So I am looking to update Fyster Bladeprayer, a character I made in D&D 4E, to 5E and tweak his abilities so he isn't over powered, as most homebrew characters are. Instead of making a pact with an Archfey, Demon, or Old One, this warlock made a pact with a disgraced god looking to get revenge on the deities who shamed him. As part of this pact, my character gets an Aura that allows him to manipulate the emotions of others. The Aura can inspire 4 emotions in the affected people: Fear, Anger, Despair, and Serenity. Each emotion has it's own set of effects in and out of combat. How the Aura works: - Personal Aura (5 feet in every direction, or one combat square); the area of effect the aura increases at level 6 and 14, as part of the Otherworldly Pact feature - When an enemy enters the Aura, they make a Wisdom save against Fyster's Spell DC, if they succeed they are unaffected by the Aura; if an enemy manages to land a melee attack on him then they are freed from the Aura; if the enemy leaves the Aura area (except for Tier 3 effects) they are unaffected by the Aura until they enter it again - The number of enemies affected by the Aura is equal to Fyster's Charisma modifier -1 (so at level 1 he can only affect 2 people with his Aura) - Fyster can use a standard action to affect a new person with his Aura, and they would make a Wisdom save with disadvantage vs his spell DC. - At the start of combat, when Fyster rolls to Initiate, he also rolls 1d4 to decide which Emotion the aura inspires; as a bonus action Fyster can reroll to try and get a better Aura for the occasion. - When not in combat, the Aura is in it's dormant stage and subtly affects the minds of others, making them susceptible to Charisma rolls; since the Aura is dormant, Fyster can choose the Aura that affects those around him without rolling 1d4. - Fyster starts with the Tier 1 effects at level 1, then gains the Tier 2 effects at level 10 and the tier 3 effects at level 14. Emotions: 1: Fear - Tier 1: The affected creature must take a move action each turn - Tier 2: The affected creature is paralyzed for 1 turn, after that they are affected by the Tier 1 effect - Tier 3: The affected creature runs in the opposite direction from Fyster: when an enemy moves within 5 feet (1 combat square) of the fleeing creature, they must make a Wisdom save vs Fyster's Spell DC and if they fail they are affected by Fear's Tier 2 effect. - Susceptible to Intimidate 2: Enrage - Tier 1: All attack rolls against the affected creature are + Fyster's Charisma modifier -1 to hit - Tier 2: The affected creature attacks randomly, even if it's their ally - Tier 3: Affected creature gets advantage to hit and + Fyster's Charisma modifier extra damage, and Fyster chooses who the creatures attack - Susceptible to Deception 3: Despair - Tier 1: Takes half oof Fyster's Charisma modifier extra (psychic) damage from all damage sources - Tier 2: Takes 1d4+ Fyster's Charisma modifier extra damage from all sources, and attack rolls against the creature gain advantage while the creature gains disadvantage for attack and skill rolls - Tier 3: The affected creature takes 1d10+ Fyster's Charisma modifier extra damage from all sources, and lets out a scream; all of Fyster's enemies in earshot roll a wisdom save vs Fyster's Spell SC, on a fail they are affected by Despair's Tier 1 effect - Susceptible to Persuasion 4: Serenity - Tier 1: The affected creature has -2 to damage rolls - Tier 2: The affected creature must roll a Wisdom save with advantage against DC 10 to attack or move - Tier 3: The affected creature will not attack, and if an enemy moves within 5 feet of this creature the enemy must make a Wisdom save vs Fyster's Spell DC; on a fail the enemy is affected by Serenity's Tier 2 effect. - Susceptible to Insight Clarifications: - Susceptible means that affected creatures (both in and out of combat) are more likely to be affected by that particular skill roll: that means the roller either gets advantage with the skill, or adds a stat to the roll (for example +2/+4/+6 or + half of Fyster's Charisma modifier). I haven't decided which is more in spirit with D&D 5E - If Fyster is at the max amount of affected people (E.G. 2 affected people at level 1) and another creature enters the Aura, the newcomer is unaffected and does not have to roll a wisdom check. If Fyster uses a standard action to affect a new creature with the Aura, the first affected by the Aura is freed regardless of whether the new creature succeeds the Wisdom check or not. - If a creature is affected by a Tier 3 effect, they are not automatically freed from the Aura and must instead succeed a Wisdom save to free themselves. Additionally, creatures who are effected by Fear, Despair, and Serenity's last effect do NOT count towards the maximum number of affected creatures. - The Aura does count as a charm, so any creature who is immune or gains advantage to charms are immune or advantaged against the Aura. Reasons Why I Think This Isn't Overpowered - While the effects are powerful and versatile, the Warlock loses a lot for this Aura. First, since this is my pact, I do not get the access to other spells that the conventional pacts get, limiting the spells I can pick to the vanilla Warlock spells. Also, since my Aura is personal, Fyster has to become a melee fighter rather than an Eldritch Blast caster that other Warlocks become. I do not get to access the powerful Eldritch Blast Invocations, and instead must take more defensive options so that my Warlock can fight up close. - The Aura has kinda awkward scaling. It is very powerful in the early game, but since I do not gain access to the Tier 2 effects until level 10, Fyster will have a lot of trouble in the mid game. Until Fyster reaches level 10, his Aura will mostly be used in its dormant state to help the party navigate non-combat encounters while relying on the Blade Pact weapon and invocations to do damage. I think this trade-off of combat prowess and out of combat versatility will help to balance the Aura's admitably ridiculous early-game effects. I've tried to create this character so that he is more versatile than powerful, but if there is anything I can do to balance it more I'd love to hear about it.
