Example Character: Druid / Leader

That brings us to one of our last example characters for the Leader (at least for now), a hybrid druid / leader character that’s built around the druid’s ability to activate Leader powers even while in wild shape, by growling, grunting, roaring, or something else, leading both the Packleader’s PC allies and the beasts that they summon with their druid spells. The Packleader is a level 11 character, with 6 levels in Druid and 5 levels in Leader. With just an 11 in Charisma, the Wisdom-focused Packleader should have no issues meeting the ability score prerequisites for the prestige class. So how is the Packleader built?

New Spells: Greater Shields

Today from Legends of Prestige and Prowess we have two new abjuration spells modeled after the basic 1st-level shield spell. Shield is one of the most powerful 1st-level spells available to sorcerers and wizards and perhaps one of the most powerful spells relative to its spell level in general. Even though these spells are already at a higher cost than the shield spell due to their higher slot level, they also only grant +4 to AC instead of +5 out of bounded accuracy concerns resulting from being able to grant the shield bonus much more easily to clerics, paladins, fighters, etc. who typically achieve higher ACs than a sorcerer or wizard does.

Blood Magic Subclass (Sorcerer)

All four blood magic subclasses for the casters have some variant of their main blood magic ability, however, regardless of their focus. For wizards and sorcerers, that ability is called Hematurgy. Like the blood mages of Dragon Age, these blood mages can spill their own blood to fuel their magic even when their normal spell reserves have run dry, recklessly harming themselves in the process. This subclass for the sorcerer actually gets bonus hit dice to spend on that feature, and extra healing to make up for the damage, as a way of tying the sorcerer’s default “magic is in your bloodline” theme to the specific “blood magic” theme.

New Spells: Madness Domain

Today we have a bonus treat: an updated look at phantasmal plunge, which previously appeared in the preview of the Oath of Grief, along with another new spell that will show up with phantasmal plunge on the spell list of the Madness Domain subclass for clerics. And since that subclass will appear in The Impermissicon, so will these two spells! Both these spells also show off the increase in ratio of Intelligence and Charisma saving throw spells in D&D Unleashed.

New Spell: Shield of Vanity

Shield of Vanity is a nifty little spell that lets paladins, bards, clerics, and even artificers temporarily enchant their shield to be extra bright and shiny, and even a bit more magical! The reflective surface, when pointed at your foes, shows them a grand vision of themselves, encouraging feelings of jealousy and overconfidence that drives them to attack the bearer of the shield. Or maybe they just want it for its shininess!

Doomed and Destined (2 New Feats)

We’ve got two new relatively general feats from Legends of Prestige and Prowess today, both dealing with opposite ends of the scale on how the narrative of the game treats the player character. Destined is a half-feat that grants story power while attempting not to influence combat power much if at all. Doomed, meanwhile, lies on the opposite end of the spectrum, representing characters who are powerful but fated to die.

Example Character: Fighter / Leader

Like most of the example characters we’ll see for the Leader prestige class, this PC is level 11. Since the Warlord isn’t dual-wielding, they won’t be using their bonus action as a fighter on most turns, making bonus action stratagems very appealing. Inspiring Word is a classic ability for 4e-style warlords, and with its short range our Warlord thinks they can make good use of it, since they’re often on the front-lines with their allies.