Talk:Draconic Descendant, 2nd Variant (5e Class)

A Look At This Class

I will be taking a closer look at this class, evaluating it and providing comprehensive feedback based on my thoughts about various different areas of the class. Without further adew, let us get started.

Formatting/Wording

In terms of formatting, the main issues are the unneeded bold text and the headings of the subclasses are incorrect, subclasses should use 3 equal signs and subclass features should use semicolons(;).

The classes wording is for the most part fine, however there are a lot of small issues. The most notable ones are the fact that features should use the "Xth level" wording instead of "level X". Other things like the use of "free action"/"light load" which don't exist in 5e, "expertise" instead of the following proper wording(You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill, and if you already have proficiency in it, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any Charisma (Intimidation) check you make.), and random words throughout having improper capitalization (also, ability scores should be capitalized and use {{5a|str/dex/con/int/wis/cha}} to produce something like Strength).

Besides that various features use improper wording on how many times you can use the feature. For reference the following wording should be used whenever possible, "Once you use this feature, you may not use it again until you finish a long rest." or "You may use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (a minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.". For how to word various other features/things, it might be a good idea to check official classes/subclass on how they word things as well.

In addition, class features can have some fluff, but for the most part how they operate and what benefits they give a pc should be clear cut. Flight does not call for any ability checks for example and how features work should be clearly outlined and not up to DM interpretation.

Balance

Damage wise, at an initial glance this class appears to be too strong compared to the monk. But let us run the numbers just to be sure.

Here's how the damage output of this class looks compared to the monk across all levels. This assumes that you start with a Dexterity/Strength of 16/17 for a +3 modifier, no feats, and no magic items, but otherwise optimized builds(maxing Dexterity/Strength first). The damage output denoted after the / means that is the class's damage output with an limited resource(for monk, Flurry of Blows).

Level	Monk	Draconic Descendent
1st	13 (1d8+1d4+6)	13(1d8+1d4+6)
2nd	13 (1d8+1d4+6)/18.5 (1d8+2d4+9)	13 (1d8+1d4+6)
5th	23.5 (1d8+2d6+12)/31 (1d8+3d6+16)	23.5 (2d8+1d4+12)
6th	23.5 (1d8+2d6+12)/31 (1d8+3d6+16)	29.5 (4d6+1d6+12)
11th	28.5 (3d8+15)/38 (4d8+20)	38 (4d8+2d4+15)
16th	28.5 (3d8+15)/38 (4d8+20)	44 (4d10+2d6+15)
17th	31.5 (3d10+15)/42 (4d10+20)	44 (4d10+2d6+15)

From this table we can see that the draconic descendent is somewhat similar to the monk in terms of damage, but at various levels the class over or under performs compared to the monk and gains damage increases at odd levels. Anyway, preferably, the class's damage output should never be more than the monk's flurry of blows damage output and as a draconic descendent gains levels they should start with damage output similar to a monk without using flurry of blows and as they gain levels, their damage output should get closer and closer to a monk who uses flurry of blows. As a side note, the class's damage output gets pushed even further by the Draconic Warrior which really should not have features which directly increase your damage.

Besides that, the class has a variety of other problematic features or balance issues which can be found below.

• In particular, Draconic Breath does not scale well enough and becomes less and less useful after you become 5th level and you gain extra attack. Really, dragon breath damage should likely scale in damage dice at 5th, 9th, 13th, 17th, and 20th level.
• The Draconic Vitality feature is particularly egregious as it turns a monk-like class which should have a d8 hit die effectively into a d12 hit die class. The class should not have a feature which increases hit points as it is too good, plus features that just give a flat bonus to AC should also be changed to provide something else.
• The class lacks a feature that makes their unarmed strikes magical and without such a feature the class would be extremely weak at higher levels.
• Draconic Fear is only single target, lasts a turn, but gives advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) checks. I believe that the feature should not give two benefits and that the fear likely should be made into an area of affect similar to the dragon's Frightful Presence. As such, the feature could be renamed to Frightful Presence and work like so:

Starting at 13th level, you can destabilize enemies with your mere presence. Whenever a enemy creature starts their turn within 30 feet of you, they must make a DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, they are frightened of you until the start their next turn. If they succeed, they are immune to your Frightful Presence for 24 hours.

• Draconic Senses should provide either the blindsight or advantage on those Wisdom (Perception) checks as either of those things is very good.
• Draconic Body tries to cram far too many things into one feature. Really this should provide you with either a tail attack or a size increase. Here is an example for how the feature can be reworked to either or.

Starting at 17th level, your size becomes Large and your height doubles and your weight gets multiplied by 8. You can carry, push, drag, or lift double the amount of a Medium sized creature, and gain the additional other benefits:

• Your base walking speed increases by 10 feet.
• Your flying speed is now equal to your proficiency bonus multiplied by 10 and your reach for your bite and claw attacks increases by 5 feet.

Starting at 17th level, you can use your tail to perform a disabling maneuver. As a bonus action, you can attempt to knock up to two Medium size creatures, or one Large creature prone, so long as they are within 5 feet of you and aligned appropriately. The targets of this feature must make either a Strength or Dexterity saving throw(their choice), with a DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier. A creature falls prone on a failed save, and remains standing on a successful one. If your targets are in front of you, you must turn your back to them to use this feature. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Strength modifier. You regain all uses of this feature when you finish a short or long rest.

• Draconic Soul is a bit of a mess and has a large number of problems. In particular the feature provides far too much of a damage increase, but also pcs should not gain access to legendary actions as it would greatly slow down combat, the rules for how to use it are not defined like all class features should be, the mechanic was just meant for monsters, not pcs, to have, ect.

Honestly the subclass features could use a lot of work too, however I will not be looking at them at this time. My advice on the subclasses though is to look at the official fighter and monk subclasses for ideas on how subclasses are laid out(monk no direct damage increase at 3rd, fighter usually gets additional options to play with at 3rd, some levels are usually fluff features, ect.). For example, the cavalier fighter subclass is an example of what a Draconic Warrior could be instead of just increasing your damage/survivability directly which isn't too interesting(and often times balanced).

Design

Looking at the general idea behind the class, it looks like some adjustments need to be made, mainly in regards to flavor but in several other places as well. While the class does have decent flavor text, general 5e design philosophy is that players should be able to do choose any race and class combination, so the text needs to be adjusted so as it could fit anyone who choses the class. The text can and probably should still mention dragonborn and how they can more easily tap into their draconic ancestry though.

Besides that, some of the features in this class also are unconventional or downright do things that should not be allowed. Namely,

• Unarmed Defense should pretty much always use Dexterity. An argument can be made for not using Dexterity if the unarmed defense is provided via some psionic shield or something else extremely odd, but the unarmed defense of this class does not fall under that category. I would recommend using Dexterity and Charisma as dex represents your ability to dodge/deflect blows and cha in this case would represent your connection to the draconic power within you(ie dragons have high cha scores due to the fact that they drawn from the power within themselves).
• Effects that last for X amount of rounds is highly unusually and is considered to be round counting. Round counting requires pcs to keep track of time for no real benefit and the duration of things in 5e has been standardized to 1 round, 1 minute, 10 minutes, 1 hour, ect.
• The Draconic Warrior's feature Armor Sundering Enhancement is problematic due to it reducing a creature's AC. Really features/spells/ect. should not allow you to change a creature's AC or ability scores and are problematic due to the fact that they would require a DM to keep track of the changes made to that individual creature and potentially alter several of that creature's other statistics in the middle of combat. Instead, features that utilize the advantage/disadvantage system are preferred. For example upon hitting a creature, you could attempt to stagger them and force them to make a saving throw. On a failed save, until the start of your next turn, the next melee attack roll against the creature is made at advantage.
• The Dragon Breath and two unarmed strike features also scale at odd levels and likely should be changed to they have consistent scaling and/or follow precedent for when damage increases(monk unarmed strike 5/11/17).

Flavor

Looking at the class's flavor, the main issue is that mentioned above in design, the fact that the flavor text at the beginning needs to be changed.

Besides that, the section under Creating a Draconic Descendant and above the quick build section, should include questions on building a draconic descendant pc. Something like "As you are creating a draconic descedent, keep in mind how your character gained their power and why they took up the adventurer lifestyle. Did you make a deal with a dragon to gain your power? Was their a pivotal moment in your backstory that allowed you to gain this power? Why would your character decide to group up with others? What are your goals as a draconic descent?, ect." could fit and are questions that help players build a backstory/character. These questions could vary quite a bit and you could go with something completely different for these questions if you so wish.

Many features also lack description, and while flavor text isn't really necessary, it is often nice to have. For example, the Draconic Warrior's flavor text for Strong Body feature is excellent and really invokes the feeling of you obtaining a strong draconic body.

Conclusion

All in all, making a unique and balanced class is a large hurdle. Refining a class and improving upon it time and time again is part of the class making process. Take what you will from my feedback, but I hope that this feedback can help improve the class and your understanding of how to make homebrew. Gl with the class and may your future homebrew go well, --Blobby383b (talk) 17:54, 8 June 2020 (MDT)