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.
As the culmination of our last two articles, we’re finally coming to a roadmap for vestiges to be included in the new binder. Now that we know how new vestiges will be structured and which archetypes we’ll tackle, we can start writing them!
The List
Here’s a list of the archetypes we intend to tackle, with some vague notes on what they’re including. I’ll talk about the first four levels, since those are the vestiges I’ll be tackling first, but I’ll include the whole list for completion’s sake.
1st Level
Rogue: Stealth, thieves’ tools, limited Cunning Action, and TWF]
Face/Skill Monkey: Skill proficiencies, Persuasion + Deception, charm person, disguise self (at will?), grow in power with more vestiges
Sword and Board: shield prof + versatile weapons
Spellcasting 101: Ritual spells + 1st level spells
1st level was really important to get right and, quite by accident, we’ve decided that the initial vestiges should be representative of the Rogue, Bard, Fighter, and Wizard. These general themes should be available early and fairly cheap to invest in to ensure that the binder is as flexible as possible, while also being playable at a low level.
2nd Level
Healer: Healing point pool or a few castings of cure wounds, ally buffs
Heavy Weapon Fighter | Tilo, the Colossus
Archer: Bow and arrow proficiency, special arrows, charge shot
We tried to use 2nd level to round out the options that we’re offering, coving important categories that couldn’t fit in 1st level. We’re actually doing a healing vestige, but it’s not going to single-handedly turn the binder into a healer.
3rd Level
Corsair: Dueling weapons + Extra Attack + mobility + parry?
Evoker: Fireball, scorching ray, and firebolt (definitely a fire theme here)
AC Tank: Heavy armor prof + Protection fighting style
Big power increases at 3rd level. This will have the only vestige that gets heavy armor and one of the few vestiges that gets Extra Attack. Also, we’ve got our first ‘blow things to pieces’ caster.
4th Level
Witch: darkness (at will?), passive debuffs and CC, Lovecraft themes?
Thorns: Thorns damage, higher max HP, and HP-sacrifice mechanics
Summoner: conjure beasts, conjure minor elementals, familiar?
We’ve decided to make 4th level a lateral move in power from 3rd level. There’s no huge mechanics here, like Extra Attack or fireball, but more mechanics which subtly turn the tide of combat in your favor: summoning, debuffing, and HP manipulation shenanigans.
5th Level
Teleporter: Teleportation-based mobility through short range teleport at will (maybe misty step at will), abundant misty steps, teleport-strike, dimension door
Evoker: cone of cold, sleet storm, and more evocation
Sentinel: Reach with all weapons, focus on opportunity attacks
6th Level
Necromancer: animate dead, create undead
Manipulation: Illusions, dominate person, etc.
Barbarian: Extra Attack + retaliation + cleave (attack more if you kill) + limited damage resistance
7th Level
Antimage: Cheap counterspell and dispel magic, limited truesight, and bonus damage on spellcasters
Flyer: Grow literal wings, gain flyby attacks
8th Level
Magic Items: Pick four magic items from a list
Walls: Minotaur character that gets a charge, can solve mazes ribbon, and wall spells
9th Level
Wish: 1/day wish and is then replaced by a 1st level vestige
Chronomancer: time stop, haste, and moment to think
[Instead of chronomancer: Perhaps Erebus vestige]
In Summary
This was a really hard list to make. All of the vestiges are subject to change, but a lot of the earlier ones are set in stone. We have room for one more 1st level vestige, but I’m saving it for later in development (we could obviously do an unarmed fighting vestige or a master thrower at this level, but we should wait and figure out what feels right.)
So, my two biggest questions are: does this seem versatile enough and are you happy with the lineup? Let me know in the comments and next week I’ll start writing vestiges.
