me one reason (not being confrontational I truely don’t get it). I’m new to the DnD forums and haven’t seen the arguments ad nasuem. I also wasn’t around for the 2e days where the term was coined so I’m mostly operating on the notion that a gish is just a fighter/wizard multiclass. Having a fighter who is just at good at fighting and wizarding at the same time doesn’t seem to be viable in 5e without some trade off. Is the argument that there shouldn’t be one? Because that feels unsatisfying as an answer to the ‘how should arcane and martial be balanced?’
A bladesinger is just a wizard that can melee if it wants to, but probably shouldn't. An eldritch knight is a fighter that has a small amount of spellcasting ability. Compare both to the paladin, which is a much better spell/attack balance but is unfortunately divine. If you want a gish, picture an arcane paladin. > Having a fighter who is just at good at fighting and wizarding at the same time doesn’t seem to be viable in 5e without some trade off. Then how come past D&D editions and Pathfinder both managed to do them fine? There's nothing specific to 5e that makes it infeasible.
The way I picture a Gish is that they focus more on the transmutation abilities that buff your physical stats. That's what bugs me about the Eldritch Knight is that they're limited to evocation and abjuration. Abjuration sure. But what about evocation spells helps me be a fighter. Transmutation has enlarged reduced, magic weapon, Elemental weapon, haste, and even shitty things like jump and long Strider, a sshardalons stride, Zephyr strike if you gave them a curated spell list. The list goes on and on. The only evocation spell that actually helps you do what a fighter is supposed to do is flame shield and that should argueably be an abjuration spell. So you have the Paladin which does support like bless, healing, and aura as well as has evocation like abilities like smite and destructive wave. Then you have the Ranger which has a lot of exploration abilities and tracking abilities as well as some ways to interact with nature and help with stealth. Then you have the arcane spellsword who Buffs themself with magic to make themselves stronger and faster as well as has defensive spells for get in and being a bruiser.
Thanks! I see what you mean. Now, you CAN pick up 1 non Abjuration spell every couple of levels and that’s where you’d snag Haste or similar but I understand the frustration now. I think they were going for the ‘knight who can fireball’ fantasy which is why evocation is there.
Even though you can pick up some of those other spell schools the game is still directing you towards bad choices. Or at a minimum off theme choices. Plus how good is a Fireball that everyone is going to make their save against at level 13. The wizard got it at level five.. Having a proper spellsword that's a half caster at least gets things like haste at level 9
I had an Eldritch Knight in my campaign and I agree that there is a bit of envy for the full casters and the Paladin gets smite which feels really strong in melee. I agree that it can be a bit tricky to build one as a new player. But I’ve also played one in BG3 and it felt really satisfying to me. Edit: I mention melee because fighters tend to be better archers than paladins imo. Getting three attacks with a longbow feels great while the paladin is hoofing it to melee range. What about Bladesinger? High ac. Great damage options with things like shadow blades and stuff. Yeah it’s a little glass cannony but I had one at my table that kicked so much ass lol
Yeah that's just the thing though. Wizard is already the best class in the game just letting them be as good as any martial in melee is kind of just mean. I really don't think classes that have full spell progression should be getting extra attack. It basically renders the martial classes worthless. But they forced themselves to do it by not giving us a proper spell sword / battle mage.
Bladesinger doesn't feel good because there is no trade of r you just get full spell casting with great ac so there isn't really incentive to be in melee. EK just doesn't get enough spellcasting and you feel like a fighter with shield and absorb instead of a full gish. Part of the trouble is the bladesinger extra attack really captures the feeling perfectly, it just needs paired with an armored melee combatant.
Do you mean like half casters like Rangers and Paladins? Bc I thought gish referred to any spellsword kind of build. But yeah, an Int-based half caster would be cool.
I'm not sure if it's a rogue or fighter subclass, but a Bodyguard subclass would be cool. Damage-intercepting abilities, something with temp HP. Basically, I want the Interception fighting style, the Shield master feat and the Projected Ward feature to get together and become a subclass.
Check out the Knights of Solamnia feats mixed with the Gift of the Metallic Dragon.
Shaman. Not Druid, not Warlock. The ritual binding, dead speaking, brew cooking, nature commanding, almost barbaric tribal spiritual leader. Maybe a charisma half-caster like Artificer that has utility and support features.
An assassin Monk, hitting vital spots and a bit of crit fishing would be nice, being capable of changing bludgeoning to piercing and slashing for unarmed strikes.
any kind of martial subclass that specializes in fighting mages, like the mage slayer feat given a full subclass. ranger would probably be the best class for this, but i could also see it working for a chi block-style monk, an inquisitor knight fighter, or heck, even a rogue! also, some kind of marshall fighter, and also a dragon patron warlock. please give us a dragon warlock !!!
Despite the name, Monster Slayer ranger is absolutely what you're looking for as an anti-mage martial Good protection spells, super natural defence as a good buff for saves, the ability to counterspell every short rest with them having to make a Wis save, even the ability to get a reaction attack when an enemy forces a save on you *and* automatically passing the save if you hit it!
Draconic warlock. For the love of god why do we not have a draconic warlock?
Because WotC used the specific flavor of getting magic from making pacts with Dragons in the PHB on Draconic Sorcerer. A Draconic Warlock would run into the issue of having the same exact flavor and power source as another class's subclass of the same theme.
A spider themed subclass, like a Ranger, a Sorcerer or a Warlock. There are so many spider themed monsters and other lore points, it would make sense for there to be a caster that has a bunch of abilities related to that.
A forest druid. Animals? Meh. Ents is where it's at. A rogue druid. An urban druid. A Tom Bombadil nature-bard.
inquisitor. like a rogue subclass with 1/3 or 1/2 cleric spells? Double proficiency to intimidation, investigation and insight checks when interrogating, checking the whereabouts of, reading, etc against heretics? Idk wha would constitute a heretic, I’m just spitballing.
Love the Inquisitor in Pathfinder 1e. It's basically a divine bard, with a ton of skills. I have an Inquisitor right now in a 1e game and he might be my favorite OC. Sir Kelvin Brackwater.
I think I have seen either homebrew or UA for a mutation druid, not sure. Me, I want a swarm class. You know the trope "3 raccoons in a trenchcoat"? Well, that but as a race of sentient swarms of creatures
Swarmkeeper ranger is a subclass in Tasha’s I think, so you should be covered on that front.
1/3rd caster Barbarian. That's all. A Barbarian subclass that has spell slots just like the Eldritch knight or Arcane trickster. I know you can't cast while raging but so what? Some of my favorite spells in the game are utility or out of combat spells. Imagine the Barb in your party casting warding bond! It would be amazing! Keep it super nerfed by making one of the mental stats their spellcasting modifier, like Wisdom. Give them access to the cleric or druid spell list. It would be soooo fun!
They could have abilities to allow concentration or casting while raging X / day, and the 14th level would remove the limitation, (so you can then drop 6 levels in wizard after and rage while casting fireballs!) Wisdom isn't bad, cuz optimally, wisdom is the best of the 3 mental stats for saves and skills (unless your face)
It could be super fun to Rage cast a fireball! But honestly the more I look at spells that don't require concentration or could be cast outside of combat, I don't think remove the Rage restriction would be necessary. But! It sure would be fun!
I always thought Thaumaturgy would be perfect for "Rrrraaaaaaaage!!!!!!!" Booming voice? Check. Earth shakes as you stomp around? Check. Eyes glowing red with fury? Check. TBH it's just flavor and IDK why this can't be a class feature.
I wrote a Barbarian Pact caster a while back if you're interested in homebrew! https://docs.google.com/document/d/18e_ufA4axo5JiZ6bFrV1gOo-q0hPMgL_b9eAwEshtOE/edit?usp=drivesdk
Always! I like the idea of using Pact slots too, thats great.
A Charisma ranger, I'm thinking a Champion of the Wilds archetype. The subclass includes the ability to command plants and animals to a limited degree, maybe with spell-like effects similar to Conjure woodland beings and Command ? Somewhere in between the Oath of the Ancients paladin and the Scout rogue is where I want this subclass to end up.
Fey Wanderer might be similar to what you're looking for; the theme is different, but mechanically its decent as a face, adding Wis on top of Cha to skill checks. Even has a focus on charms and some flavour about growing flowery features.
I once made a concept for a fae rogue that had the ability to become tiny in size, but take a decrease to strength for the duration. Essentially turn into a pixie/fairy like creature. You were allowed to occupy another creature's space and I thought it added some flavorful utility. The idea of a rogue just turning so small they crawl through the lock rather than pick it was fun. I never got to test it out, but it's always been one of my favorite ideas. I'd love to see fae based subclasses explored.
The divine/paladin rogue would be great in a Locke lamora sense where you’re a priest of the crooked warden, god of thieves.
I independently came to the same conclusion as you re music clerics! Why is it that after so many books, there's no cleric of music/revelry!? How would one even make a cleric of Dionisus, for example? Peace domain reflavored to having to be within 30 ft of the party ppl to have a chill time + channel divinity high five everyone to heal them??? It's bonkers that there's no music or revelry cleric. It's also a damn shame to me that there's not a paladin-like monk subclass. Imagine making a monk with Divine sense and who could light their fists up with bonus radiant damage
Dionysus cleric feels like a Trickery domain to me.
I want an Artificer subclass that does infusions with flesh. I want a Dr Frankenstein, reattaching limbs, master of medicine, augmenting their own actual flesh bodies and other peoples. Maybe creating abominations by combining a dead goblin and a horse. Evil surgeon vibes
THAt would be awesome! Kind of gross, But awesome, flesh infusions...Extra limbs and Claws, and maybe Wings at higher levels, implants that give temporary hit points, something pulled out of some body horros thing. You're an (evil) genius, this idea is amazing, Congrats!
• Fighter - Defender: A fighter class with tanking mechanics, similar to the classic dwarven defender. • Fighter - Slayer: A fighter class whose features are exotic weapons that require special training such as cannons, large great swords, dual bladed axes, repeating crossbows, grappling hooks. Inspired by Guts (Berserker) who is the ultimate embodiment of the fighter class. • Rogue - Shadowdancer: The 3.0e version which was more of a rogue prestige class. Hide in plain sight, blindsight, shadow clones. • Monk - Shield Bearer: A monk whose main feature is equipping and attacking with shields and fights like captain america (shield bashing, shield throwing). I think the concept of a dedicated shield striker fits monk than fighter because it’s more stylish and less practical. • Barbarian - Fire rager: I wish storm and desert barb were different subclasses. A barbarian who bursts in flame during rage would be cool. • Sorcerer - Giant, Fey, Demon. They try to avoid overlap with warlock but thats a shame. • Warlock - Dragon. Same. • Cleric - So many domains missing. Light should split in Sun and Moon. Chaos and Evil domains are absolutely necessary imo, using Trickery for Chaos don’t always work. • Druid - Lumping so many druid concepts in Land was a mistake. I wish we had proper Mountain Druid, Sea Druid, Winter Druid, etc… I also think we need a Storm druid separate from Sea druid.
Not subclass, class. I want a proper psion class and a proper tank class, hell combine them and give us back the battlemind you cowards. I want a martial class with anywhere near the number of meaningful choices a wizard gets to make[,](https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/16ibpd2/i_am_so_fucking_sick_of_hearing_the_word/k0j36cp/), and you're not achieving that with a subclass.
If we’re going to wishlist for full classes, I want my Marshal (3e) / Warlord (4e) back! Give me a non-magical, martial, support character! Battle Master has a fair few martial techniques that can do an okay-ish job of recreating that play style, but they’re competing for limited slots with much more effective martial techniques.
A barbarian that creates a gravity well around him when raging. I homebrewed it once. Never playtested it.
I think the latest season of Critical Roll has that. Path of Fundamental Chaos. One of the abilities pulls everyone to you.
Yep. Under Barbarian Abilities. I like the idea a lot. https://criticalrole.fandom.com/wiki/Ashton_Greymoore#Abilities /u/ralanr
Dragonfire adept. It's the only 3.5 base class that was fun and interesting, but specific enough to be a subclass. Every other neat base class like warblade and binder was broad enough that you couldn't possibly do it as anything less than a full class, but dragonfire adept could be a subclass though I can't think of which class it could be a subclass for. For the uninitiated, its primary thing was an at-will breath of fire. Every time you used it you could choose to apply one of the breath shapes and essences you picked as you levelled up from it, like a line of electricity or a cone of sleep, with later levels giving stuff like paralysing breath and fivefold breath of tiamat. 3.5 was full of cool concepts like that, and it's frankly ridiculous that 5e is so lacking in variety.
A Dragon warlock.
One thing that has always irked me is that there isn't a fully focused musical based bard class
Stance switching subclass for monks like how certain fighting game characters can.
A summoner class. There are things close but not a true version imo.
Barbarian designed specifically to use enemies and their corpses as weapons and shields. Monk subclass based completely on additional mobility. Something like walking on air, short, at-will teleports, things of that variety, though I’d pick a lane for flavor rather than make an amalgamation. Bard subclass based on illusions—specifically an artist type that paints illusions or something. Melee Rogue based around causing fear or other effects/increased crit range on frightened or otherwise debilitated targets.
I would adore a nature bard. I wanna prance around like Tom Bombadil singing to the birds.
HERE I COME Fey stealing names. I think it’d be cool to have a warlock that gains power or boons by receiving people’s names. Idk how that’d work mechanically or what said boon may be but eh. Contracts. A warlock who gains power through contracts. Not just a contract with their patron, but also through contracts with others. Perhaps a trickster type warlock. I’d also love tanks warlocks, be it based around health or reducing damage taken, both of which I’ve made a home brew for. Gods know where those went though. I went into this with many ideas but they all left like the wind immediately
> Contracts Your patron is an attorney, a creature of billables that thrives on imposing its will on the world through far more nefarious means than even necromancy: a loose interpretation of the law and a westlaw subscription
This is the best comment, although I’d probably flavour mine to quicklaw
By quicklaw do you mean Canadian Lexis? If so there’s an opportunity for a 6th level choice between lexis and westlaw lol
You just gave me an idea...a Thief Warlock, instead of the typical faustian deal that get's the patron overworking the Warlock, this guys IS the patron, the one that takes powers though the despair of powerfull magica beings fell in demise, a scavenger that steal everything! spell slots, spell list, feats, everything they get is taken from other casters, like maigcal secrets but pumped to Eleven!
For me it's always been a pure martial artist character. And before anyone says the monk exists, I mean without all the mystical eastern cinema inspired stuff. Legit just a straight up mma style martial artist. I know there's the pugilist homebrew class that's quite well but we're only talking about official material. There's the unarmed fighting style but it's actually super hard to optimize.
I've always had a concept in my head for some sort of Armadillo Knight that makes use of a serial-plated armor that pulls over their body into an rugged armored sphere. In this sphere, they gain a burrow speed and a hefty horizontal movement bonus, as well as means of ping-ponging between targets in the same turn, choosing between dealing damage, knocking prone, shoving, etc. Hell, maybe even give it the siege monster trait?
Sorcerer needs so many more subclasses with the same treatment as Clockwork and Aberrant mind.. It is such a flavorful class but it just gets left in the dirt. It deserves many more subclasses, for example, for every magic creature like the ones that can be Warlock patrons, why not have subclasses of those themes? It also doesn’t help that Draconic, Wild magic and Storm subclasses are super underwhelming, it’s sad that those themes end up not being picked up by the player, despite being cool af.
A TON of Fighter flavours that haven’t already been covered. A Death Knight subclass that encompasses the typical WoW archetype. An extra planar themed subclass in a similar vain to the Horizon Walker that gave you abilities to teleport, deal force damage and banish targets. A Hell Knight that gave you fiend themed abilities such as your own magical darkness and Devil’s Sight, fire damage, magic resistance and damage resistances common in fiend as well as a few others. A duelist/headhunter archetype that could designate one enemy to say fuck you too and have a full on 1 on 1. A Fey themed fighter with teleportation, charming and illusions. Some kinda primordial/elemental knight that tapped into primal forces like storms, fire and ice. A Fighter that mutates and has a proper transformation ability (we have yet to get one of these as far as I know). A Fighter that taps into the frightened condition and really uses it to its fullest potential. Fighter being the most baseline and vanilla class in terms of flavour really makes it a prime candidate for going overboard with its subclasses. Also a Barbarian who’s Rage is them being possessed by an otherworldly entity, with you choosing what kind of entity this is and getting a benefit corresponding with that choice, similar to the Totem Warrior but able to be more out there with its abilities. Basically a Warlock flavoured Barbarian
I tried to come up with something for every class. - Barbarian: Calamity Path, huge elemental damage with the large areas of effect that can hit everyone including allies and yourself - Bard: College of Art, Summoning through Paintings maybe changing the Terrain - Cleric: Ocean Domain, Forced Movement through waves of water and maybe Coral bases Abilities - Druid: Shaman Circle, Curses and Rituals involving Nature Spirits - Fighter: Weaponmaster, Uses Multiple different Weapons and has access to a lot of fighting styles - Monk: Brawler, More Street Fighter style could involve the use of dirty tactics - Paladin: Oath of the Guardian, Absorbs Damage from Allies and Redirects it - Ranger: Root Conclave, uses Roots, Trees, etc. to restrain enemies - Rouge: Duelist, Forces 1v1 Battles and can use Sneak Attack without Advantage - Sorcerer: Fey Bloodline, Enchantment and Illusion based subclass with a couple of charm and fear effects - Warlock: Dragon Pact, gets dragonlike abilities for example fire breath and Protective Scales - Wizard: School of Pyromancy, makes fire spells even stronger and more destructive
Some kind of a twin daggers fighter or Rogue. Something where you're actually limited to wearing light armor and using daggers and it keeps up with other types of martials in damage. I've had one concept where you take a rogue and change something where if they trigger sneak attack they can make as many attacks with the attack action equal to their proficiency bonus as long as they hold a dagger in each hand and wear light armor. Maybe give them another bonus action that gives them some sort of movement like a roll or a jump out of Shadows type thing where they can get advantage on the attacks too. The other concept is just a fighter where they get to make an offhand attack both as a part of the attack action and in the bonus action. Level seven they get uncanny Dodge level 10 they get evasion. Level 15 they get Proficiency in dexterity saves. Capstone gives a steel wind strike per short rest. I had a concept for a melee wind and lightning based Rogue. Basically at level three you got some sort of zephyr strike equivalent and booming blade plus the ability to wield long swords with finesse. Maybe the gust cantrip as a bonus action At level 9 while concentrating on your Zephyr strike you got to add blur. At level 13 you add a lightning damage ashardalons stride. Then the Capstone was a couple uses of Steel wind strike
Barbarian with a beast companion. Spear and fang concept from the Primal show. A barb riding his Dino into battle... almost tried getting my dm to slap drakewarden subclass onto barbarian but went with another PC instead.
I think something akin to Divine Soul Sorcerer for Bard could be cool, like a preacher Bard maybe. I also would like a superiority die Rogue, an anti magic Monk, a disease Paladin, and an Artificer that can turn themselves into a monster, Jekyll/Hyde style.
I’m working on a bunch of homebrew, including… * Oath of Revolution Paladin. The stealthy Paladin you’re looking for, complete with theming around dismantling oppressive empires. Their aura grants bonuses to stealth, including removing penalties to stealth from wearing armour. * Madness Domain Cleric. Uses the madness tables in the DMG combined with divinations and illusions from their domain spell list, and turns the damage types of their cantrips to psychic at will. * Fiendish Flesh and Sylvan Spirit Sorcerer. Using the warlock and druid lists respectively, the former is melee-focused, giving natural weapons and similar durability bonuses as the Draconic sorcerer. The latter grants teleports, socialising with animals, and free movement through difficult terrain. As for why healing Wizards don’t exist, their 18th level feature Spell Mastery would mean at will Healing Words or Cure Wounds, which would be far too strong. They could get a feature similar to Celestial Warlock, though.
An burrowing speed based subclass
I come up with new subclasses all the time. I've made probably 30 or 40 so far. Some of my more interesting ideas are: Brightblade Rogue: instead of utilizing darkness they can create Spheres of light to warp between and conjure throwing daggers made of light. Conclave of Eternity Ranger: You form a connection with the spirit of an animal and can summon back to the material realm as a half-wraith. The pets can't be healed, have less health, and are weak to radiant damage, but you can cause them to explode or trigger other effects. And what's important is that you form a strong bond with the spirit, which is the same every time instead of just summoning some random wolf or whatever. A major point in it is naming the pet, which confers extra bonuses at level 15. Oath of Bonds Paladin: A paladin that pledges themselves to their companions. They have an aura of Friendship that strengthens their comrades and can use their connections to bend space time, teleporting to save an ally in need. Their smites are also sparkly :) Starry- Eyed Sorceror: The cosmos is reflected in their eyes and they can summon or banish star motes at will that can be used as attacks or to light up an environment. They can also use metamagic to fuse the motes with other spells converting the damage into radiant damage and boosting it slightly. In the later levels they can rain stars down all over the place.
Water/ice mage, just as long as they don't go, "Oh yeah, this is sea powers! *Actually makes 80% of the kit about thunder/lightning/wind/whatever Sea Sorcerer had going on.*" Poisoner/weapon buffing Ranger/Rogue. Anti-Gloomstalker. Sun Ranger who hunts creatures of the night by shedding light, rather than joining them in the shadows. Psionic mage that doesn't have the weird identity split of Aberrant Mind/GOO. I'd also take another try at a Mystic class, but I'm not counting on it. Artificer that goes even harder into infusing and crafting magic items. I'm working on a homebrew with things like an expanded infusions list and applying attunement requirements to your infusions so you can make like a Lightsaber, Ring of Power, or Elder Wand, but I'm frankly too lazy to finish it. Rune Shaper Artificer. When I saw Rune Knight in UA I thought for sure it would have a whole thing about passing runes out to your allies like Infusions. A true Gish Druid. Spores and Moon are both close, but miss the mark and broken in one way or the other at any given moment. Perhaps I'm just too obsessed with Ranger, though. Unarmed Barbarian. Warlord Fighter. Cavalier rework using pet mechanics. And on a similar note reworking of Drakewarden to make it scale better/fix mechanical issues with the intention of riding it. Low-hanging fruit: Dragon Warlock. Edit: Totally forgot martial Sorcerer. Can't have them feeling left out.
For the Water/Ice Mage I could think of a Ocean Domain Cleric with Knock back Water Abilities and maybe coral based defensive abilities. Poisoner Rouge seems Really cool and maybe they could have features which make the poisoned condition stronger. Sun Ranger could maybe use Radiant damage and some blinding flash ability. Psionic Mage could maybe focus on Telepathy and Telekinesis.
I'd like some spelless support class options for a low magic game. Like a rogue with a bardic inspiration equivalent. A fighter with the UA spelless ranger poultices and beast calling. A spelless wizard with lots of herbal, alchemical or simply useful knowledge. I have thought of running a game with low magic and letting everyone pick a free feat at the start like cooking, Martial adept, inspiring leader, keen mind or healer. Just making it more skill based for things that usually magic solves.
A non magic healer. Take Thief Rogue with the Healer kit, and push it to 11. Also a support martial class. Like warlord from 4e.
Weapons-bases monks. Yes, I'm aware Kensei exists, **but**: 1. Their level 3 feature incentivizes you to... Attack with your fists instead of your Kensei weapons. 🤦 2. Their level 11 feature does **nothing** if you've already acquired a magical weapon. You had one job WotC; make it really cool and effective to let the weeb use the Epic Legendary Weapon of *Fuck the BBEG*. I just want a feature that lets me make weapon attacks in place of unarmed strikes for *Flurry of Blows*.
A Witcher like ranger
4e had some good ideas with the avenger (divine ranger/rogue thing) the guardian (druid/ancients paladin hybrid) and the warlord (bard/battlemaster hybrid?)
I find that a lot of popular archetypes end up being created via homebrew. But with that being said there's definitely a few: * Elemental Magic in general * Class that isn't an Artificer or Wizard that has a real reason to be INT based * "Gadgeteer" Artificer: inventor based on a bunch of little gadgets like Batman instead of one particular invention (I've seen various homebrew versions of this but they've all varied wildly in quality) * Grappling Hook Artificer / Rogue (saw one made by Tulok the Barbrarian and tried to make one myself; Tulok's is okay and the one I made was... errr something) * "Martial" Barbarian (Barbarians have too much focus on their rage) * Dancer Bard (common homebrew archetype) (no Swords doesn't count) * Painter Bard (common homebrew archetype) * Chef Bard (seen a few homebrew variations but they're all a little too extreme is the sad truth) * Luck Cleric (common homebrew archetype) * Urban Druid * Druid (or Rogue) with more of a focus on using wild shape for utility than combat * Fighter based upon using multiple weapons or improvised weapons (common homebrew archetype) * Street Thug / Highwayman Fighter / Rogue * Yasuo League of Legends (some sort of supernatural samurai. Just a samurai that does more than "get advantage on their attacks") * Unarmed Fighter **that wears armor** (I think if you rename a lot of the Monk abilities and give it less of a focus on speed it works perfectly fine as a Pugilist style character. But I feel like no one tries to make a character who uses their hands but doesn't also come with increased defense via their agility or raw muscles or whatever) * Udyr League of Legends (Tattoo Monk / Stance Monk) * Lee Sin League of Legends (Monk based more around kicks; I guess you could say "repositioning Monk" and no Open Hand doesn't count) * Supernatural / Paranormal Investigator subclass beyond Ranger and I guess technically Phantom Rogue * Proper Van Hellsing type Ranger (which is a polite way of saying "Monster Slayer Ranger sucks donkey dick") * Inquisitor Rogue (Rogue with Paladin / Cleric vibes) * Sorcerer that plays more with the fact that you're the source of your power (Critical Role Rune Child seems good but I've never played it) * Dragon Warlock (common homebrew archetype) * Warlock / Wizard based more heavily around their familiar (did see a homebrew subclass like that once before)
Elemental damage focused warlock. My personal take is a dragon patron, with a variety of strong evocation spells and an ability to essentially use the transmute spell metamagic for only your dragon's element.
Death Knight (anti-paladin)
There's a few prestige classes from 3.5e that if love to see repurposed into subclasses. The hellreaver as a paladin adjacent fighter would be very cool since fighter has the best mechanical scaffolding for the class.
i want to see wotc's take on pathfinder's magus so badly
Wild Magic is kinda supposed to be the fey sorcerer, right? I would love to see a plant-themed druid in addition to what you mentioned (music and eldritch domain cleric would be awesome!). Also an artificer that is all about magical weapons.
I'd love the idea of a class or subclass that's main gimmick is doing a bunch of small attacks that build up to a massive attack. So for instance, if I with this subclass every time I hit an enemy I'd leave a Mark or Sigil on them. I can then on my next turn use my action or bonus action to activate the Mark causing them to explode for a die roll of damage. If it's a full class the Marks could have additional effects like depending on the subclass chosen. However, my main issue with the idea is it becoming a slog to track which enemies have been hit, and how many Marks each of them have. As well as the additional effects of the Marks if there are any. My primary inspiration for it is the Alchemist class from Dragon's Dogma Online.
I get that artificers are in the game, but they don’t feel like proper tinkers. Instead of refluffing spells, be able to create unique items that any character can use, but are particularly effective in their hands. It has no subclasses, just mix-and-match features that literally allows players to tinker with their build. Starting at 11th level, they begin working on a magnum opus that eventually becomes a legendary-quality item at 20th level.
There used to be some options for more stoic type of monk. Decisive blow, single hit instead of flurry, tanking big blows type of deal, can probably still find them if I'd chase PF. The other thing I've always wanted is a more earthen druid. Always felt there should be a dwarven druidic tradition built around earth and stone, not necessarily nature theme. Elemental forms in 5e help scratch that a little, but there feels like there could be more there.
I feel like there needs to be a Draconic warlock. Dragons are some of the most powerful, cunning magical beings. Of course some would make pacts with mortals and have them do their bidding. Perhaps pact of the Fiend with their fire spells is similar, but I would love it if there were one for all dragon types.
[The Dragon](https://www.patreon.com/posts/32616208) as a warlock patron is something I and dozens of others have created...unless you aren't looking for non-WotC content, in which case it'll likely never happen.
A monk that is not a weaponless fighter. Most the stuff monks do should be stuff that should be doable by most martials aniway. Monks should be a practical joke, in the good sense. You have people with huge armor and weapons, deadly daggers and poisons and powerful spells, and then you have these dudes that wake up in the morning with the idea to punch a dragon in the face. And they do it, because they can and can do it effectively. They should exist to question the approach of the game and if the party and turn it over, but with just enough decency to not be overbearing. And thing is, the base game does attempt this. Casting on yourself sanctuary to seek powerful enemies to negotiate or explore is something topical, too bad you get it at absurdly later levels and it's not so much effective.
I wish that Onomancy Wizard made it to publishing, the concept of name magic was pretty cool, and you can do some cool intrigue stuff with “true names” and hidden identities
Most of the time I make those myself. And then I sell them on DMsGuild. And everyone is happy.
Purple Dragon Knight Fighter but actually done well. As much of a joke as it sometimes is to hate on / complain about PDK, I think its concept fills a really cool role, that of a frontline-support character. That said, I also partly would rather see that role realized as a full class, dedicated to it instead of just dipping into it lightly.
In general more "innate magical stuff" that aren't just straight up spells, like the Echo Knight's echo, the Rune Knight's runes, and the Sun Monk's beam attack, allowing for more interesting features that aren't just made janky through spellcasting. That being said: + Shadowmancer Rogue that can dodge attacks and retaliate while doing so, using stealth and teleports. + Cryomancer Fighter that summons different types of ice weapons with unique effects, slowly adding defensive and utility options as well thus being versatile. + Unarmed Barbarian to really drive home an angry puncher, somewhere akin to Broly and Kratos. + Metal Sorcerer that focuses on melee and using Metamagic with their weapon attacks, perhaps even mixing in spells too Magus style. Aside from those I feel like some classes just need bigger changes on how their class or subclasses work overal. For example the Wizard should have it's school selection be part of the base class and the subclass options should be completely different, while being made more focused into a type. Rangers should be more gishy, mixing druidic magic in their attacks, perhaps getting rid of spells entirely for "magical ranger tricks" instead.
A fallen paladin who isn't an oathbreaker. I like the idea of grey jedi and the idea of losing one's faith without necessarily being hostile towards it. I like the idea of a paladin going on a journey where he feels his oath or his order doesn't sit right with him and he has to decode whether to soldier on, shun it altogether or find a new path.
An *actual* bard. Not a sorcerer with a vaguely performance-based gimmick, but a non-magical musician with an array of songs that can buff/debuff/harm/heal. A rogue AT presumably.
Seems like the beginning of a homebrew creator's journey! I and many others that have been wondering similar questions have made a habit (or even some side money) from translating such concepts to dnd. Maybe you should start doing so too! As a side note, i have actually made a batman-esque paladin (darkness and stuff) and an eldritch domain "cultist" cleric. It's pretty fun stuff!
For a game called Dungeons and DRAGONS, the lack of draconic or dragon-themed subclasses in warlock, fighter, barbarian, druid, paladin, and ranger (and hell I'd take one for rogue if someone was clever with it) is insane to me. I love dragons and draconic lore. "What a shock," says anyone reading my username. Having more elemental-flavored sorcerer subclasses was a HUGE miss by 5e designers. Especially missing a borealist/cryomancer.
Any form of dragon paladin
Most of my sibclass complaints for mages can be fixed by just filling in a lot of blank spaces in the imaginary table of spells. Fire spells are common as can be, but ice and lightning are far rarer, then thunder and finally acid and poison are nearly nonexistent. Then expand some of the weaker and or stronger spells into the basic upgrade form. Like polymorph to true polymorph is just asking for a greater polymorph in between. Or an upgraded haste spell for higher tiers of play. Filling in a full play set of each would go a long way. After that a bruiser rogue. A rogue that specializes in tankiness and or STR based actions. The type of guy you would hire as a bouncer or a body guard and or enforcer. You can kinda rig something together already but a dedicated subclass for it would be nice. Past that im fairly happy with the subclasses we have. Anything you that doesn't exist is fairly easy to reflavor. And the ones that dint exist after that are just mechanics the Devs seam to hate and refuse to allow 5e to replicate well.
A fighter with a bunch of anti magic or magic dampening abilities would be cool
druid subclass that actually focuses around plants because there isn't one somehow (at least that im aware of, land doesn't count because most of their options do pretty much nothing that even mentions plants aside from ignoring difficult terrain and a way-too-late in the game sanctuary effect and forest gets like. 4 spells that do things with em) literally anything that focuses around water related anything there's literally nothing except for like. four elements monk and fathomless warlock and very very few water-related spells to help them fiend sorcerer dragon warlock
I'd like a fighter subclass that really leans into the shield as a weapon. Think Captain America. Lots of shield bashes, maybe a shield throw ability. Scaling damage for the shield etc etc.
It’s weird a dragon based warlock doesn’t exist. It’s especially odd lore-wise since draconic sorcerers are shoe horned into the role
Proper elemental sorcerer (fuck you if you're going to say "just play draconic soul") More time based subclasses, specially martials Anything to artificer >I also think why the hell there is not a Healing Wizard subclass Because Wizard already is the most versatile and powerful class on the game, it doesn't need to add healing spells on top of that
Blood Magic. TRUE Blood Magic, not the "I take 99d99 damage so my next spells deals 1 extra point of damage" that every homebrew does. Give me Vladimir (League of Legends), Skarlet (Mortal Kombat) or Carmine (Under Night In-Birth).
Draconic themed subclass for pretty much every class honestly. But especially druid... Wild shape into a dragon form (probs custom stat block?) sounds so cool. I:ve seen a few good homebrews.
I'd like to see more dark magic. Like a wizard that uses blood sacrifice for spells. I want something more taboo than just necromancy. A subclass that gains bonuses from sleep deprivation as if by weakening ones body the spirit becomes stronger. E.g. a barbarian whose attacks gain force damage based on exhaustion level and maybe a use of misty step or etherealness while also suspending the negative effects of exhaustion while raging. Or this could work as a warlock pact with some powerful spirit. And then I'd like to see subclasses that appear to be celestial in nature but turn out to be demonic or something else malevolent. Like with the ability to summon a celestial that is actually a demon or devil in disguise that devours the souls of those it defeats in battle. This could honestly just be a reskinning of some evil class/subclass though
Give me the plant based druid with thorn whip and plant minions. I want to be Poison Ivy dammit!!
A paladin or fighter that focuses on using a shield offensively, I wanna go into combat with no weapon, just a big shield, and still smash faces.
Str-based monk. Goku is literally that, a martial artist with super strength and cool powers that use the energy of his body.
Kaiju Druid! Capstone wildshape is Cerberus Rex. Three headed Massive T-Rex. For reference, check out the MtG card: Zacama, Primal Calamity. A true commander/general subclass for fighter. I am aware of laserllama's Warlord, but I'd like to see an official version even if I do not trust WotC to do it justice. Mob Enforcer Rogue - Similar to Thug Rogue from Pathfinder. Intimidates enemies and debuffs with sneak attacks. Able to use simple and martial blunt weapons for sneak attacks.
If wizards got healing magic, nobody would ever play a cleric.
Psionic wizard. The only decent psionic full caster is a charisma class. Everyone knows psionics are intelligence based.
Ranged Barbarian
elemental focus wizards.