65
votes
Accepted
Is this homebrew hûthvír-like weapon balanced?
This is not balanced.
Okay, I don't usually do "is this balanced" questions, because I don't really know what 'balanced' is. But, to paraphrase Potter Stewart, "I know it when I see it, and this ain'...
- 98.9k
52
votes
Accepted
How unbalanced is this 3 Kobolds in a Trenchcoat Player Race?
Balance is the least of your issues
Without even reading what you wrote or considering balance, this is way too many racial traits. Four to five abilities (the stuff like darkvision and pack tactics, ...
- 61.8k
51
votes
How can I balance the Zealot barbarian's Warrior of the Gods feature in a setting without resurrection?
Power level is important, but think about effect.
Try to give them something that offers the same sort of flavor as the feature. The original is there to encourage the zealot to be willing to charge ...
- 24.8k
50
votes
Is this Bracers of Stored Health homebrew magic item balanced?
This is profoundly unbalanced as written. During downtime days, as written, the item permits the user to pour unlimited numbers of hit dice into the bracers. All you have to do is ensure that you ...
- 24.8k
47
votes
Accepted
What level would this homebrew Comatose spell be?
This spell is more powerful than almost any other spell in 5e, and thus should not be allowed in its current state
With the exception of wish, this might be the most powerful spell in the game if ...
- 90.5k
43
votes
Can my players abuse this homebrew Blade of the Thirst magic item?
I see no real problem with it.
There is precedent for a longsword-type weapon having both the Finesse and Versatile properties (Sun Blade). Beyond that, this is a +X Weapon that hurts you in order to ...
- 60.9k
43
votes
How exploitable/balanced is this homebrew spell: Spell Permanency?
It's shenanigans, all the way down.
Permanency is full of them. In particular, it's almost not possible to balance Permanency completely. As it is, in 5e, high-level wizards (and other casters to a ...
- 24.8k
43
votes
Is this ship resurrection spell balanced for 4th level?
As written, that spell is extremely powerful. Ships are expensive, and this lets you get one for free. (Arguably, better than free, because the resurrected ship comes with free sailors who don't eat ...
- 77.9k
42
votes
Accepted
How balanced is a feat that lets players round up instead of down, and win contest ties?
This has risky interactions with certain class features.
The second benefit, tie-breaking in contests where a stalemate is possible, isn't especially problematic. It effectively acts like a +1 bonus ...
- 29.5k
41
votes
Is this modified version of the changeling's "Shapechanger" trait fair?
I would simply accept that I am not playing a changeling with this DM.
“Fair” or not doesn’t come into it; it’s not worth the argument. But being able to change their appearance at will is literally ...
- 321k
40
votes
Accepted
How Many Sorcery Points Should This Homebrew Metamagic Cost?
How many Sorcery Points should this cost? Lots. At least 5, since this metamagic is better than Careful Spell, Empowered Spell and Heightened Spell combined. I'm sure you can see where I'm going with ...
- 141k
40
votes
Is this magic item that requires you to permanently sacrifice a hit die to use balanced?
"Too weak" in the sense that the cost is too great. No one would ever use this in traditional campaigns.
Permanent loss of hit dice and permanent reduction in hit points is far too great a ...
- 112k
39
votes
Accepted
Is this homebrew sword of wind control based on "Grasscutter" overpowered?
Is it overpowered? As you've written it, perhaps.. but only because you worded one of your abilities to always knock something prone, this is problematic.
If a character passes a save you can't and ...
- 15.5k
39
votes
Accepted
Is this homebrew Eir race balanced?
This is not balanced with the other races in the PHB.
Assuming that these are two different sub races ...
You are starting with a feat.
You are starting at size large: no PHB race is large. (...
- 139k
39
votes
Is this homebrew Misty Hook spell balanced?
This should be a second-level spell
You've carefully worded this spell so that it's really hard to use it offensively. It's quite difficult to use this to drop someone off a cliff, or into lava, ...
- 77.9k
38
votes
Accepted
Is this homebrew Mind Flayer race balanced?
So, taking these one at a time...
ASI, Speed, Size, and Darkvision
Normal, moving on
Magic Resistance
Equivalent to the Magic Resistance trait of the Yuan-ti from Volo's Guide. Even on the Yuan-ti,...
- 60.9k
38
votes
Accepted
Is this homebrew Dragon Rider class balanced compared to the other official classes?
No
Let's take this feature at a time...
Quick build
This is just flatly wrong. This class is a half-caster, they should not prioritize their casting stat. Glancing down below, this class would always ...
- 60.9k
37
votes
Is this homebrew life-stealing melee cantrip unbalanced?
It's probably unbalanced.
Let's take a look at what other things allow you to gain hit points at first level:
Cure Wounds (requires a spell slot and action, restores 1d8 + change).
Healing Potion (...
- 5,491
36
votes
Accepted
Are there any broken applications of this homebrew "Overcast" system?
Elementals are immune to exhaustion.
Circle of the Moon druids can turn into elementals at level 10. Elementals have immunity to the effects of exhaustion.
The Beast Spells feature of Druids at ...
- 2,844
36
votes
Accepted
Is my homebrew Burning Ears spell the right spell level?
Player characters wouldn't use this
Very few player characters are so famous that people would refer to them by name. Even if an NPC was specifically making plans to kill them, the NPC would probably ...
- 77.9k
35
votes
Is this ship resurrection spell balanced for 4th level?
So many issues
First, it would need to be a Transmutation spell
Yes, there may be skeletons involved, but really, the spell is fixing a ship. The fact the skeletons exist is beside the point. The fact ...
- 28.2k
34
votes
Should this homebrew "Artillery Spell" advanced metamagic option be reworded or clarified?
Scrap It Completely
This ability is ridiculously complex - it involves four die rolls of five dice, multiplication, and division... and all of this before the DM even rolls any saving throws. This is ...
- 47.5k
33
votes
Accepted
Is this homebrew "Cactus Grenade" cantrip balanced?
It's significantly more powerful than other AOE cantrips, but wouldn't be gamebreaking if balanced as part of a specific race
One spell you could compare it to another cantrip that does AOE damage: ...
- 3,527
32
votes
Is this homebrew feat for a combat medic balanced?
This feat is not balanced in its current state.
You're basically making a better version of the Healer feat, in every way. And also giving ability increase. There's literally no reason to take Healer ...
- 19.9k
32
votes
Accepted
Is this homebrew Warlock Invocation, Splinter Casting, balanced?
It's not inherently unbalanced, but it breaks theme
In essence, you're moving the Sorcerer's ability to turn spell slots into other spell slots to the Warlock, with the added bonus of being able to do ...
- 35.4k
32
votes
Accepted
Is this homebrew feat, Overheal, balanced with regard to other feats?
If I punch my friend in the arm for 1 damage, the feat is easily abused.
This breaks the game with a casting of Mass Heal.
Mass heal:
A flood of healing energy flows from you into injured creatures ...
- 112k
31
votes
How exploitable/balanced is this homebrew spell: Spell Permanency?
This is very broken. The most obvious way that it is broken is that players will use it on greater invisibility.
To understand the balance of this effect, we can compare it to the legendary item ...
- 77.9k
31
votes
Accepted
Is this homebrew Lady of Pain warlock patron balanced?
No, it is not balanced
Warlock sub classes tend to be quite powerful, as a rule. So it's understandable you would want to give your class some major benefits. However, there are several balance ...
- 37k
29
votes
Accepted
What level should this exhaustion-causing spell be?
This spell is not designed in a way that lines up with the 5e rules. Because this doesn't offer a save or an attack roll, I'm inclined to say that it can't be fit into the existing spell system except ...
- 13.9k
29
votes
Accepted
Is this homebrew mechanoid race balanced?
No, it is not balanced, and probably not even playable
I'll go over the traits one by one.
Ability score increase: +2 to Intelligence and +2 to Wisdom
Pretty powerful, since most races get +2/+1, ...
- 77.9k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible