Are there best practices if players want to convert a monster into a playable character? Are there recommended limits?
If the monster has abilities that are sufficiently limited, just use the rules for creating a race or subrace in the DMG. If they have extreme abilities (pretty much anything with a CR of more than 1/2 will) you might have to design a special class to cover their abilities.
Senses seem to be the detail that most often screws up Monster to Player character conversions. In my experience helping on this, sight is the biggest problem. Giving a PC blindsight is difficult to balance, but going all the way to True Sight is even more nightmarish. No PC should ever have True Sight, and if you're converting a race that normally has that feature, you better come up with a good excuse for why they lack that ability. Other than that, if you have a race that has innate spellcasting, be sure to limit it to a reasonable level... the Tiefling limitations are good for giving you an idea for what you should be reaching for. Don't be afraid to give characters a cost to play as a monstrous character... Something like the Drowish sensitivity to sunlight is a good limiter to use as a benchmark.It's something that makes sure the character is always aware that they're choosing to play as a complicated, interesting race, but it's also something that's not too hard to work around if you have your game focused on a story that gives room for that character to explore their unique character.
So far, no... all my players are content with the traditional player races. Although I do know of one player who, in a game they played before i started playing with them, went through a campaign playing as a homebrewed Siren race.
Are there best practices if players want to convert a monster into a playable character? Are there recommended limits?
Thanks in advance.
There's monstrous races in VGTM, like https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/vgtm/character-races#RacialTraits ?
If the monster has abilities that are sufficiently limited, just use the rules for creating a race or subrace in the DMG. If they have extreme abilities (pretty much anything with a CR of more than 1/2 will) you might have to design a special class to cover their abilities.
Senses seem to be the detail that most often screws up Monster to Player character conversions. In my experience helping on this, sight is the biggest problem. Giving a PC blindsight is difficult to balance, but going all the way to True Sight is even more nightmarish. No PC should ever have True Sight, and if you're converting a race that normally has that feature, you better come up with a good excuse for why they lack that ability. Other than that, if you have a race that has innate spellcasting, be sure to limit it to a reasonable level... the Tiefling limitations are good for giving you an idea for what you should be reaching for. Don't be afraid to give characters a cost to play as a monstrous character... Something like the Drowish sensitivity to sunlight is a good limiter to use as a benchmark.It's something that makes sure the character is always aware that they're choosing to play as a complicated, interesting race, but it's also something that's not too hard to work around if you have your game focused on a story that gives room for that character to explore their unique character.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
yeah @transmorpherDDS that makes sense. Have you ever had a player create a new race from a monster in one of your games?
So far, no... all my players are content with the traditional player races. Although I do know of one player who, in a game they played before i started playing with them, went through a campaign playing as a homebrewed Siren race.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium