Talk:Quantumancer (5e Subclass)

I would greatly appreciate any input on my archetype and ways I could improve the balance while keeping the theme. Thanks! (and yes this is the creator from a temp account) - AmplSi

Hello, fellow wikian! I do love some Shrodinger's cats in my back yards, and I find the premise of this archetype interesting! However, I think that the mechanics could be improved. So this is my suggestions on the quantumancer archetype:

• Probability Flip. "Inverting" is an interesting theme, and this must come in handy for those who have only unlucky dice (such as myself). The mechanics is very unique... perhaps too unique. Imposing advantage or disadvantage and/or rerolling a number of dice on one ability check, attack roll, damage roll, and/or saving throw would be cleaner; please refer to the Tides of Chaos feature from the Wild Magic sorcerer.

• Entanglement. Percentage calculation is discouraged on the 5th edition, as far as I know; I have seen only three occasions where percentile dice came into play, and they were a) the Wild Magic Surge table, b) the Divine Intervention feature, and c) the random item tables. From what I know, even 3.5rd edition discouraged using percentage calculations - one-and-a-half was still too much, which is why even that was deleted in the 5th edition.

Plus, there is no "until combat ends" in 5th edition - that must be 4th-edition system, as far as I know (my apologies, but I have never played the 4th edition myself, just skimmed through some data).

• Phasing. This is rather nice, although the word choice could be a bit improved.

• Superposition. Ooh, time paradox! I love the concept, but the mechanics is rather messy here. What do you mean by "half potency?" Do I share spell slots with my double, or does my double uses separate spell slots from me? If latter, it is highly broken; this is essentially doubling your spell slots.

I have a suggestion for reworking the Superposition feature: If you have ever played the videogame called Broforce, there is this player character that can put a hologram of himself, which he uses to avoid fatal blow by teleporting to the hologram upon being hit by an attack. The hologram just stands there, doing nothing (other than flexing and taunting - it's just that kind of videogame), but it counts as your double to the enemies, making a good distraction. Maybe you can consider and make a wizard feature from this.

• Superstatis. The enigmatic "half potency" makes its way again. Also, round counting is discouraged in the 5th edition, since it kinda makes the game rather awkward, tracking down where you were or how much hit points you had before the nth round or whatnots. "Avoiding falling unconscious upon zero hit point" is a good feature, but maybe not for a wizard, since if wizards are taking all the damage instead of other classes (coughcoughfighterscoughcough) either something is definitely going wrong with the party, or your DM wants you to buy the dinner.

• Chaos Plane - Controlled Chaos. How big is the "battlefield", which is not defined in the 5th edition? Using Legendary Actions is something new to me, it could be interesting, but it also could be messy if you do not state what exactly does it do. I understand that the Legendary Action stuff is described in MM, but since it is mostly DM-exclusive, it would be nice to explain it one more time to the players.

• In General. Most of the features have restrictions that "this feature can't be used/stops working if someone is looking at you with truesight." Truesight is rare, not to mention that the definition of "in field of view" is vague.

I notice that most of the features have "multiple uses, regains one expended uses when you finish short rest or long rest." Is this intended? If so, mind if I borrow this for my works? This is new and awesome, I think I can make good use of this.

Phew! That was long. In short: I love the concept, but the mechanics could be improved. I suggest using mechanics introduced in other classes; I recommend the Wild Magic sorcerer. Have a nice day, fellow wikian! --WeirdoWhoever (talk) 18:48, 29 March 2017 (UTC)

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Hi WeirdoWhoever! Thank you for your detailed suggestions, I will definitely make some revisions based on them. There are a lot of clarifications I need to make. And yes, Truesight and abilities that cut the tether created during Astral Projection are rare, but I thought it made sense and worked to balance some of the otherwise powerful abilities. My one big refute is that yes, a wizard should not be taking a great deal of damage, but I figure it is more likely later on that they may be faced with powerful AoE attacks that they fail to dodge, or similar situations. Perhaps it could be treated like a spell in which, once per x days/long rest after certain level, the Quantumancer could choose one person to go into superstasis?

I will clarify half potency, the battlefield size, and various qualifiers. I will also try to re-work the mechanics, though I like the fact that this is a game of probabilities using theories and mechanics that are all based on probability and chance. I will look through the details you referenced and try to streamline it as well. That Broforce example you used sounds a lot like the Mirror Image spell, and while it already works mechanically, as WotC has seen to that, it doesn't quite fit the theme I had in mind. I will admit, however, that looking back on this archetype, it seems to favor a fighting wizard, which I will work on changing.

The last thing is, especially with the Probability Flip feature, I wanted a way that gives a small boost like many other classes and archetypes do, but in a new way. I will look for alternatives, but I personally enjoy seeing creative mechanics in others' homebrews, and attempted to show the same originality here. And yes, that was intentional. If you'd like to borrow anything or make your own variants of my work, feel free to as long as you credit me. Thanks again for your great input! -AmplSi (talk) 18:07, 30 March 2017 (EST)

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Hello again! I've made a couple edits and I'd love to hear opinions on them! The first change I made was to Quantum Knowledge, formerly the Probability Flip feature, on which I streamlined the mechanics and, having noticed that the archetype seems to favor a wizard who isn't afraid to be in the midst of a fray, added a bonus to support that playstyle. Secondly, I altered a lot of qualifiers, namely by removing "when combat ends" and clarifying what was previously "in the field of view of Truesight." I also clarified what I had intended by "half potency," as alternate interpretations could be, as WeirdoWhoever pointed out, quite broken. I have made various other adjustments throughout. I hope you guys enjoy V2! -AmplSi (talk) 19:13, 31 March 2017 (EST)

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Thank you Guy for the formatting edit --AmplSi (talk) 20:12, 26 April 2017 (UTC)

So amplsi here are my points on the subject:

• Quantum Knowledge good.
• Inversion Good concept, though it could also have an option to invert another Creatures roll.
• Entanglement Conceptwise its good but it needs formatting help. The numbers could be spaced out with bolds or subheadings. The bit about the astral tether thing is a little much, as ive seen nothing in the SRD or the books that is able to do such a thing besides Wish, The 150% damage effect is unwieldy and requries alot more math than just saying "they take 1 extra damage die of the weapons type, on top of normal damage." Its a very long paragraph, and the at higher levels and expending spell slots sections should have a space between them.
• Phasing Good idea, but it could be worded better and add more of a benifit by taking inspiration from a Ghosts Incorporeal Movement.
• Superposition Too many words, Could be worked like Mirror Image that can attack and cast spells as you would on your initiative.
• Superstasis Very wordy, could use a few paragraph breaks, and mechanic work. Could be worked like a Vampires Misty Escape feature.
• Chaotic Rift This feature should just have you learn the spell and have it in your spellbook.
• In General Everything has good concept, but is too complicated and wordy.�

Hopefully this helps you out AmplSi, and as User:Marasmusine always Says, "Thats for starters". Bannanameds (talk) 14:55, 7 May 2017 (UTC)