As a GM, why should I allow this material?

The seeker is a class that fills an unfulfilled niche in the current class scheme of D&D, so this is likely why your player was interested in it.

If a player brings this to the table, rest assured: the mechanics have been tested and the math was made.

The damage output of this class is somewhere to the south of a prototypical ranger, compensating for it with more stable damage output (while having less stamina for longer combat sessions.)

The class in no way warps the 5th Edition tenets of bounded accuracy, and avoids outdated design like small bonuses that could be forgotten.

The spell list was carefully chosen to provide broad utility, but limited combat impact.

In summary, I recommend this material be allowed because it was made with care, love and rigorous review, and I don't believe the current content can fulfill this fantasy.

See Page 13 for a comparison of DPR at different levels to get an idea of the power-level of this class in comparison to other classes. As it can be seen, the seeker is in the same ballpark as the rest.

This has changed since the last time I read it. Why?

As part of playtesting and design, the class has gone through great changes. This version you are looking at in this moment is the first Stable version, as it has met the benchmarks I wanted for it.

Any other version with further changes will be mechanical tweaks, expansions of subclasses, or perhaps redesigns of the illustrations. But the skeleton will remain the same.

Why create this class?

I began creating this class when I found there was an unfulfilled niche in party composition, and character choice. The missing archetype, in my opinion, was the type best exemplified by investigators and explorers – those who are fueled by a desire to discover the secrets that lie beneath the surface of daily life and beyond the confines of it as well.

I wanted it to be a martial class, to expand the options available. In strictly mechanical terms, the Eldritch Knight was too focused on evocation/transmutation and combat, and the Rogue had a very specific play pattern that didn't adapt to what I was looking to make. Besides, Rogue itself as a class was too focused on trickery. I wanted cunning to be a part of this class as well, but the focus I looked for was on the less mischevious aspects of intellect – curiosity, methodicalness, sagacity and ingenuity.

How can I convince my GM to allow it?

Show them the Show Your Work section. It has mathematical proof the class is well-balanced against others.

And tell them they are free to contact me!

What was the class inspired on?

If I had to pick a single inspiration from mass media, it would be Joseph Joestar from the manga Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 3.

Bear with me.

That arc of the show is a long quest, similar to the ones in most tabletop roleplaying games. The appealing part of Joseph Joestar's character in particular was the fact that, while he was a capable brawler, his lead role was that of party navigator – figuratively speaking. His role was to find clues and progress the plot through investigation and divination.

The objective of this class is to provide a viable option to replicate the type of character who can aid the party in their quest by showing the path, guiding them forward, while also being able to tossle with any threat that appears before them.

How does this class differ from...

Ok, but real talk – what is Canny Defense supposed to do?

Listen, I'm going to level with you. I wanted people who used this class and wanted to go with a stronger, pulp action hero type not to be forced into heavy armor, or lose attribute points into Dexterity.

Furthermore, the class naturally invites you to build Dexterity as well – the Eclectic feature, after all, has many more options for high Dexterity characters, offering nice pick-ups like thieves' tools.

With Canny Defense, Strength characters don't feel as shafted, have a motivation to keep medium armor, and don't need to take a lower starting Intelligence.

Spell Slots

The seeker table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher

You know two 1st-level spells of your choice from the seeker spell list. You learn an additional seeker spell of your choice at each odd numbered level thereafter. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For instance, when you reach 5th level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level.

Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the seeker spells you know and replace it with another spell from the seeker spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

Defense

While you are wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.

Dueling

When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.

Great Weapon Fighting

When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a two-handed or versatile 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.

Skirmishing

You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls you make with weapons with the thrown property.

Also, drawing a thrown weapon may be done as part of each attack you make with them during your turn.

Pursuit Spells

Each pursuit has a list of spells – its pursuit spells – that you gain at the seeker levels noted in the pursuit description. Once you gain a pursuit spell, it doesn't count against the number of spells you know, and it is treated as a seeker spell for you.

Subclass Design and Structure

All subclasses follow a stable subclass structure, as follows:

At 3rd level, they gain extra combat utility, and perhaps a small out-of-combat utility.

Also, starting at 3rd level, they start gaining extra spells that are usually impactful in combat, to make up for the shallow and limited spell list.

At 6th level, they gain an additional Exploit to use, providing specific combat utility to each subclass.

At 10th level, they get an utility to further cement their expertise and role.

At 17th level, to make up for the small spell selection for the end game, they gain an additional 5th level spell on top of the regular extra spells.

Finally, at 18th level, they get an end-game boost that gives them more utility and/or survivability..

Any spell marked with an asterisk (*) can be found in Xanathar's Guide to Everything.

Keymaster

Relic Hunter

Relic Hunter Pursuit Spells

Tomb Raider

As you enter this pursuit at 3rd level, you become adept in rushing past danger and use every resource at your advantage. You gain the following benefits:

• You may use the Dash and Use Object actions as a bonus action.
• Opportunity attacks made against you are made with disadvantage.
• When you make a running long jump, the distance you can cover increases by a number of feet equal to your Strength modifier.

Evasive Exploit

By 6th level, you learn how to seize the opportunity to escape your attackers. You gain the following exploit:

Tactical roll. You can move up to half your speed without provoking attacks of opportunity.

Object Reading

Starting at 10th level, you can read the magical aura of an item to know more about its origins. By spending 1 minute performing an arcane investigation with an object, you may pry out certain information imprinted on it. The object must be within your reach while performing this ritual. The information you draw out from an object can only be about its creation or about events that transpired in its vicinity in the past 24 hours.

The information stored on objects about events can only relate to happenings that could be seen or heard within 20 feet of the object.

At GM's discretion, the object may also store information from other significant events around it. For example, a sword may store information about why it was broken, or about important creatures that were slain by it.

Magic Item Talent

At 10th level, your cunning allows you to exploit the hidden powers of artifacts. You ignore all class, race, and level requirements on the use of magic items.

Reversal of Fortune

Starting at 18th level, your luck allows you to perform stunning feats. When you roll a natural 1 on a d20 roll, you treat it as a natural 20.

2nd level, Dueling 1H + Shield
vs 13 AC enemies

Damage calculations here.

Damage calculations here.

Damage calculations here.

Version 1.2

• Rehosted images for faster loading.

Version 1.1

• Seize the Chance and Masterstroke now must be used to attack the same creature.
• Exploit Opening damage now increases at 9th, 13th and 17th level, to make up for lack of combat spells.
• Removed Adaptive Defense.
• Added Outmaneuver exploit to replace Adaptive Defense.
• Tireless moved to 7th level.
• Relic Hunter's Evasive Exploit no longer needs reaction to be used.
• Keymaster's Riftwalk now requires sight to teleport.
• Keymaster's Ethereal Tethers now last 1 turn.
• Occultist's Method to Madness 6th level increment nerfed a bit.
• Added calculations to Show Your Work for 6th level.
• Show Your Work now links to documents rather than images.
• Minor wording changes and fixes.

Version 1.0

• Added Changelog section.
• Minor visual and text edition.
• Added a scaling damage component to Exploit Opening, increasing at 11th, 15th and 20th level.
• Removed the bonus damage from Seize the Chance.
• Removed Critical Analysis.
• Flash of Genius is now gained at 15th level.
• New feature at 20th level: Masterstroke.
• Removed Catapult, Find Familiar, Heat Metal and Shatter from spell list.
• Added Disguise Self, Major Image and Silent Image to spell list.
• Redesigned Show your Work section with links rather than images.