Remus and Mr. Joe | 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.

Today, we’re bumping up the numbers of god-vestiges with two new demigods for 6th level. Remus is very possibly our last melee vestige and Mr. Joe is a master of manipulation.

Also, we’re down to just six vestiges left! You can probably expect me to take some time off from regular updates as I get the final list together and written.

Remus, Firstborn of the Wolf

6th-level vestige

The embittered twin who nearly founded an empire, Remus grants his binders a taste of his barbaric demigod fury.
     Legend. Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of a God of War, were bundled in a basket and set adrift in a river shortly after their birth. Helpless and alone, the twins were rescued by Lupa, a she-wolf, who nursed them for weeks and granted the sickly Remus the gift of lycanthropy, so that he might grow to be as strong as his brother. The twins grew quickly, and (demigods as they were) inherited their father’s immense strength and savagery.
     By adulthood, nothing could stand in the twins’ way, save for their own bickering. It seems that, despite their godly power, the two could never decide on anything. But most of all, they quarreled over their legacy. Remus wanted to conquer the city-states from which the two of them had be cast off as infants, but Romulus had resolved to found a city-state of his own. Remus acquiesced, but the two could not decide on where to build it.
     The twins stood on their hills and cast augury. In their wisdom, the gods delivered a sign of weal and woe, hoping this would bring the bothers solidarity, but they argued over the result instead and came to blows. Romulus and Remus fought bare-fisted, and Remus grew more bestial as he grew in fury. As last, Romulus stabbed Remus in the side with a small silver dagger, killing him.
     Romulus built his city atop his brother’s corpse and named it after himself. Though his contempt, Remus persisted as a vestige, appearing furious and animalistic, growing only more bitter with the passing of centuries, as his brother’s city grew and swelled into a world-spanning empire.
     Flaw. While bound to this vestige, you gain the following flaw: “I harbor a seething resentment for my family.” 

Bonus Proficiencies
While bound to Remus, you gain proficiency with battleaxes, greataxes, mauls, and warhammers. 

Extra Attack
You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn. 

Fury
On your turn, you can use your bonus action to summon up Remus’s bottomless rage. For the next minute, you gain the following benefits:

• You can add your Charisma modifier to Strength checks and Strength saving throws.
• You have advantage on all melee weapon attacks which use heavy weapons, versatile weapons, or unarmed strikes. However, melee weapon attacks against you are rolled with advantage.
• You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
• When you reduce a hostile creature to 0 hit points with a melee weapon attack, you can move up to 10 feet and make an additional weapon attack.

You can end this effect early as a bonus action. Once you use this ability, you can’t use it again until you take a short or long rest. 

Trait: Lycan’s Bloodthirst
While bound to Remus, you assume the savage guise of a lycanthrope: coarse hair covers your body, your nose lengthens, your fingernails lengthen into claws, and your teeth sharpen. You can use your claws and teeth to make unarmed strikes, which deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
     Furthermore, you are possessed with a lycanthrope’s fury. When you take damage from a creature that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack against that creature.

Notes
Remus fits the barbarian/berserker niche and attempts to tick all the boxes: it gives you Extra Attack, a Rage-like ability, and reaction attacks to improve the damage per round. Just like with the last vestige that included Extra Attack, it was really tough to figure out what got into this package and what was left out. A few features, therefore, got squeezed together: Fury has the hallmarks of Rage, Cleave, and Reckless attack; the Trait has both Retaliation and natural attacks. That being said, I think we’ve landed on a happy medium.
     Perhaps a more interesting question: does the story fit? I tried to go with a more direct take on the Romulus and Remus story (without namedropping Rome itself), but I’m not sure it sold the concept of the twins being barbarians due to being raised in the wild. Let me know what you think!

Mr. Joe, Master Puppet

6th-level vestige

Mr. Joe was a show-stopping puppeteer who climbed to the height of godhood. Those who bind him can find that his strings can manipulate others as well as he manipulated puppets.
     Legend. When Ruse, the trickster god, perished, none truly believed his fate until his last will and testament was proclaimed by the other gods: there would be a contest of cunning and subterfuge to determine his successor. Only one truly worthy of the mantle of “God of Lies, Lord of Fools” could ascend to godhood in his passing. Many, from powerful demigods to lowly jesters arrived at the Temple of Ruse to engage in the contest, a series of games. Among the contestants was a puppeteer and entertainer, known as Hogarth the Astounding, who dressed in wizards’ garb and performed mundane tricks with his ‘assistant’ a ventriloquist’s puppet named Mr. Joe, who provided commentary and banter to his routine.
     Despite his gimmick, Hogarth did not perform well in the contest, only barely avoiding elimination in many of the games of bluffing and chance. At last, when only ten constants remained, each were given a unique insignia ring for the final trial. If any contestant could secure all ten rings, then step into the lit pyre at the temple’s center, they would ascend to Ruse’s place at the divine table.
     After a week of feints and illusions, a demigod of gambling assembled the full set of rings. Stepping into the flames, he was immolated in screaming agony; one of his rings, a wooden fake, burned to ash on his finger.
     It was then that Hogarth revealed his grand façade: beneath his robes were wooden joints and marionette strings; he was but an elaborate fabrication, a puppet expertly controlled by Mr. Joe, a matryoshka — an animated puppet-person — posing as a prop the entire time. Mr. Joe, held the true insignia ring, whereas Hogarth’s was a fake as convincing as himself. Picking up the remaining rings, Mr. Joe stepped into the flames and ascended to become Sham, the Lord of Trickery.
     Personality Trait. While bound to this vestige, you gain the following personality trait: “I love to put on performances for others, especially when using unwilling participants.” 

No Strings on Me
While bound to Mr. Joe, you are immune to being charmed or possessed. 

Puppeteering
Whenever you cast the spell dominate beast, dominate person, or dominate monster, you can take total and precise control of the target as a bonus action, rather than an action. Additionally, you can concentrate on two of these spells at once, taking control of both targets using one bonus action, and making only one saving throw maintain concentration on both spells. 

Soul Strings
While bound to Mr. Joe, you can cast the following spells without using spell slots or spell components: command at will, dominate beast twice, compulsion once, dominate person twice, and irresistible dance once. You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.  

Trait: Dummy
While bound to Mr. Joe, your skin appears wooden and lacquered, your joints seem to be wooden hinges, and your nose grows into a conspicuously long peg. While you remain motionless, you are indistinguishable from a puppet. Moreover, you can throw your voice, causing it to originate from any point you choose within 60 feet.

Notes
Mr. Joe was a fun vestige to piece together. Originally, we were going to have a host of vestiges based on Mage Hand Press races (just as we have at least one based loosely on our classes), but only Mr. Joe made the cut. Moreover, his original story was going to be more focused on his life being a bard or a conman, but I had fun creating a little tricketer-battle narrative.
     Mechanically, I’m worried this vestige might be too weak. I’m trying to keep the higher-level spellcaster vestiges away from too many at-will abilities, but I’m dangerously close to giving Mr. Joe command at will. Thoughts?

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As always, feel free to add feedback in the comments below!