Working my way through each of the classes for educated warriors. Time for a bard!
Teachers College
Not all bards sit in taverns and sing sappy songs for coins. Some go out and teach others the things they know. They spread knowledge where others spread rumor and bawdy tails. You spend your time equally in books and in discussions to help those around you learn all they can to be better. Everyone needs to learn what you know, so it’s time to hit the book and the road so everyone can learn!
Bonus Proficiencies
When you join the Teachers College at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with two skills of your choice.
Lead By Example
At 3rd level, you gain additional bardic inspirations equal to half your level. When an ally you can see attempts a skill with which you are proficient, as a reaction you can coach them in their attempt giving them a bardic inspiration for the check.
Lecture and Practice
At 6th level, you become an even better teacher. If you spend an hour with an ally and spend two bardic inspirations, that ally becomes proficient in one skill you can use for the day. This ability last until the ally takes a long rest. Multiple allies can listen to your lecture and you can spend multiple bardic inspirations dice to provide them all different or the same skill.
You also learn the spell guidance as a bonus spell.
Drop in Help
Starting at 14th level, you gain the ability to cast guidance as a reaction when an ally attempts an attack, check, or save.
Let’s help the fighter cram the night before so he aces the fight!
Night Study
Learn something each night that might help the next day. Each day before a long rest, you can study a particular creature type. Until your next long rest, you gain a bonus to damage against all creatures of that type equal to half your proficiency modifier. You must study a particular creature type each day or you do not gain the bonus to damage.
All knowledge is good knowledge, and you find it where you can. As you go around you learn from the things you do, the things you see, and the things you kill. You write everything down and those note teach you things that will keep you alive! What ever doesn’t kill you and whatever you see can only make you stronger!
Detailed Notes
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you start to write down all the things you see and do. When you make a sneak attack against a creature type, write that down. Every time after you make a non-sneak attack against that target, you gain a bonus to damage against that target equal to the number of times you have previous made a successful sneak attack against that creature type, up to your proficiency modifier. For humanoids, you must make sneak attacks against each different humanoid subtype.
Learn from your Friends
Starting at 3rd level, you start to write down what your friends do to learn from them. Every time an ally succeeds at a Intelligence (Arcana), Wisdom (Religion), or Intelligence (Nature) check, note that they succeeded. When you attempt a Intelligence (Arcana), Wisdom (Religion), or Intelligence (Nature) check, gain a bonus to that check equal to the number of times you have previously observed a successful check, up to half your proficiency modifier.
Useful Observation
Starting at 9th level, you start to apply what you see quickly. Once per day, when you are the subject of an effect or spell from a creature that requires a save and you succeed, you can choose to learn that effect or spell. Before you take a long rest, you can use that spell or effect once. You regain this ability after a long rest.
Success Breed Knowledge
Starting at 13th level, you begin to learn from all the attempts on your life. Every time you succeeds at a save, note your success for that agility score. When you attempt a save in the future for the specific ability score, gain a bonus to that save equal to the number of times you have previously succeeded on that save, up to half your proficiency modifier
Knowledge Pool
When you reach 17th level, you can use your useful observation ability up to three times each time choosing different spells or effects.
Knowledge is dangerous! Especially when don’t know what you are doing!
Path of the Savant
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. You’ve learned… enough. The wizard taught you a some things and some things took. Not much, but some. You got you a book, you got you some learning, and know you gonna hit people with both!
Rage Casting
Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you get a spellbook with two wizard cantrips. When you start to rage, you can stare at the book for a bit, cram a spell in your brain and you go hog wild. As a bonus action while raging, you can cast that cantrip. The DC for any save is based on your Constitution and spell attacks are made using your Constitution modifier. When your rage ends, you suffer one level of exhaustion as your head hurts. You can copy new spells into your spellbook as a wizard normally does.
Magic Learning
Beginning at 6th level, you gain proficiency in Arcana and History. You also gain detect magic into your spellbook and can cast that spell as normal without being in a rage.
Mindless Magic
Beginning at 10th level, while raging you gain advantage on saving throws against magic spells and effects as your heightened understanding of magic in your rage state lets you see the flow of magic.
Magic Mastery
Starting at 14th level, you gain the ability to cast 1st level wizard spells and can copy two into your spellbook when you get this ability. When you rage you can choose to learn a 1st level spell instead of a cantrip. If you do, you can cast that spell as a bonus action, but you gain two levels of exhaustion when the rage ends instead of one.
How about an idea for a monk? Always fun to learn new folklore!
Monk-Student of Ōya no Tarō Mitsukuni
Monks that follow Ōya no Tarō Mitsukuni follow this samurai due to his battle prowess and ability to overcome the impossible. Having heard tales of this man kill the unkillable giant skeletons sent against him by a practitioner of black magic, you now learn at the feat of the master as he reveals his secrets to you. He is a warrior first and an honorable competent second, but you find it hard to belittle the man for his results. You now learn to combine his techniques with your monastic training to survive the unsurvivable.
Path of the Sword
Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you learn how to use a longsword/katana. This weapon counts as a monk weapon for your flurry of blows. When you increase your unarmed damage, increase your longsword damage as well.
Level
Damage
3
1d8
5
1d10
11
1d12
17
2d8
Learning From Your Foe
At 6th level you learn how the masters sneak into the enemy’s home and even their very bed to learn the secrets of its attack. You gain proficiency in Deception and Stealth skills. If you are already proficient in either of these skills, gain a +2 bonus to that skill instead.
Mastery of Onmyōdō
Beginning at 11th level, the master reveals the magics of life and death to you and how to survive the magic assaults on your life. When you are attacked by a magic attack or effect, you can spend a ki point to gain advantage on the saving throw.
Against the Impossible
At 17th level you no longer need the master to teach you how to do what must be done, you have learned to master the impossible. When you would be reduced to zero hit points, you can spend 3 or all your remaining ki points (whichever is less) to avoid the attack and gain hit points up to your maximum. You can only do this once and then you must complete a long rest before you can use this feature again.
Casting Time:1 action Range:60 feet Components: V, S, M (a blue marble) Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
A 1-foot-diameter blue sphere of light in an unoccupied space of your choice within range and lasts for the duration. Any creature that ends its turn within 30 feet of the sphere must make a Wisdom saving throw feels the crushing weight of failure. The creature has disadvantage on checks saves and attacks while within rage on the sphere on a failed save. On a successful save the creature is not affected. If a creature leaves the area and reenters, it must attempt a save again.
As a bonus action, you can move the sphere up to 30 feet. If you move the sphere onto unaffected characters, they must attempt the save again at the start of their turn.
When you move the sphere, you can direct it over barriers up to 5 feet tall and jump it across pits up to 10 feet wide.
Here is what I REALLY wanted to make yesterday. We need the first thing to make the second.
Bomb of Tricks
consumable, uncommon
Several different versions of this bomb exist and all are color coded to the bag of tricks item they work as. When you throw this bomb, a random animal from the same colored bag of trix appears within 30 feet. You comand the animal as if it was summoned from a bag of tricks. The animal last as long as if it was summoned from a bag of tricks and the bomb is expended after it explodes and summons the creature.
I don’t see many uses for downtime days. Would you spend them for a benefit?
Restful
Sometimes you just got to relax. If you spend one complete day resting with no major physical activity such as fighting, no skill checks, nor casting any spells you gain a +1 bonus to checks, skills, and saves for 1 day or until you are reduced to zero hit points. Up to five other creatures can vacation with you and gain the benefit, but they must also do no activities as well.
Thoughts? Is this a given? Is this too OP? Is it something you already do without a feat?
Push through the pain! Three times per day, when an effect would cause you to no longer be able to perform actions such as confusion, being rendered unconscious, or losing control such as being dominated, you delay the start of the effect for one turn. If you damage the caster or creature who made the effect within that round, that must make a concentration check to maintain the effect or spell possibly ending the effect before it begins. If the effect is not ended after the delayed turn, the effect starts as normal.
Basics– Time to be the only thing they fear! Planet Apocalypse is a DND 5e source book not for the faint of heart! This is a MASSIVE change from the other Petersen games I have played as this is straight up gore horror of the damned. Worst parts of the Bible, rivers of blood, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria! Let’s dig into this foul tome.
Mechanics or Crunch– This book has a lot, but is missing just a few things. This game is ALL about killing horrors from hell. There is no subtlety here and it shows in every horrible thing here. The characters are hard scrabble wasteland survivors trying to eke out a life among the fiends from the pit. There are feats, spells, and some class options, but I kind of wish each class got some love with its own class options. The math of all the monsters work out and MAN are there a lot of monsters here. This is a one stop shop for a game like the old world books. It’s a solid book, but I want a bit more for all the characters to really make this the total package. 4.5/5
Theme or Fluff– You will not feel safe reading this book. This is not a book you sit around in a cozy blanket with cocoa on a winter night. This is a book you read and feel like the shadows are watching you and you better not mess up the circle or you will be dragged somewhere where death will be a mercy. This book is full of well done, horrific art. The world is BRUTAL as you have just absolute monstrosities on every other page doing horror to the poor people of this world. You get to be the hero they need. And considering Sandy Peterson wrote Doom levels, this is Doom in DnD. If you were not challenged, horrified, or nauseated enough by the last expansion to Doom Eternal, this is the source book you need to fill that Demon killing itch. 5/5
Execution– PDF? YEP! Hyperlinked? YES! This is a solid book that is well written, well laid out, and reads easily. I know that is a common refrain from me, but that’s what I want in a book! It’s also OVER 350 pages! This is a single serving world that with the DnD base book is a game you can start playing today! There are even some adventures that wet your whistle and show you how Sandy wanted you to play this game. Easy to read, hyperlinked, well laid out, and a solid intro adventure are all the things I want in a world book. 5/5
Summary– This is the most vile thing I have ever seen from Petersen Games, and I can’t wait for more. As a God fearing Christian, this is the vision of hell I was told about in the most twisted Sunday sermons I have ever seen and now you can be the hero to push back those horrors. This is NOT for games where you want to save the princess from the Orcs and have tea with the Orc bandit afterwards. If you want to plunge headlong into hell itself, rip Baphomet’s jaw off, possibly have your friends get ripped apart in front of you along the way, and end the demonic invasion, then this is the game for you! 97%
Throat Punch Games 