Ethereal Theory | Philosopher Personal Theory, and on crossover homebrew

Following relatively close on the heels of the homebrew-for-homebrew Covenant of the Conspiracy, I bring to you the Ethereal Theory, a homebrew for the excellent Philosopher class created by Nimademe! These homebrews are actually closely interrelated because while the Ethereal Theory is homebrew for the Philosopher, its themes draw upon the Keeper.

Allow me to give some background.

First, let me just say that the Philosopher is one of my favorite homebrew classes. It's deeply creative and goes off the beaten path. Theorycraft spellcasting is really one of a kind, and employing mechanics that require one to cultivate every ability score and truly become a jack-of-all-trades is super cool. It was the first homebrew class I ever read that I got really excited about.

But, now is not necessarily the time or place to gush about the Philosopher (though I might do so in another blog post someday). What does this homebrew have to do with the Keeper?

You see, the broad premise of the Philosopher is to be a spellcaster who strives to master all of magic, from all classes. A Philosopher eventually learns spells from every full spellcaster class list through the base class. But what of half-casters, like the Paladin and Ranger? Philosophers can dig into those classes' themes and powers through the Personal Theory subclasses: the Heavenly Theory and the Earthly Theory, which each bear inspiration from the Paladin and Ranger respectively in addition to their philosophical trappings.

Because I liked the Philosopher so much, I wanted to make some homebrew for it. And I wanted to follow the pattern set by the Heavenly and Earthly Theories by drawing on the themes of another class and connecting that to a philosophical idea.

The Ethereal Theory actually isn't my first attempt at making a Personal Theory. My first was the Material Theory, based on the Rogue. I realize that Rogues aren't spellcasters, but I think the idea of a Philosopher becoming a jack-of-all-trades allows for some expansion outside of necessarily magical classes. However, I wasn't entirely satisfied with my Material Theory, and I continue to struggle with it and so still consider it incomplete.

In the meantime, I created the Ethereal Theory, which I'm a lot happier with—hence I feel comfortable releasing it on the blog! It was fun to make, and I even had the opportunity share it with both Nimademe, who created the Philosopher, and NotTheSmoooze, who created the Keeper.

All that to say: just as the Heavenly Theory draws on the Paladin and philosophies of optimism and the Earthly Theory draws on the Ranger and philosophies of pessimism, the Ethereal Theory draws on the Keeper and philosophies of spiritualism. That is how the Ethereal Theory is homebrew for the Philosopher yet closely related to the Keeper.

Do give the Philosopher a read, and I hope you enjoy both that homebrew class and my homebrew for it!