Talk:Merchant, Variant (5e Class)

To All Editors

Welcome to my Merchant class! Before you start editing anything about this class, please send a message my way (preferred) or post a message on this discussion page about what you want to change. There are some elements about this class that I have designed a certain way, and wouldn't want you to make an edit that I would immediately disagree with. If the edit is purely balance-based, there's a high chance that I will see the problem once you point it out to me, and will be more than happy to work with you to fix the issue.

Thank you in advance. WiserVisor (talk) 20:52, 19 February 2019 (MST)

For saving throws, please consider having one common and one uncommon saving throw (instead of two common saving throws).

Eye of the Merchant

What does "cast Identify without using magic" mean? That sounds paradoxical.

"You can also make an Insight check against a creature’s Deception check to figure out what sort of items they’d be interested in buying. " - Firstly, someone without this class feature could still attempt this. Secondly, why would someone be deceptive about buying items?

For stage 3, if you don't need to touch the item, what is the range of the spell?

For stage 3, the standard ways of improve a skill modifier are to either double the proficiency bonus or grant advantage. You would have to have some specific reason for doing it some other way. You already grant double proficiency in stage 4, and advantage in stage 5 (from the charm).

For stage 4, what qualifies as a "decent description"?

"there talking to" -> "they're talking to"

Retailer Relations

"easily find out who sells what" - How easily? Is a check made? How does this compare with someone without this class feature finding sellers?

Bodyguard

Again, you can already hire bodyguards without this class feature. This is covered in both the PHB and the DMG, including loyalty checks, so this class feature essentially does nothing.

Daily Deals

Why would a grey ooze or a wraith or a swarm of bats care about your advertising? What if enemies can't understand your language or are deaf?

Don't round-count. Just give it a maximum duration of 1 minute (i.e. about one encounter).

Bargain for your Life

D&D doesn't measure things in seconds.

Again, this feature is describing something that anyone could attempt to do with a Persuasion check.

Experienced Haggler

This seems to have crossover with the bonuses with "Eye of a Merchant": you get a bonus for "selling to a creature" then a separate bonus for "haggling". You could just replace the lot with "you have advantage on ability checks made when buying or selling items"

Arcane Curio Adept

This is okay in principle, except that I don't recall any magic items in the DMG that have class restrictions.

Have you checked the bonus action feature with various magic items? A magic weapon requires an action to use, in that you need to use an attack action, so does that count?

5th edition doesn't have free actions, deliberately.

The Heart of a Merchant

See above. I recommend replacing one of the existing saving throws with Charisma in the first place. Marasmusine (talk) 06:31, 23 April 2019 (MDT)

The Deal of a Lifetime

Same issues as daily deals. Also, instead of round-counting, allow targets to repeat the saving throw each turn. See similar spells in the PHB for examples.

Master Merchant

Monetary value is one of those things that is controlled by the DM. You can't force the DM to have a NPC buy or sell something at a specific value, at least not without a check of some kind. This feature can let you do a buy-sell loop to generate large amounts of money, but its the DMs responsibility to determine how much treasure the party gets, and at some point they're going to say "you can't find a buyer".

On the other hand, this feature is given at 20th level, a point where all PCs are vastly wealthy anyway and are preparing to finish their mortal careers.

Furthermore, how does this work with earning a living during a downtime activity? Marasmusine (talk) 06:52, 23 April 2019 (MDT)

Saving throws are now Wisdom and Intelligence.

Eye of the Merchant

Explained what "without magic" means, and tweaked each of the stages that needed fixing. In relation to the Insight vs. Deception roll, it's not that the customer is being deceitful, rather a customer, when haggling, doesn't necessarily want the seller to know they really want a certain item. If the seller knew that, they would raise the price. It's also a simple and direct way to determine if a player can read the intentions of an NPC instead of a lone Insight check against a DC that would always vary depending on the NPC.

Retailer Relations

Gave a specific amount of time that passes before the character gains the knowledge of the stores in the area, and added an advantage on getting information from shop-keeps, so this feature actually gives the player a feature that they wouldn't have originally.

Bodyguard

I made the bodyguard gained from this feature a bit more unique in comparison to the hirelings you can get from the PHB and DMG, including no pay, leveling, and a unique action.

Daily Deals

Took care of the round-counting, and changed the rules for which creatures are affected. This feature isn't just distracting creatures through advertising, but distracting through just being noisy and having an odd charismatic ability that draws a creature's attention to you. That's why I don't have any limits to oozes or beasts that would have no interest in purchasing anything.

Bargain for your Life

Took care of the duration calculation, and changed the effect of the feature to charming the target.

Experienced Haggler

Changed the phrasing to "having advantage on any checks in relation to buying and selling".

Arcane Curio Adept

I took out the free action part of the feature. No, this doesn't allow you to attack with a magic weapon as a bonus action. It only allows you to use the magical effect granted by the magic item/weapon that normally takes an action as a bonus action. If that wasn't clear, do you have any suggestions on how to phrase that in the feature description? Also, yes, there are some magic items that are class restricted, like the Holy Avenger, for example. It can only be attuned to by a Paladin. The Rogue's Thief subclass also has a feature that allows the character to ignore class, race, and level restrictions for using magic items, so there must be an instance of each limitation.

The Heart of a Merchant

Fixed the other saving throws, so this is taken care of.

The Deal of a Lifetime

Fixed the duration issues. The target can now make a saving throw at the end of their next turn if they've taken damage. I tried comparing this to existing spells, and since this is a feature you can only use once per long rest at 18th level and higher, it's effectively a 9th level spell. The closest spell to this feature is Psychic Scream, since it causes the stunned effect. It also deals damage, so I decided to only allow the target of The Deal of a Lifetime to attempt another saving throw if they take damage, and still only at the end of their next turn. I still think this feature is weaker than Psychic Scream, but still a strong feature regardless.

Master Merchant

Completely changed the feature. The character now has a charm aura similar to the adult dragon's fear aura. Also, any creature charmed by the character is also charmed by the character's party members.

WiserVisor (talk) 23:36, 24 April 2019 (MST)