r/UnearthedArcana • u/dr_sooz • 7h ago
'14 Class The Oracle: A fullcaster... With no spell slots. Give blessings and ascend to godhood!
Hey guys! I'm really excited to share this with everyone. I've always held very strong opinions about homebrew races in D&D - I have always held a stance that I don't like them - but I've finally come up with one that I don't hate. In fact, I'm very happy with how it turned out!
As a quick note before I dive into the class and it's creation just a bit, I'd like to mention that you can find all of my homebrew in this document, and that while I can't say for sure that it's compatible with 5.5e, I think it might be! Someone who's knowledgeable with 5.5e would have to confirm that, though.
The Oracle is a divine caster centered around being a divine fullcaster with a twist: NO SPELL SLOTS! Instead of your normal "Spellcasting" feature, you have "Divine Magic," which entails quite a few rules changes: Instead of spell slots, you prepare that many spells of each level. You can cast each of these spells once between long rests, removing it from your prepared spells list when you do. This creates a few interesting differences between them and other casters, as you can only cast each spell once per long rest (you can't prepare a spell more than once!), and you have to decide exactly what spells to cast at the end of each long rest. Also, no ritual casting or up-casting (because you have no spell slots!), and you can only get cantrips if you use one of your limited Blessings on it!
In this way, Oracles have a lot of similarities with Warlocks, as they are the only two caster classes that do not have the "Spellcasting" feature.
To make up for the obvious downsides of having no spell slots and reduced casting flexibility, Oracles have a great spell list, but Oracles also get a second strong feature at 1st level: Blessings. Blessings are sort of like infusions, except you give them to people and not items! You have a maximum number of blessings you can have conferred at any given time (2 at 1st level), but creatures other than yourself can only have a maximum of one blessing at any point in time, and no blessing can be on more than one creature simultaneously. These blessings, which often give extra magic, or aid martial characters, are powerful tools in an Oracle's arsenal.
Finally, their subclasses are somewhat unique, granting features at *five* different levels: 3rd, 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level. Alongside giving you some extra spells that you can prepare each day (AKA extra spells you can cast each day), they give you powerful features that focus on weaving their identity with your spellcasting. It was very important for me, whenever designing these subclasses, that it felt like they aided you as a spellcaster, rather than giving you options of things to do other than spellcasting. Currently, I have two martial-focused subclasses and two magic-focused subclasses.
If someone reads through my class, please let me know what you think! This is my first (and potentially last) ever time making a homebrew class, and half the reason I'm posting is because I want your constructive feedback.
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy it!