The Order of the Howitzer — Dungeons and Dragons Homebrew

The Order of the Howitzer - Blood Hunter Order

Some monsters are too great to slay with swords, some beasts too strong to hack and slash, some with armour too thick to pierce. You have decided to take a different approach: your Howitzer cannon cares not for armour. Upon entering the Order of the Howitzer, you craft your own personalised cannon, and from that moment on, you become a vassal of destruction, a harbinger of detonation, releasing volley after volley of explosive annihilation. Your meteoric salvos will take apart anything foolish enough to stand in your way, and your mastery over hemomancy will keep them still enough to let you line your shots up properly.

Cannoneer

3rd-level Order of the Howitzer feature

You craft a Howitzer cannon and its ammunition. The Howitzer cannon is a ranged weapon with the ammunition (range 30/120ft), loading, and two-handed properties, and it weighs 35lbs. It deals 2d8 bludgeoning damage on a hit, and you can use your Dexterity or your Intelligence modifier for attack and damage rolls with this weapon. You gain proficiency in this weapon. You also gain proficiency in Smith’s Tools.

If your Howitzer is ever lost or destroyed, you can use Smith’s Tools and 100gp of metals in a forge to craft a new one over the course of 8 hours. This weapon uses 2-pound cannonballs as ammunition. You can use Smith’s Tools and 10gp of metal at a forge to craft a batch of 10 cannonballs over the course of one hour.

Hemomantic Rounds

3rd-level Order of the Howitzer feature

You gain the ability to overflow your cannonballs with hemomantic power as they fire. Once per turn, when you hit a creature with your Howitzer, you can choose to suffer damage equal to one roll of your hemocraft die to choose one of the following effects:

• Crimson Round. The target takes one additional hemocraft die of rite damage. You can roll this die twice and take either result.

• Rupturing Round. Each creature within 5 feet of the initial target other than it must make a Dexterity saving throw against your Hemocraft save DC or take one hemocraft die of rite damage.

• Thunderous Round. The target must make a Strength saving throw against your Hemocraft save DC or be pushed 10 feet, knocked prone, and deafened until the end of their next turn.

Superior Chambering

7th-level Order of the Howitzer feature

You have improved the construction of your Howitzer’s reloading mechanism. You ignore the loading property of your Howitzer.

Siege Shot

7th-level Order of the Howitzer feature

You know just where to put your shots with your Howitzer to bring down even the mightiest of buildings. You deal an additional hemocraft die of bludgeoning damage to structures and creatures with the construct type.

Advanced Craftsmanship

11th-level Order of the Howitzer feature

You can apply an upgrade to your Howitzer. The Howitzer’s damage increases to 3d8 bludgeoning damage, and its range increases to 40/160ft. The cost of the metals used to craft a Howitzer increases to 150gp.

Brand of Demolition

15th-level Order of the Howitzer feature

Your Brand of Castigation begins to turn creatures to stone, making it that much easier to break them down. Creatures branded by you are considered to be constructs for the purpose of additional damage from your Siege Shot feature. In addition, once per turn when you hit a creature branded with your Crimson Rite, you can reduce its speed by 10 feet.

The Rumbling Siege

18th-level Order of the Howitzer feature

Your blood curse can daze and disorient your foes. You gain the Blood Curse of the Rumbling Siege for your Blood Maledict feature. This does not count against your number of blood curses known.

Blood Curse of the Rumbling Siege

Prerequisite: 18th level, Order of the Howitzer

Effect: As an action, you can create a massive burst of sound that leaves creatures dazed and deafened. Each creature within 60 feet of you that can hear you must make a Constitution saving throw or become deafened for 1 minute. While deafened in this way, whenever a creature takes thunder damage from any source, they take an additional hemocraft die of rite damage.

Amplify: Creatures branded by your Crimson Rite or Brand of Castigation features have a disadvantage on the saving throw and take a hemocraft die of rite damage on a failed save.

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Image: Medieval Howitzer by Midjourney

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