Scholar Archetype Preview

getting 6 expertise skills out of a class without feats is already something that's in the game. The Scout rogue archetype gives gives nature and survival expertise at level 3. It's rare, but not unheard of.

That could work. I agree that that much expertise is probably excessive. My comment is generally a whine about this in many other subclasses, but at least we have your ear here. :)

Ken Marable

It could always be, "If you are proficient in X skill, choose any other skill and gain proficiency in it."

Benjamin Huffman

I'll think on that. Oath-Sealing Covenant is going to be part of an upcoming project of mine you might be familiar with ( :P ) and it will be getting much more public feedback than just as part of Scholar.

Benjamin Huffman

I completely understand and mostly agree here. Giving expertise if already proficient is a really great idea. My concern would be that since the Scholar already gets Expertise at 1st and 6th level, that's a total of 6 skill expertises. Maybe that's ok? It is definitely the most that any single character option in the game gets.

Benjamin Huffman

That little pet peeve aside - I like it! And thank you for posting the complete scholar. I LOVE that class!

Ken Marable

One minor pet peeve of mine (that's in many 5e subclasses) is granting a skill proficiency above 1st level without anything for those who are already proficient. If you are going to be diplomatic and persuasive, generally, it would make sense to be persuasive from the start, which then means you gain less from that class feature. But waiting for the proficiency is kinda weird in game and very meta-gamey. If it is granting a skill prof in a skill not on the class list, that can make sense. But if it's already on the class list, it seems either you lose a prof or you meta-game and aren't good at something that is central to your character theme. Would it be too much to allow expertise if you are already proficient?

Ken Marable

I really like this! My only criticism is the Oath-Sealing Covenant spell. I feel the "Indefinite" is far too long a duration for a 1st-level spell. Maybe it could be 24 hours at 1st-level, 7 days at 2nd, 30 days at 3rd, a year at 4th, and indefinite at 5th? I feel that could make the spell a bit more interesting to use, as well, allowing it to be used for time-sensitive matters in a more explicit way. Perhaps you could even write something in about knowing whether or not the promise has been kept when the spell ends.