DnD

D&D 5E Homebrew: Monk Subclass: Way of Body

The Lifecast’s Dungeon Master shares another one of his homebrews. This time the Strength Focused monk path. The Way of Body!

Cover Image by Lord-Of-The-Guns.

D&D 5E Homebrew: Terramancer Sorcerous Origin

The Lifecast’s Dungeon Master shares another one of his homebrews. This time the Earth elemental focused sorcerer. The Terramancer!

Cover Image by Nargyle.

D&D 5E Homebrew: Level 20 Druid Features

The Paladin’s have a unique feature where their level 20 class feature is based on their class archetype. (sub-class) These are far and beyond my favorite as it makes it so you could have two paladins in your party and yet they would feel completely different from one another. So I’ve always liked to think about what archetype based level 20 class features I would make for each class. So I’d like to share my homebrew for the guardian of nature,  the Druid. I’m going to have one for each of the subclasses except Moon since Archdruid is already a perfect fit.

Circle of the Land:

Archdruid being the Level 20th ability always bothered me. The Moon Circle gets significantly more out of unlimited beast shapes. So it only seems right that I correct that here tonight.

One With The Land:

At 20th level, when you are located in an environment similar to the land where you became a druid you can cast a 9th level spell without expending a spell slot. Adding an additional 1 hour to the casting time.

You can use this again after finishing a long rest.


I like the idea of the Land itself granting the Druid power, almost like Goku’s spirit bomb. Like the land itself is rewarding the Druid for their devotion and protection.

This feature focuses on the land specifically unlike many of the other features. The Druid will have to understand their landscape to make the most out of this feature.

Circle of Dreams:

Decided to continue and add 20th Level Features for the new Subclasses in “Xanathar’s Guide to Everything.” First off here’s the Circle of Dreams a subclass that focuses on using the good parts of the Feywild to heal and support their allies.

Dreaming Chronomancy:

At 20th level, when you take a short rest you maniputed and warp the flow of time around you. You can all other creatures within 120ft gain the benefits of a long rest during the duration of a short rest.


One of my favorite aspects of the Feywild is how time there is convoluted. So it made sense to me that a Druid of this strength might be able to utilize that power. Being able to turn all Short rests into Long Rests is an insanely strong ability, and one deserving of a 20th Level skill.

I wasn’t specific about how much time was saved as I’d like the ability to be compatible with variant rules on Rest Time.

Circle of the Shepard:

Arch-Summoner:

At 20th level, whenever you cast a spell that summons/conjures a creature, it is not considered a concentration spell for you. If there is a downside to losing concentration on the spell the downside is ignored. The creature remains loyal to you.

However you can still only have one instance of that particular spell active at one point.


I dig this ability because it it cements this subclasses’ role as the summoner. Since the spells are no longer concentration spells it means you can have multiple summons of different types up at once.

This is potentially dangerous as it could clog up initiative but with the right DM /player relationship it can work out.


Alright that’s it. Lemme know what you think in the comments or @TLCStageHazard. If you’re interested in other homebrews here’s one that turns The Legend of Zelda’s Link into a 5e Ranger.

Cover Image by Takeda11.

D&D 5E: Link, Hero of the Goddess

The Lifecast’s DM Greg Fernandes, D&D-izes The Legend of Zelda’s Link. As well as created usable version of his impressive arsenal.

D&D 5E Homebrew: Dexterity “Nerfs”

The Lifecast’s Dungeon Master shares a homebrew about balancing the powerlevels between Dexterity and the D&D 5E’s other statistics.

D&D 5E: The Restorer, Circle of The Green Druid

The Lifecast’s DM shares another one of his D&D 5e homebrews. This time a Heal-focused Druid. The Restorer.

D&D 5E: Inquisitor, Anti-Mage, Paladin Subclass

One of the things that always bothered me about many D&D worlds was how rampant magic tends to run. Heroes tend to go from novice to master magician in only a few years time. Magic is extremely powerful. Where is the fear? Where is their check? Enter the Inquisitor.

Inquisitors are based on the real world equivalent by the same name. The men of the Church who would go around and destroy things they considered unholy whether they be text or people themselves.

Magic in many worlds are sort of viewed as an equivalent to science. So the Inquisitor coming to destroy arcane documents fits well thematically.

Inquisitors can play a interesting role in many worlds:

  • Maybe a party member is an inquisitor and they have to deal with a fellow party member who is a caster of the arcane. Will they let their fear of the arcane prevent them from doing the greater good?
  • Maybe a major antagonist is an Inquisitor. They could potentially spread anti-arcane propoganda across the entire world. Making your mages feel unsafe wherever they go. Your players could argue with the Inquisitor stating the hiprocracy of the Inquisitor cast spells of their own.
  • Inquisitors could make an interesting opponent for a heavy mage group as they might need to resort to other means to win a confrontation. Maybe the fighter switches to a more defensive role attempting to keep the Inquisitor away from his spellcasting allies.

I hope this class really sells that idea and allows for a true check of the arcane. Leave critique here in the comments or @TLCStageHazard.

If you’re interested in other D&D 5E Homebrews, here’s one about a more Pious Bard.

Oath of the Inquisitor:

High Ranking Inquisitor | Art by: Wes Schnieder

Oath Spells:

Paladin Level: Spells:
3rd Detect Magic, Identify
5th Silence, See Invisibility
9th Counterspell, Dispel Magic
13th Fire Shield, Locate Creature
17th Circle of Power, Dispel Evil and Good

Channel Divinity:

When you take this Oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.

Martial Counterspell: When a target casts a spell within your melee attack range you can spend your Channel Divinity and reaction to immediately interrupt the their casting (wasting their spell slot and action) and take an attack of opportunity.

Focus Rupture: As an action, you can make a special attack with an attack bonus equal to your Intelligence or Charisma modifier(choose one). If the attack lands any spell the target was concentrating on is immediately ended.

Inquisitor reflecting on the night’s events. | Art by : Kim Junghun

Aura of Null:

Beginning at 7th level you and allies within 10 feet gain a bonus to saving throws vs spells equal to your Charisma or Intelligence modifier.(Choose one) This effect does stack with Aura of Protection.

Eternal Watchman:

Beginning at 15th level, whenever you use your Divine Sense feature you also gain the effects of the Detect Magic spell. This does not use up a spell slot.

Arcane Eradicator:

At 20th level, as an action, you can emmit an aura of anti-magic. You gain the following effects for 1 minute.

  • You emmit an aura of silence in a 30ft radius centered on yourself. This is effectively the Silence spell but it cannot be dispelled.
  • You can use your Channel Divinity effects any number of times.
  • When you cast the Dispel Magic spell it is considered to be cast at an 8th level.

Soonercon 2017: A Strong DnD Presence

For those of you unaware, Soonercon 26 happened last weekend in Midwest City, OK. I had the pleasure of attending the local con, and above all else what pleasantly surprised me (other than running into Todd Haberkorn at the end of Victoria Price’s panel) was how strong the Dungeons & Dragons (henceforth DnD) presence was there. As many of you know, we here at The Lifecast quite enjoy our tabletop roleplaying games and DnD, in particular, is how many of us got started. (You may recall we’ve even uploaded some of our DnD sessions, and our very own Greg has put detailed descriptions of some of his homebrews on the site!)

Before I tell you about the DnD presence at Soonercon, however, it’s first important to understand what Soonercon is: It’s Oklahoma’s longest running all-things-geeky convention. Whether you’re into anime, games (video or tabletop), comics, sci-fi, fantasy, Star Wars, Star Trek, steampunk, or even Renaissance faire culture, Soonercon has a little something for everyone. Speaking of little, it’s also important to realize that Soonercon is a more intimate convention than you may expect–an exact number of attendees this year is not yet known, but the con had an anticipated attendance of 2,000–so if you prefer smaller, more tight-knit conventions where you won’t have to worry about overwhelming lines or claustrophobic environments where you’re more likely to talk to people and make more friends and connections, Soonercon is ideal!

That being said, perhaps it really shouldn’t be as much of a surprise that the DnD presence at Soonercon was so strong. DnD is, after all, a team-based game for friends–so what better place to play it than one where you’re surrounded by like-hobbied individuals?

A chat with one of the co-chairs of the gaming department, Wren Willis, revealed that the DnD presence at Soonercon was especially emphasizing community through DnD Adventure–essentially DnD, but with about 5 separate tables (each with their own DM) going on different, but all related, quests. What one group does will affect another, and they might share the same stories or story elements or even directly get involved with each other. Basically, it’s a domino effect in DnD groups. For example: Group 1 slays a dragon, group 2 now needs an item from its carcass but group 3 already took it and wants to sell it, but group 4 is the only one with money so now group 2 needs to find either money or a different way to get the item.

Evidently, DnD Adventure was very popular at Soonercon! One glance into the tabletop room revealed several full tables of players rolling dice, telling stories, and, well, adventuring! A chat with Kyle from the DnD Adventure League revealed that there was somewhere between 50-60 people playing DnD at any given time, plus another 70 going on adventures. The Adventure League exists all across the country, usually with the same groups managing or overseeing them in the same region (for example, the group at Soonercon also told me that they manage the Adventure League at several other cons in Oklahoma and a few in Dallas).

The DnD presence wasn’t just limited to the gaming room though–a panel was held on Saturday, The Great DnD Rebirth, in which a group of veteran players (including some who have play-tested for Wizards) talked about what it was like getting into DnD 10-20 years ago versus now, what’s changed, and the general goings-on of DnD. A particularly prevalent theme was the lack of diversity one would see in DnD 20 years ago when the game was much less known. One player in particular mentioned that, growing up in the Bible Belt (as most, if not all, of the people in the room had) as far as his family was concerned, Looney Toons, metal, and DnD were the unholy trinity. Another player, a gay man, mentioned how DnD was among one of the first things his mom thought might have made him gay. A female player was also present, and she focused on the lack of a female presence in the early days of DnD.

If there’s one thing this panel made abundantly clear, it’s that getting into DnD 10-20 years ago was seen, socially, as more like getting into a cult than getting into a game. They mentioned the first times they’d ever seen DnD portrayed in the media–E.T. was the most common answer, as well as the late 90’s and early 2000’s when geek culture started to garner a certain level of coolness in pop culture. How before that time, DnD was something that a lot of people just didn’t understand and legitimately thought it might’ve been satanic activity. Perhaps why that’s why DnD now has such a generally accepting community, allowing anyone to be anything regardless of religion, gender, sexual preference, age, etc.

For those attendees who weren’t as into DnD but still wanted to play tabletop rpgs, there were a number of Pathfinder Society set-ups around as well. For those who just wanted to play tabletop, there was a small number of other, miscellaneous tabletop games (like trading card games and casual board games) throughout the room as well, in addition to a Nerf Gun war happening outside.

A sense of community in DnD, both in and out of the tabletop room, was perhaps the most common thread I noticed in Soonercon’s DnD presence. Whether it was the panel that told us how we arrived at that sense of community before it was around, or the tabletop room itself which was very welcoming to players of all skill-levels, there was definitely a strong sense of community and players just wanting to have fun present throughout Soonercon. Perhaps due to the con’s size, the DnD presence at Soonercon felt much bigger than most of its other presences (the next biggest probably being Star Wars, which boasted an incredible set-up made by Jedi OKC) around the convention–something I, as a DnD player, found very welcoming.

Unpictured, there was an impressive Jabba the Hut set-up as well

Even if tabletop games weren’t your thing, official representatives from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo were all present at the convention. If you wanted to try Arms or Horizon Zero Dawn, there was essentially no line all day on Saturday, so you could’ve easily tried a demo of either game. I was told that originally Gamestop was supposed to be present with a few game demos, but they couldn’t attend therefore allowing Nintendo and Sony to come in their place. This might’ve been why their tables were so small, but who’s to argue when you can easily get to play a demo of Arms, right?

If you’re a fan of DnD or trying to get into DnD, Soonercon would’ve been a pretty ideal place to start. A quick look around would instantly tell anyone just how many players were there, and how easy it could be to start jumping into the game now. One of the benefits of smaller conventions is a greater sense of community, and easier means of getting to try everything the con has to offer: Soonercon was such a con with DnD. You want to try Adventure League? Plenty of time and space. You’d rather play a normal game of DnD? There were still groups present playing it. Even if DnD wasn’t your cup of tea and you’d rather play Pathfinder, you could still find it around. (No Shadowrun though, sadly. At least, not that I noticed). If you’re a tabletop fan or aspiring tabletop fan who finds yourself in the Oklahoma area next Summer, I’d definitely say Soonercon is worth a visit. Despite all the mixed focuses of the con, the DnD presence was, by far, one of–if not the–strongest at the con.

D&D, Tekken, Snake Pass, and Thumper | Ep.70

This week, we get into games we’ve been playing, games we’ve been meaning to get around to, and stuff that was just on sale.

Next week, we give you Episode 69.

Recorded live on June 26, 2017.

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We accept questions for the podcast constantly on our site, through Discord, and if you email questions@thelifecast.net.

TLC D&D 5E Homebrew: Throws, Suplexes and Slams

The Lifecast’s Dungeon Master shares his wrestling homebrew for D&D 5E. If you wanna slam fools. Read on.

TLC D&D 5E Homebrew: Samurai Class(Second Draft)

The Lifecast’s Dungeon Master Greg Fernandes shares some of his D&D 5e homebrew ideas. This edition attempts to create a unique take on the frequently homebrewed Samurai class.

Cover Image by Lubliner

TLC D&D World: Anoeris, Incandescent Land of Valor

TLC’s Dungeon Master shares some insight on the future D&D 5E show. Next up, Anoeris, Incandescent Land of Valor. Home to the Sun Elves.

Cover image: “African Elf” by LindseyWArt.