How strong/useful is this homebrewed ability?

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

AetherShift

Mar 01, 2015 10:20:02

I was brainstorming some alternative abilities for my Chronomancy Arcane School wizard subclass, and this stood out as a unique and flavorful ability.  The thing is, I’m not sure how to word it.  I’m also not sure how powerful/useful it is, so I decided to give it it’s own discussion thread.  Here is the wording I came up with.

 

Synchronize                                                                                     

You have an innate ability to coordinate events in your favor.  After initiative rolls have been made and turn order has been established, you may move one creature up one place on the initiative ladder and/or one creature down one place on the initiative ladder.

#2

mellored

Mar 01, 2015 12:56:37

i wouldn't switch order. simply give a bonus/penalty to the roll.

level 2: warp time: when you roll inititive, one creature you see gains a bonus or penalty to their inititive roll equal to your proficency bonus. you can use this after you see the results.

#3

Nevvur

Mar 01, 2015 17:34:18

Initiative is IMO only an important roll for that first round of combat, when each side and their constituent actors are trying to position themselves and run their Plan A combat tactics. After that, the order each actor goes is just part of the cycle. So I ponder the question of how big a game changer is it to move one actor up or down in the initiative order? For assassins and crowd control spellcasters, it's a big deal. For everyone else, less so (but not useless). The point of this pondering is to establish what level the class feature should be. My instinct is to put it at 2nd, but 6th may be appropriate as well.

 

An aside, this class feature could be useless to any group using alternative initiative systems.

 

I think mellored's suggestion is better than your non-numerical order change. You could base the bonus/penalty on Intelligence modifier instead. It would cap at 5 instead of 6, but you'd have a chance to get there sooner. Also, are you planning to put this on a short/long rest recharge, or is it available each time initiative is rolled? If it only recharges on rest, I'd feel more comfortable calling it a level 2 feature. If it's every initiative roll, I'm more inclined to say 6th.