So I have been getting a game together (finally!) and have just started working out the kinks. In addition to being the DM, I decided, “what the heck, lets make my favorite MMO job into a D&D class too!”
I am slightly too ambitious sometimes.
But, I am happy with how it is working out! We just recently played our Session 0 game, to get a new player used to the game, and another up to speed with the changes for 5e. Since healing seems to be a tricky one in a game with only 3 players, I decided to keep this true to form and have it be a primarily healer class for my DM-NPC, to keep those pesky players alive! I swarmed them with a bunch of small things first, and then made them fight one really big guy to get them used to it, and to sort of test this class at level 1.
I am pleasantly surprised at how well it worked. Each turn was pretty much the same, which is great for me, as I’m managing the encounter as well.
- Bonus Action: draw a card
- Action: usually use Aspected Beneific for a quick heal
- Reaction: play the card (usually on someone else’s turn, but sometimes just right away to get it out there)
This actually worked really, really well, and those little bonuses to AC with the Bole card or giving a higher chance to hit with the Spear were really helpful in an encounter they weren’t supposed to survive.
I think, though, if you don’t have an understanding of the job and what you do in FF14, you might have a hard time coming to grips with all of the options available to you at any time (choosing a sect to be under, drawing cards or royal road or spread) but if you have played FF14 as an Astrologian, this should seem pretty natural, I hope!
Update: There are some things I need to tweak with this, such as when they get ability point increases and the potency of some of the abilities. Also, Aspected Benefic should be moved from a cantrip to a 1+Wis mod use per short/long rest ability to stop it from being able to heal up an entire party between encounters.
This is also completely different from the Shadowbringers changes to the class, so it’s going to be hard if you don’t know how Astro worked before Shadowbringers and their more simplified card system (I’m not a huge fan of it, which is why I’m keeping it this way).
I may re-write it to work with the changes in Shadowbringers, but as of now, it is what it is.
Astrologian on The Homebrewery
You can view each page here, or get it all as a PDF on the Homebrewery page.
Starting with astro might have been a bit more than I had anticipated, but it is still one of the most unique and interesting classes to play. It seemed like the challenge of integrating card effects and that additional bit of randomness into my game would be… interesting. When designing this class, I built it around being a full-time healer, with only occasional damaging spells. I have tried to stay true to the abilities of the job, without going (too?) overboard.
I have not had much of a chance to play test this class myself, as my game has just started (March 2019) and my small group is a level 1 band of confused misfits. However, in doing a quick “Session 0” gameplay to introduce combat to new and returning players, I found this to actually be a really useful class to have around. I was able to draw a card (bonus action), heal someone with Aspected Benefic – albeit for 4hp or so, but when they only have 8, that’s a huge bonus! – (action) and then play the card depending on the circumstances (reaction).
It really helped my players focus on the fight and learning about their characters, and they were surprisingly cautious for new PCs, as they realized I could only heal one person at a time.
All in all, it seemed to be very successful, and not too incredibly OP. I think, as a PC, you’d have fun with it without ruining the party balance.
After I had started this creation, I decided to see if anyone else had had the same idea, and found a few different homebrews. However, they felt like the card draw was added in as a secondary idea, instead of it being the focus I was shooting for. Also, they seem to have been written before the release of FF14 4.0 (Stormblood) so are missing many of the new skills and spells that that brings. I’m sure this will be amended and updated after the release of FF14 5.0 (Shadowbringers) in a few months.
I am always looking for feedback, so if there is anything you can think that needs to be amended, changed, or updated, please let me know!
One last note: I have never had a D&D party with characters beyond 10th level, as my PCs all seem to either die, or want to create and try new classes, or we wind up moving. So I am unsure if this is too OP once we get above that level. I have tried to structure spells and abilities off of existing ones, however, but some of the heal or damage amounts may be too high, I’m just not sure yet!
I really enjoyed reading this new class! Thanks for sharing it!