Fighter Subclasses: Creating Homebrew
Today I’m going to do something new, I’m going to show you my process for creating homebrew subclasses and figured I’d start with the fighter. I decided to start with the fighter, not because it is easier than any other class to make subclasses for, but rather because I’ve been tinkering around with a subclass and figured I could show you my process for refining it and getting it all pretty. This fighter subclass takes some components of other fighters and is heavily influenced (read: stolen) from Brian McClellan’s Powder Mage Trilogy. Read it. It’s fantastic.
Different Styles of Abilities
Before we get started, let’s first talk about character abilities. There are two different types of abilities that characters are given: abilities and ribbon abilities. Abilities are anything a character has that gives them mechanical features to be used in combat, this is Extra Attack feature, spellcasting, or similar abilities that show up in combat.
Ribbon abilities are simply abilities that provide flavor and are more of ‘show-offs’ that don’t provide mechanical advantages in combat. This would include abilities like thieves’ cant, gaining proficiency in a language, skill or tool, or anything else that is a better fit for Roleplaying or Exploration. Ribbon abilities aren’t weighed against other ribbon abilities because the power level of a character is judged based on their combat expertise, not how good they are at persuading the king to give up their throne.
There might be certain circumstances where a ribbon ability has some use in combat, though it is not designed around that but do not expect to use them in such circumstances.
Fighter Class
The fighter class is an all martial class focused on weapon and armor proficiency and allowing a player to design a variety of different types of fighters. They could create a knight of the round table decked out in plate mail, a robin hood like figure who steals from the rich and gives to the poor (after taking a wee percentage), or anything in between. The class offers a lot of flexibility in creating a character… so long as that character focuses on being a martial badass.
One of the most important things a fighter gets is they gain access to two additional Ability Score Increase features. This is important for their customizability, though their power level isn’t likely to be affected by it unless they pick up specific feats to ensure they are better combatants.
Subclasses
A fighter subclass provides features to a fighter at specific levels: 3rd, 7th, 10th, 15th, and 18th level. These subclass features provide the flavor and real crunch to the class as the other features they get simply provide combat bonuses like rerolling a failed save or taking additional attacks.
I will be using the subclasses featured in the Player’s Handbook and Xanathar’s Guide to Everything as examples as we begin building this subclass.
Beginning, let’s go over the basics of a fighter subclass.
3rd Level
This is a very important level for the fighter as it begins defining them as a fighter as well as provide a power spike in the damage that they can deal. Champions get a large critical hit range, battlemasters and arcane archers get additional dice for their damage, cavaliers can make more attacks, samurai are better at hitting things and eldritch knights get spellcasting. It’s a big deal for any fighter and defines the rest of the class features they receive.
This level may only provide a single feature or provide several smaller power boost features along with a ribbon ability.
7th Level
Unlike 3rd level, 7th level is largely a ribbon feature though some subclasses will provide a small combat ability if the 3rd level ability was a smaller power boost than alternate subclasses. This ability builds on the flavor of any abilities gained at 3rd level. Some classes that go against the ribbon ability for 7th level include arcane archer, eldritch knight, and cavalier.
10th Level
For some subclasses, it might look like they get nothing but for those subclasses this is actually an important power boost. For arcane archers and battlemaster, this increases their damage die, the champion gets another fighting style, and more. This power boost is not as strong at 3rd level, but it is an important power increment to keep the class a viable contender once high-level combat begins.
15th Level
This level is mostly focused on providing additional uses of a 3rd-level class feature, or providing something new to do with a class or subclass feature. Arcane archers and battlemasters get a use of their 3rd level feature if they are out at the beginning of combat, champion’s critical range increases on their 3rd level bonus, eldritch knight gets an additional effect applied to their action surge, and cavalier and samurai get ways to augment their attacks.
18th Level
The final power boost for the fighter subclasses, for some classes it is very similar to 10th level where their die just increases in power, for other classes like the samurai, it may be something they very rarely get a chance to use. This should be a subclass feature that makes sure that the fighter has a way to keep up in damage and in combat during high-level play when that wizard is throwing fistfuls of d6s on the table and summoning something called a meteor swarm. If your subclass is featuring damage die, then it’ll be focused on increasing their power. If your subclass doesn’t, then this should be something that gives them additional ways of dealing damage like cavalier who gets special AoO or the eldritch knight who gets to make a weapon attack as a bonus action. Of course, the champion doesn’t provide additional damage dice to throw down but rather provides longevity to the fighter by giving them automatic hit points at the start of their turn. … And then the samurai is just trying to get hit a bunch to drop to 0 hit points, we all have different ways of fighting I suppose.
Powder Mage Subclass
Now, we have finally gotten to the part where I make the subclass! For those who don’t know anything about powder mages, they can detect black powder and ignite it outside of weapons. They are an elite group of soldiers who can curve shots after being fired, expert marksmanship, and are the bane of spellcasters.
3rd Level
At 3rd level, our powder mage subclass receives three abilities: Firearm Proficiency, Powder Tricks, and Powder Trance. The firearm proficiency is a partial ribbon ability as they gain proficiency in firearms and gunsmith’s kit, but it is important we clarify that they gain proficiency in firearms for this class to work.
After that, powder tricks and powder trance are how this subclass uses their weapon. Similar to battlemaster and arcane archer, the powder mage gets a wide variety of ways they can use their firearms, and they learn more of these tricks as they get stronger. Unlike battlemaster, their tricks do not revolve around expending a ‘superiority die’ but rather on making additional attacks, dealing side effects or augmenting their attacks.
Of course, the powder mage is limited to a very specific range that they can use these tricks and that range gets larger and larger as they get stronger in this class. This keeps them close to the action at lower levels, allowing them to really put their d10 hit die to the test.
These tricks will allow the powder mage to have the fighter’s normal power boost at 3rd level and opens up the fighter’s ability beyond just… hitting things.
7th Level
For many of the fighter subclasses, this is a ribbon ability level only. For our powder mage, we will be getting a combat ability and a ribbon ability, this is due to powder mages getting less marked points than battlemasters and this ability just doesn’t fit at higher levels due to it’s lower innate power. A version of this ability can also be seen on the arcane archer, though for the powder mage it has a resource pool, it requires a reaction as opposed to a bonus action, and you regain uses on a short or long rest.
As for the ribbon ability, the powder mage gets proficiency in perception checks. Powder mages are often trained soldiers, so it makes sense for them to be wary of their surroundings and stay alert. If they are already proficient in that skill, they have three others they can choose from. This is similar to the samurai and the purple knight, from Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide, where the fighter subclass gets proficiency in persuasion checks and is just a way to help them do more with roleplaying.
10th Level
At 10th level, our powder mage receives two new abilities that they can flaunt around the battlefield. The first one, Improved Powder Trance, simply allows them to increase the range of their powder tricks and is a relatively small power boost as it just allows them to hit targets at a greater distance and it recharges on a short or long rest after you use it once.
The next ability is the main boost for this level, Locked & Loaded. Much like the samurai, if the powder mage has no marked points they get a marked point at the start of combat. This is very helpful for powder mages when there are a ton of combats back to back with no chance to rest, most adventuring days may not see this ability come up.
Compared to battlemaster or arcane archer, this is an early level to gain such a feature as they must wait until 15th level in order to regain a use of their various features at the start of combat. The major difference is that the battlemaster, at 10th level, sees a power boost in that their dice increase from d8s to d10s while the arcane archer doesn’t see a specific new feature at 10th level… their curving shot and the fact their attacks are considered magic are meant to be the power boost for the class and they just gain their spike earlier in their subclass, even if it is a bit hidden. (Not to mention that arcane archers and battlemasters also get to learn additional maneuvers or arcane shots.)
15th Level
This is another level where the powder mage gains more powder tricks known, and other subclasses unlock ways of dealing additional damage. The powder mage is slightly different in that at face value, reloading a weapon for free when you take the Attack action seems a bit low, but the normal cost of reloading a weapon, per the rules being used in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, is that it requires an action or bonus action.
This feature is great for weapons with a low reload score and allows fighters to use single-shot muskets more effectively in combat as they are not reduced to a single attack for their round because they like the idea of wielding something large and with big dice. This is a small power boost that goes a long way in keeping the powder mage viable as, without it, the class would be forced to use smaller firearms that deal less damage due to the reload property on them being higher.
18th Level
The final feature that the powder mage gets specific to them is a big wollop that really personifies the old westerns where the bad guy goes to grab their gun but the hero already has their pulled out and has shot a full clip into them.
This feature allows a powder mage to react before others, allowing them to fire off their gun, though they are limited as they can only take the Attack action. They aren’t able to reposition themselves, they can’t use a bonus action to reload, they simply get to make their attacks before anyone else as a reaction. First looking over it, it does look strong and the fact they can use it every combat that they aren’t surprised automatically makes it stronger than the samurai’s ability in my opinion, but I also actively dislike high-level abilities that require you to drop to 0 hit points in order to get any use out of it, that seems to go against the idea of staying alive.
The drawback to this ability is the lack of repositioning, they can only take the Attack action, it burns up their reaction, they can only target creatures in their powder trance, and they are unable to use their powder tricks on the attacks due to how quickly they have to fire their firearm. This ability is similar to the thief’s ability in the rogue class, though the thief gets two full turns… but, their extra turn is not at the beginning of combat but rather later on.
Powder Tricks
These powder tricks are the main bread and butter of the powder mage and where a lot of their power and utility come from. Much like the battlemaster and arcane archer rely on their power boosts from special attacks they can make, the powder mage also relies on their tricks to increase their damage output though their tricks typically involve augmenting their attacks instead of just a flat bonus die to their damage.
Firearms
At the end of the subclass, I also provide firearms to be used with the class. These are largely based on the ones found in the Dungeon Master’s Guide as well as taking the firearms provided by the Gunslinger class created by Matt Mercer and adjusting their values as I think misfires are a bit… well, they don’t really fall in line with trained soldiers who are experts at using their weapons and is a hold over from Pathfinder.
Wrapping Up
This subclass, while beautiful in my mind, is only missing playtesting and running it through its paces. That’s one of the secrets of homebrew is testing it over and over, fixing any weak spots or pulling back anything too powerful. Eventually, this’ll get refined as it is played more and more, and I’ll update any links on this page as the subclass gets played.
And that’s the basics of creating a fighter subclass, I hope this helps explain some of the design philosophy behind the fighter and provides a rough guide in what a fighter subclass should look like as well as their progression throughout their various power levels. If you have a class you’d like to see a similar approach too, please let me know down in the comments!
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