So i have a player who wants to play a sudo homebrew in the form of an awakened creature. They put the self limit of their Int can't be above 10, but should I put any other limits on the character? I know as the DM i make the rules, but i wanted an outside opinion. I'm mostly just thinking to keep them from trying to build Sir Hoppy, the full plate mail wearing rabbit. Like if they want to play a large creature with good strength fine, whatever, but i really don't want to balance/ justify the full martial class, Cornish game hen who is somehow stronger then most of the party. Or the boa constrictor bard, who wears the cutest little hat.
Am i being unreasonable? To be clear this isn't a world of anthropomorphic creatures, the rest of the cast are typical humanoids.
I would use the custom lineage option in D&D beyond and let them build it then see show unbalanced it looks chances are it won’t be. I mean you can already build sir hoppy with rabbit folk
yeah, my issue is mostly about having a 5lb creature who can carry 60 times it's weight and be able to drop kick doors off their hinges. Like there suspension of disbelief with regards to spells, elves, etc... and then there's "your pet bird just did an Atomic Suplex (from street fighter) against the enemy owlbear"
I mean I would be aiming for the pet bird doing atomic suplexes - think of it this way - your player will not be doing anything more broken than any other dnd character in your game for free. Or you could spend a lot of extra work for you and the player to create a custom stat block and rule set. Which no kink shame, if that’s your bag go nuts. But otherwise I would concentrate on the game you have to plan and the fun stuff. DM’s have enough to do already.
I definitely agree with the other thread ideas. Ensure that the creature is Small or Medium size and not Tiny - a Tiny creature will cause many problems with being able to sneak around or through much smaller areas that small/medium creatures can reach. It also avoids arguments about "but I'm much smaller so I should be harder to notice/hit"
Tell them that they can build their character using the Custom Lineage feature from Tasha's, and that's about it. They should be confined by all the other usual rules for a PC.
If they wish to impose disadvantages on themselves, then I would allow that. So if they want to reduce their Intelligence score to 6, that's fine, but they shouldn't be allowed anything that would give them an advantage over a player using a standard build.
Their current build is an awakened creature (so that creature's stat block, but modified to have 10 INT) with a homebrewed necklace of True Polymorph (self). The biggest advantage they would currently possess is that if they would be knocked out they transform back into the creature instead. So kind of like relentless endurance, but they have a little more health, but can't cast spells/use weapons/use most items.
There is currently a debate on if it makes sense to give them a modified ability to cast spells / a modified spell list, while in creature form. Also a debates on how their health pool would work between the two forms, and if they should have a different stat block when in humanoid form vs. animal form.
Their current build is an awakened creature (so that creature's stat block, but modified to have 10 INT) with a homebrewed necklace of True Polymorph (self). The biggest advantage they would currently possess is that if they would be knocked out they transform back into the creature instead. So kind of like relentless endurance, but they have a little more health, but can't cast spells/use weapons/use most items.
There is currently a debate on if it makes sense to give them a modified ability to cast spells / a modified spell list, while in creature form. Also a debates on how their health pool would work between the two forms, and if they should have a different stat block when in humanoid form vs. animal form.
From what I understood from another thread that you posted on, you don't have a DM ready to run this PC in a campaign for you. You will need to find a DM willing to allow this first, and the rules on how it will work with be their rules, not your homebrew rules - if they allow it at all.
What you're describing is just a huge buff for a character. I don't see why any DM would allow it. Being an awakened animal should be a disadvantage in the game, not an advantage.
you are right it will end up being the DM's choice, and i will end up being bound by their rules. But i disagree about it being a buff to the character. You are likely stuck with the creatures stat block, even in human form, and it's not like a lot of creatures that can be awakened have all that impressive stat blocks to begin with (at least compared to how most people roll/standard array/ point buy. In the higher levels, there is a legit chance you get popped and end up as a level 10 dog/bird/ etc... with no armor, no weapons, and no/very limited ability to cast spells. Locking down/out one of the healers and or support characters in a fight drastically changes the course of combat. And it's not like you can just dispel the enemies polymorph or kill the target, the beast is still stuck as a beast. Plus there is always the chance the magic item breaks after each use.
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So i have a player who wants to play a sudo homebrew in the form of an awakened creature. They put the self limit of their Int can't be above 10, but should I put any other limits on the character? I know as the DM i make the rules, but i wanted an outside opinion. I'm mostly just thinking to keep them from trying to build Sir Hoppy, the full plate mail wearing rabbit. Like if they want to play a large creature with good strength fine, whatever, but i really don't want to balance/ justify the full martial class, Cornish game hen who is somehow stronger then most of the party. Or the boa constrictor bard, who wears the cutest little hat.
Am i being unreasonable? To be clear this isn't a world of anthropomorphic creatures, the rest of the cast are typical humanoids.
I would use the custom lineage option in D&D beyond and let them build it then see show unbalanced it looks chances are it won’t be. I mean you can already build sir hoppy with rabbit folk
yeah, my issue is mostly about having a 5lb creature who can carry 60 times it's weight and be able to drop kick doors off their hinges. Like there suspension of disbelief with regards to spells, elves, etc... and then there's "your pet bird just did an Atomic Suplex (from street fighter) against the enemy owlbear"
I mean I would be aiming for the pet bird doing atomic suplexes - think of it this way - your player will not be doing anything more broken than any other dnd character in your game for free. Or you could spend a lot of extra work for you and the player to create a custom stat block and rule set. Which no kink shame, if that’s your bag go nuts. But otherwise I would concentrate on the game you have to plan and the fun stuff. DM’s have enough to do already.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/dungeon-masters-only/114014-awakened-animal-as-pc?comment=1
More Interesting Lock Picking Rules
I definitely agree with the other thread ideas. Ensure that the creature is Small or Medium size and not Tiny - a Tiny creature will cause many problems with being able to sneak around or through much smaller areas that small/medium creatures can reach. It also avoids arguments about "but I'm much smaller so I should be harder to notice/hit"
Tell them that they can build their character using the Custom Lineage feature from Tasha's, and that's about it. They should be confined by all the other usual rules for a PC.
If they wish to impose disadvantages on themselves, then I would allow that. So if they want to reduce their Intelligence score to 6, that's fine, but they shouldn't be allowed anything that would give them an advantage over a player using a standard build.
Their current build is an awakened creature (so that creature's stat block, but modified to have 10 INT) with a homebrewed necklace of True Polymorph (self). The biggest advantage they would currently possess is that if they would be knocked out they transform back into the creature instead. So kind of like relentless endurance, but they have a little more health, but can't cast spells/use weapons/use most items.
There is currently a debate on if it makes sense to give them a modified ability to cast spells / a modified spell list, while in creature form. Also a debates on how their health pool would work between the two forms, and if they should have a different stat block when in humanoid form vs. animal form.
From what I understood from another thread that you posted on, you don't have a DM ready to run this PC in a campaign for you. You will need to find a DM willing to allow this first, and the rules on how it will work with be their rules, not your homebrew rules - if they allow it at all.
What you're describing is just a huge buff for a character. I don't see why any DM would allow it. Being an awakened animal should be a disadvantage in the game, not an advantage.
you are right it will end up being the DM's choice, and i will end up being bound by their rules. But i disagree about it being a buff to the character. You are likely stuck with the creatures stat block, even in human form, and it's not like a lot of creatures that can be awakened have all that impressive stat blocks to begin with (at least compared to how most people roll/standard array/ point buy. In the higher levels, there is a legit chance you get popped and end up as a level 10 dog/bird/ etc... with no armor, no weapons, and no/very limited ability to cast spells. Locking down/out one of the healers and or support characters in a fight drastically changes the course of combat. And it's not like you can just dispel the enemies polymorph or kill the target, the beast is still stuck as a beast. Plus there is always the chance the magic item breaks after each use.