Talk:Dark Jester (5e Class)
Momentum Ruling - Starting 3rd level, whenever you make a Melee Weapon Attack or use a Verse, you gain a Level of Momentum. You can gain up to four Levels of Momentum. At the end of your turn, if you didn’t gain any Level of Momentum, you lose all your Momentum.
If you use an action or a reaction to make a Melee Weapon Attack and gain a Level of Momentum, you can use a Verse to gain the next Level of Momentum. Making two Melee Weapon Attacks in a row will advance your Momentum by 1/2. (But using two Verses in a row will give you 1 and 1/2 levels.)
When you are at the 4th Level of Momentum, your Movement Speed is increased by 15 feet.
By this logic, does this mean I get 1 and 1/2 momentum from using verses, or one on the first use, or do I need to attack, Verse, Attack?
This writing is difficult to understand, and potentially bottlenecking. Also, using 1 and 1/2 is convoluted. I suggest the following changes, Make a melee weapon attack give one momentum, and a verse 2 momentum. This gives the class more power in the early game (especially since homebrew is difficult to balance in low level dnd) and makes the ability easier to read.
Also, losing Momentum feels like a big nerf, especially if a combat requires using your action for a different thing, such as picking up a downed ally, pulling or lifting a rope or obstacle, or becoming stunned or grappled.
I believe changing this to the following would make the class feel more flexible and powerful
Momentum fan update - Starting 3rd level, Your mastery over combat and music flourishes into a beautiful yet deadly symphony.
If you use an action or a reaction to make a Melee Weapon Attack, you gain a level of Momentum. If you use a verse, you gain up to 2 levels of Momentum. You may not gain more than 4 levels of Momentum
When you are at the 4th Level of Momentum, your Movement Speed is increased by 15 feet.
You lose all levels of momentum if you haven't used a verse or made an attack in the last minute (10 rounds)
Changing Momentum to be more of a tool rather than an obligation allows more dynamic builds, such as a dark jester focused on support with healing with Song of Absurdity or a dark jester who uses his reactions with opportunity attacks to build of stacks momentum to utilize a finishing blow. Or maybe a crazy build that just gotta go fast with that additional movement speed. Changing momentum to be a more forgiving mechanic allows players to have more fun multi-classing and trying new strategies, and can break the dullness of having to do the same hit -> song tactic that is currently present in the class.
Obviously, I am unsure how you chose to balance your classes, especially with DM's making different power level campaigns, but I just wanted to share my thoughts and see this class flourish.