Vestige Structure | Rebinding

In this series, I’ll be slowly tackling a rework of one of our favorite classes, the Binder. The class was originally a straight update of the class of the same name from D&D 3.5’s Tome of Magic, including most of the original vestiges, but as we revisit this class, we’d like to examine its mechanics and its concepts with fresh eyes, improve upon them, and write a whole new list of vestiges. 

This time, we’re talking about how vestiges are presented and organized.

Presentation and Organization 

When you’re dealing with something as big and complicated as the Binder, presentation is key. If the final version of the class looks too hard to digest, DMs will reject it on principle. If it’s easy to digest but has too many mechanics to keep track of, players will reject it after one session. There’s a fine balance to be struck.

Last time we approached the binder, we simplified it massively from the 3.5 version, but it still needs more work. Lots of vestiges just had too many individual features, where three to four solid features would have sufficed. Moreover, the fluff features were contained within their own feature at the end of the vestige description, which meant that players often read through the entire vestige before learning critical context needed to understand it.

To demonstrate the vestige structure we’ll use this time around, let’s create a placeholder vestige (details subject to change):

Tilo, the Colossus
2nd level vestige

Bonus Proficiencies
While bound to Tilo, you gain proficiency with martial weapons. 

Fighting Style: Great Weapon Fighting
When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the Two-Handed or Versatile property for you to gain this benefit. 

Gigantic Size 
You can cast the enlarge/reduce spell, targeting yourself with the “enlarge” effect of the spell only, once as a bonus action without expending a spell slot or spell components. You do not need to concentrate on this spell. Once you cast this spell, you can’t cast it again in this way until you finish a long rest. 

Trait: Colossal Strength
While bound to Tilo, you grow an inch taller and your muscles have greater definition. You can wield heavy weapons without penalty, even if you are Small size. Additionally, you can use your Charisma, instead of your Strength modifier, for attacks and damage rolls with melee weapon attacks using heavy weapons.

First and foremost, we’re front-loading the legend and the personality trait. They’re located right under the vestige’s name, so it’s clear to whom they belong. For basic text, I think this approach works well, but perhaps the best approach will be to compartmentalize vestiges in boxes, like monsters in 5e generally are. More experimentation is needed on that front.

Feature Outline

To simplify things, we’ve reduced vestiges down to four features with a huge focus on the core concept. Here’s the basic outline that we can generally follow moving forward:

The Simple Passive. (Bonus Proficiencies) This slot might include armor proficiencies, cantrips, darkvision, skill enhancements, movement types, or other basics which help the vestige work.

The Passive. (Fighting Style) The example for this vestige is still pretty basic, but this slot can hold defensive features like Uncanny Dodge, magic resistances, alternative movement types, or different methods of attacking. This feature is going to change a lot with the vestige, but should define what the vestige is about and (generally) not be use-limited. If the vestige absolutely needs two good passives, a second good Passive should replace the Simple Passive slot. If the vestige is all about spells, this feature should be a few lower-level spells.

The Active. (Colossal Size) Every vestige needs a great ability which sets it apart, but is limited in number of uses. Ideally, this should complement the Passive ability and be powerful enough to earn the vestige its level. If the vestige is all about spells, this feature should be one or two higher-level spells.

The Trait. (Powerful Build) Each vestige always has a physical trait, and now we’re integrating them as features with direct mechanical benefits. The hope here is that we can write archetypes and vestiges which can call out Trait features specifically to make these features central to specific types of builds. For example, a feature might say “If you have a vestige Trait which grants you a weapon attack, you can make an attack with it as a bonus action.”