I'm surprised there haven't been more posts concerning this new feature, especially considering the amount of submissions we're receiving! Check out the ones that have been made public here or make your own!
Here is a short guide/changelog made by the D&D Beyond Staff.
Feel free to post here if you need any help whatsoever.
A couple of quick notes for people who want to make or use homebrew races:
Firstly, remember that you don't have to publish your homebrew race for you or anyone in your campaign to use it! If you do not instantly see your own homebrew race in the character builder please wait for a minute and then refresh the page.
You're welcome to use any homebrew of your own in private.
If you do want to publish your homebrew, please keep the following in mind:
Do not try to publish races/subraces/variants that infringe on existing player races, UA races, or the copyright of other companies such as trying to make races from Star Wars, Elder Scrolls games or anything else similar. In addition, do not submit content from the DMs Guild unless you are the creator.
Also please do not add any copyrighted images to your races if you wish to publish them. This includes artwork either by other companies, artists or Wizards of the Coast. You're more than welcome to add your own art but if you are finding it through a search engine, please ensure you're only searching for images with free usage rights (advanced search on Google). Most published homebrew have no images associated with them and work perfectly.
Make sure all your modifiers work. This includes the correct values for ability skill increases, correct proficiency in weapons, correct languages and any limited use functions or spells. Firstly you must make the racial trait, adding a name and description. Next you can actually add in the modifiers/spells/limited use effects on the sections that appear below your description. Make sure to test these out in the character builder yourself before submitting them. If you're not sure how something should be added, try creating a new race by copying an existing one and examine how the D&D Beyond staff have added similar modifiers.
It's the most complex homebrew feature yet and so, as mentioned above, please post if you need any help! One of the community here will almost certainly be able to help you.
Make sure all your modifiers work. This includes the correct values for ability skill increases, correct proficiency in weapons, correct languages and any limited use functions or spells. Firstly you must make the racial trait, adding a name and description. Next you can actually add in the modifiers/spells/limited use effects on the sections that appear below your description. Make sure to test these out in the character builder yourself before submitting them. If you're not sure how something should be added, try creating a new race by copying an existing one and examine how the D&D Beyond staff have added similar modifiers.
I want the bolded part written on my tombstone. Please, for mine and the other mods sanity - TEST YOUR WORK BEFORE YOU SUBMIT. This is going to be the fastest way for you to pick up errors and missing modifiers. :)
Hey there, first let me say thanks for all of the amazing work! I've been excitedly waiting for the homebrew race feature.
Working on a couple of races now, but I am having problems with my Fey'ri homebrew. I received a message from another user saying that he couldn't see my the homebrew in the character builder. When I went in and checked I realized I couldn't pick it either, though it still appears amongst my homebrew collection.
I sent a long while tryin to find the answer on my own, but I'm stumped. Please let me know what/if I'm doing something wrong.
Hey there, first let me say thanks for all of the amazing work! I've been excitedly waiting for the homebrew race feature.
Working on a couple of races now, but I am having problems with my Fey'ri homebrew. I received a message from another user saying that he couldn't see my the homebrew in the character builder. When I went in and checked I realized I couldn't pick it either, though it still appears amongst my homebrew collection.
I sent a long while tryin to find the answer on my own, but I'm stumped. Please let me know what/if I'm doing something wrong.
Alrighty, I added your race myself and it's definitely not working, there's 100% nothing wrong on your end. I'll bring this up with the D&D Beyond staff, there must be some tiny bug preventing it from displaying for us.
Okay, update. If a published race has subraces, then at least one subrace also needs to be published and added for it to show. I cannot speak for the D&D Beyond staff but they may change it in the future so that they are automatically added together, but for now they're set this way, and that's the reason.
Is there any way to to create a racial variant using an existing race as a template, if that race doesn't already have a variant? I'd like to create a variant dragonborn, but it looks like the only way to do so is to start from scratch and reenter every single trait and description I want to keep.
If you do want to publish your homebrew, please keep the following in mind:
Do not try to publish races/subraces/variants that infringe on existing player races
Does this mean that we can't publish any variants or subraces for existing player races, or is there a way to make a variant of an existing race without infringing on it?
What happens if I create a race that gains a PHB cantrip? I know that I can't add a spell to a race if I haven't bought the spell, but will other users be able to see the race when it gets published if they haven't bought the PHB here? What if the PHB content is only in one of the subraces, will they be able to use the others?
Is there any way to add a custom language to a race?
I know you can make a trait that lets you choose one option from a list, but is there a way to choose two different options from the same list?
Is there a way to make a race that lets you choose a size?
Is there a way to create a race that lets you choose two subraces? I'd like to create a 'hybrid' race that lets you mix and match the two races of your parents.
1. Yes, you can create a race variant of any existing race with said race as a template. Technically every variant works that way. When you make a variant, only the traits you add/replace change. All the traits you do not specify as replaced will be there when you preview it in the character builder/use it in a character sheet. To replace traits, make a new trait and select the original trait you wish replaced from the dropdown menu beneath the description box, to the right.
Here's a link to my Desert Goliath (Goliath variant), where I replace Mountain Born with Dune Born, among other trait changes, but do not touch the Goliath's Speed or Powerful Build - those show up still when actually using it, carried down from the parent race.
2. Allow me to rephrase that. You may publish variants/new subraces of existing races, but only those from the free content such as Dragonborn, Humans and Genasi. You may not publish recreated versions of paid-content subraces/variants, such as Forest Gnome, Orc or Tortle. Likewise, whilst Unearthed Arcana is technically free, it's also off-limits. You may not publish past-Unearthed Arcana entries as your homebrew.
3. Honestly? I have no idea what happens when you publish a race with PHB spells, and the recipient does not have the PHB. I assume they would see it as something they have, but not be able to see the spell details. I will have to look into this one and review it. For now it's safer to avoid non-Basic Rules spells.
4. Currently there is no way to make an actual custom language within the homebrew mechanics. However, until that feature presumably arrives (the developers have a long list of a lot of really cool stuff), you can just add it in as text in the description of a Languages trait for now.
5. Yes, and no. You cannot allow a player to pick two options from the same racial trait. What you can do is create a second trait with more options, and divide them by adding 'Prerequisite Racial Trait Option'.
It's a tad complicated but, for example, if you have three options you want a player to choose two from, you can let them pick one from the one set of options, then list them all twice in another trait with each option within that one only working if they have picked a different option in the previous racial trait.
I feel like picking two options from just the one trait should perhaps be possible. I will flag this up as feedback so the D&D Beyond staff can at least consider it.
6. Yep! All races let you choose a size, but only in the base race. You cannot become a different size with certain subraces.
7. There is no way to choose two subraces. However, you could create one race and its subraces, then create a copy from it as a template and tweak it. They would be separate, but you could keep certain traits, and copy in the same subraces and so give you the dual choices that way.
Hi there, I just had another quick question. So, I submitted a couple of weeks ago a half-dwarf (mul) race through homebrew and tried to give it a stronger Dark Sun feel (psionics/wild talents) and was rejected because some of the material I used was from the UA- Mystic class (the only source we had currently for psionics). Wich I completely understand.
So, I took off the stuff from the Mystic class, and went back and dug up some of of my old Dark Sun character stuff. I DM'd Dark Sun for a short bit 20 years ago and always loved the feel of the races and abilities. Then I put together a chart of about 20 interesting potential wild talents, updated the mechanics to fit better with 5e, and set it so you could roll for manifesting potential wild talents, like the wild charts they had back in the old Dark Sun Setting. After another week or so (took me a while, lol) I resubmitted and received the same rejection and was told I would be penalized if I resubmit without addressing (which I though I did).
"Rejected for:
Other - Other
(Moderator's Note: Many traits of this race are taken from UA (Mystic class) and are copyrighted. Please do not submit work that is not your own. Feel free to use this privately. (Please also dont just resubmit without taking the feedback and applying it - further submissions without any changes will result in penalties))"
My question is. What part of my update is taken from the Mystic Class, aside from flavor (though that could be said for anything that uses psionics). Also, what else would they need me to change about the psionics, or do they want me to remove it altogether?
I'm not sure if there was a miscommunication, or perhaps even a small bug on our end where an older version of the page was displayed. Having reviewed your race, I can no longer see any infringement on the Mystic class. You're certainly welcome to use psionics, or the arcane, or any such 'powers' in your homebrew.
We're starting to crack down on a very small minority of players who constantly resubmit rejected races without any changes. This is down to the fact that reviewing races, given the amount of detail they can potentially have, is quite a lengthy process for us, and so this small minority ends up causing some hefty delays for the greater majority. Fortunately this doesn't actually apply to you.
Apologies for the inconvenience, and feel free to resubmit that race whenever you're ready to.
As a general heads up, if anyone wants to ask for more detail on why their homebrew was rejected, you can guarantee a direct line to us moderators by sending a Private Message to any one of us. Although the post above this is absolutely fine, some similar posts skirt very near to 'discussing moderator action', a violation of the site rules and guidelines. If you message us, we will make sure the right moderators are informed to get you the best reply possible. Moving forward, we have plans to improve the communication within the actual system itself, but it will take some time to implement—apparently awesome features like subclass homebrew and a major character sheet revamp take priority!
Check out the changelog for full details.
Pun-loving nerd | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
I'm surprised there haven't been more posts concerning this new feature, especially considering the amount of submissions we're receiving! Check out the ones that have been made public here or make your own!
Here is a short guide/changelog made by the D&D Beyond Staff.
Feel free to post here if you need any help whatsoever.
A couple of quick notes for people who want to make or use homebrew races:
Firstly, remember that you don't have to publish your homebrew race for you or anyone in your campaign to use it! If you do not instantly see your own homebrew race in the character builder please wait for a minute and then refresh the page.
You're welcome to use any homebrew of your own in private.
If you do want to publish your homebrew, please keep the following in mind:
Do not try to publish races/subraces/variants that infringe on existing player races, UA races, or the copyright of other companies such as trying to make races from Star Wars, Elder Scrolls games or anything else similar. In addition, do not submit content from the DMs Guild unless you are the creator.
Also please do not add any copyrighted images to your races if you wish to publish them. This includes artwork either by other companies, artists or Wizards of the Coast. You're more than welcome to add your own art but if you are finding it through a search engine, please ensure you're only searching for images with free usage rights (advanced search on Google). Most published homebrew have no images associated with them and work perfectly.
Make sure all your modifiers work. This includes the correct values for ability skill increases, correct proficiency in weapons, correct languages and any limited use functions or spells. Firstly you must make the racial trait, adding a name and description. Next you can actually add in the modifiers/spells/limited use effects on the sections that appear below your description. Make sure to test these out in the character builder yourself before submitting them. If you're not sure how something should be added, try creating a new race by copying an existing one and examine how the D&D Beyond staff have added similar modifiers.
It's the most complex homebrew feature yet and so, as mentioned above, please post if you need any help! One of the community here will almost certainly be able to help you.
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
I want the bolded part written on my tombstone. Please, for mine and the other mods sanity - TEST YOUR WORK BEFORE YOU SUBMIT. This is going to be the fastest way for you to pick up errors and missing modifiers. :)
Site Rules & Guidelines || How to Tooltip || Contact Support || Changelog || Pricing FAQ || Homebrew FAQ
If you have questions/concerns, please Private Message me or another moderator.
Wary the wizard who focuses on homebrew, for he can create nightmares that you wouldn't even dream of
Hey there, first let me say thanks for all of the amazing work! I've been excitedly waiting for the homebrew race feature.
Working on a couple of races now, but I am having problems with my Fey'ri homebrew. I received a message from another user saying that he couldn't see my the homebrew in the character builder. When I went in and checked I realized I couldn't pick it either, though it still appears amongst my homebrew collection.
I sent a long while tryin to find the answer on my own, but I'm stumped. Please let me know what/if I'm doing something wrong.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/races/1847-feyri
Thank you!
Have you made sure to enable homebrew content? You can do so at the beginning of the character builder.
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
Alrighty, I added your race myself and it's definitely not working, there's 100% nothing wrong on your end. I'll bring this up with the D&D Beyond staff, there must be some tiny bug preventing it from displaying for us.
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
Okay, update. If a published race has subraces, then at least one subrace also needs to be published and added for it to show. I cannot speak for the D&D Beyond staff but they may change it in the future so that they are automatically added together, but for now they're set this way, and that's the reason.
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
Thank you for checking, at least I know it's not just me! (;
Awesome, thank you for looking into it!
That kinda makes sense about the sub-races, & I saw that now that the sub-races are approved, they all show up on my character builder.
Thanks again, you guys are rocking it!
Does this mean that we can't publish any variants or subraces for existing player races, or is there a way to make a variant of an existing race without infringing on it?
What happens if I create a race that gains a PHB cantrip? I know that I can't add a spell to a race if I haven't bought the spell, but will other users be able to see the race when it gets published if they haven't bought the PHB here? What if the PHB content is only in one of the subraces, will they be able to use the others?
Is there any way to add a custom language to a race?
I know you can make a trait that lets you choose one option from a list, but is there a way to choose two different options from the same list?
Is there a way to make a race that lets you choose a size?
Is there a way to create a race that lets you choose two subraces? I'd like to create a 'hybrid' race that lets you mix and match the two races of your parents.
Hi SirBlackAxe, good questions.
1. Yes, you can create a race variant of any existing race with said race as a template. Technically every variant works that way. When you make a variant, only the traits you add/replace change. All the traits you do not specify as replaced will be there when you preview it in the character builder/use it in a character sheet. To replace traits, make a new trait and select the original trait you wish replaced from the dropdown menu beneath the description box, to the right.
Here's a link to my Desert Goliath (Goliath variant), where I replace Mountain Born with Dune Born, among other trait changes, but do not touch the Goliath's Speed or Powerful Build - those show up still when actually using it, carried down from the parent race.
2. Allow me to rephrase that. You may publish variants/new subraces of existing races, but only those from the free content such as Dragonborn, Humans and Genasi. You may not publish recreated versions of paid-content subraces/variants, such as Forest Gnome, Orc or Tortle. Likewise, whilst Unearthed Arcana is technically free, it's also off-limits. You may not publish past-Unearthed Arcana entries as your homebrew.
3. Honestly? I have no idea what happens when you publish a race with PHB spells, and the recipient does not have the PHB. I assume they would see it as something they have, but not be able to see the spell details. I will have to look into this one and review it. For now it's safer to avoid non-Basic Rules spells.
4. Currently there is no way to make an actual custom language within the homebrew mechanics. However, until that feature presumably arrives (the developers have a long list of a lot of really cool stuff), you can just add it in as text in the description of a Languages trait for now.
5. Yes, and no. You cannot allow a player to pick two options from the same racial trait. What you can do is create a second trait with more options, and divide them by adding 'Prerequisite Racial Trait Option'.
It's a tad complicated but, for example, if you have three options you want a player to choose two from, you can let them pick one from the one set of options, then list them all twice in another trait with each option within that one only working if they have picked a different option in the previous racial trait.
I feel like picking two options from just the one trait should perhaps be possible. I will flag this up as feedback so the D&D Beyond staff can at least consider it.
6. Yep! All races let you choose a size, but only in the base race. You cannot become a different size with certain subraces.
7. There is no way to choose two subraces. However, you could create one race and its subraces, then create a copy from it as a template and tweak it. They would be separate, but you could keep certain traits, and copy in the same subraces and so give you the dual choices that way.
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
Is it ok if I include a link to a feedback thread on this forum in the description for homebrew content I create?
Hi there, I just had another quick question. So, I submitted a couple of weeks ago a half-dwarf (mul) race through homebrew and tried to give it a stronger Dark Sun feel (psionics/wild talents) and was rejected because some of the material I used was from the UA- Mystic class (the only source we had currently for psionics). Wich I completely understand.
So, I took off the stuff from the Mystic class, and went back and dug up some of of my old Dark Sun character stuff. I DM'd Dark Sun for a short bit 20 years ago and always loved the feel of the races and abilities. Then I put together a chart of about 20 interesting potential wild talents, updated the mechanics to fit better with 5e, and set it so you could roll for manifesting potential wild talents, like the wild charts they had back in the old Dark Sun Setting. After another week or so (took me a while, lol) I resubmitted and received the same rejection and was told I would be penalized if I resubmit without addressing (which I though I did).
My question is. What part of my update is taken from the Mystic Class, aside from flavor (though that could be said for anything that uses psionics). Also, what else would they need me to change about the psionics, or do they want me to remove it altogether?
Thank you in advance for your time and help.
PS: Sorry, I totally forgot, but here is the link to the my HB race.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/races/3526-mul
thank again.
Hi Xanatoz,
I'm not sure if there was a miscommunication, or perhaps even a small bug on our end where an older version of the page was displayed. Having reviewed your race, I can no longer see any infringement on the Mystic class. You're certainly welcome to use psionics, or the arcane, or any such 'powers' in your homebrew.
We're starting to crack down on a very small minority of players who constantly resubmit rejected races without any changes. This is down to the fact that reviewing races, given the amount of detail they can potentially have, is quite a lengthy process for us, and so this small minority ends up causing some hefty delays for the greater majority. Fortunately this doesn't actually apply to you.
Apologies for the inconvenience, and feel free to resubmit that race whenever you're ready to.
As a general heads up, if anyone wants to ask for more detail on why their homebrew was rejected, you can guarantee a direct line to us moderators by sending a Private Message to any one of us. Although the post above this is absolutely fine, some similar posts skirt very near to 'discussing moderator action', a violation of the site rules and guidelines. If you message us, we will make sure the right moderators are informed to get you the best reply possible. Moving forward, we have plans to improve the communication within the actual system itself, but it will take some time to implement—apparently awesome features like subclass homebrew and a major character sheet revamp take priority!
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
Thank you very much for the quick response & I completely understand. You guys are doing awesome job with what I'm sure is a ton of submissions.
Thanks again.
weird question, I want to make a Half-Dragonborn race for reasons, would it be better to base it on Dragonborn or half-elf?
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which would that be in your opinion? and how is the astral plane this time of year?