iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

In 1 hour and 12 minutes we hit our goal! Let's keep going!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

Less than 6 hours 'til Launch for Martial Artistry! I'm full of nerves and excitement!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s... Thank you, Sol! In just under 28 hours, Martial Artistry launches on Backerkit! Four new classes, four new heritages, mass combat, injuries, new weapons, new archetypes, a fealty structure for player-driven rewards, combat synergies... It's a -lot- of material!

backerkit.com

Martial Artistry: A Compendium of Combat for 5e Games

New classes, archetypes, origins, systems, and options to breathe new life into martial characters and provide options for Mass Combat and Social Structures.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s... Martial Artistry launches in 3 days! New classes, New heritages, Mass Combat, New Weapons, Fealty Tracks... 149 pages already ready for PDF when the campaign ends! Champion, Gunslinger, Sentinel, and Warcaster! And two full classes as Stretch Goals!

backerkit.com

Martial Artistry: A Compendium of Combat for 5e Games

New classes, archetypes, origins, systems, and options to breathe new life into martial characters and provide options for Mass Combat and Social Structures.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

I'm launching my new book in June! www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti... If y'all wouldn't mind spreading this around a bit, I'd really appreciate it!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

Oh, look! The back cover is coming along nicely! And with everything in between complete, we'll be able to go to kickstarter, soon!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Enjoy a first peek at the finalized Macabre! A new heritage for A5e of Quasi-Undead you'll find in the upcoming Martial Artistry!

An image of a willowy woman with a flowing purple skirt and sash tat wither to tatters, bandages wrapped tightly around her forearms trailing frayed ends, and a cross-strap halter top in a similar purple to the skirt. Her flesh is grey and shows a disconcerting view of the muscle beneath, as if somewhat translucent, on her belly, arms, and chest, while her face is like pale grey flesh pulled too tightly over a skull with a pronounced hollow in either cheek and no nose. Her hair is red and hangs limply down her back, and her fingertips are blackened, as if from frostbite. She appears to be dancing and is leaning forward and to the left at the waist, her arms hanging loosely at her sides, her face looking to the left, with her hips canted and left knee lifted slightly.

A man of greyish skin wearing a bolero which appears to have an Egyptian influence in the gold work,, large plate necklace, and peaked shoulders above a shirt with green sleeves and a mesh torso. His face is pasty white and looks like skin pulled tightly over a skull with characteristic cheek hollows and no nose. His hair is parted to the right, worn short, and jet black. Under his mesh shirt you can see his ribs, likely painted to highlight them through the flimsy fabric. He wears a leather belt with a trailing end knotted through itself and a pair of black tights. His sandals appear to be a shoe-sole wound to his feet with green ribbon that runs up his leg past the calf, and he has a whip made of flowing blood in his right hand.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

Follow this woman! She is amazing and dedicated, brilliant and filled with more verve than I can manage on my best days. Fantastic designer, absolute sweetheart, and inventive storyteller. Buy her book!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Two new character heritages for Martial Artistry. The first three images are the Macabre, quasi-undead humanoids. The fourth image is of both a male and female Drek. Children of forgotten gods killed by their own creations in a bygone era.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

The reason that jelly is refrigerated is because it ferments since it's a sugary grape juice reduction. It won't make you sick if you don't, it won't kill you if you don't, but it will turn into -really- shitty booze and taste awful if you don't refrigerate it. Unless you eat it all pretty fast.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

Suddenly the tactical considerations for how to spend your turn are way more involved than "Am I standing next to an enemy? No? I move to an enemy. Then I swing." Now you've got to use your -space- to block enemy movement, or dive for cover, or whatever. And with fewer OA there's less sticking.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

And you could make it even more impactful by changing the rules of Opportunity Attacks to require a character to have a readied weapon. Not a readied Melee weapon, so you can have dirty backshooters with hand crossbows or pistols... But now Dragons don't get opportunity attacks!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

You'd obviously need to make some NPC actions into Reactions, of course, to give the DM the same choice on any given turn of whether to keep the NPC "Sticky" for movement purposes or make things more fluid by gambling an extra bit of damage or some kind of debuff. But what a difference!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

Combine Bonus Actions and Reactions. Anything that would normally take a Bonus Action instead takes your Reaction. HUGE difference in gameplay structure with that one change. Now you have to choose between Raging or Opportunity Attacks. Movement options and positioning increase dramatically!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

So Mike Mearls is talking about getting rid of Bonus Actions as a core principle because they don't "Limit Multiclass Ability" which... weird reason, to me. But I've been thinking about it and talking to posters on the ENWorld forums and I think there is a way to do it and still have some impact.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

Decided to make the Esper Class and Powers free for anyone to use in their A5e or 5e compatible games. So if you want a copy, here you go! www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...

drivethrurpg.com

DriveThruRPG

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

For their archetypes I wanted to play with some traditional conceits and some new ones. Crimson Edge: Burn yourself for more power. Swordsage: Warrior-Casters with steel and spells. Tactician: Battlefield Control through cantrips and ploys. Wrathbearer: Give up precision to drop area strikes.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

As they level up, Warcasters build on their cantrip casting by learning to split their cantrips into multiple attacks. If you have 2d10 for your firebolt you can splitcast it into two 1d10 firebolts, for example. And they can apply combat maneuvers to one, or both, firebolts!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Casting Styles function like Fighting Styles for fighters. You pick one of the styles and gain its benefit. These can be simple, like Defensive adding a +1 to AC or Long Range adding a +1 to spell attacks beyond 30ft. Or they can be more complex, like Overwhelming allowing you to reroll damage.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Warcasters instead use Cantrips as weapons. After all, the difference between a Firebolt and a Heavy Crossbow at level 1 mostly lies in the range, with the heavy crossbow winning out. So Warcasters start out with 4 offensive cantrips, 2 cantrips from their "Initiation" and a Casting Style.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

You know, I think it's time for the Warcaster. The Warcaster is a cantrip-focused casting class which gets more traditional "Spells" as limited-use exploration and social mechanics rather as core combat functionality. This allows me to play with one of A5e's basic tenets. Maneuvers use Weapons.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

As a special note: The Sentinel class can be particularly useful when a new player or someone who is curious about the game wants to sit in on a session. Just give them control over your companion character for the session so they can directly help the party and join in with practically no effort!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Companions gain new abilities at level 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, and 20. They also have their own proficiencies in armor, weapons, tools, and skills separate from the Sentinel. So you could have complementary characters, or characters who double down on specific skills for better chance of success!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

The Sentinel archetypes provided are: Cavalier: Noble Knights and protectors. Dark Knight: Wicked commanders. Gaoler: Jailers and marshals. Hooligan: Criminal leaders and pirates. You can also change out your companion character over time, so a Gaoler could have a series of prisoners in travel!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Acolytes, Constructs, Cultists, Fey, Hedge Wizards, Hunters, Apprentice Mages, Scoundrels, Squires, and Undead. (There's 10, I miscounted in my head). Each has it's own progression with unique abilities and combat synergies that allow you to do neat combo maneuvers with your companion!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

There are 6 very basic stat blocks for your companions (focusing on each of the attributes) so you can pick the stat spread that best suits what you want them to do. And a total of 11 companion 'Class' options that level up alongside you!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

So let's talk about the third new class in Martial Artistry: The Sentinel! The Sentinel is a 'Pet' class which plays around with the action economy by providing the players with a companion character NPC to protect and to provide support! Why have a wolf companion when you can have a squire?

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

Concept art for the Bactosapien and Loqren 77 heritages.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Just coined a new and very southern aphorism on the EN World forums! Arguing with a bigot is like grabbing handfuls of applesauce in a hurricane: you're never going to accomplish anything useful and you're putting yourself in danger.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

The archetypes provided are: Bushwhacker: Master ambush tactics. Desperado: Ever on the run and looking for vengeance. Maverick: Master multiple gunslinger fighting styles. Pistolero: Quick Draw artists with lots of flash and substance! Each meant to play into wild west tropes and legends!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

You also get a Reputation at levels 4, 8, and 12 which improves their social interaction abilities by letting you choose a specific theme. Buscadero: Troublemaker and con artist. Outlaw: Scary gunslinger with a short temper. White Hat: Well known heroic type who blows into town to save the day!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

I also created 7 new gun-centric "Fighting Styles" for them! Akimbo, Bullseye, Saddleshooter, Sharpshooter, Shotgunner, Sword and Shot, Trickshooter. Personally I love Trickshooter because it allows you to use Disarm, Knockdown, and Shove with firearms!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

The second new class in Martial Artistry is the Gunslinger! Rather than take the traditional "Guns do way more damage" approach I went for slightly weaker guns and kind of made Gunslingers into a type of ranged Adept/Monk. Extra exertion, thematic defensive moves like better utilizing cover...

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

I like it! So do that. And lemme know how it works out at your table!

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

You're welcome! What is it you find about Sorcerers that is lackluster? Maybe I can tackle that, too.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

This results in most Rangers getting 3-4 extra +1d6 attacks between short rests. Which seems like a lot, but you spend your reaction before you know if it's a hit or miss. So you "Waste" plenty of them. Unlike a Rogue with a Sneak Attack. Tradeoff: You can't add 3d6 to a shot 'til 9th. 5d6 at 17.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

I didn't get to work on the A5e core rules (else Ranger would be very different) but here's my big house rule to help them out: Trained Accuracy is Proficiency Bonus+Wis, but you can't use more than 1/2 your Proficiency bonus in uses per attack. Short Rest Recovery.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

The archetypes provided are: Guardian of the Realm: Regional bonuses. Mystic Champion: Mysticism and Rituals. Revolutionary: Inspiration and Noble Sacrifice. Romantic Knight: Chivalry, Squires, and Steeds. Each meant to play into various legendary and mythic champions of popular culture.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

They also get a Questing mechanic! When you declare a quest, you ignore fatigue and strife mechanics, and gain inspiration. You also gain advantage on saves against Charms and Illusions. But if you fail, you gain strife. Triggered by long resting before the quest is done.

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Steampunkette (She/Her) @steampunkette.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Causes are things like Noblesse Oblige, which is the duty of those with wealth and power to wield it on behalf of those who have less, being a Knight of the Realm, or a Guardian of nature. These aren't Archetypes, but a fundamental class feature that ties into their marking mechanic.

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