Hi all!

After a year of development and seven months of testing, I am proud to introduce you to **Blackwood's Red Mage!**

This is a '14/'24 homebrew spellblade class **built around tempo rather than constant burst or resource dumping**. What this means is that your resources are spent building toward a nova moment rather than waiting for one, and after you explode, you build it all up again.

To do this, the class uses a bespoke **Black / White Mana system** that grants resources through spell casting and then gates the payoff through a mechanic called **Perfect Balance**.

As a class, it's **designed to teach itself to you naturally as you play**. Don't let the page count fool you; abilities unlock slowly over time and the rhythm of the class will naturally come alive as you play it.

*It's perfect for a flex-spot pick!*

The PDF includes a **ton of material**:

* **Purple text galore!** The lore is rich and evocative, with terms native to Dungeons & Dragons rather than the source material. Final Fantasy names, abilities, and traditions read instead like the echoes of a long-dead practice, a legend lore from some distant plane, or a foreboding heralding of disaster. *Deliciously gothic!*
* **Three subclasses**, each changing how the class plays:
   * **Crimson Duelist** — Balance focused: they want to get into the thick of melee
   * **Astral Sorcerer** — Black Mana focused: with tools to stay at range and strip elemental resistance
   * **Umbral Cleric** — White Mana focused: healing, aid, and protection that tempers damage to grant shields
* **Vermilion Magic** — The fully custom spell list for the class
* **Adapted Magic** — A lore-friendly extended spell list that can be adjusted or removed to fit the setting
* **The Vermilion Vessperend** — A legendary weapon to entice players toward adventure
* **A DM Sidebar** to address the concerns any good DM should have about allowing homebrew. It includes damage tier assessments and how to counter-play the class at the table

**Where to find it!**

* *Google Drive*
   * **PDF**: [Red Mage - A Dungeons and Dragons Class by Brian Blackwood](https://drive.google.com/file/d/13mY2djhh8RlqxIp4_gVSP8nTPClTroRo/view?usp=sharing)
   * **MorePurpleMoreBetter Character Sheet Class Script:** [Red Mage (Blackwood) - MPMB v13.js](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jhu3MY2FS9qT1A0wviXM77bvxxKC2R2P/view?usp=sharing)
* **Baldur’s Gate 3**
   * [Blackwood's Red Mage at Baldur's Gate 3 Nexus - Mods and community](https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/23685?tab=description)
   * [Blackwood's Red Mage for Baldur's Gate 3 - mod.io](https://mod.io/g/baldursgate3/m/blackwoods-red-mage#description)
* *Off-site*
   * **Visual Summary:** [Blackwood's Red Mage](https://redmage.brian-blackwood.com/)

I sincerely hope you enjoy this class, whether on the tabletop or in BG3. We sure do!

Blackwood's Red Mage — A Tempo-Based Spellblade Class (Full Class + 3 Subclasses)