‘Balance’ is such a funny word in the world of Dungeons and Dragons. Everyone knows what it means generally, but there’s some debate about its exact nature. What makes the DnD classes over or under powered? When is it fair to give a potent ability a drawback or a dice roll?
I don’t have all the answers. However, I think there’s some great examples of what not to do in D&D Beyond’s latest third-party sourcebook. Obojima: Tales from Yamaton presents very creative subclass options, but mechanically, they lack consistency. Some go from barely any ability to breaking the game – often at the whim of a dice roll. Others are strong, but there’s not enough padding to prevent them from running away with encounters.
Let me show you my workings:
Neko Duelist
A balance problem is pretty ironic for a subclass based on felines, creatures that are famously light on their feet. This subclass is all about agility and cat-like maneuvers, and the first 10 levels of features focus almost entirely on this theme.
A subclass-exclusive fighting style gives you a +2 bonus to attack rolls or grapple and shove saves if you set up a ‘pounce’ movement first. You gain a climb speed, plus the power to deal damage when you use the Shove action. Enemies easily provide half-cover, and a new reaction allows you to reduce and deflect incoming damage. By level 10, you’re no longer worried by pesky rules like Surprise or Opportunity Attacks.
Each of these abilities is a definite perk, but they never feel quite worthy of the wait. A class should be ‘online’ by level five, but the Neko Duelist never seems to get that shift in power. Instead, they have a smörgåsbord of powers that’d feel great as individual, low-level features, but feel disjointed and lackluster as a set.
Then, in the upper tiers, the subclass makes a dramatic U-turn. From level 15, you get two extra uses of Second Wind, and using it to regain HP also gives you a free Dodge action until the end of your next turn. Level 18 gives you up to five additional melee attacks when you make an attack action, once per turn. You stop swinging if you miss, and you can’t apply additional damage or effects to the 1d10 damage, but still. It’s swingy, but up to seven attacks per turn is major value.
The Fighter is one of D&D’s strongest, most stable base classes. The Neko Duelist doesn’t turn it into a bad class by any means, so this should still be fun to play. However, I do believe it’ll be significantly weaker than many of the mainline Fighter subclasses – even if you make it to the high levels that, statistically, most D&D parties never reach.
Fortune Rogue
The Fortune Rogue might be the only subclass I’ve ever seen come with a warning. “Players who are unfamiliar with the game, or those who prefer a straightforward style of play, may wish to choose a different subclass”, Obojima says. “The Fortune Rogue asks that both the player and the GM collaborate in a fashion that might require more improvisation than other character options. We recommend speaking with your GM about the Fortune Rogue before choosing it as your subclass.”
Your main bread and butter is the level-three Beyond Coincidence feature. This gives you a pool of Fortune Dice, 20s equal to half your Rogue level that refresh every long rest. These dice allow you to make Luck checks, Charisma-based rolls you have Expertise in but cannot modify in any other way.
Any ability check can be subbed in for a Luck check. You describe the outcome you want from this check, and the DM sets a DC based on how likely they think it is. Succeed, and you get your heart’s desire, however absurd it might seem. Perhaps the big boss drops their weapon at an inopportune moment, or you were sitting on a plot-crucial item all along.
Level three also lets you regain a Fortune Die any time someone within 60 feet rolls a natural 20. The odds of this happening are fairly low, but considering your pool is level-based, you’re unlikely to be starved for Fortune Dice anyway.
The Fortune Rogue gets no other perks until level nine, when Lucky Strike lets you spend a Fortune Die to make an attack roll. This attack roll triggers Sneak Attack on a hit, even if you don’t meet its usual requirements. Plus, if you use the Withdraw option from your Rogue’s regular Cunning Strike, you don’t expend any Sneak Attack dice.
From level 13, you roll and record two D20s after every long rest. Once per turn (whose turn, exactly?), you can replace the DC of a saving throw with one of these rolls, choosing to do so before any affected targets make their saves. Then, at level 17, you get three of these D20s to play with. Plus, when an ally within 60 feet takes 100 damage or less, you can roll that D20 and replace the damage with the result.
‘Ridiculous’ is the first word that comes to mind here. ‘Swingy’ is the second. The potential for game-breaking turns is endless, as are the odds of taking a turn where you achieve nothing. It’s kind of delightful how silly this subclass is, but I suspect it won’t be much fun for other players around the table.
Coven Patron Warlock
D&D doesn’t have witches, officially at least. The Coven Patron reflavors your Warlock as a spellcaster who gains powers from their bond with a coven. ‘Sharing’ is the underlying theme of its mechanics, and once again, the balance is all over the place.
Coven Warlocks have a decent starting spell set: Animal Friendship, Mirror Image, Bless, Bestow Curse, Clairvoyance, Polymorph, Awaken, and Telepathic Bond. There are a few Obojima-specific spells, too, which are solid but not mind-blowing. You can borrow a low-level spell slot from a pal, allow friends to see through your eyes, or, at higher levels, pacify a monster.
Level three also brings Collective Knowledge. This allows you to gain proficiency in a skill, tool, or language once per long rest. More importantly, it allows you to perform a 10-minute ritual that swaps one Warlock spell with another of the same level from the Druid of Wizard list. You can cast it once a day without a spell slot, which feels pretty great for a class with such a limited spell list.
Level six is where things get a bit skewy. Coven’s Bond is a bonus action that allows you to influence another creature within 60 feet, with a power dependent on which of three covens you belong to. It’s a once per day thing that lasts an hour, during which you can trigger a relevant ability a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier. Other than that, there’s no other real requirements – even if you’re targeting a hostile.
Take, for example, option one. Choose this bond, and when you take damage, that damage is halved – and the bonded creature you chose takes the same amount of damage. There’s no saving throw for your enemy to resist this effect (though, in my opinion, there absolutely should be). You simply get a few free pot shots at your beefiest opponent.
Option two triggers when you fail a saving throw. The bonded creature can also make the same save, allowing you to use its result instead of your own. This works the other way too, with you potentially saving a friend from a bad save.
Our last option allows you to teleport 60 feet as a bonus action, moving next to your bonded buddy, moving them to you, or doing a full swapsies. The limited uses stop this power from being too absurd, but I still think Obojima has been a little too generous.
From level 10, your can use the Distant Protections reaction any time you take 10 or more damage. You immediately regain 1D10 + your Charisma modifier in HP, and gain one of the following until the end of your next turn:
- +5 to AC
- The invisible condition
- A fly speed equal to your speed
This is already incredibly powerful, but what makes it more over-the-top is the fact it triggers any time you’re reduced to zero HP but not killed outright. Once you use Distant Protections this way, you need a short or long rest to use it again, but still. This is a once-per-combat get-out-of-jail free card that just lets you ignore dying.
The Warlock’s level-14 feature feels strong, too. Voice of the Many gives you one of three special abilities that can be used once per long rest. Here, your choice of coven again decides what you get.
One offers a Magic action to cast a level-six or lower Evocation spell from the Druid or Wizard spell list, as long as it doesn’t require a reaction to cast. You cast this without spell slots or material components.
Alternatively, you can roll three D6s, assigning each of them to their AC and two saves of their choice to increase these values. Lastly, there’s a reaction to give a spell they see cast (level six or lower) a second target of their choice. The Warlock guarantees the most consistent results of these subclasses, but I think it gets away with too much without drawbacks.
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Source: Wargamer
