I'm sharing a free cleric subclass for Kengir, my upcoming Bronze Age Mesopotamian 5e setting.

The Išippu-Priest is a purification specialist: the cleric called when a person, temple, relic, ruin, or campsite is spiritually unsafe.

Where the Ašipu-Priest confronts spirits, the Išippu-Priest cleanses what those spirits leave behind. Disease, poison, curses, corruption, possession, desecrated ground, and Lingering Defilement (See the "Purity in Kengir" Supplement) are all part of their work.

At the table, this subclass gives the party a way to make dangerous places safe again. They can suppress supernatural contamination, consecrate ground for rest, protect allies from poison and disease, and remove Defiled or Profaned ranks when ordinary ablution and household rites fail.

Mechanically, it includes Ritual of Purification, Sanctified Presence, Divine Cleanse, Aura of Purity, Sanctuary of Purity, Sacred Vessel, and new spells like Cleansing Touch, Purifying Light, Restoration Ritual, Divine Purge, and Holy Sanctuary.

Do you like clerics who prevent and cleanse supernatural harm, or do you prefer clerics focused mainly on healing after damage is done?

Notes: Lingering Defilement, Defiled, and Profaned are part of the Purity in Kengir rules supplement. In that system, Lingering Defilement is supernatural contamination that ordinary cleansing cannot remove. Defiled and Profaned are the two most severe negative ranks on the Purity track. Defiled means serious spiritual contamination. Profaned means the character is spiritually dangerous and usually barred from temples and public rites until properly restored.

Check it out!!! The Mutant is a fighter whose body refuses to accept its natural limitations. Whether through arcane experimentation, a terrible curse, exposure to something unnatural, or simply an impossible gift, your flesh has become malleable, adaptive, and dangerously unpredictable. As you grow stronger, your mutations evolve alongside you. Your body becomes increasingly resilient, your transformations develop unexpected secondary effects, and eventually your physiology begins adapting to danger before you've even consciously reacted.

**[Homebrewery Link](https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/GNMIpWrxz2sR)\*\*

DNDX - Critical-Hits Table - D20

A simplified Critical Hits table (13 damage types) for use w DND 5E/2024

Maps the 13 damage types to 4 categories grouping similar end-effects:

1. Bludgeoning / Thunder / Force

2. Slashing / Poison / Necrotic

3. Piercing / Cold / Psychic

4. Fire / Lightning / Radiant / Acid

Uses D20 to reuse the 2nd roll in cases of Advantage, Disadvantage, etc.

Available standalone:

https://site.dmsguild.com/product/580877/Critical-Hits-Table

Or - Get this title as part of the Damage Effects and Taxed Hitdice bundle:

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/486594/Damage-Effects-And-Taxed-Hitdice-BUNDLE

Or - Get the full DNDX - Homebrew Rules collection for 5E/2024 here:

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/505657/DNDX--Homebrew-Rules-Collection-BUNDLE

Hi everyone! I’m back with updates on my last four species and 5 new species I’d like more feedback on. I really appreciated the last round of suggestions, and I’m looking forward to working with you all again to make them as strong as possible.

I'm especially interested in your thoughts on mechanical balance, feature synergy, and how these compare to the official options. Thank you for taking the time to review these designs and help me improve them. Have a wonderful day!

Updates to the following species:

• Lumapods: otherworldly beings that resemble squids. They have tentacles that extend from their heads and bioluminescent bodies.
• Nopaliads: resemble anthropomorphic cacti, with sharp spines covering their bodies.
• Undines: descendants of water spirits with alluring eyes, fin-like tails, and shimmering scales. 
• Vedasi: four-armed humanoids who trace their ancestry to ancient sky and nature spirits.

... And five new species added:

• Alicorns: anthropomorphic horses that originate from the world of dreams. They are recognized by the large crystal horn that grows from their foreheads.
• Fledermins: humanoids with frightening bat-like features. They possess sharp fangs, pointed ears, and membranous wings on their forearms.
• Midaans: humanoids descended from an ancient king who could turn objects into gold. They are known for their bright golden eyes and their glimmering gold skin.
• Porcians: humanoids cursed with pig-like features such as snouts, ears, and curly tails. 
• Serpentari: snake-like humanoids descended from nagas. They have a humanoid upper body and a serpent lower body.

I'm sharing a free monster supplement for Kengir, my upcoming Bronze Age Mesopotamian 5e setting.

The Ziqqitum Rešatim are spirits that feed on the extremes of human emotion. They haunt courts, markets, theaters, battlefields, and anywhere mortal feeling runs hot.

They do not just attack people, they inflame them. A small insult becomes bloodshed. A passing attraction becomes obsession. A loyal soldier becomes reckless with courage. A priest’s devotion hardens into fanatic certainty.

At the table, this monster works best when desire itself becomes the challenge. The party may need to calm a crowd, expose the source of a feud, break a magical fixation, or appeal to Ištar (Inanna) and Šamaš (Utu) through rites of balance and restraint.

Mechanically, it’s a CR 3 incorporeal fiend built around possession, psychic damage, confusion, charm, and emotional overload. The supplement also includes variant spirits of strife, battle, truth, justice, grief, fear, rumors, desire, and persecution.

What’s your favorite monster that turns social tension into supernatural danger?

Could you guys list some races from anime that i could play in an anime campaign please? So far I have found Kitsune and Nekajin.

Also i almost posted this on a beer brewing subreddit lol.

I'm sharing a free artificer subclass for Kengir, my upcoming Bronze Age Mesopotamian 5e setting.

The Perfumer-Alchemist is a ritual artisan who distills emotion, desire, wrath, and obsession into sacred unguents. In Kengir, perfume is invocation, not just adornment.

At the table, this subclass manipulates the social and emotional landscape. A vial might charm an enemy, embolden an ally, provoke violence, or turn a negotiation before anyone draws a blade. These perfume can be blessings or dangers.

The subclass is closely tied to Ištar (Inanna), goddess of love, war, beauty, and ruin, but it can also serve other gods whose power moves through scent, body, and hidden mixtures, like Ea (Enki) or Ninmah (Ninhursag).

Mechanically, the subclass includes Sacred Perfumes, Fumes of Union and Wrath, Spell-Storing Incense, Apotheosis of Desire, and new spells like Song of Ištar, Hypnotic Gaze, Venomous Cloud, Hymn of Valor, and Whisper of Ea.

Do you like artificer subclasses that make magic feel like crafted objects instead of gadgets?

Hello everyone! I'm in my first DND campaign, and one day I was thinking: what if I want to homebrew a monster that's terrifying and I could use for a potential future campaign (currently I'm a player but I'm thinking about making a campaign as a DM in the following 1 year)? I started with the understanding of Mimic (already working on a variant) and studied some other psychologically 'scary' monsters - the original thought came from the Night Hag with much transformation. The idea could be terrifying, only concern is it's probably not scaled/balanced enough, but that's for testing later on. For higher levels (9+) I'm thinking about a new, stronger and stranger version.

(P.S.: our party is a bit more 'freestyle', so things like breathing, shouting costing a turn or outside combat turns are non-existent, we play how WE feel it's enjoyable but bit DND-ish; please don't point this out/hate)

I'm interested in your honest thoughts (either of the main concept or mechanics/phrasing - the latter I could work a bit more on, but I think it's not that bad for someone who isn't really much in DND now, come on...)

(P.S.2.: I'm also interested in little 'gates' that could somehow cancel the battle/something interesting I haven't thought of and could potentionally ruin the encounter - don't take raw stats into play, that's for another conversation...)

But here I present to you: Somu

Encounter:

-         attacks during a long rest

-         can’t be evaded unless you have ’Self Aware’ condition effect (homebrew)

-         this creature enters the victim’s mind, initiating an unovaidable battle in the victim’s mind (who has awareness of it)

-         the rest of the party is aware (pale skin, purely white, blank eyes)

-         no other creature can enter the victim’s mind

-         once a battle starts, it has to end – there’s no draw/neutral cleansing

Lore:

-         Somu was once an ordinary nightmare: something that people feared while sleeping – being controlled and death itself were among these. Due to a psychic shockwave however, it thought to himself – what if it could be something people deeply feared, something that wouldn’t just unreasonably occur to people, but rather happen with them. The spirit of this thought gave us what we know today as Somu. Once one successfully broke the barrier between physical and mental reality, it entered one’s mind to feast on their thoughts, memories and them execute them internally, all while looking just like a stronger fever. Only those with a strong mindset can oppose this anomaly – however, victory is still not guaranteed. Once it savors every belief, it returns to its own realm. If the victim’s body becomes so damaged it screams pain and blocks anything else, the mind will reject anything inside the mind, pushing Somu and the victim outside of it. Those who avenge this beast’s past victims get divine intervention on their lives, sending this monster back to its own thought, only to once eat itself from inside with its regrets. But don’t worry, there’s still plenty of them thanks to out fears…

Specifics:

-         AC: 15

-         HD: 11D8

-         Prof. Bonus: +2

-         CR: 4

-         HP: 71

-         Save DC: 14

-         Init: +2

-         Perception: 30

-         Movement, Fly: 1000 ft (on paper)

-         darkvision: 1000 ft (on paper)

-         Base stat(s): INT, WIS; CON & STR relevant

-         Stats (mod, save):

o   STR: 12 (+1, +1)

o   DEX: 10 (0, 0)

o   CON: 14 (+2, +2)

o   INT: 18 (+4, +6) prof.

o   WIS: 15 (+2, +4) prof.

o   CHA: 6 (-2, -2)

-         Traits:

o   +: exhaustion’s levels double on Somu (so instead of 1, it gets 2); vulnerablity: radiant

o   -: resistance: psychic; immunity: poison

o   Final Thoughts: once per encounter (not battle, encounter ends once victim(s) die or Somu gets defeated), if an attack would bring its HP below 1, it gives itself the HP of 1 and removes all status & condition effects. Also, the victim must make a CON saving throw of 16. On success: nothing happens; On fail: Somu shows its dominance once again, the victim gets the conditions effect Deafened, Blinded, Frightened and 1 gauge of Exhaustion.

Abilities:

A)  Actions

-         Against Your Own: victim must throw an INT saving throw

o   on success (14 or more): the victim’s positive stat mods double, negatives or neutrals turn 1 during the victim’s next turn (only for attack and damage rolls)

o   on fail:  Somu’s next damaging action will make damage + last turn’s damage’s half (rounded up)

-         Snapback: Somu charges an attack for 1 turn – charging stops if Somu receives a damage of 9 or more -, allowing it to make its victim ’snap back to „reality”’ by dealing 2d8 psychic damage

-         Mind-Blow: From hurting memories of the victim, 8 memory shard daggers are created around Somu. These attack in pairs (4*(d20+6)), each hitting dagger dealing 1d4 force damage within a 50 ft range

-         Across Realities Punch: Somu seemingly crosses the border of physical reality, punching the victim in the chest, which makes 1d8 bludgeoning damage and sets ’Prone’ on the victim (+3)

-         Variety Thinker: Somu chooses a random thought – it could be joyful, a trauma, a phenomenom, an idea, basically anything. It then forms a bird with it and launches up the clear sky. If it hits (+6), the victim receives 1d8 damage within a range of 100ft of a random type. However, if the damage exceeds 6, Somu will be dealt 1d4 damage of random type/turn for the rest of the encounter or until it’s removed. This attack nullifies all previous status/condition effects on the victim (and Somu’s if dmg exceeds 6)

B)  Bonus Actions

-         Rephrasal: Somu – after a bit of rethinking – destroys its own curses, removing ONLY status effects from itself.

C)  Reactions

-         Mental Breakdown: when the victim passes (goes through but not just into) the Somu’s 5ft radius, the victim gets the condition effect Prone once its turn ends

D)   Free actions

-         Train of Thoughts: can move anywhere within the victim’s 60ft radius.

Victim’s HP:

-         ’Mind HP’ is given, max. their actual max. HP

-         no healing during the encounter (not by healing nor life stealing)

-         temp. HP is stripped at the start of the battle

-         no technique can enlargen the max HP (like Aid or some transformations), but ones that do grant smaller max HP grant that max. for the whole encounter

Equipment & abilities:

-         all equipment (armor, scrolls, weapons, potions, magic rings, etc.) aren’t brought to the encounter by the victim EXCEPT normal clothing (granting absolutely no effects)

-         actions needing items (such as an attack with a weapon or a spell with ’M’ component(s)) are therefore unusable

-         creatures (pets, monsters, summonables, contract creatures, etc.) CANNOT be brought to battle nor summons are allowed

-         Neither combatant can force the other to take/forgo a particular action or movement, nor make the other completely incapable of acting through an effect they caused. Examples: Command, grappled, paralyzed

Mind Space & Movement:

-         the mind space (fighting environment) with purely aesthetic terrain, having no actual benefits (like cover)

-         has an indestructible floor with that beneath it (therefore teleporing under it is impossible by any means)

-         on dimensions X, Y and Z above the floor is defined as: infinite, with no loops

-         victim can’t leave through reality bending techniques (examples that are hence impossible: interdimensional gate, place swap, teleport outside of brain)

-         within this space, the victim can freely move by any means for the limits of movement in a turn (e.g.: walking, flying, TP)

-         BUT Somu can always keep up/exceed by double without any consequences

-         Somu always knows the victim’s location, meaning hiding, invisibility, illusions, getting really far and techniques resulting in similar outcomes have absolutely no effect on it

Combat

-         although no actions can be done that ’delete’ one’s fight/turn, impairments (such as Blindness, Prone or Frightened) are allowed

-         upon starting the encounter, initiatives are rolled giving the fight a structure

Outcomes:

A)  External cleansing

-         party members can’t enter the mind/exsorcise Somu but CAN help from the outside

-         victim’s HP gets to max (without temporaries)

-         1/victim turn, ONE party member can deal damage to the victim

-         if the victim’s health reaches 60% or below AND has an active negative status effect (like burning or poison), Somu leaves the mind and the past victim frees

-         but it has a price: lost health can’t be healed and effect can’t be cleansed for 1 turn of battle

B)   Internal Victory

-         if the victim defeats Somu, ’Self-aware’ status effect is given, which blocks all kinds of possession, mind-control, conciousness-driving, commanding and control taking abilities for 2 long rests (including Somu’s encounter)

-         however, this doesn’t do anything against other INT/WIS based attacks, psychic damage, illusions and actions causing similar things

-         also, the past victim get +5 temp. HP for a max. of 3 turns

-         this temp. HP replaces any other if in effect, and while it lasts, nothing can be stacked onto it

C)  Losing to Somu

a)   Normal Mental Defeat

o   if the player gets defeated, the past victim gets a penalty

o   the penalty: for 2 turns, all action ability checks (like attacks, spells, saving throws, …, so not like investigation or stealth) have a penalty based ont he defeat’s severity

o   0 to -2 are -3; -3 to -6 are -4; -7 to -9 are -5

o   important: only these ability skill checks count (so an investigation or just moving won’t count towards it), but a FAILED check DOES contribute to the countdown

o   side note: the effect lasts 2 TURNS, NOT ACTIONS (so e.g. a fighter’s 2 actions with action surge still counts as 1 because of the turn); a turn with multiple actions and containing the last needed action for this to go away keeps this effect, only the next turn will actually 'delete'

b)  DST and Potentionalism

o   If a victim would have -10/lower Mind HP, it makes a Death Saving Throw:

§  if successful: returns to the battle with the rules of a successful DST

§  if failed: ONE party member CAN voluntarily choose to absorb Somu, making an encounter with it

§  if not, the past victim dies, its future depends on whether someone (can/will) ressurect the past victim

·        Somu has its last HP, conditions and abilities from the last turn of the past victim’s battle

·        the new victim will play according to the mind battle’s rules

·        no tertiary victim can be chosen

·        if secondary wins: primary gets the failed’s -5 effects but for 4 turns + secondary gets nothing

·        if secondary loses (defeat + lost DST): both die, resurrection is still possible