Harbinger Class
Roles: Designer Player
The Harbinger Class for DnD Fifth Edition is a homebrew creation by me and my Dungeon master. I was the primary tester, as the player, and together we would discuss our perspectives after sessions. Afterwards we would alter or create new abilities and test them the next session.
Ashley Edwards, Line Art
Project Objective
The goal was to create an 'evil Paladin' for DnD fifth edition. I was dissatisfied by the incomplete nature of Oathbreaker subclass in the Dungeon Master Guide. What few adjustments had been made didn't seem to create a concrete new subclass. I wanted to work on making a magical melee class that was expressly 'evil' and was a counter to the Paladin. Joe Burrage, my DM at the time, agreed to work with me on creating and testing the class at his table.
Outcome
Both Joe and I like the current version of the Harbinger. The class is undeniably a magical melee counter to the Paladin and is not a Hexblade Warlock. The 'Reap' and 'Mark of the Damned' ability really make the class it's own unique experience that isn't available in any of the other published classes.
Key Contribution
Every idea that was ever suggested was later improved upon. There truly isn't a single feature in the Harbinger that wasn't a combination of both of us. The 'Reap' and 'Mark' are two abilities that really showcase the uniqueness of the Harbinger and our development experience.
The 'Reap' was an idea that replaced the normal Paladin 'Lay on Hands.' Normally, a Paladin has a pool of healing that they can access when they desire that can heal. We wanted to make sure that the Harbinger could heal as well but the idea of holy healing wasn't going to work. 'Reap' is an ability that activates when the Harbinger successfully hits a target, granting them a D4 to heal themselves. It was an idea that Joe originally had that allowed the user to store and then expend those D4's when they chose. They had a maximum pool derived from their Charisma bonus. I later edited the system to disallow storing of the 'Reaps' (but still keep a maximum use per day) because it allowed for passive play that was counter to our objective. The 'Reap' system allowed us to incentivize use of 'Polearm Mastery' and dual wielding because the D4s are gained "on successful melee hit." I do not believe any other published class in DnD actively incentivizes these play options.
Later I proposed the idea of 'Marks' that bound the Harbinger and the party together. Paladins in DnD have auras that grant various protection or offensive bonuses to party members within a certain range. I wanted to revise the ability to slowly scale in range based on level instead of jumping at the 17th level. By connecting party members via a mark, the aura is applied to them simultaneously so long as they are in range (the range = the Harbinger level times 5). This way the range scaled based on each level rather than jumping. Joe then improved the idea by using it to explain the logic of transferring 'Reap' to allies. The Harbinger gives up their d4 that they gain from 'Reap' and transfer it to a marked ally allowing them to heal. We did this to make sure that the party healing ability of the Paladin was still available to the Harbinger. However, they had to endure a d4 of damage during the marking ritual. If a party member was not marked they could not receive the benefit of the aura nor receive the healing d4 of 'Reap'. Finally, we limited the number of marked allies by the Charisma modifier of the Harbinger. We did this to offset the benefit of extended aura range and action free healing.
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