I really like making homebrew, and I thought that for this week I'd share a quick homebrew I did 2 years ago. I was so in love with it back then that I commissioned some art for it!
Art by Migy (artofmigy on IG)
That's all, clickbait done. Get the subclass here (should be both 2014 and 2024 compatible).
Do comment below if you wanna see a fully fledged PDF version!
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You're still reading? Well, if you're so inclined, here's a rundown of how I came up with this idea.
THE CONCEPT
I was making homebrew back in 2024 (yes, this is 2 years old, and it's been play tested quite a bit since then), and I wanted to make subclasses or homebrew for some special events that happen throughout the year. I didn't make THAT many that year, sadly, corporate life was too intense for me to keep up with writing for every event I could find, but I made a Nutcracker Monk subclass (will share that next time), and a TONNE of Halloween stuff (as a Twitch community, we made more subclasses), but on my own I made a full Stitcher Class (which is heavily inspired by Victor Frankenstein and Geralf Cecani).
I had just cracked a formula for making new homebrew that gave me an easy step by step process to writing custom material. Easy 5 steps:
- What is missing?
- Research
- Steal and Butcher
- Create
- Playtest
What's Missing?
In the end, I feel that for any custom or homebrew material, there's no point in making something if it already exists and feels exactly how you want it to feel. If re-flavoring a beast master into a Pokemon style master fits, then simply do that! With your GMs approval, re-flavor it. I've had players re-flavor Stars Druids into Anime-style magical girls. If it fits the feel, then honestly, most of the time, you can stop here.
For this, I really wanted a love-themed class that would throw the Cherub trope on it's head at higher levels (e.g. Cherubs are biblically not little baby angels but multi-headed monstrosities of Lovecraftian proportions). Easy. This was also during a period of time where Rangers were getting a lot of hate for being so weak, so I thought I'd give them some love.
Research
For D&D homebrew, it's really easy to do. Just start with every subclass that exists, and gauge which abilities are the strongest between them, and which are the weakest between them. I knew this class would have a cherub "pet", so I paid special attention while reading up on Beast Master and Drake Warden classes, but also it's always a good idea to read up on the stronger classes (like Gloomstalker). Since the cherub can fly from the get-go, I knew I'd have to nerf it mechanically just a bit, compared to the Beast Master and Drake Warden.
If you're not confident yet with the initial research, there are TONNES of homebrew subclasses out there. DMsguild is a sea of content, and a lot of it is free. Not to mention any UA content (which would also give you insight on how the professionals make classes). I basically kept all of the content in an excel sheet, rated or color coded the abilities by their power level, and kept track if there were any abilities that already existed that would do what I wanted. TL;DR, I couldn't find anything that felt like what I wanted, so it gave me the confidence to go into the next step...
Steal and Butcher
Immediately, I copy pasted the Beast Master text, and started re-working the names, stats, and whatever to fit more of a cherub theme. Did I come up with something completely from scratch? Hell no. I pulled up every bird and celestial I could find in the Monster Manual, and started copy-pasting the abilities, and re-adjusting the values to fit the stats that made sense. I butchered these stolen stat blocks. I also really liked how Gloomstalkers and Fey Wanderers get spells (something I think ALL ranger classes should get), I pulled up a list of "love" themed spells, like Ceremony and Charm Person. Now I have this monster of a subclass, I had most of it down. The only thing left that wasn't right, was the level 15 feature, where I couldn't really find a celestial that did everything I wanted. This is where we go into the final step in making the homebrew...
Create
Using the myriad of D&D tools available online, I made the stat block for the Cherub's true form. Simultaneously, this is where I decided that I would commission art, and it came out perfect. Art can be pretty expensive, and I did initially do some photo-bashing and drawings of my own, but it didn't do the class justice. That's basically it. You're done. The class is ready to be played... well, playtested.
Playtesting
This is the real hard part of writing anything. I wish I had the backing of WotCs UA die-hard fans, but alas, I do not. On your own, you can run simulations of battles, and I did maybe almost 10 of these combats at various levels, typically with a 4 man party of "balanced" composition, against iconic monsters like Liches, Owlbears, and what not, but nothing compares to having a real group play it. Overall, I had 3 players use it, all between the level 5 to 10 range. Playtesting, if anything, is the most important part, and it is the hardest part. Sure, I FEEL like it is doing what I want, but does everyone else feel the same? This is where you get feedback and ask questions about how the class feels from the players and what they wish it could do given the concept provided. This subclass is still in it's playtesting phase as it hasn't been tested enough. Have fun with it, throw it at your GMs for this year's Valentine's, and next years, and the year after that, and let me know how it goes!
Fin
If you like this, and wanna see more homebrew, do let me know in the comments. Even a simple "more" would be indicator enough that you're interested in this. I am currently writing more subclasses and homebrew and more TTRPGs, and I hope to never stop writing. Thanks for your time and don't forget, who's awesome? You're awesome.
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