Welcome to the Arcana Forge! A workshop for works in progress, requests, ideas, inspiration, and more. New to homebrew? Looking for that nudge in the right direction or inspiration to keep going? This is the place for you. Grab a wrench and let's get to work!

I couldn't stop my players from adopting some wolf cubs, so I had to devise a way for them to train and customise their pets. The four skill trees allow them to optimise their wolf for roleplaying (Emotional Support), for exploration (Tracking), for combat (Combat), as a mount (Mobility), or some hybrid thereof.

A feature can look perfectly reasonable when you read it by itself, but things can change once it interacts with action economy, multiclassing, or other abilities. The opposite can happen too, where something looks weak on paper but ends up being surprisingly useful in an actual campaign.

For people who playtest homebrew, what kinds of interactions have surprised you the most? I'm curious which balancing problems are hardest to spot until you actually use something in a game.

The latest update to the Grand Library of Feats - now adding ancestry/racial feats up to level 9 for Fairies and Firbolgs. Upcoming feat packs will be Genasi, then Gith, then Gnomes, then a bundle of Goblins, Goliaths, and Grung.

Each lineage has 9 feats, gated at 3rd, 6th, and 9th level. These are meant to be used in Tier 1 & 2 campaigns to reward players between levels and give species more relevance to character development. Some of the higher level feats are definitely stronger than baseline feats and that's by design, but I'm always open to feedback of any sort: if something seems broken, please let me know!

The project also includes a similar array of feats for each class (and eventually, each background).

See the full version (163 pages so far) on Homebrewery as it's updated in real time (Chrome Only, not mobile friendly)

Hey, cats, kittens, and fellow adventurers!

Today, I'd like to share a little preview of my newest homebrew project: GatiBrew: Hunter's Manual, a supernatural compendium for Dungeons & Dragons 2024!

And what better way to begin than with one of the most iconic vampire bloodlines in gaming?

Introducing the Scions of Tepes, a playable vampire species inspired by Castlevania!

Descendants of Dracula's bloodline, or vampires who received his curse directly, these creatures possess extraordinary supernatural abilities, but also inherit some rather deadly weaknesses.

WHAT'S INCLUDED?

• Playable Vampire Species.
• True Vampiric Weaknesses: Sunlight, running water, and the constant need to feed on blood.
• 15 Exclusive Feats.
• Iconic Transformations.
• Dark Powers.

My goal is to make these vampires feel genuinely powerful and faithful to Castlevania while still giving them meaningful limitations and progression within D&D 2024, and so others.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Hunter's Manual is written from the perspective of a modern descendant of the Belmont family, documenting supernatural creatures, their histories, abilities, and weaknesses.

This is only the beginning of a much larger project, that i will bee uploading here and in my patreon.

I'm Gatierrante, a Spanish-speaking homebrew creator working toward my dream of creating D&D content full-time. The complete manual PDF will be available through my Patreon. Every bit of support helps me continue developing homebrew content!

I'd love to hear what you think about this first species.

🔗 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GATIERRANTE

All uncited art is OC.
Something a little older from our catalogue - You can get this as a PDF for free on our website: www.dicenowork.com

Heyyo!

Putting forth the Hemomancy spells for the Occultist class. I understand Hemomancy isn’t a traditional spell school, but in the campaign I’ve created it’s part of an alternative to the Weave called the Netherweave, which contains the five Occultist spell schools: Aberrant, Hemomancy, Voudon (likely to be renamed), Umbral and Oneiric (dream magic).

I’ve taken a looser interpretation of blood than some people will like, but the school, and who you can cast it on, needs to be versatile. So it may not always be what’s generally accepted as blood, but I think how I’ve approached it makes sense (at least in my mind, lol). See What Counts as Blood at the start of the spells: Hemomancy works on whatever circulates in a body, whether that’s blood, sap, ichor or something stranger.

Because of the Occultist’s risk-reward nature, these spells tend to be about 10-20% stronger than core spells. Applying that to utility spells can be a bit strange, so I’m very open to feedback. I got some great feedback on the Aberrant cantrips and implemented a lot of changes, and I’m sure there will be thoughts on these too.

I’m big on storytelling through the class, the subclasses and even the spells. I try to make them visual and visceral, because I think that’s what we’re all trying to do at the table: “gamble with storytelling”, whether the outcome is good or bad. That’s what I’ve tried to lean into with the Occultist, giving the table something to play off of. The Sanguine Scholar is meant to be the biggest glass cannon of the Occultist subclasses, and the Hemomancy spells that cost your own blood are tuned to reflect that.

If you haven’t read the Occultist class with the Sanguine Scholar: Sanguine Scholars don’t make Constitution saving throws to maintain Concentration when they damage themselves through Blood Magic or a spell’s component. They’re used to it and know what’s coming. Other Occultists still make those saves when they cast these spells.

Aberrant Spells are here, and any occultist can use spells from any school, though I may and likely should narrow things later a bit.

What’s inside: 30 Hemomancy spells, cantrips to level 4.

What I’d love to hear:

• Does the self-damage feel worth what the spell gives back?
• Opened Wound is a new level 1 Reaction spell. Too strong, too weak, or about right?
• Which spells would you never pick, and why?
• I'm looking for genuine feedback to make these balanced and in the best shape possible. So please ask questions and give me your thoughts on spells with constructive criticism.

Cover art: Shelly Wan, “Malakir Bloodwitch”. Interior art: Howard Lyon, “Sign in Blood”; Jarel Threat, “Vengeful Bloodwitch”; Caio Monteiro, “Arterial Alchemy”; Anson Maddocks, “Blood Lust”; Adi Granov, “Bloodchief Ascension” (all Magic: The Gathering, Wizards of the Coast).

Hemomancy Spells is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

'Identify' is a common spell. And it just works.

If the object is a magic item or some other magical object, you learn its properties and how to use them, whether it requires Attunement, and how many charges it has, if any. You learn whether any ongoing spells are affecting the item and what they are. If the item was created by a spell, you learn that spell’s name.

Someone posted some cursed items, and required identify be cast at a certain level to detect the curse. And it got me thinking.

Why does the barely 1st-level hedge wizard get the same information from identify that a high-level master wizard gets? I mean you have a couple of spells that mess with it, and a curse is usually not detected, but beyond that it's all a given.

I like the idea of a curse being detected if the caster is high enough level. I'd probably make it based on level, not how you cast it. I could see doing the same thing for more powerful effects, and the object can perform.

This could add some mystery and surprises to the game.

The Blood Moon Beast is an ancient supernatural predator that feeds not only on flesh, but on the souls of its victims. It remembers those it has consumed, steals their voices, and uses them to lure, deceive, and terrify the living.

This CR 5 version, known as the Fettered Blood Moon Beast, is still partially restrained by an ancient binding. Even in its weakened state, it is a dangerous opponent, capable of tracking wounded creatures, unleashing a terrifying howl, and using legendary actions to relentlessly pursue its prey.

The creature comes from my new 75-page folk-horror one-shot adventure, The Red Tithe, designed for 5E (2014) and 5.5E (2024).

The adventure features three different level tiers:

• Tier I: Levels 3-4 (CR 5 Blood Moon Beast)
• Tier II: Levels 10-11 (CR 13 Blood Moon Beast)
• Tier III: Levels 17-20 (CR 23 Blood Moon Beast)

Each tier features a different manifestation of the Beast, along with appropriately scaled encounters involving the Beastmen, villagers transformed into monstrous servants of the creature.

In The Red Tithe, the adventurers investigate the disappearance of an isolated village where generations of ritual sacrifices were believed to keep an ancient horror imprisoned. The adventure combines investigation, exploration, roleplaying, moral dilemmas, and challenging combat, and is designed for 3-6 characters and approximately 4-6 hours of play.

The 75-page manual also includes 6 custom monster stat blocks, 3 battle maps with 8 total versions, and 4 tokens for tabletop or VTT play.

If you're looking for something dark and unsettling to run this Halloween, I hope you find the Beast and its adventure useful!

You can find the complete adventure on DriveThruRPG!

You can find more of my creatures, magic items, and manuals on DriveThruRPG or over at r/JonnyDM!

18 homebrew water/ocean themed spells😊

I bring you another Creepypasta x D&D! with a Clockwork Compendium. I hope you guys enjoy this little compendium

The Subclass is for Monk 2014.
Background is for 2024.

But they should work in either editions. Homebrewery

This crystal blade grants any mage who wields it immense arcane power, but only to those who prove themselves worthy.

This is another aptron requested item. The brief was for a legendary sword created by a goddess from his own setting of Aydras, the Shattered Realms. This is really more of a "sword-shaped spellcasting focus" rather than a sword with magical abilities, but that extra psychic damage can still come in handy, especially for a sorcerer or warlock who might be a little more prepared for close-quarters combat.

We went back and forth over the exact effects, and whether this deserved to be legendary or artifact rarity, but ultimately decided that something made by a goddess and has canonically devastated the in-universe equivalent of a small continent probably deserved artifact. The artwork is absolutely stunning on this one, and there are a ton of small details Gio has done a great job of implementing in the design.

If you want to see more of my stuff, including a bunch of other patron requests from their various settings, you can check out all of my creations over on Patreon (patreon.com/Talmanah). All items feature custom artwork by human artist Gio Pedroni (u/Skyviper55) and patrons get early access to posts, one exclusive item each month, and access to high-res artwork, PDFs, and item cards for all posts, plus free entry into a monthly draw to request a custom magic item, just like this one!

I'm always a little hesitant to make artifacts and legendary items, since so few games actually reach a stage where you get to use them, so having a request like this is always a treat to cut loose and make some bonkers stuff. I hope you enjoy the sword, and at the very least, enjoy the art.

Hi everyone, this is a new class class Warcaller, a Constitution and Charisma martial class for 2024 D&D. It wears heavy armor and makes the people around it harder to kill. It isn't magic. It runs on discipline, a trained voice and a raised banner

The core of the class:

- Rallying Aura: you and chosen allies in the aura get a bonus to Armor Class. The aura grows as you level.

- War Standard: plant a banner as a Bonus Action and the aura flows from it. If it falls, it's Broken and the aura shrinks until you recover it.

- Battle Cries: a list of short abilities you choose from as you level.

- Two subclasses: Drillmaster and Line Captain.

This is the first time of me trying to create content outside my D&D group, so I'm asking for help feedback and ideas. Please let me know how can I improve.

PDF (free): https://main.wildbloom-studio.dev/classes/WarcallerPDF.pdf

Hey all,

There are quite a few updates to this. There were areas in the earlier levels where things were lacking, which made it unattractive compared to other classes, so I’ve lifted them in a few places. Everything is in the changelog at the end, so you can see what’s changed.

I’ve stripped out A LOT of the “tutorialising” of the rules and just made it the rules, with one example of gaining Mental Fatigue points in context.

I’ve gotten rid of the positive side of the Stress Effects. Mental Fatigue points are meant to be a cost, but they aren’t meant to completely screw over your experience at the table. Don’t be scared to get them: they’re your resource to empower your spells, and they function as intended. Don’t be scared to suffer a Mental Break. You just need to adjust how you approach situations on the battlefield; they don’t take you out completely.

Don’t be scared to roll for your cantrips. It looks intimidating on paper, but in playtesting it was perfectly fine. A cantrip has the lowest DC you’ll face, and a failure isn’t wasted: it gives you the Mental Fatigue point that powers your Empowerments. The roll is there so cantrips aren’t free to spam, not to punish you for casting them.

At level 5, if you hoard your Mental Fatigue points, ten cantrips in a row gives you roughly a 60% chance of a Mental Break. Spend them on Empowerments like you’re meant to, and it drops to about 1 in 30. The voices reward a generous host.

Also Occult spells that I've written for the class tend to be about 10-20% stronger because of the negative stuff you're dealing with so they feel worth the "risk."

I noticed the Mental Fatigue engine breaks a bit at the higher levels: your bonuses outgrow the DCs, and Mental Breaks almost stop happening. You still need to earn your resources, so level 6+ spells now give 2 Mental Fatigue points on a failure. It makes sense narratively, and it really helps the engine that’s been built.

What's inside.

• The full class, levels 1-20
• The Sanguine Scholar subclass
• An example of Mental Fatigue in play
• A tracker page for Pressure, Mental Fatigue and Stress Effects

What I'd like to hear

• How often did Mental Breaks happen at your table? Which Mental Break did you have?
• From level 9 on, do Breaks still feel like a threat?

The Hemomancy spells, cantrips to level 4, are in tomorrow’s post.

Cover art: Magali Villeneuve, “Stromkirk Occultist” (Magic: The Gathering, Wizards of the Coast). Interior art: Erie Escobar.

The Occultist, with the Sanguine Scholar is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

Thank you for the help with this so far, Feedback has been invaluable, and I feel like it's almost where it needs to be.

Here's a link to another of the subclasses Otherworldly Secrets

And to some of the Occultist spells with the Aberrant Spell School Cantrips to level 4.