I have a player who desperately wants to play a centaur and I have absolutely no issues with making it happen but they are concerned as they had read things about them being OP and problematic. I wanted some feedback on why anyone had had issues with their players using them so I could work around it. Help is appreciated. :)
It will be fine. The only thing that really sets them apart is the fact that they're fey and not humanoids, but even then that comes with it's own baggage.
I didn’t think there was any issues either, I’ve discussed it with the player and I believe any possibly issues she may have read about were before it was a playable race and people were converting the monster stats.
It will be fine. The only thing that really sets them apart is the fact that they're fey and not humanoids, but even then that comes with it's own baggage.
Yes, being of a different creature type can render some assumptions false about what the party are vulnerable to. For instance, Hold Person won't work on a centaur.
I didn’t think there was any issues either, I’ve discussed it with the player and I believe any possibly issues she may have read about were before it was a playable race and people were converting the monster stats.
It's also possible that they were reading 3.5e forums. Previous editions had a "Level Adjustment" system for using monsters as players, and that caused a lot of confusion.
Also, they used to be considered "Large", which caused problems whenever a party wanted to go inside of any buildings or dungeons. 5e got rid of that, for some reason, and replaced it with "Equine Build", which makes climbing impractical (especially if there are any other difficult terrain complications).
One problem you might encounter, is if they try to obtain Horseshoes of Speed, or really any kind of footwear. The former boosts their speed by 30ft without attunement, and the latter might not fit at all.
If the player is mature enough to make your life easy, then I say go for it and deal with issues between sessions. If the player is prone to being disruptive, then I would recommend against it.
I think taking the athlete feat completely negates Equine Build and makes centaurs able to climb a ladder faster than a human, because they have a 40 ft. walking speed.
I think taking the athlete feat completely negates Equine Build and makes centaurs able to climb a ladder faster than a human, because they have a 40 ft. walking speed.
I think you're technically right by RAW, but this is definitely an RAI oversite.
I would probably rule that the Athlete Feat only removes reduces the penalty by half, so climbing would cost +2 instead of +4
I think taking the athlete feat completely negates Equine Build and makes centaurs able to climb a ladder faster than a human, because they have a 40 ft. walking speed.
That would be an 'ask your DM' situation, 5e lacks clear rules for how conflicting traits interact. I would probably have them negate (like vulnerability and resistance, or advantage and disadvantage) so you climb at 2x cost, as if you had neither trait.
Also, they used to be considered "Large", which caused problems whenever a party wanted to go inside of any buildings or dungeons. 5e got rid of that, for some reason, and replaced it with "Equine Build", which makes climbing impractical (especially if there are any other difficult terrain complications).
Actually, the centaurs in the Monster Manual are still large (and they're Monstrosities rather than Fey). The reason PC centaurs are medium is to avoid the issues of things like space for a large sized PC or questions of why they don't get the damage dice for weapons doubled like most Large-sized creatures.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
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I have a player who desperately wants to play a centaur and I have absolutely no issues with making it happen but they are concerned as they had read things about them being OP and problematic. I wanted some feedback on why anyone had had issues with their players using them so I could work around it. Help is appreciated. :)
Meh- OP characters are really a product of specific players min/maxing - not that much to do with character options
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
There's nothing really overpowered about centaurs.
I have a weird sense of humor.
I also make maps.(That's a link)
It will be fine. The only thing that really sets them apart is the fact that they're fey and not humanoids, but even then that comes with it's own baggage.
I didn’t think there was any issues either, I’ve discussed it with the player and I believe any possibly issues she may have read about were before it was a playable race and people were converting the monster stats.
Yes, being of a different creature type can render some assumptions false about what the party are vulnerable to. For instance, Hold Person won't work on a centaur.
It's also possible that they were reading 3.5e forums. Previous editions had a "Level Adjustment" system for using monsters as players, and that caused a lot of confusion.
Also, they used to be considered "Large", which caused problems whenever a party wanted to go inside of any buildings or dungeons. 5e got rid of that, for some reason, and replaced it with "Equine Build", which makes climbing impractical (especially if there are any other difficult terrain complications).
One problem you might encounter, is if they try to obtain Horseshoes of Speed, or really any kind of footwear. The former boosts their speed by 30ft without attunement, and the latter might not fit at all.
If the player is mature enough to make your life easy, then I say go for it and deal with issues between sessions. If the player is prone to being disruptive, then I would recommend against it.
I think taking the athlete feat completely negates Equine Build and makes centaurs able to climb a ladder faster than a human, because they have a 40 ft. walking speed.
I have a weird sense of humor.
I also make maps.(That's a link)
I think you're technically right by RAW, but this is definitely an RAI oversite.
I would probably rule that the Athlete Feat only removes reduces the penalty by half, so climbing would cost +2 instead of +4
That would be an 'ask your DM' situation, 5e lacks clear rules for how conflicting traits interact. I would probably have them negate (like vulnerability and resistance, or advantage and disadvantage) so you climb at 2x cost, as if you had neither trait.
Actually, the centaurs in the Monster Manual are still large (and they're Monstrosities rather than Fey). The reason PC centaurs are medium is to avoid the issues of things like space for a large sized PC or questions of why they don't get the damage dice for weapons doubled like most Large-sized creatures.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.