I am trying really hard to create subraces for a species im making, but this new system doesn't make sense to me. I clicked the 'Create Variant' button and, when creating said variant, chose the 'Is a Variant' option which as I understand it should say that this creature is a subrace. However when I go into the character creator, the Variant shows up but not the base race?? I really don't understand what is happening here. Why would the variant show up and not the main species?
A Variant species is different from a Subrace (now called a Species Option in DDB).
A Species can act as a standalone option or as a parent for Species Options and Variants. This can be selected on the character sheet only if "WILL HAVE SPECIES OPTIONS?" is unchecked.
A Species Option (formerly Subrace), like 2014's Hill Dwarf and Mountain Dwarf) inherits the traits of its parent species, and adds its own traits on top of that. (Due to a quirk of the homebrew system, these will appear on the sheet as distinct options; they won't be grouped under the parent species.)
A Variant species (like 2014's Variant Human) acts as a standalone alternative to its parent species. It does not inherit any traits from the parent species.
It's worth noting that Species Options have largely been phased out within the official rules. The more modern design approach is to create them as different choices directly within the parent species (by using Options in the homebrew system). You can check out the 2024 Elf species as an example, or make a homebrew copy of it if you want to see how they set it up.
I am trying really hard to create subraces for a species im making, but this new system doesn't make sense to me. I clicked the 'Create Variant' button and, when creating said variant, chose the 'Is a Variant' option which as I understand it should say that this creature is a subrace. However when I go into the character creator, the Variant shows up but not the base race?? I really don't understand what is happening here. Why would the variant show up and not the main species?
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ModeratorA Variant species is different from a Subrace (now called a Species Option in DDB).
It's worth noting that Species Options have largely been phased out within the official rules. The more modern design approach is to create them as different choices directly within the parent species (by using Options in the homebrew system). You can check out the 2024 Elf species as an example, or make a homebrew copy of it if you want to see how they set it up.
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Ah I see ok, that makes much more sense thank you.