Repaint
Reflavouring Subclasses
In these pages, I will do my best to share my experience with reflavouring official content for the 5th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons. This article is presented as a guide, or perhaps a toolbox; none of the material here is of my creation. Each of the archetypes detailed in these pages are variations upon official 5e content, and each of the art pieces presented are attributed to their creators in the credits below.
Repaint is published under the Open Gaming License. Though Repaint is designed for use with 5th Edition DnD, its principles are easily applied to other editions, or even other roleplaying systems. To those reading, I hope that you find this work of use, and that it adds a splash of colour to your games, your characters, and your stories.
The Why
If you know me from any of my other work, you'll know that I create plenty of homebrew for 5th Edition. Repaint was born of the belief that, though homebrew is a wonderful thing, lots of popular homebrew concepts—the Swordmage, Gunslinger, and Blood Mage, for example—can be achieved easily enough with pre-existing material. All you need is a lick of paint.
Repaint isn't written in opposition to creating those kinds of concepts, of course. Sometimes, an idea comes along that just can't be created in a satisfying way through reflavouring. That's where homebrew comes in, and it's excellent at that. Often, though, those concepts are just around the corner, if you're willing to look at something in a different way.
The Where
Though Repaint focuses on reflavouring subclasses, making a change to a class, race, or feat has just as much potential. Complications arise when a class is too broad to easily paint over with new ideas, or when a race is too specific to fully represent your fantasy without some alterations.
The benefit of centering our design on subclasses is the added room to play with new takes on features without the sheer conceptual weight behind an entire class. None of this is to say that going through the effort of reflavouring a class is a bad idea; it isn't. Rather, that shifting the thematic identity of an entire class, when not done carefully, can create a finished product too full of reminders of what once was to adequately represent a new idea.
The When
Keeping the above in mind, focusing on subclasses allows us to have a more specific idea of what we're working to create. Though, for legal reasons, we're limited in the archetypes we can use Repaint to examine, 5th Edition's System Reference Document affords us plenty of opportunities to experiment. In your games, you have even more freedom. If you enjoy the material presented here, I encourage you to look at some of your favourite—or least favourite!—subclasses, and consider what those mechanics could be from another point of view.
The How
The brilliant part about reflavouring is that it's incredibly easy to do once you get the hang of it. If you're comfortable looking past the implied flavour of a given class, subclass, or race, it becomes easy to do it again. Consider the examples I listed earlier: Swordmage, Gunslinger, and Blood Mage.
Swordmage
A Swordmage could be created in any number of ways. Consider the Paladin, for one. The Oath of Devotion's Sacred Weapon could easily become an arcane enchantment placed upon a blade, its Turn the Unholy a censure against corrupt, alien threats. The Paladin's core features can enhance this theme: Lay on Hands becomes regenerative transmutation, and Divine Sense matches our new Turn the Unholy well.
There's plenty of other methods, too. The Warlock's Pact of the Blade creates a competent Swordmage by itself, and its mechanics already suit it well. Eldritch Invocations become 'Arcane Secrets' you unearth to aid you in battle, and patrons like the Fiend can easily create a Knight-Pyromancer who draws on the strength of their fallen foes for power.
Gunslinger
The Gunslinger is, in my mind, the simplest of these concepts to execute. Any warrior with a gun fulfills it for me, but if that doesn't satisfy you, the Hunter Ranger can play the role well; Horde Breaker suits the Desperado perfectly, and Escape the Horde could easily be a quick dodge roll away from danger. Steel Will could be classic Western grit, and Volley is an excellent 'Fan the Hammer' move.
For another kind of Gunslinger, consider the Rogue. Even without looking at the subclasses, the class does a brilliant job of representing a sniper: dashing behind cover, taking aim, and waiting for the perfect shot. The Thief archehtype fits the 'bag of tricks' trope well: toss a flask of oil, and fire to ignite it from a distance, or clamber to a perfect position to shoot from with Second-Story Work.
Blood Mage
In contrast to the Gunslinger, the Blood Mage is difficult to create in 5e, as burning hit points or Hit Dice to fuel features has a litany of complications. That doesn't mean the theme can't be fulfilled, however. The Cleric's Life Domain can be a good Blood Mage, possessing an uncanny talent for mending the flesh with Disciple of Life, being able to siphon health from your targets, and even the ability to raise the dead.
For a more destructive Blood Mage, the Evocation Wizard works well. Consider your spell slots a representation of your vitality, their expenditure a sacrifice in exchange for terrible power. Sculpt Spells represents your excellent control over your blood magic, since it comes directly from your body, and at higher levels, Overchannel allows you to directly sacrifice your vitality to empower your spells.
Examples
To illustrate the points made above, the following pages present examples of three repainted subclasses: the Ghost Knight, the Soul Knife, and Efreeti Ancestry.
Ghost Knight
The Ghost Knight is a fighter marked for endless battle. In combat, they stand back to back with the spiritual remnants of their past lives, who aid their every strike and bless them with centuries of experience with all kinds of weaponry.
Should you die, your spirit will leave your body and depart for the Astral Sea, where it will remain until you yourself are returned as a spiritual guide to your next incarnation.
Astral Echoes
Starting when you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you are surrounded by the echoes of your past lives in combat. Your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20, as your echoes share their guidance and martial talent.
Unworldly Prowess
Starting at 7th level, your echoes aid you in feats of physical prowess. You can add half your proficiency bonus (rounded up) to any Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution check you make that doesn't already use your proficiency bonus.
In addition, you inherit the light, ethereal nature of your echoes. When you make a running long jump, the distance you can cover increases by a number of feet equal to your Strength modifier (minimum of 1).
Memory of a Thousand Battles
Starting at 10th level, the memories and talents of your past lives come readily to your mind. You can choose a second option from the Fighting Style class feature.
Legendary Echoes
Starting at 15th level, your most legendary past lives join you in battle, making your echoes even stronger. Your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 18-20.
Immortal Resilience
By 18th level, your body will always be fit to fight. You suffer none of the frailty of old age, and you regain hit points equal to 5 + your Constitution modifier at the start of each of your turns if you have fewer than half of your hit points remaining. You don't gain this benefit if you have 0 hit points.
Methods of Reflavouring
The subclasses presented here are three different examples of ways to reflavour. The Ghost Knight, based on the Champion, changes almost nothing mechanically, but completely overhauls the image.
The only change is a ribbon—a flavour feature—added at 18th level, that doesn't affect the power of the subclass in any meaningful way, but can add to the theme. When adding ribbons, you have to be careful to avoid altering the power of the subclass beyond its thematics. Removing the threat of an aging body doesn't affect the Ghost Knight's power in combat (or anywhere else), but letting its echoes attack by themselves or fly through walls would.
Way of the Soul Knife
The Way of the Soul Knife teaches its students to hone their minds with as much care as their bodies. As they harness their ki, they can use that strength of mind to manifest blades of pure psychic energy and pierce the minds of their foes.
To a soul knife, the blades they summon are another part of their body, as perfectly controlled as if they were flesh. As they grow, their psychic power develops in different ways, allowing them to shield and repair their body, and directly strike the psyche of other beings.
Strike the Mind
Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you can manifest your ki as blades of psychic energy whenever you make an unarmed strike. If the attack hits, it deals psychic damage instead of bludgeoning damage.
Additionally, when you harness your ki to use your Flurry of Blows, you can sharpen your blades for both attacks. If you hit a creature with either attack, you can impose one of the following effects on it if you used your psychic blades:
- You overwhelm its psyche. It must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
- You strike it with raw psychic power. It must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be pushed up to 15 feet away.
- You daze its conscious mind. It can't take reactions until the end of your next turn.
Mind over Matter
Starting at 6th level, you can use the power of the mind to repair the weakness of the body. As an action, you can regain hit points equal to three times your monk level. You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
Methods of Reflavouring
Of all the archetypes presented here, the Way of the Soul Knife makes the most significant changes to its base, the Way of the Open Hand. Strike the Mind, while primarily a reflavouring of Open Hand Technique, also gives the Soul Knife the ability to deal psychic damage with its unarmed strikes.
Changing damage types is a good technique for modifying the flavour of a subclass. While it might seem like a significant change, it actually alters the subclass very little. For example, if you want to play a fire warrior, replacing the extra damage dealt by the Battle Master's superiority die with fire damage immediately makes it an interesting choice. The key factor to keep in mind is flexibility. Replacing one damage type with another only rarely affects balance, but allowing a character to change their damage type on the fly can.
Psychic Shield
Beginning at 11th level, you can shroud yourself in a ward of psychic power, breaking only when you shatter it. At the end of a long rest, you gain the effect of a sanctuary spell, which lasts until the start of your next long rest. The spell can still end early, and the saving throw DC for it equals 8 + your Wisdom modifier + your proficiency bonus.
Mind Seed
Starting at 17th level, when you hit a creature with an attack using your psychic blades, you can spend 3 ki points to cause a shard of the blade to remain within the target's mind. The shard remains for a number of days equal to your monk level.
The shard is harmless unless you use your action to cause it to detonate. If you and the target are on the same plane, the shard explodes with a wave of psychic power, and the target must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target is reduced to 0 hit points. On a successful one, it takes 10d10 psychic damage. If the explosion kills the target, its head explodes, assuming it has one.
You can have only one creature under the effect of this feature at a time. You can choose to cause the shard to vanish harmlessly without using an action.
Efreeti Ancestry
Your innate magic comes from the elemental fire in the blood of your ancestors. You inherit the destructive power, natural strength, and terrible presence of the efreet, along with the best and worst of their fiery nature.
Elemental Nature
Starting when you discover this ancestry at 1st level, you can speak, read, and write Ignan. Additionally, whenever you make a Charisma check when interacting with elementals, your proficiency bonus is doubled if it applies to the check.
Efreeti Heritage
As magic flows through your body, it causes physical traits of your efreeti ancestors to emerge. At 1st level, your hit point maximum increases by 1. Your hit point maximum increases by 1 again whenever you gain a level in this class.
Additionally, the hulking power of the efreet leaves your body strong. While you aren't wearing armour, your AC equals 13 + your Dexterity modifier.
Flame Affinity
Starting at 6th level, when you cast a spell that deals fire damage, you can add your Charisma modifier to one
damage roll of that spell. When you do, you can spend 1 sorcery point to gain resistance to fire damage for 1 hour.
Elemental Tempest
At 14th level, you gain the ability to transform your lower body into a swirling vortex of fire, gaining a flying speed
equal to your current speed. You can transform your lower body as a bonus action on your turn, and it lasts until you use a bonus action to revert to your normal form.
If you transform while wearing armour or clothing over your legs, you decide whether it falls to the ground in your space, transforms with you, or is ignited by the change.
Volcanic Presence
Beginning at 18th level, you can channel the fiery presence of your efreeti ancestors, causing those around you to become awestruck or frightened. As an action, you can spend 5 sorcery points to draw on this power and exude an aura of awe or fear (your choice) to a distance of 60 feet.
For 1 minute or until you lose your concentration (as if you were concentrating on a spell), each hostile creature that starts its turn in the aura must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be charmed (if you chose awe) or frightened (if you chose fear) until the aura ends. A creature that succeeds on this saving throw is immune to your aura for 24 hours.
Methods of Reflavouring
Finally, Efreeti Ancestry, the simplest reflavoured subclasss. Based on Draconic Ancestry, it changes very little, but demonstrates how easily shifting a concept can create something totally new. Replace dragons with elementals, settle on fire over other damage types, and suddenly, you have an awesome efreeti sorcerer.
Afterword
And that's Repaint! I hope that those of you reading enjoy the document, and that if you apply its principles to any of your own games or characters, you have a great time with any
new concepts that you create with them.
Thanks to MothrasMum, for inspiring Efreeti Ancetry, the subclass that started Repaint. Further thanks to the friends who inspired me to write this document: u/Rain-Junkie, u/BunnygeonMaster, u/Cometdance, and u/flashpointbrews.
Repaint was created by u/NotTheSmoooze. You can find more of my work here, and support me here.
This document was created using GM Binder.
Art Credits
Guidance by Anna Steinbauer
Deathsworn Katarina by
Jennifer Wuestling
Efreet Lord by Jesper Ejsing
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15.COPYRIGHT NOTICE Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, LLC. System Reference Document 5.1 Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast, LLC.; Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
Repaint: Reflavoured Subclasses 2020, NotTheSmoooze Homebrew: Author Caitlin Bradbury.