Cyborg | A Background, and on science fiction in Dungeons & Dragons

Here is another new development in my homebrew: a background! Backgrounds are interesting as a field of content creation compared to subclasses, species, and spells. Somewhat uniquely, the Player's Handbook advises Dungeon Masters and players to work together to create original backgrounds of their own as a standard rule, not a variant. Homebrewing a background is thus arguably not even really "homebrew," because that's just how the game already works! On the other hand, the formalized presentation of a background fully kitted out with trait tables is a little different from the Handbook's advice, as it goes beyond a personal background into being a complete piece of content able to inspire readers to contemplate new background possibilities.

Oath of Benevolence | A Paladin Sacred Oath, and on personal taste and my favorite book

A long time ago when I posted the Oath of Detachment, I mentioned that I thought of it as my best work on a technical level but wasn't my personal favorite. I didn't go further into that difference at the time, but now is the time, because here is the Sacred Oath that is my favorite piece among all the paladin homebrew I've created: the Oath of Benevolence.

What makes this one so special? Some of it has to do with the archetype's inspiration, and some of it has to do with my personal taste and style.

School of History | An Arcane Tradition, and when homebrew imitates life

My very first original arcane tradition! I have done wizard homebrew before, but as that was part of my Darkest Timeline project, it feels like it doesn't count as an original idea.

This was fun to do, as I've wanted to make a wizard for a long time. It's a silly reason, but it didn't seem right to be making so much homebrew and yet leave out one of the most iconic original Dungeons & Dragons classes. It was also enjoyable because I'm a student of history myself. Getting the chance to talk about this favorite subject of mine in homebrew felt really neat!

The Chivalric Order | An Otherworldly Patron, and on warlocks and trends in homebrew

Today I'm sharing the Chivalric Order. It's funny to me that this foray into warlock archetype design is basically a paladin, or really a group of paladins, as an Otherworldly Patron. I'm very pleased with this homebrew, in both its narrative and its mechanics. I think it's my best Patron that I've created so far, so I hope you enjoy it.

The Chivalric Order also serves as a good example of something that I'd like to write about: trends in homebrew.

Path of the Beast | Barbarian Primal Path, and on nonmagical characters in Dungeons & Dragons

My sister actually inspires a lot of my homebrew. Like the Way of the Water Lily, the Path of the Beast came about on account of wanting to make a present based on a show she enjoys. In this case, that show was Demon Slayer. The Path of the Beast provides what I hope is a fitting tribute to the character Inosuke, the inventor and sole practitioner of Beast Breathing, which I'll admit I still don't fully understand, but people tell me the homebrew captures the spirit of things even if I don't get it.

Acolyte, Reaver, and Scoundrel | Three martial archetypes from an alternate timeline and on class homebrew versus subclass homebrew

Great Scott! I'm finally back in my own timeline!

Confused? No need to be: the truth is simply that I have not brewed these archetypes: Rather, they are evidence from an alternate timeline too terrible to fully describe, where the barbarian, monk, and rogue classes simply don't exist! So many things were different, it's too horrible to even remember fully!

From that realm of nightmares I narrowly escaped with my life and sanity, with only these martial archetypes, torn from the pages of the alternate timeline's Player's Handbook 2 to prove my story. Behold and tremble at the awful knowledge of a dark timeline where your favorite classes don't exist!

Pact of the Mask | On warlock Pact Boons and an elephant in the room

Something of an addendum to last week's Temples & Triforces, the Pact of the Mask is an idea that came to me thanks to a friend. He saw the document and then asked if I had any ideas for Link's masks in Majora's Mask. The question intrigued me; at first, I suggested a Mask Salesman subclass, or a series of magic items. But then as I continued thinking about it, I had another idea that I wanted to explore: a warlock Pact Boon.

Temples & Triforces | Seven species and four archetype options inspired by the Legend of Zelda, and on shared creative space

After months of work and at least one all-nighter, I bring to you Temples & Triforces! This is definitely one of my proudest homebrew creations yet. Here is what you need to get started with a Dungeons & Dragons campaign set in the world of The Legend of Zelda. With seven species and four archetype options (and two spells, in the context of one of the archetypes), this is the largest homebrew project I've ever shared to this blog (though not in fact the largest project I've ever created; but that's for another day).

Way of the Water Lily | A Monastic Tradition, and on monk design

At last, another archetype homebrew that is not a Sacred Oath! I'll bet some of you will be able to recognize the inspiration behind this Monastic Tradition. I created the Way of the Water Lily as a birthday present for my sister, and she is a fan of My Hero Academia. 

Dunewalker | A Dwarf subspecies and a glimpse at Veardynn

Here's another first for the blog: subspecies homebrew! What makes subspecies homebrew different from broader species homebrew is that the new creation needs to be able to fit into the existing framework of the "superspecies," so to speak. It's possible for an idea to be interesting yet ill-fitting. Additionally, because the species already takes up design space, both mechanically and narratively, the available design space is much narrower.