classes Archives - Tribality

Unearthed Arcana 2022: Expert Classes Breakdown

Brandes Stoddard — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 23:14:43 +0000

Following Wednesday’s announcement with Jeremy Crawford and Todd Kenreck, we now have the new Unearthed Arcana packet in our grubby little nubbies. Metaphorically, anyway, unless you also printed a copy? It is a heckin’ chonker of a packet, with three classes (one subclass each), a mess of feats and epic boons, the complete PH spell lists, and a hefty new rules glossary that overwrites the previous one. I know exactly how tempting it is to discuss all of this as […]

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The Barbarian Class, Part One

Brandes Stoddard — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 12:00:31 +0000

Today I realized that it’s been almost three years since my last History of the Classes article. Today I’m starting in on the Barbarian, a class that goes back to an article by E. Gary Gygax in Dragon Magazine #63, in July 1982. As a disclaimer for the whole series: “barbarian” is a culturally loaded word and is a slur from first principles. I’m not defending it. I would be fine with changing the class name to “berserker” so that […]

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UA: Class Feature Variants Breakdown, Part One

Brandes Stoddard — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 04:11:33 +0000

I don’t want to alarm you, but this week’s UA is absolutely huge in both its actual volume (13 pages) and its impact (it touches every class in the Player’s Handbook to one degree or another). The article title suggests that it’ll be mostly replacing features (“variants”), but in actuality it’s mostly direct enhancements to features. These are almost universally quality-of-life improvements and efforts to solve for what the designers have learned about their game in ongoing development. It’s definitely […]

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Mask – A Rogue Archetype (5e)

DM Shawn — Thu, 04 Jul 2019 04:26:02 +0000

I wanted to share another experiential subclass concept I’ve been working on that encourages pulp action and swashbuckling gameplay. The following subclass let’s you play a PC who can change into a masked hero, allowing for a Zorro or comic book vigilante type character. With this subclass you get features such as secret identity, sidekick (during downtime primarily), and archenemy. Please let us know in the comments below what you think of having a mask at your table, for you […]

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Unearthed Arcana: Sidekicks Breakdown

Brandes Stoddard — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 04:16:38 +0000

Oh hey, this month’s Unearthed Arcana covers something I’ve been asking for and working with in my own writing! That’s neat. It’s handled in a 1-20 class progression format, to make sure your favorite NPCs from the early game can stay with you and survive through the endgame as well. Let’s dive in and see what goes on here. Baseline Functions These rules are only intended to apply to adventuring NPCs of CR 1 or lower. There’s a sidebar explaining […]

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The Bard Class, Part Six

Brandes Stoddard — Wed, 10 Oct 2018 12:00:28 +0000

Sure, it’s been more than three years since the last article in the History of the Bard, but the tale of each class has grown in the telling and I wanted to do the same for bards, this time for Dungeon World and 13th Age. Those both have SRDs (DW, 13A), so you can follow along in your pew. Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six Dungeon World The […]

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The Fighter Class, Part Eight

Brandes Stoddard — Wed, 09 May 2018 12:00:24 +0000

This week in the History of the Fighter, I’m tackling the book that is the first time I personally heard the name “Mike Mearls.” The year was 2005 and the book was Iron Heroes. 3.5e had launched just two years earlier, and it would be another two years before the announcement of 4e at GenCon. If you know anything about Iron Heroes, then you may understand that there is only one way I can begin this account. Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part […]

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Warrior Orders and the Way of the Jade Serpent

Colin McLaughlin — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 14:52:33 +0000

We continue to look at the class archetypes that inhabit this world where the Zodiac challenges the Far Realm. This time, we look at the monks who follow the Way of the Jade Serpent. The monks are able to manifest the lightning and poison of that great beast, learning more of its secrets as they progress.

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Bitheism, Clerics, and the Service Domain

Colin McLaughlin — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 13:00:30 +0000

I’ve read a lot Neil Gaiman over the years. While I like several of his works a great deal, it’s easy for me to pick my favorite – Anansi Boys. Not only do I love the style and subject, it tells a type of story I simply adore. I’ve been hooked on these tales of dualism – both moral and spiritual – since I was a little kid. Ditheism featured prominently in the live-action game I co-piloted with the estimable Brandes […]

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Singing Stars, Erinyes, and the Bardic College of Kindly Song

Colin McLaughlin — Wed, 07 Feb 2018 14:00:51 +0000

Continuing the creation of the world of the Zodiac, this week we turn to bards. Bards of the College of Kindly Song travel the land, acting as judges for towns are rural people without steady access to a representative of justice. Of course, the bards are careful to always give thanks to the Kindly Ones.

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