Me, who has been _violently_ homebrewing everything all the time to the point it’s become a running joke among the party: oh, homebrew? Neat.

As recent events have shown, the fog ability is good if your party members are right next to you, but immensely stupid if they arent.

Marine Layer is super overpowered...if your party communicates and plans accordingly. If you're the cast of Critical Role...well, I won't spoil too much =P

Davvy: I don't like homebrew Me, who homebrewed so much, I'm practically in the process of designing a brand new RPG: *sweats nervously*

Find Flando in the comments He’s the Timestamp Hero that saves you time, and lets you skip the less important bits.

I saw a commentor on Ep 114 that said something about the Open Sea subclass and Fjord: "Fjord taking the Oath of the Open Sea when he's unable to set foot on the open sea without someone trying to kill him is just beyond hilarious." This becomes relevant on that exact episode too (no spoilers tho)

The marine layer can be dispelled. Also they did use it in battle..... it didn’t work too well. I hope this isn’t a major spoiler but I love Davvy

I think the Marine Layer effect would mean that you can't see through it--so if you're in the center, you can only see things around you. I usually rule / always thought you can't see someone on the other side of a fog cloud as well as in it, based on line of sight. Keep in mind as well, when fighting in fog, you are both an unseen attacker, and you cannot see your target, so you have both advantage and disadvantage on attack rolls, which cancel out. (And cancel out any other sources of advantage/disadvantage too.)

Marine Layer can be dispelled, it can't be dispersed (as in by strong winds). Matt himself dispels it with Dispel Magic in an episode. I kinda feel like that shouldn't work, myself, but that's how he rules it.

I made a homebrewed paladin subclass that was designed to just be a trickster. When my DM said "But why are they a Paladin?" my response was "Because if you get caught filling the sacramental wine with laxatives in Bahamut's equivalent to the Vatican, you'd want every smite you can get to run.". He then greenlit it lol

Fun fact: fog is water. So.... I think the aura might play well with the fog ability you get at third level.

This video was less "critical role subclasses", and more " here's why oath of the open sea paladin is broken and bad." Cx

I think a good solution for the fog one is that everybody treats its as heavy obscurement, but in the eye of the storm everybody can see only about 5 ft (within 5ft of the paladin), make it more of a smokescreen that makes it more difficult to see and pull of ranged attacks against the paladin but also for the paladin and everybody in range.

Can we get a review of the Matt’s gunslinger subclass? The McCree jokes write themselves!

“Gimme a highlight reel” DON’T ACT LIKE FLANDO DOESN’T EXIST!

I will say that Fjord used the fog recently in an episode and it can be dispelled by dispel magic, it’s just like wind and stuff that can’t dispel it

The fog actually can be dispelled just for reference mad had a creature dispell the fog at one point.

Cobalt Soul is basically Harpers but all members and investigators are monks.

CR Subclasses are cool and all, but Davvy Chappy Subclasses when?

Thank you for making this video and I hope you keep on making more

Yeah I don't think Matt really checked what heavily obscured means. They used it in a fight recently but he treated it more like lightly obscured...

5:23 As a therapist-in-training, I can confirm this is 100% accurate to my experiences so far

"Nothing" can dispel it is false. It cannot be dispersed, ie: Gust of Wind. It can be dispelled.

I personally think the channel divinity is okay, because it’s very similar to the fog cloud spell, which is first level, but it’s a bit better by letting you see. But it being better is okay since channel divinity is a much rarer resource than a first level spell slot

Yes, I want that highlight reel as well!

Marine Layer was used in Game and it didn't go well... Travis was visibly frustrated so I actually expect it to change.

Always love your videos

A dabby video, my crack, my life blood.

Well if it makes you feel better, Oath of the Open Seas was introduced in episode 112 and the fog was... in need of more testing

Way of the Cobalt Soul monk is pretty dope. Getting an investigator-type monk? Heck yeah! That would be pretty dope to go through like, Dragon Heist with

I might be late and watching your video but I'm quite enjoyed it of how you inform people about Homebrew moves and I hope you catch up on critical role too

These videos are so fun and helpful

I mean, additionally, while some homebrew is bonkers, it’s also worth noting that 5e is about as balanced as a pie on a pinwheel. So if you balance a melee class to try to match a caster’s output, everyone will think it’s insane. If you make a new half caster with rangers in mind, everyone will think it’s a bit of a wimp. So judging homebrew balance is hard, as there’s no reasonable standard to hold it to.

"No one else has a water lever archetype...weird." *Me, whose been making a mini campaign setting with six sea-based subclasses*: "Oh just you wait buddy."

Joy oh joy new video!

Honestly I think "crowdfunding" D&D -for lack of a better term- is a natural progression of the game itself. I enjoy homebrew a lot. Especially when its thought out or deepens an underlying theme to the character.

"I have an issue with the fog". So does Critical Role, lol

"how does that make you feel?" *IT MAKES ME FEEL CONCUSSED!!! WHY AM I PAYING FOR THIS?*

I'm actually using a cobalt soul monk in one of the games I'm in and it's been awesome. I'm a hardass monk cop and the nightmare of every spellcaster around when I remember all of my abilities

Tini tiny, eani meani spoiler: Just see how travis uses the channel divinity. Its not that powerful IMO as you state it. Especially because is really small.

I’m really excited for the new book

Tis heresy to say that mat mercer isn't a perfect human and not just because he is hot

Mat has ruled the channel divinity mist can be targeted by dispell magic

Without too many spoilers, Fjord did use the fog in a recent encounter and it was honestly a lot more trouble for the party then seemed worth initially. Matt did a good job of implementing all the visibility rules and it took a LOT of bumbling around/opportunity attacks for the allies to get back towards the eye of the storm (as they couldn't see when they retreated into the fog) and enemies in the fog had cover from the majority of the party who were outside the aura. I think this is a feature that is relatively? balanced so long as the DM knows how to use the hindering elements as well as the buffing ones fairly.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Pugilist class by Benjamin Huffman. It is one of very few homebrew classes that I feel is actually balanced with the core classes.

Do think that you could ever judge the Corsair Class from Homebrewery, in particular the Stormblood path?

I think the seamist, could fit something like a warding wind that only affects enemies(defeaned within it , and all attack through it is disadvantage.)

I'm glad I've found someone else who is careful about homebrew. I just got out of a campaign where the DM allowed a player to have a flight speed of 120, a player to have advantage on any saving throw of his choice, and a player with enough narrative control to change every PC's backstory just so we're all a part of his. Moderate your PC's homebrew, guys. They get in each other's way so often that even THEY aren't having fun.

There is also the runechild sorcerer, juggernaut barbarian and blood cleric in his original campaign guide if you want to look at them too

I use homebrew to make a custom steampunk/gas lamp setting, and there is SO much I have to make in order to get it to work. Namely, modifying firearms to be extra lethal so as to compete with magic.

Oath of the Open Sea Is essentially the Swashbuckling Freedom Paladin idea I have loved sense the Divine Liberater from 3.5, with a fun aquatic twist, and sense I love water, that's awesome! That being said anything is better than Another Anti-Paladin... Yes I know we only have two, but for a while there I thought that was all we where going to get.

im on season2 ep 36 of critical role, also recommend Not Another D&D Podcast (That's the name of the podcast), role with me, TFS's at the table, and The Unexpectables all but the TFS at the table can be found on the app podbean

Fog didn't work that great when fjord used it for the first time.

The fog cloud is a 1/long rest but it definitely bounces between being way to strong or being really bad

When I first heard about the Path of The Open Sea would be something perfect for Sunny Biscotto

it's nice to see you giving a fairer look to unofficial material and theorycraft. I know homebrew is a very divisive thing amongst players and dm's and there's really no way way of truly knowing if a homebrew is designed well enough to be considered worthy of standardized publication. that being said, homebrew is one of those aspects of d&d that is very similar to cooking food. you can always follow a recipe and the recipe will always work so long as the instructions are properly followed but there's a certain personal pride and satisfaction that comes about as a result of your own creativity that other people actually enjoy it's fun to look at a recipe for something and think to yourself "i like what this makes. i wonder if i can do something with it that might make it better." sure the first few goes at it will probably fail horrifically and you might destroy your kitchen a bit in the process but that one concoction that comes out that gets you and your friends tasting it to say "wow. this is actually really good." gives you such a great feeling. i'm a bit biased in this discussion as i've made several homebrews myself ( with the cooking analogy i also have a tendency to experiment with foods and dishes) both as a player and a dm for people in my groups to use and i always feel such an intense surge of pride in myself when my friends take to something i made so enthusiastically like, "man, they actually seem to really like this. hell yeah man, i made that." also as a frame of reference as a dm i tend to homebrew monsters (albeit sparingly) to function as i think they might in a "witcher" type of setting. amping their health/ defenses and emphasizing weaknesses to things like fire, silver, etc. so that knowingly exploiting a creature's weaknesses yields immediately noticeable results to my players what i homebrew the most however, are classes and subclasses most of what i've done have been to martially focused classes with things like changes to the base ranger class, adjustments to the samurai and banneret and a new subclass for the paladin that one of the dm's in a game i play for actually took and seems to be using atm. edit: as for opinions i have for mercer's wacky creations. cobalt soul (especially it's variant) is easily the best one he's made in my eyes. open seas oath is really cool but yeah that fog is about as scary as a lit torch in a fireworks warehouse.

I feel like you haven't heard of the devil's sight + darkness combo

I love any and all Pirate-y themed sub-class, so Oath of the Open Sea is pretty rad for me. But I do really like Way of the Cobalt Soul, it is such a cool concept and I think really well executed.

The obscuring fog can be dispelled by dispel magic. It was done so in a episode

We love you daddy chappy!!!!!

If it makes you feel better, I finally finished campaign 1 of Critical Role back in April. I’m currently on episode 36 of Campaign 2 so no judgment on catching up

Do not worry Davvy Chappy I am also like 50 episodes behind (fun side story I thought they already finished campaign 2 so I thought I was watching a finished series but then the 2020 stuff came out and I was like “I am sorry WHAT

Imo the best way to deal with the mist, is to at 3rd level treat like darkness and as the paladin levels up change who else can have see, at 7th maybe 1-2 people and build up to the 5ft it is now or maybe equal to charisma modifer. That way it’s more like darkness for warlock in which they get rid off at 7th level for shadows of Moil, maybe the mist should be situational until 7th level too

out of curiosity what is your opinion on the path of the Juggernaut for Barbarians? is it worth giving it a shot or not?

I had found the same thing. There is a few ways to increase Marine Layers power, be a Goblin with skulker or a wood elf with dip in rogue.. And you will be able to hide in the lightly obscured area of the fog even if enemies come within 5ft of you.

Mind of Mercury doesn't let you turn your reaction into a second action, it allows you to make more than one reaction in a round, at the cost of 1 ki point per additional reaction. You are limited to 1 reaction per turn, however. It's not exceptionally powerful, and definitely can get expensive fast, but has it's uses when it's combined with something like sentinel, or if you have multiple "analyzed" enemies attacking you a missing.

Exandrea is the world in which both games take place, Tal'dorei is the main setting of campaign 1. I also mix them up a lot. :)

Thank you.

5:04 simple change: only the paladin can see normally. That way its an insane move but can be very situationally dependent cus u dont wanna fuck over ur party

Worth mentioning since I assume you didn't get to see the Channel Divinity in action that Dispel Magic can get rid of it From my point of view - isn't it just a Warlock with Devil Sight + Darkness now with friends?

I personally LOVE homebrew so to each their own. After all the official stuff has many major issues dude. Despite the 'playtesting' have you seen Beastmaster Ranger!?! The fact that DEX bonus stays to AC even if you are restrained and unaware of an attacker? How useless Truestrike Cantrip is on every level , How OP some cantrips are how utterly useless others are. How Powerful and essential some Feats are yet feats are 'optional'. How useless other feats are in comparison. Need I go on? Anyways I think in the end marine layer is fine because it can be useless, detrimental or OP depending on 1) player tactical skills 2) communication between PCs 3) situation. Also Catch up on Critical Role! Its so enjoyable despite the not perfect tactics that often are frustrating or rules errors. Still a Great show! Fun video thanks.

when he said dungeon dice monsters i said so its just like duel monsters

inquisitor rogue 3/ cobalt monk 7/ samurai (with gunner feat)/ renegade fighter is an idea in the process and I love it. played a lore bard/ open sea paladin for a one-shot on Halloween, Dm agreed to it if I changed the channel divinity to lightly obscured still had fun. I can see the class getting updated in the future similar to the blood hunter I would maybe have something more mythical to 20th level ability to really sell the mythical idea maybe some lightning/thunder or even ice powers like your weapon crackles like a brewing storm as ice clings to your armour (like a mini armour of agathys)?

I feel your pain, I'm also behind, I'm one episode 72 😭

In defence of the paladin channel divinity, shadow sorcerer functionally has a similar ability with their darkness feature. However unlike darkness it does not give advantage/disadvantage to melee attacks, something most paladins crave. I believe this is more of a ranged attack deterrent and/or control spell. Yes it does, however, give ranged allies cover from ranged attacks, but is negated by aoe and melee fighters closing the gap.

I had the same issue with warlock hexblade using darkness and while they have devils sight...

Have you made a basics of characters sheets

Isn't the paladin thing essentially the same as devil sight and darkness? In practice it's super easy to plan against as a dm.

watch critical role at 1.5 speed like a sane person. makes the opening song more of a bop as a bonus.

1:20 Kiri's music box, eh? You've made a powerful enemy today, friend. See you in five years after I've stopped crying.

A war forged paladin is a dreadnought from warhammer 40k

The marine layer ability, the paladin can see through the storm, the paladin can be dispelled, it was used in an episode.

Other monk traditions: here have the ability to kill people in one hit/ move through shadows/ create spectral arms to punch people with/ etc. Cobalt soul: have a library card!

3:05 it may seem not that bad but dodging as a bonus action is a big deal

Yeah seriously i’m still on campaign 1 but like game of thrones I have an idea of what’s going on through osmosis

I played the gunslinger, getting ammo really dragged me down when other classes, like spellcasters, just got everything back after sleeping.

What episode would you need to be at to not be spoiled during this video?

Here's the thing about the mist ability, since all creatures within 5 feet of the paladin can see through the fog an enemy can't be getting ponded by the paladin themselves and still be blinded. It's still very strong for mostly ranged parties as they could all just huddle around the paladin and fire off a bunch of arrows or spells with advantage.

You not alone, Davvy. I'm currently on CT episode 70...season 1. So you could have it worse :)

What's the mechanical difference between "heavily obscured" and the Darkness spell?

This paladin and a rouge with a shortbow can essentially duo most dungeons and townsguards.

Just like to point out that the 17th level Cobalt Soul ability is basically the same as a power Grave Clerics get as a channel divinity at level 2

The channel divinity just sounds like a better Darkness spell, but I do see your point

I'm going to try and find a DM who allows Homebrew because the Background and Class that I want to do for my Tabaxi character Archeologist as the Background, and Gunslinger as the Class are Homebrew stuff.

The people in the eye can't see people in the storm either, or through it

One other oceanic themed subclass would be the tempest cleric, but that is more storms than seas tbf

Critical role highlights is a genius idea

I can see the fog thing being tweaked down the line. Fjord only just got to the level he'd need in Paladin to use that ability, and our lord and savior Mercer has shown he's more than willing to listen to feedback and tweak stuff.

Howdy! It's going pretty good, how bout you Mr.Chaplin?

I just realized. Davvy is literally *Shouting out the shout-outs*