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I am creating a homebrew tanking class for DND 5e, and I want to add some flavor rather than going with same formula as fighter, barbarian, and paladin.

I am thinking that instead of armor the class could rely on a reserve of temporary hit points to absorb damage. This reservoir of temporary hit points would be equal to half the hp maximum and would replenish fully every long rest, or when you regain hit points as part of a short rest, potion, or spell, you would regain half as many temporary hp.

What would the mechanical implications of such a class, and how would I prevent them from boosting their AC to make this combo OP?

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    \$\begingroup\$ As a note, you can't replenish temporary hitpoints from what I know, you must choose so stick with the temporary hitpoints that you currently have or replace them by the new temporary hitpoints you would get. \$\endgroup\$
    – KhorneHoly
    Jan 28, 2020 at 13:15
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    \$\begingroup\$ @KhorneHoly there is no practical difference between replenishing pool every long rest and getting new pool every long rest. And class-speciic rules may allow regaining this specific temp hp pool even if generally it is not possible in the game. @ Efialtes - how would it interact with other methods of gaining temp hp? Currently it would make them all totally inefficient. That's your intent, or you simply didn't include that part in your post yet? \$\endgroup\$
    – Mołot
    Jan 28, 2020 at 13:38
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    \$\begingroup\$ Oh, and please see How can I ask a good homebrew review question? on meta if you haven't already. \$\endgroup\$
    – Mołot
    Jan 28, 2020 at 13:39
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Efialtes you do not have to disallow them. Sorry if it'll sound bad but maybe you should read a bit more? Temporary HP pools do not stack, as seen here. You have to choose. And if you have one pool "always on", then either choice is already made for that character and you have already disallowed other sources, or you created a rules paradox. Either way, your creation would benefit from clear explanation. \$\endgroup\$
    – Mołot
    Jan 28, 2020 at 13:44
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Efialtes as long as it does not invalidate existing answers, more detailed explanations edited into the question are always welcome and may let other people spot problems that are invisible now, leading to other useful answers. \$\endgroup\$
    – Mołot
    Jan 28, 2020 at 13:51

2 Answers 2

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It's going to be a wonky class that goes down really fast

You want to make a Barbarian, but instead of having armor class, they'd basically have a once per long rest 50% of their HP shield.

Now ask yourself, would you rather:

Get hit only 10%-20% of the time because you have a really good armor class. This means you're getting hit 80-90% less than others.

OR

Be able to take 50% more hits than other people, but that 50% extra can't be healed in any way.

It won't be long before your easy-to-hit tank is down to their normal hit points and at that point they're just a Barbarian with a terrible armor class. The only thing your HP sponge would be better at is tanking enemies that have incredibly high hit chances, to the point where a normal Barbarian would reliably get hit as well, or enemies with terribly low hit chances, to the point where honestly anybody could be tanking them.

You would have to add insane amounts of hit points to make this trade-off worth it. If you can somehow do that, you've now unbalanced the AC vs Saving Throws balance, because your extra HP means you're essentially "good" at any saving throw that ends up dealing damage, you have plenty of HP anyway.

And that would come on top of having to prevent the player from simply increasing his AC by multiclassing into something, or taking a feat, to get a better armor class, or having somebody cast Mage Armor on them.

Long story short, this is an idea that is never going to be balanced.

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I'm not really experienced in D&D 5e yet, but this seems utterly and completely broken to me.

Nothing can stop the player from multiclassing into another class that will give him some other way to calculate his AC or give him proficiency in some armors and/or shields. Or he takes feats that give him armors proficiency or he takes the feat "Dual Wielder" which increases his AC or a party member casts "Mage Armor" on him or "Haste", there are many ways to increase the AC of a party member if you are prepared for it.

I can't think of a way to balance this if you want to deal with such large numbers of temporary hitpoints.

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    \$\begingroup\$ @Efialtes both feats and multiclassing are optional rules, so if you want to write homebrew material and say up front "not balanced for feats and multiclassing", you can do it. Just don't add it to your question now, as it would invalidate this fine answer. Wait a bit, gather feedback, and post second edition of this question, linking to this one and saying what you (think you have) fixed and how. \$\endgroup\$
    – Mołot
    Jan 28, 2020 at 13:34
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Efialtes you can't. The only way to do so would be to forbid it as the DM and honestly: I wouldn't want to play on a table that does so. \$\endgroup\$
    – KhorneHoly
    Jan 28, 2020 at 13:34
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Efialtes Sounds to me that you need to restrict so many things that the player is basically crippled in terms of the basic rules of the game and its mechanics. \$\endgroup\$
    – KhorneHoly
    Jan 28, 2020 at 13:47
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    \$\begingroup\$ @KhorneHoly English is my second language and I still have problems with reading the "mood" of some sentences. Glad we have this cleared up - I hope we do and we both agree anyone has right to play in a way that's fun for him, and find answers here, right? And to be honest, I wouldn't want to play without feats either ;) \$\endgroup\$
    – Mołot
    Jan 28, 2020 at 13:53
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Mołot Second language for me as well, no offense taken, happy to clarify if I'm misunderstood. :) But even without feats and multiclass I feel like a few buffs would just break the game. Also the answer from Theik has a really valid point. \$\endgroup\$
    – KhorneHoly
    Jan 28, 2020 at 13:59

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