April 16th, 2018

Greetings fellow adventurers!

This update provides users the ability to create their own Homebrew Character Subclasses!

The homebrew subclasses will not only provide textual data in their own listing and details pages, but will also allow users to select subclasses and have their effects applied in the character builder!

The main homebrew page has been updated with a slot for subclasses:

And now there is a listing page for homebrew subclasses:

Currently, you can filter by name, author, the base class (Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, etc.) of the subclass, and which spell casting ability score (INT, WIS, etc.) that the subclass may use. Additional filtering may be added in the future, based on feedback.

As with other homebrew-able data, you can either create a homebrew subclass from an existing, publicly available subclass to use as a guide, or create one from scratch.

You must first select a base class to build your subclass on top of. Once a base class is selected, you can either create a copy of a subclass that you have access to, or create a new subclass from scratch.

Let's dive in and create a brand new subclass for Rogue, called the "Inquisitor" (think, church assassin).

The starting form is fairly simple, Name, Version, Short Description, Description fields are pretty standard to all our homebrewable data. The next few boxes are interesting, though. Want to make a Barbarian with spellcasting like Arcane Trickster or Eldritch night? Now you can. Buy using the spell casting related fields choose the stat for your spell casting modifier, what list of spells the subclass has access to and if the spells are learned (like a Wizard) or known (like a Cleric). You can check out the tooltips on the fields for more specifics.

Since our Inquisitor works for the church, let's give him access to the Cleric spell list:

With the starting information filled in, we'll save our process, which will now allow us to start entering our class features:

The name and description fields are pretty straight forward, the Multiclass Description field is used if any additional text is needed when multiclassing with this subclass. The actions fields (not currently used in the current character sheet, but will be in the new one), allow us to group data on the new character sheet by Actions / Reactions / Bonus Actions / Other, etc. So, while you won't see any immedaite use of populating these fields, they will be utilized once the new character sheet is launched.

NOTE: If you want to give a subclass access to spells in the character sheet, for a base class that doesn't typically have spell casting access (like Fighter, Rogue, etc), you MUST create a class feature for your subclass named Spellcasting:

Likewise, you can create a class feature called Pact Magic to give your subclass Warlock-type access to spells.

Class Features can also have options that characters can choose from (like Maneuvers for a Battlemaster Fighter.) Once your Class Feature is created you can then enter Options.

Both Class Features and Class Feature Options can have Modifiers, Spells, and Limited Use applied. Let's give our Inquisitor a Class Feature called Vigilant.

And apply the modifier, which adds the character's WIS Mod to their DEX Mod for the character's base initiative:

And now, looking at the character's Initiative on the their character sheet:

We can see the character's base Initiative is +10.

The modifier, spell, and limited use sections are the same as what's used in our other homebrewable data, and James has a bunch of creation guides on building homebrew on DDB, so please reference some of those great guides for guidelines on using those forms. And I'm sure James will be doing a detailed guide for subclasses too :)

One additional sub section for a Class Feature is Level Scaling. This form is used for effects that scale based on class level (like Superiority Dice for Battle Master:)

Also with this release, we have enabled commenting, ratings, and reporting on ALL published homebrew. The homebrew author can control turning commenting on / off for their published homebrew:

Once comments are enabled, a commenting section will be available at the bottom of the details page:

Homebrew Authors will also receive notifications when users comment on their creations.

For Ratings, logged-in users can rate a homebrew up or down, by using the ratings controls at the bottom of detail pages:

A user can undo their vote after voting, but are never allowed to vote more than once:

The rated values are now displayed in a new sortable column on the homebrew listings:

We've also added the ability for logged-in users to send in reports for published homebrew items. Our moderator staff is automatically notified of these reports. So no more trying to PM a mod directly if you see something suspect on a published piece of homebrew. The Report button is located at the bottom of the details page:

We've also added the Add / Remove Collection button on the bottom of the details pages as well.

Hopefully, these quality of life improvements to all homebrew will provide for better community engagement and use of all the fabulous homebrew data being created on DDB.

If you haven't seen any of James' great in-depth guides on creating various types of homebrew on DDB, please check them out!

Races, Backgrounds, Feats, Magic Items, Monsters, and Spells

We're really excited to see all the wonderful subclasses that the community creates!

Next up for part of the dev team - source management for content sharing!

Happy homebrewing!