Talk:5e Classes

When will Subclass templates appear?

Tried to cross over my two Subclass options, and turns out the templates aren't there. I figure it can be a difficult thing, given that subclasses are very different, but they generally are part of three main trends: General, Domain, and Partial Caster.

General is what just about every class gets: one option every X levels. These options could be simple (Champion, Berserker) or multiple-choice (Totem Warrior, Way of the Elements, Hunter). These can be solved with fluff text, Heading 3 (for each ability you get), and multiple-choice features beginning with bold and italic, then followed by simple text.

The Domain trend is followed by the Cleric's Domains, the Paladin's Sacred Oaths and the Warlock's Otherworldly Patrons, with the sole exception of the Circle of Land Druid subclass. They also have fluff text (except for the Sacred Oath, which has a small section explaining the tenets of the Oath), but the fluff text is followed by a short list detailing all new spells they learn (often 10 new spells, with Circle of Land Druids having 8) before returning to General subclass format.

The Partial Caster trend is the more difficult of the three, followed only by the Eldritch Knight and the Arcane Trickster. These require a table of their own, though they usually have the same progression (if only judging by the available subclasses), often between the fluff text and the crunch text. The following text is usually their spellcasting method, which seems to be pretty similar but could change based on the homebrewer's intentions.

Whether the lack of a template is because of lack of time, or because of how difficult it may be to tackle the trend, I hope this helps at the time you choose to work with the templates. Making new subclasses seems to be the easiest way to work with 5e homebrewed content (alongside new feats and new backgrounds), making somewhat imperative that templates are available. Between the WotC forums, GitP and ENWorld there's enough homebrewed subclass content, and keeping it in one place would be nice. T.G. Oskar (talk) 08:36, 5 October 2014 (UTC)

That's a nice and quite helpful breakdown there, many thanks :-)

There is a general form preload for the subclasses already, I just forgot to link it when I got distracted. It has already been added. I'll see about writing up some templates that can be dropped in to assist with the domain and partial caster trends. Partial caster in particular will be fun, because variable tables :-/. The class template may be a bit longer though, as I'm trying to think of an easy way to do the variable column thing they're doing. - Tarkisflux ^Talk 22:02, 5 October 2014 (UTC)

The class template is currently not necessary, since while people might be interested in making new classes, the concept has turned to be more complicated. I've only seen two proper classes, and they're mostly conversions of Psionic content. Making a new class involves the creation of two or three subclasses to compensate (haven't seen the Psionicist, but judging by 3.5 standards, it should have around six Discipline subclasses). Building a class will require time and effort, making subclass creation easier to homebrew.

That said: the tables shouldn't be so hard. Column 1 has the level, column 2 has the Proficiency bonus (which is always the same) and column 3 has the class features, with levels 4, 8, 12, 16 and 19 being ability score increases. The chassis is pretty straightforward, a big difference from the old version where there were about 5 different tables. Maybe you mean classes like Bard, Monk and Sorcerer (who have Bardic Inspiration, Ki and Sorcery Point references, with the latter also having number of spells known)?

As for Partial Caster, use the same table. The two classes presented thus far use the same format, so keep the format as-is until further notice. T.G. Oskar (talk) 23:39, 5 October 2014 (UTC)

Domain/Oath/Circle spell table template has been added to the subclass preload already, so that should be two down. The partial caster table template exists and is extremely flexible and hides all of the table code from an end user... but it's also really long. I'll write up a new preload for it I think.

As for classes, it's not so much that the class table is hard (because level, proficiency, features is super easy), it's that sometimes there are classes that have things between proficiency and features, and then have progressions after features and maybe spells after that (as you mention in your examples). The easy way to support those is to simply let people deal with table formatting on their own, but I want to meet them halfway because usability. And after doing the very nuts partial caster subclass table, I think I have a good idea of how to do it. It's certainly a pretty low priority, but since races, subraces, subclasses, feats, backgrounds, spells, and variant rules are all done(ish) now, it's next on the list. - Tarkisflux ^Talk 05:49, 6 October 2014 (UTC)

Ready for new classes?

I know you're already working on this. Thanks, by the way. I was just getting eager to post some new class stuff on this site. I'll be watching this talk page, so just let us know when the site is ready for new d&d5 classes. --Nolanf (talk) 22:41, 17 October 2014 (UTC)

I think I can have it up later tonight. - Tarkisflux ^Talk 01:01, 18 October 2014 (UTC)

And I was wrong. I probably won't be able to finish the preload before Mon or Tues, but you're welcome to put something up using your own best guess formatting if you like. The class template is up already though, along with (hopefully) sufficient explanation of all of its possible uses to do stuff with. - Tarkisflux ^Talk 07:37, 18 October 2014 (UTC)

Simple preload is up. Naked table preload will be a while yet, but the simple one should cover almost any use case. If you need help getting something to display, let me know. - Tarkisflux ^Talk 05:34, 20 October 2014 (UTC)

Prestige Classes

I've noticed on Giantitp that prestige classes, while not actually in the 5e system by default, have been homebrewed for 5e quite a bit. Should we have a section for it? I'm in the middle on it because 5e classes & subclasses are interesting enough without multiclassing or prestige classes but the prestige classes introduce more variety which is good too. With the current set up we can't have any at all though, unless I'm a moron and missed something which is entirely possible- Aeturo (talk) 11:22, 6 February 2017 (MST)

Weren't they introduced in the Unearthed Arcana series? --Ghostwheel (talk) 11:32, 6 February 2017 (MST)