Playable Gargoyle-Like Race

Wasn't sure if I should share this idea in another topic, so I thought I'd share it here.

A while back, I had the idea of creating a gargoyle as a playable character. Undoubtedly, this idea was influenced by my love for the show Gargoyles (which is a show I wouldn't mind seeing being remade). While it is considered a monster in D&D, I figured that a homebrew game would allow me to play as one. Or D&D could do what they did with other monsters--Orcs, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Bugbears, etc. Then I had a thought: What if a new playable race was created that had attributes like a gargoyle and had its own backstory and lore?

With this question in mind, I think I created a possible idea for a new gargoyle themed race or races that were playable.

Introducing the Gargolem!

They are a small to medium size humanoid race with stone-like skin that could have adapted to the rocky surroundings they live in or were given their stone-like skin through magical means.

-If they're unarmored, their natural AC is 13 and is increased based on their Constitution Ability Score rather than their Dexterity Ability Score. If they wear armor, then they get the bonuses from the armor.

-They also have a natural resistance to poison.

-Unarmed attacks deal 1D8 damage, but the type of damage varies.

-At Level 3, they can present themselves as inanimate objects, giving them advantage on Stealth. Whatever armor they wear might counteract this bonus.

-At Level 5, their Unarmed attacks deal 1D12 damage and gain resistance to slashing damage from non-magical attacks.

There are 3 subraces: Persona, Beastly, and Angelic. (Trying to think of a better name than "Persona".)

-Persona look like humans, elves, orcs, gnomes, dwarves, halflings, half-orcs, half-elves. They have proficiency in Deception. At Level 3, they gain the Charm Person spell. At Level 5, they gain the Suggestion spell.

-Beastly can appear as dragons, fiends, tieflings, or monsters. They could have bat-like wings, but they cannot be used to fly. They have proficiency in Intimidation and deal Slashing damage with their claws. At Level 3, they gain the Cause Fear Spell. At Level 5, they gain the Hold Person spell.

-Angelic can appear as celestials or fae creatures and can have angelic wings but cannot use them to fly. They have proficiency in Persuasion. At Level 3, they gain the Heroism spell. At level 5, they gain the Calm Emotions spell.

I assume you want feed back?

for the show Gargoyle

I have never heard of the show so have no bias based on the show

-If they're unarmored, their natural AC is 13 and is increased based on their Constitution Ability Score rather than their Dexterity Ability Score. If they wear armor, then they get the bonuses from the armor.

If you are deviating from dex base AC, then Dex is never in the equation even with light/medium armor.  i.e. count as 0 dex when determining A/C.  But based on the wings you propose later,  when not using a shield, allow the wings to act as a shield.   If possible have a sliding scale  so levels 1-3 +1 shield, 4-6 +2 shield then stop maybe at level 15?

-They also have a natural resistance to poison.

I would say follow the stone skin theme.  So as they increase levels give them resistance to external elements. like slashing/piercing/fire/cold/etc.

present themselves as inanimate objects, giving them advantage on Stealth. 

I would not say they are like stealth, but more of a invisible in plain sight aka for ambushing.  Inanimate objects don't move so stealth is not correct.  Allow them to hide become invisible in plain sight and if they do not move/speak/attack etc. they stay invisible.

-Angelic can appear as celestials or fae creatures and can have angelic wings but cannot use them to fly. 

See above, the wings are not for flying but used as an A/C

Always nice to meet a fellow Gargoyles cartoon fan

By a weird coincidence you've only just pipped D&D Beyond to the punch. One of the 3rd party books being added soon is Eberron Frontiers: Quickstone which has a gargoyle as a playable race, along with a variety of other "monster" species

Quote from CunningSmile >>

Always nice to meet a fellow Gargoyles cartoon fan

By a weird coincidence you've only just pipped D&D Beyond to the punch. One of the 3rd party books being added soon is Eberron Frontiers: Quickstone which has a gargoyle as a playable race, along with a variety of other "monster" species

 Plus Crooked Moon’s “Stoneborne” are essentially gargoyles too

I didn't know they were coming out with that! I'll have to buy it when it comes out.

The wings as a shield does sound interesting, but in my head, the wings aren't large enough to do that.

As or the additional resistances, what if when they reach Level 5, they can choose to gain one resistance to physical attacks, and one resistance to elemental attacks, this way it's balanced enough. Any other resistances can come from whatever class they are, whatever gear they wear, and whatever feat they choose.

Quote from JarlMattofStormIsle >>

The wings as a shield does sound interesting, but in my head, the wings aren't large enough to do that.

 

As or the additional resistances, what if when they reach Level 5, they can choose to gain one resistance to physical attacks, and one resistance to elemental attacks, this way it's balanced enough. Any other resistances can come from whatever class they are, whatever gear they wear, and whatever feat they choose.

For resistances, it will be added per tier/level so they don't get them all at once, but as they get older, their stone like skin is better able to resist more and more.  You can also instead limit the resistances and as they get older the few they have become immunity.

Immunity is pretty high tier to be a species trait, even at high levels. There’s a reason it’s so rare among PC features in general.