Talk:Shieldbruiser (5e Class)

I am very much looking for feedback on the balance of this class. I think I made a good show of it to start with, but my concern is that it's a tad overpowered. (Although, in comparison to other classes, it has roughly the same amount of features.) - illykitten

Version 0.2

Added two new subclasses, tweaked some features on existing subclasses, and beefed up the presence of lore on the page. - illykitten

Version 0.3

Removed Favoured Enemy feature, I couldn't tie anything in to it with much meaning and it became an artifact. Changed the order and timing of many of the mid-late game features. Changed Shield of the Sun to Starglare, and Shield of the Moon to Moonwave. Added Astral Protection, a new core feature for level 20 shieldbruisers.

-illykitten

Version 1.0

I have now completed tweaks and balance changes. I think this is a pretty solid reflection of my original thought, so I am moving it to version 1.0.

Playtesting has revealed that the class can indeed be powerful, but not more so than others, and different subclasses interact with other player classes in a very pleasing way. Access to ki based abilities really makes the class shine, and you feel very different from a traditional monk (or indeed, fighter) - changing ki point values from monk to shieldbruiser (and again within the class, specifically the Eldritch Disciple) means you do not get the burst damage capabilities of the monk but still have enough energy to make important decisions on the battlefield. So resource management is optimised per my vision - I do have some small concerns with the way eldritch disciples gain spell power, but only with regard to restoring hit dice on a long rest, the concern being that this may occasionally not be enough - however extensive playtesting with the additional ki-based recovery of hit dice still needs to occur. I am very open to the idea of changing the resource cost from hit dice and would do so if a better option could be decided upon - but I do want a serious physical cost of some description simply on thematic grounds. I think it balances the amount of spells an eldritch disciple can cast per day fairly effortlessly as you're limited only by hit dice (or tbd other option), and as long as you can pay the cost... Spellcasting is merely an option for this shieldbruiser, and its main purpose is to be POG when needed.

I originally thought of this class two or three years ago when the desire for a tanky character using two shields *and no weapons* came about while playing Crusader in Diablo 3 (wild disparity between the game systems acknowledged) and I am quite pleased with the variety I was able to come up with for the general theme, even if I did break those rules as well! But the coolest part of this whole exercise was really filling out the many things you can do with shields and getting imaginative - if I may say so - when gaps could be filled with rule of cool. It became much more than the mere subclass idea it grew from. Each branch formed naturally and I never felt hounded by pressure, so I had a lot of fun! Very open to new ideas, big edit sessions, and further interpretations :D