somanyrobots - TV Tropes

somanyrobots is a creator of homebrew content for the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons. His works include:

• Three new classes: The Troubadour (a half-caster related to the Bard, able to preform Mystic Songs to boost their allies' capabilities), the Swashbuckler (flashy duelists who gain Panache through daring deeds, which can be converted into a variety of boons), and the Bloodrager (a half-caster hybrid of the Sorcerer and Barbarian, with two sets of subclasses to reflect their magical and martial traits).
• Spells That Don't Suck: A compendium made in collaboration with Omega Ankh to balance the game's wide variety of spells, buffing and nerfing spells as needed.
• And a wide collection of various homebrew subclasses, races, and spells to add to a game. Some are based on other homebrew works, such as subclasses for Kibbles Tasty's Psion, Occulist, and Warden classes.

---

somanyrobot's works include examples of:

• Added Alliterative Appeal: All of the Troubadour's Mystic Songs are titled with two words that start with the same letter, such as the Deflecting Dance, Stunning Solo, and Withering Waltz.
• All Webbed Up: One of the first features that Spider-Blooded Sorcerers get is to be able to restrain a target in webbing when using a spell on them.
• Astral Projection: At 10th level, Bloodragers of the Gravemarked Bloodline become capable of assuming a ghost form, acting similar to the trope in that their spirit exits their body and is able to act on its own. Unlike most examples of the trope, the body remains just as capable of acting.
• Balance Buff:
  • One half of Spells That Don't Suck is buffing spells that are underpowered. For example, its version of Find Traps, Detect Hazards, actually shows the exact location of traps nearby instead of just noting their existence.
  • Improved Two-Weapon Fighting is an alternate ruleset that makes it so that dual-wielding doesn't take up a bonus action, making the style more feasible for classes that make heavy use of bonus actions.
• The Beastmaster:
  • Houndmaster Fighters are assisted by up to three animals (usually canids, as the name implies) in combat.
  • The main feature of Abyssal Roamer Rangers is having a customizable Infernal Companion at their side.
  • Beastsouled Sorcerers have several Origin spells that summon beasts, and almost all of their features are designed around making them more powerful.
• Blood Magic: The Bloodcaller Troubadours are focused on using blood magic, being able to cast blood-related spells and perform well when low on health.
• Came Back Strong: Risen Barbarians are the way they are due to coming back from the dead, and have gained extra durability and the ability to manipulate spirits from it.
• Combat Pragmatist: Swashbucklers can be played as these just as well as they can be honorable fighters. In particular, the Code of the Scoundrel focuses on underhanded tactics, encouraging the party to gang up on enemies while also taking advantage of the party to shield themselves from damage.
• Counter-Attack:
  • One of the options for the Gravewalker's Empowered Dead feature, Bursting Wounds, allows the Troubadour's Woken Dead to deal acid damage to its opponent upon being attacked.
  • At 6th level, Plague domain Clerics become able to inflict one of three different special diseases in response to an opponent hitting them in melee.
• Critical Hit Class: At 2nd level, Swashbucklers become able to use their Panache to increase the critical hit range of their attacks, which the maximum range increasing at certain further levels. By 14th level they can have a maximum range of 16-20, which is twice as much as the base game's take on the trope, the Champion subclass.
• Cyborg: Forgewrought Barbarians are characterized by augmenting themselves with various mechanical devices, from integrated weapons to generators attached to the legs to boost speed.
• Deal with the Devil:
  • Profane deals are mentioned as one way that Hellcantor Troubadours can gain their infernal powers, likely as a reference to the legends of musicians trading their souls for musical talent. At 15th level, these Troubadours become able to make deals themselves, with their recipients reducing their maximum health in exchange for temporary hit points that can be expended for a boost against a saving throw.
  • Diabolist Wizards dedicate their studies to getting the most out of these. They have advantage on Arcana and Religion checks regarding the devils they deal with, can halve the material costs of spells that summon fiends, and by level 10 they can spend spell slots to get a sizable boost to Charisma checks. That said, they tend to leave pacts to the Warlocks and seek infernal power on their own terms.
• Demolitions Expert: Firestarter Rogues are designed around the archetype, being able to spread flammable grease and firebombs over the battlefield, along with gaining proficiencies to encourage them to craft explosives.
• Draw Aggro:
  • The Troubadour's Taunting Tarantelle forces enemies to make a saving throw or be compelled to attack who performed it by virtue of being that catchy and annoying.
  • The Duelist subclass of the Swashbuckler gains the Infuriating Taunt, which also draws the aggression of a selected opponent.
• Druid: Wildheart Troubadours gain aspects similar to the base game's Druid class, gaining Druid spells, a summonable animal familiar, and the ability to entangle foes in roots.
• Ear Worm: The Taunting Tarantelle evidently gains its ability to draw aggro from being so catchy that the Troubadour's enemies are compelled to attack them out of sheer annoyance.
• Extra-ore-dinary:
  • Ironheart Sorcerers are connected to metal, being able to summon metal weapons and being proficient with ferromantic spells.
  • Ferromancy Wizards are also connected to the category of ferromancy spells, allowing them to cover themselves with a protective metal shell and boost the power of the shape metal cantrip.
• Familiar: One of the Heritage options for Serpent's Children allows them to summon a snake as a familiar.
• Fire Purifies: Oath of Purgation Paladins are themed all around this, all of their abilities having fire damage or flavor, and their oath being to wholly purge what they see as evil.
• Fluffy Tamer: Some of the quirks for Abyssal Roamer Rangers present them as treating their fiendish companion much like a beloved pet.
• The Fool: One of the Mythic Tales a Myth Bard can invoke is the Clever Fool, giving the character it's bestowed upon the ability to turn failed checks into successes, much like the typical fool's ability to succeed despite their inefficiencies.
• Gadgeteer Genius:
  • Tinkerer Swashbucklers gain the ability to make and use a variety of technological devices, from smoke bombs to automatic caltrops.
  • Way of Progress Monks have the same gimmick of building a variety of gadgets to boost their abilities.
• Glass-Shattering Sound: One option for the Troubadour's Shattering Song is to damage objects in a 30 foot radius.
• Green Thumb: At 10th level, Sands Druids become able to grow desert plants with fruit that gives a selection of benefits to whoever eats them.
• The Gunslinger: While all Swashbucklers are proficient with firearms, Pistoliers excel with them, gaining a variety of abilities to boost their ability to use them with their core class features.
• An Ice Person:
  • Paladins of the Oath of the Tundra protect civilization in the coldest and harshest parts of the world, their oath giving them spells and abilities that deal with the cold.
  • Rimeblade Rogues gain the ability to magically conjure knives made from ice.
• The Jinx: Ruin-Touched are people who were effected by a magical calamity that causes everything around them to experience ill fortune. Mechanically, this is represented through them being able to deal extra damage to structures and to make enemies briefly have disadvantage on their rolls.
• Knife-Throwing Act: College of Blades Bards are themed in part around this act, gaining buffs to using melee and thrown weapons, and several Blade Tricks themed around the flashy use of daggers and the like.
• Knight Errant: The flavor notes that more noble Graceful Fist Swashbucklers often take on the role of the knight-errant, constantly traveling to help others.
• Last Stand: At 17th level, Swashbuckers gain an ability with this exact name that allows them to spend Panache at zero hit points to make a number of attacks against their enemies before they're down.
• Ley Line: Geomancy Wizards excel in finding ley lines, which can boost the ability of the wizard to cast high-level spells when stood on.
• Luck Manipulation Mechanic: The Sorcerous Surge feature for Scintillant Bloodragers allows them to add the level of the spell they cast to the random effect table the feature uses. This is useful, as most of the better effects are at the higher numbers of the table.
• Machine Blood: One of the entries on the Forgewrought Barbarian's quirk table is to bleed black blood due to the mechanical modifications they've made to themselves.
• Magic from Technology: Artifice Clerics can create devices to replicate their domain spells so that anyone can cast them, though they only work once per day.
• Magic Knight:
  • The Bloodragers are able to both use sorcerous magic and enter a martial Blood Trance similar to the Barbarian's Rage. Fittingly, they have two different subclass choices to fit both their mundane and magical abilities.
  • Code of the Trickster Swashbucklers add the use of enchantment and illusion spells to their flashy martial style.
  • Inquisitor Swashbucklers are the divine counterpart to the Trickster, gaining cleric spells and the ability to buff themselves with holy light.
  • Bloodline Barbarians are the Bloodrager as a Barbarian subclass, able to cast spells depending on their bloodline while raging.
  • The Knight-Invoker is another Fighter Archetype to gain a selection of wizard spells for combat, dedicated more specifically to evocation spells than the official Eldritch Knight.
• Magic Music: Like the official Bard class, the Troubadours are able to use magic through playing musical instruments. Indeed, their core class may be even more focused on music than their official relative, as one of their main features is playing mystical songs to support the party.
• Making a Splash: Tidebringer Barbarians have gained the power of the seas, giving them several boons to use water-related powers while in a rage.
• Master of Disguise: The Behind the Mask Trick for Swashbucklers allows them to become this, giving them proficiency with disguise kits and the ability to cast disguise self.
• Master of Illusion: The Illusive Mind subclass for Psions focuses on using psychic powers to create illusions, up to being able to create a fake copy of every creature in a certain radius. Their signature Discipline, Mesmerism, creates illusions by directly inserting them into the mind of the target.
• Max-Level Bonus:
  • The Troubadour's capstone depends on the subclass, such as Skalds gaining several damage resistances when performing a Mystic Song, and Stormcrows being able to temporarily become a being made of storms.
  • The Swashbuckler's capstone also depends on their Code, such as Duelists gaining extra durability against their marked foe, and Tricksters being able to cast phantasmal horror on a critical hit.
  • The Bloodrager's capstone depends on their Martial Discipline. For example, Reavers gain the ability to go into a wild rage to repeatedly attack a foe, and Ferals going into a Battle Frenzy that boosts their speed and the damage of their claws.
• Mechanically Unusual Class: While most classes, official and unofficial, have one subclass, the Bloodrager has two different subclass choices to reflect both their magical and martial aspects.
• The Medic:
  • Befitting the tradition of divine spellcasters in the game, the Sunchanter Troubadour tradition gains some attributes of the healer, with several of their subclass spells including aid and mass cure wounds, and their Sacred Benediction healing and buffing their allies.
  • Bloodragers of the Celestial Bloodline gain Divine Charges when they attack that can then be funneled into healing allies. A good portion of their subclass spells are also dedicated to healing.
• Meteor-Summoning Attack: At 15th level, Cometcaller Conclave Rangers gain the ability to summon a comet to strike the ground nearby.
• Mind Rape: Awakening Paladins gain Terrifying Insight as one of their Channel Divinities, allowing them to frighten and deal psychic damage to an unlucky target by ripping the veil of reality away.
• Necromancer:
  • Gravewalker Troubadours have an affinity towards spells effecting the dead, are able to create a special undead companion, and can eventually give their allies the zombie's Undying Fortitude ability.
  • Oath of Restlessness Paladins believe that the bodies of the dead are useful resources, focusing on spells that reanimate the dead or otherwise use necromantic magic.
• Nerf: One half of Spells That Don't Suck is nerfing overpowered spells. For example, its version of Goodberry, Magic Fruit, makes it so that all ten of the berries created have to be consumed to provide a day's nutrition, keeping survival campaigns from being broken by the spell.
• Our Minotaurs Are Different: The Revised Minotaur has four subraces to allow for customizing the origin of minotaurs in one's world. Wildhorns are attuned with nature, Baphomet's Blood descend from demons, Seafarers are acquainted with the sea, and Labyrinth-Born represent the classical maze-dwellers.
• Our Vampires Are Different:
  • Swashbucklers of the Code of the Blooded have been infused with vampiric abilities, whether intentionally or unintentionally. This starts out with the ability to go into a violent Blood Frenzy, with the ability to climb walls and turn into a mist form coming at later levels.
  • Way of Predation monks are themed around vampirism, focusing more specifically on draining the opponents they damage to gain boons.
• Partial Transformation: The base ability of Wildshifter Fighters is to be able to partially form animal features to boost their ability in combat. It's only until 15th level that they gain the ability to completely shapeshift into a new form.
• Pest Controller:
  • Druids of the Circle of Consumption are themed around swarming vermin, gaining several insect-based spells and a special "Swarming Menace" form to shapeshift into.
  • Circle of Swarms Druids also have power over swarms of insects, though in a more support-themed fashion as opposed to the Consumption subclass' more aggressive nature.
  • The cloak of wasps spell allows the caster to summon a cloud of stinging insects that protects their target from attacks.
• The Phoenix: Phoenixborn are an Aasimar variant influenced by Phoenixes of the upper planes, changing their features to be fire-based and allowing them to give allies advantage on death saving throws.
• Pirate: The Swashbuckler class is at least in part themed around various pirate archetypes, with some of the names of their various Tricks and other features referencing common pirate tropes, such as the Treasure Hunter Trick or the Scoundrel's capstone being called Dread Captain.
• Pirate Parrot: The Swashbucklers have pirate elements in their theme, and the Trick that gives them a familiar is called "Shoulder Parrot".
• Pistol-Whipping: Ruffian Swashbucklers gain proficiency with using guns as melee weapons upon taking on the Code to compliment their rough and brutal style of fighting.
• Plaguemaster: As expected, Plague Clerics gain a bevy of disease related spells, the ability to spread the poisoned condition between enemies, and at 6th level the ability to inflict special diseases onto opponents upon being hit. By 17th level, they are so germridden as to be able to give the poisoned condition to creatures that are just in their general vicnity.
• The Power of the Sun: As expected from the name, Warlocks with the Unyielding Sun patron have powers related to the sun, which is mostly manifested through abilities that do fire or radiant damage.
• Power-Upgrading Deformation: Knight-Alchemist Fighters use mutagenic potions to give themselves boons, which are Body Horror-flavored judging from names like "Oozing Skin", "Monstrous Growth", and "Weeping Veins".
• Practical Taunt: One of the Swashbuckler's basic uses of Panache is the Distracting Taunt, which can break the focus of an enemy and give them disadvantage on their next attack roll. The Duelist subclass gains another in the form of the Infuriating Taunt, which draws the aggression of the enemy its targeted at.
• Psychic Powers:
  • Mindwhisper Troubadours gain telepathic powers (based on Creator/Kibblestasty's Psion class), which allows for performing Mystic Songs silently by performing directly into creature's minds, access to the Psion's Telepathic Intrusion power, and increased defenses around psychic damage.
  • Grimhunt Swashbucklers also gain psionic abilities, in their case the ability to drain the minds of others in the form of the dread Mind Leech power.
  • Way of the Rift Monks gain the Transposition Discipline, allowing them to teleport through the power of psionics.
  • Fortressmind Wardens have their chaotic power derived from psionics, allowing them to create blades of psionic energy and psychically manipulate opponents in the range of their Primal Interdiction.
• Random Effect Spell:
  • As expected of the being the class's equivalent of the Wild Magic subclass for Sorcerers, the Bloodrager's Scintillant Bloodline gains several spells that have randomized effects, and their Wild Power and Sorcerous Surge features require rolling on a random effect table.
  • The chaotic vortex, prismatic shield, scintillating spray, and shifting blade spells all have effects determined by a roll of the dice.
• Rebel Leader: Solidarity Paladins are themed around this archetype, being a support-oriented subclass that has an oath encouraging them to rebel against corrupt authorities.
• Recoil Boost: At 7th level, Bloodragers of the Mystic Discipline are able to use their Arcane Blasts to propel themselves 10 feet in any direction.
• Sand Blaster: Along with several sand-based spells, Circle of the Sands Druids gain the ability to summon and control a miniature sandstorm.
• Secret Art: Each Troubadour subclass has their own Mystic Song that's exclusive to them.
• Shield Bash: One of the boons of the Aegis Pact option for Warlocks is that they are able to use their special shield as a melee weapon.
• Shock and Awe: The Stormcrow Tradition Troubadours become attuned to the powers of storms, giving them access to spells and features that allow them to deal plenty of lightning and thunder damage.
• Shout-Out:
  • On of the quirks for Awakening Paladins has the phrase "line my brain with eyes", a reference to a set of Arc Words in Video Game/Bloodborne.
  • As a candy-based option for a Witch subclass with several spells for tempting opponents, the Candy Coven is a clear reference to the witch in Hansel and Gretel.
• Smoke Out: Both Tinkerer Swashbucklers and Progress Monks have a smoke bomb as one of the gadgets they can use.
• Snake People: The Serpent's Children race fill a similar niche to the official Yuan-Ti as evil infiltrators, but are designed to be versatile in exactly what snake bits they have, with their race allowing a choice of Forms and Heritages to determine what look and abilities a given Child has. Depending on the choices a player makes, they could vary from hideous hybrids to looking almost human but with snake-related magic.
• The Social Expert: Agitator Rogues are defined by being particularly adept at conversing with and manipulating people.
• Space Master: Rift Monks gain the psionic discipline of Transposition, allowing them to teleport through understanding the nature of space and how to manipulate it.
• Spider People: The spiderfolk are a race of spider-people with a centauroid body configuration. They are friendlier than most examples of the trope, typically being Lawful Neutral. They live deep in the darkness of caves, and were only recently discovered in the setting their flavor is in.
• Star Power: Astromancer Wizards blend the classical and aesthetic versions. Their knowledge of the stars allows them to learn divination spells that other wizards can't, and they can shape residual magic from their spells into miniature stars. They can even form mock constellations by connecting those stars with magical laser beams.
• Super-Scream: At 11th level, the Troubadour gains the ability to perform (which can be through screaming) a special note of power that can dispel silence effects or damage objects/creatures through sheer magical loudness.
• Swashbuckler:
  • As expected from the name, the Swashbucker class is designed to emulate this type of character, being characters who excel at flashy maneuvers and the use of bucklers with swords or firearms. Mechanically, their daring deeds are represented by them getting points of Panache from impressive deeds that can be funneled into other boons.
  • The College of Bravura is a Bard subclass designed for bring aspects of the Swashbuckler to the Bard, giving them similar proficiencies, and the ability to give allies an increased critical hit chance similar to the 'buckler's ability to increase their own critical hit range.
• Throwing Your Shield Always Works: One Eldritch Invocation for the Pact of the Aegis, Whirling Aegis, allows the shield to also be used as a thrown weapon that is capable of ricocheting off enemies.
• Torches and Pitchforks: Agitator Rogues excel at starting riots and hiding among crowds. They can even lend out their sneak attacks with the Voice of the People feature, but since they can't choose targets for their allies it's best to make sure the mob is pointed where they want it first.
• Transformation Horror: Paladins of the Oath of Awakening are turning into an Eldritch Abomination. Several of their quirks suggest their body is becoming very strange as a result of this, such as having elongated digits are hair falling out in clumps.
• Uncatty Resemblance: One of the quirks for Beastsouled Sorcerers is to have a resemblance to their familiar.
• Vampiric Draining: Befitting a vampire-themed subclass, the Way of Predation Monk subclass focuses on draining health from opponents when hitting with an unarmed strike.
• Walking the Earth: Wanderlust Clerics are themed around this trope, worshipping deities that encourage traveling and gaining several boons to make long periods of movement more pleasant.
• Wild Magic: The Scintillant Bloodline option for Bloodragers is their equivalent to the Wild Magic subclass for Sorcerers, making the extra damage of their Blood Trance be of a random type, and giving the Bloodrager two different features that have them roll on tables to represent the erratic nature of their magic.

---