Hello and welcome to my homebrew series! This thread is intended to catalog and preview the many pieces of homebrew I have made on D&D Beyond.
Each piece of homebrew is intended to be balanced with the official D&D 5th Edition content.
All feedback is extremely welcome, and, hopefully, you can find one or two you might enjoy playing! Any suggestions, bugs, balance-critique or grammar corrections are appreciated.
You are a seasoned herbalist and brewer of remedies. Features: - Increase your Dexterity or Intelligence by 1 - Herbalism kit bonuses - mix better healing potions, and affect allies with potions you've made from a distance.
You have mastered the art of masonry and the study of stone. Features: - Increase your Strength or Wisdom by 1 - Mason's tools bonuses - advantage on checks to do with stone construction, deal 'siege' damage to objects/structures.
You have perfected the creation of poisons, their use, and developed a tolerance against them. Features: - Increase your Dexterity or Intelligence by 1 - Poisoner's kit bonuses - apply poison to weapons as a bonus action, advantage against poison.
You have dedicated yourself to the study of metalwork. Features: - Increase your Strength or Wisdom by 1 - Smith's tools bonuses - temporarily improve a piece of (medium or heavy) armor or a melee weapon, once per long rest.
Adept Series - 'Demiclasses' (Feats In The Style of Martial Adept)
You have made a minor pact with a powerful entity, known as a patron, and gained otherworldly powers. Features: - Choose one 1st-level warlock spell. You may cast it once per short rest. - Choose a 'minor invocation' as listed on the feat, giving you a 1st-level warlock spell related to your patron. You may cast it once per long rest.
You have studied the ancient druidic techniques of taking on the shape of an animal. Features: - Turn into small or tiny CR 0 beasts, otherwise following the rules of the druid class's Wild Shape. Ideal for scouting, stealth, and travel.
The hardier, aquatic cousins of land faring dragonborn, informally known as 'dragonturtle-born'. Features: — +1 STR/CON/WIS — Natural Armor — Steam Breath — Amphibious
A dragonborn with closer ties to the true majesty of dragons—from their hardened scales, to razor-sharp claws. (This variant is intended to be a more balanced version of the regular dragonborn, which is typically considered underpowered.) Features: — Natural Armor — Honed Claws — Gift of Purity
Forever changed by the powers of the Shadowfell, these twisted dragonborn can seemingly meld into darkness. Features: — Superior Darkvision — One With Darkness — Shadow Breath
Powerful, lively and near-mythical, these dune-bound nomads are driven by a fierce spirit. Features: — +1 STR/DEX/CON — Dune Born — Sand's Grace — Desert Goliath Weapon Training
Known for their coats of black feathers, raven aarakocra are marked by the dark energies of the Shadowfell. Features: — Darkvision — Sunlight Sensitivity — Dread Feathers
Humans may be considered the youngest of races, but no one questions their ambition, versatility, and grit. Features: — +1 to two Ability Scores — Inspired Spirit — Perseverance — Resolve
An elven cult once breached the alien plane of the Far Realm — now their descendants are wracked by a terrible curse. Features: — +1 CON — Ethereal Reach — Unleash Insanity — Waking Mind
An offshoot of wood elves, the wild elves of the forlorn wilderness are a primal people, with savage expertise. Features: — +1 WIS — Savage Weapon Training — Tribal Secrets — Primal Swiftness
A pale, steadfast genasi with the ability to turn their bodies into living ice. Features: — +1 STR — Acid Resistance — Might of the Glacier — Touch of Frost
A genasi born of fire and earth. Glass genasi are magically talented, and can turn their hands into glass tools. Features: — +1 WIS — Viewing Palms — Artful Glazing — Grasp of Glass
While most genasi are associated with one element, material genasi can harness all four elements at once. Features: — +1 STR /INT — Elemental Versatility — Material Manipulation
Born of the energies of both air and water, mist genasi have an ethereal quality and are hard to pin down. Features: — +1 DEX — Hold Breath — Vapor Slip — Gone with the Mist
Wracked by an unnatural hunger, the strange ooze genasi can eat almost anything non-metal. They are a combination of earth and water. Features: — +1 WIS — Darkvision — Mireborn — Hand of the Morass
Shadow genasi are an anomaly that represent the absence of the elements. They have an innate cunning and skill with illusions. Features: — +1 CHA — Superior Darkvision — Umbral Whispers — Void of the Shadow
A rare and subtle variant of fire genasi. Smoke genasi can not only see through smoke, but also turn into it. Features: — +1 DEX — Smogvision — Fire Resistance — Path of Smoke
Once no more than a construct, wrought of the flesh of the deceased, now imbued with soul. Features: — +2 STR/CON — Berserk Slam — Constructed — Lightning Resistance
A tiefling has fiendish essence in its ancestry — a cambion is the direct descendent of a mortal and fiend. Features: — +1 STR/DEX/CHA — Flight — Hellborn Power — Dark Blessing
A shapeshifter that masquerades as other humanoids. They are masters of deception, and readers of minds. Features: — +1 DEX/CHA — Shapechanger — Psychic Intuition — Insidious Impostor
A drow that has been cursed by the goddess Lolth, and transformed into a hideous elf-spider hybrid. Features: — +1 CON — Powerful Build — Spider Climb — Web Walker
A woodland spirit in female, humanoid form. Shy, alluring and mystical, the dryad is a fey creature that protects the forest. Features: — +1 WIS, +2 CHA — Fey Blessing — Woodland Magic — Forest Step
Powerful, fast, and utterly unpredictable, these chaotic outcasts are the product of an impossible union. Features: — +1 STR/DEX/CON — Elven Gift — Aggression — Erratic Dodge
Caught between two worlds, half-dwarves are skillful folk infamous for vengeance, and famous for their crafting. Features: — +1 CON/CHA, +1 to any Ability Score — Dwarven Resilience — Skill Versatility — Vengeful Retaliation
A half-goliath is not uncommon in the frigid mountain lands. Well respected, they can surprisingly adapt to fit in with either side of their parentage. Features: — +1 STR/CON, +1 to any Ability Score — Stone-Forged Skills — Gravel's Endurance — Shrug It Off
A person with the ability to shapeshift into a terrible beast, reminiscent of lycanthropy, created by a harrowing ritual. Features: — +1 STR/DEX/INT — Apex Predator — Eldritch Blood — Unnatural Movement
Four legs, four arms, and an inborn desire to manipulate and enslave. These chitinous, arachnid-people lurk in the darkest reaches of the forest. Features: — +2 DEX, +1 CHA — Natural Armor — Spider Climb — Strand Dancer
Created on the Elemental Plane of Earth, these regal, golden people can charm the eyestalks off a beholder. Features: — +2 CHA, +1 STR — Regal Presence — Golden Tongue — Earthen Bond
Giant badgers blessed by the Green Lord, Oberon, archfey of the wilds. These wise, well-meaning creatures are nocturnal forest sentinels. Features: — +2 CON, +1 STR/WIS — Keen Senses — Badger Claws — Careful Rover
Harefolk, also known as rabbitkin, resemble large hares and rabbits who stand upright. They are agile and mischievous. Features: — +1 DEX, +1 WIS — Keen Senses — Bunny Hop Subraces: Rabbit Harefolk — The swiftest of the harefolk, and most prone to playing tricks. Features: — +1 DEX — Down the Rabbit Hole — Out of the Hat Jackrabbit Harefolk — The largest and feistiest of harefolk, sometimes known as true harefolk. Features: — +1 STR — Powerful Build — Natural Competitor Almiraj Harefolk — Exotic, horned harefolk that are rumored to be related to unicorns, originating from normal almiraj. Features: — +1 WIS — Evade Predator — Spiral Horn
Leonine are a race of mystic, lion-like people. They are created by sphinxes from willing human devotees. Features: — +1 STR, +1 CHA — Inscrutable Riddler — Sacred Mind Subraces: Androsphinx Leonine — Male leonine that resemble an androsphinx. Features: — +1 to either STR, CON or CHA — Keeper of Knowledge — Fearsome Roar Gynosphinx Leonine — Female leonine that resemble a gynosphinx. Features: — +1 to INT and WIS — Bastion of Knowledge — Sphinx Cantrip
Wild elf.You've got an apostrophe in the second paragraph of the description that shouldn't be there (the word have indicates that wood elves isn't possessive), the features show up twice, and you can't seem to decide what to call the tool-proficiency-granting feature.
Brineshell dragonborn. You made this definition of brineshell, so you get to decide what the plural is, but I think brineshells would be better. However, you're using WotC's definition of triton in the second sentence, and they decided that the plural is tritons. And you seem to have missed a hyphen in the blurb. Balance-wise, they seem a bit too much better than ordinary dragonborn; I'd advise dropping Steam Breath to a long rest recharge.
Tenacious human. I would suggest trading the yet in the description for a but. As for balance, I think you might have overshot the mark a bit; Adaptable Learning is just barely weaker than the Skilled feat, Inspired Spirit reminds me of Resilient, and Determination is half of one of the UA human feats. Maybe tone Adaptable Learning down a hair, swap out Inspired Spirit for the halfling's Lucky, and replace Determination with something that reflects how attached humans are to what they perceive as reality. Oh, and you had the features show up twice again.
Coastwood halfling. Remove the commas in Watercraft (it refers to "any vehicle (water) up to the size of a keelboat") and change it to refer to "any water vehicle up to the size of a keelboat", remove the spaces around the various em-dashes, reconsider the phrase compact brawn, remove the commas after compact brawn and strong build ("strong build and mastery of watercraft" is, in that sentence, a complete noun phrase and not part of a list; and "have compact brawn and come from a skilled, sea-based culture" is also not part of a list), consider the possibility that sea-based culture and far-traveling seafarers are noun phrases (which would indicate that the commas after skilled and full need to go), add the Oxford comma to Coastwood Sea Training, stick an apostrophe at the end of the word hours in the sentence of improvised rafts (or add the word of; either way works), hyphenate far traveling (and consider removing the second l (which I don't insist you do because I'm pretty sure travelling is the British spelling, not a misspelling)), and make the features stop showing up twice.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Thanks, Matthias. One quick note is that the features need to show up twice, if only to function in the character builder in the way way as the official subraces do. The difference is that the official classes had their second set of features hidden in the view outside of the character builder. However, I agree it's odd, and is the reason some of the traits had different names, as I'd forgotten to update the new name to one of the necessary duplicates. We've seen this come up on the forums once before during the week, and perhaps needs to be fed back to the staff.
EDIT: I see a few posts on this subject have come up within the hour in another thread, and that I will indeed have to remove the duplicates, as the D&D Beyond Staff remove their own duplicates. I will work on that tomorrow when I have more time.
As for the em-dashes, I actually noticed Wizards' D&D material all uses them with spaces around them, more akin to journalists in newspapers (at least over here), as opposed to having no spaces as is the norm in pretty much all other content, as I understand it. You will see a mixture as you go through my races, as I only noticed this halfway through my homebrew race spree. When I can decide on which I prefer, I'll go through them all and standardize it.
As for travel(l)ing, I believe we use both over here, but I certainly do use it with double 'l's. However, like my em-dash dilemma, I am trying to format, phrase and word all of these as if they might be in official material. In other words, thanks for pointing that out, I am trying to use (and learn) American English for the purposes of my homebrew.
I've cleaned up the coastwood's text now. There's another few races that I either reworked a few times, or plainly rushed, which may suffer from equally extensive errors. So be warned if you do go through them! On the topic of the coastwood halfling, I had chosen 'vehicles (water)' to mirror the phrasing used in the relevant tool proficiency. On the other hand, having now checked the PHB, I see they're actually referred to as 'waterborne vehicles', which I have now changed it to.
All your other corrections have been implemented across the board, although I'm not certain as to what hyphen I've missed in the brineshell dragonborn's blurb. I'm still thinking over the brineshell's plural, I changed my mind more than once when I first created it.
Balance-wise, I've lowered the human's skill-giving trait to remove the tool proficiency. Somewhat amazingly I didn't realize my Determined feature had stolen half of the UA human feat, called Determined. I had originally called it Unwavering Resolve, and had not viewed that UA document in months until now. Nevertheless, I've left it there for the time being. The Tenacious Human was one of the hardest ones for me to balance, given that it's meant to be an attractive alternative to the variant human, and a free feat is hard to quantify into value, given how varied feats are. I'll be giving it some more thought, and hoping for some more opinions.
As for the brineshell dragonborn's balance, I am also undecided. I'm not sure if you noticed, but steam breath has a nerfed range compared to a dragonborn's normal breath weapon (20 ft., rather than 30 ft. range). Likewise, their resistance is locked to cold, whilst fire is generally considered the best resistance to get with the normal dragonborn. On top of that, the brineshell also has a 25ft movement speed, opposed to the standard 30. In return for those nerfs/being locked into a subpar resistance (from a min-max perspective), they have waterbreathing, a swim speed and natural armor. I would be more inclined to nerf perhaps the swim speed or natural armor, in order to balance it, if it is necessary. Thoughts on that?
As for the em-dashes, I actually noticed Wizards' D&D material all uses them with spaces around them, more akin to journalists in newspapers (at least over here), as opposed to having no spaces as is the norm in pretty much all other content, as I understand it.
On the other hand, having now checked the PHB, I see they're actually referred to as 'waterborne vehicles', which I have now changed it to.
That's two things I've learned from this. Thanks.
All your other corrections have been implemented across the board, although I'm not certain as to what hyphen I've missed in the brineshell dragonborn's blurb.
The hardier, aquatic cousins of land faring dragonborn, more simply known as 'dragonturtle-born'.
That blurb. It should be land-faring.
As for the brineshell dragonborn's balance, I am also undecided. I'm not sure if you noticed, but steam breath has a nerfed ranged compared to a dragonborn's normal breath weapon (20 ft., rather than 30 ft. range). Likewise, their resistance is locked to cold, whilst fire is generally considered the best resistance to get with the normal dragonborn. On top of that, the brineshell also has a 25ft movement speed, opposed to the standard 30. In return for those nerfs/being locked into a subpar resistance (from a min-max perspective), they have waterbreathing, a swim speed and natural armor. I would be more inclined to nerf perhaps the swim speed or natural armor, in order to balance it, if it is necessary. Thoughts on that?
I noticed the reduced range and movement speed, but I hadn't considered cold resistance being inferior to fire resistance. I'm just going to think "out loud" here.
The reduced range more than balances out the ignoring resistance while submerged, putting the breath weapon a bit worse than the base; the 25' swim speed more than compensates for the reduced walking speed, bringing them back up to dragonborn power level; not being able to choose a resistance is balanced by not being smashed to a pulp by water pressure; spells may not be balanced by damage type, but resistances are, as the DMG aasimar demonstrates, so being stuck with cold resistance instead of fire resistance is a disadvantage--possibly balanced by that waterbreathing.
I've often thought that dragonborn should have an unarmored AC of 13+Dex. I still think waterbreathing + cold resistance > fire resistance, but I'll now agree--or at least concede--that they're within the bounds of the acceptable in terms of balance.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
I still think waterbreathing + cold resistance > fire resistance, but I'll now agree--or at least concede--that they're within the bounds of the acceptable in terms of balance.
Waterbreathing (2) + cold resistance (3) is better than fire resistance (4), but regular Dragonborn are underpowered enough that I don't think it matters balance-wise.
Ability Score Increase - The Triton race uses an oxford comma for a series of 3 different ability score bonuses.
Age - "They swim hours after hatching" is grammatically ambiguous. Do you mean 'They swim for hours after hatching' or 'They can swim hours after hatching'?
Languages - You also want an oxford comma in "Common, Primordial, and Draconic", and you should include a line saying that this replaces the Languages trait of the base class.
Dang, how'd you come up with so many cool ideas? :0
In mod chat we're like, "Hey VT, why aren't there any black feathered raven aarakocra?" And he's like, "There is now."
To be honest, it's more: "Sorce, can I get my race approved, it's really cool" and I normally go "sure VT!" (and then reject them all and ban VT from the site). :P
Dang, how'd you come up with so many cool ideas? :0
In mod chat we're like, "Hey VT, why aren't there any black feathered raven aarakocra?" And he's like, "There is now."
To be honest, it's more: "Sorce, can I get my race approved, it's really cool" and I normally go "sure VT!" (and then reject them all and ban VT from the site). :P
Mods bromance in a nutshell.
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Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
Auricar. I don't normally associate the element of Earth with high Charisma, which only makes them that much more intriguing. In the "Natural Gravitas" section, in the last sentence of the second paragraph, you're missing an are. In the "Paragons of Law" section, in the second half of the second sentence of the first paragraph, you seem to be indicating that the dao now wish to see none subject to oppression. You've got a stray comma at the end of the male names. Under "Alignment," I would suggest reordering earthen and steady (and then considering the possibility that earthen heritage is a noun phrase); you also seem to have changed your mind about the plural sometime after you wrote that part and forgotten to change it accordingly. I think you should add "of your choice" to Regal Presence, change Immovable to Unyielding to match the PotA monsters, remove the bit in parentheses (and the word ability) from Golden Tongue, and replace the second sentence of Golden Tongue with the usual wording ("Once you have used this [feature/trait/ability], you cannot do so again until you finish a [(short or) long] rest.")
Edit: I almost forgot; you've got spaces around your em-dashes here, too.
Thanks yet again. I've reviewed the WotC classes, and it seems they only uses spaces around em-dashes in Volo's content, as opposed to the Player's Handbook. With that in mind, I'll start to remove the spaces across the board.
Two races of mine that I found both interesting but difficult to balance were the Abomination and the Dryad, which also happen to be polar opposites.
The design philosophy behind the Abomination was to create a 'psuedo-werewolf/vampire', something that can fill the gap for the player into their gothic horror/monstrous transformations. It seems to be fairly common for players to want to play a were-creature or vampire, yet hard to balance, both in terms of game mechanics and alignment with the rest of the party. With that in mind, the Abomination's alignment is free to choose, and overall it's something of a 'Build-Your-Own-Monster' race, where you have to choose between different traits that would, if combined, be too powerful. It has a humanoid (true) form, and a monstrous form with its supernatural features. I feel like those features are compelling, but could use some fine-tuning.
The Dryad is a simpler concept. I took the Dryad from Basic Rules, wrote my own description, and tried to rework it as a player race instead of a monster. Naturally it's a large nerf—the standard one has Magic Resistance, and 6 spells, among other features—but then monsters features don't have player class features to contend with. I believe it turned out fairly well in terms of representing a Dryad and yet, like the Abomination, I still feel it could be better balanced.
I can see your videoludical inspiration for the Abomination race, and u greatly approve. As to it's fine-tuning, what if the alternative form (which I would suspects increases physical stats at the expense of the mental ones) was triggered only under certain circumstances, instead of being strictly at will? Or alternatively, that a WIS save is need on order to maintain "control", maybe with increasing DC the more the character is hurt? On a failed save, the transformation occurs, but the character attacks the nearest target (friend or foe), and has the option of making the WIS save again at the end of their turn.
On the Dryad, I have no suggestion at this time ;p
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Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
Thanks LeK, that is a very cool idea, my only concern is it's going to be a lot of extra rules to remember/rolls to take up time. Perhaps it's a roll a DM might occasionally choose to call for, for story purposes, rather than a set mechanic.
The abomination is doing a lot, for good reason. Monstrous Sight, I would nix the action part but add another option, possibly like see invisibility or like a ghost's Ethereal Sight. In Apex Predator, Eldritch Blood, and Unnatural Movement, take the Monstrous Form only parenthetical and work it in to the main description. Move Orcish Aggression to Unnatural Movement. Make Stirge's Fangs an action and gaining temporary hit points should be optional and once per short rest. Add another option to Eldritch Blood, perhaps along the lines of the troglodyte's chameleon skin.
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
Chameleon skin is very intriguing. I do think it's a bit too powerful, especially if the player picks the Rogue class, but I'll look into a way to make a balanced version.
Likewise, I never thought about putting Aggression into the movement trait. I originally had a +5/10 speed planned for it, but it seemed a little plain next to the others. Aggression is much more interesting.
I'll work on a revised version that has 4 options across all the traits you can choose, as opposed to 5/3/3/3.
EDIT: I have finished the first revision to the Abomination. Changelog:
Renamed 'Monstrous Sight' to 'Unholy Sight'.
Specified that your Unholy Sight trait works in both your forms.
Added Kuo-toa Ether Sense to Unholy Sight. (Detect presence of invisible creatures/creatures the in Ethereal Plane within 30 ft., pinpoint their location if they move.)
Reworded several traits on how they only function in monstrous form.
Moved Orcish Aggression from Apex Predator to Unnatural Movement.
Buffed the dice of Trollish Regeneration from d4 to d6.
Added Troglodyte's Chameleon Skin to Eldritch Blood. (+10 to your Dex (Stealth) check if you remain still. Lost on movement, regained on spending your next turn without moving.)
Hello and welcome to my homebrew series! This thread is intended to catalog and preview the many pieces of homebrew I have made on D&D Beyond.
Each piece of homebrew is intended to be balanced with the official D&D 5th Edition content.
All feedback is extremely welcome, and, hopefully, you can find one or two you might enjoy playing! Any suggestions, bugs, balance-critique or grammar corrections are appreciated.
- VT
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
Feats
[All of my feats can be found here]
Expert Series - Crafting/Tool Use:
Herbalism Expert
You are a seasoned herbalist and brewer of remedies.
Features:
- Increase your Dexterity or Intelligence by 1
- Herbalism kit bonuses - mix better healing potions, and affect allies with potions you've made from a distance.
Masonry Expert
You have mastered the art of masonry and the study of stone.
Features:
- Increase your Strength or Wisdom by 1
- Mason's tools bonuses - advantage on checks to do with stone construction, deal 'siege' damage to objects/structures.
Poison Expert
You have perfected the creation of poisons, their use, and developed a tolerance against them.
Features:
- Increase your Dexterity or Intelligence by 1
- Poisoner's kit bonuses - apply poison to weapons as a bonus action, advantage against poison.
Smithing Expert
You have dedicated yourself to the study of metalwork.
Features:
- Increase your Strength or Wisdom by 1
- Smith's tools bonuses - temporarily improve a piece of (medium or heavy) armor or a melee weapon, once per long rest.
Adept Series - 'Demiclasses' (Feats In The Style of Martial Adept)
Pact of the Adept
You have made a minor pact with a powerful entity, known as a patron, and gained otherworldly powers.
Features:
- Choose one 1st-level warlock spell. You may cast it once per short rest.
- Choose a 'minor invocation' as listed on the feat, giving you a 1st-level warlock spell related to your patron. You may cast it once per long rest.
Wild Adept
You have studied the ancient druidic techniques of taking on the shape of an animal.
Features:
- Turn into small or tiny CR 0 beasts, otherwise following the rules of the druid class's Wild Shape. Ideal for scouting, stealth, and travel.
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
Races
[All of my races, subraces and variants here]
Variants of Official Races
Dragonborn:
Brineshell Dragonborn
The hardier, aquatic cousins of land faring dragonborn, informally known as 'dragonturtle-born'.
Features:
— +1 STR/CON/WIS
— Natural Armor
— Steam Breath
— Amphibious
Highblood Dragonborn
A dragonborn with closer ties to the true majesty of dragons—from their hardened scales, to razor-sharp claws. (This variant is intended to be a more balanced version of the regular dragonborn, which is typically considered underpowered.)
Features:
— Natural Armor
— Honed Claws
— Gift of Purity
Shadow Dragonborn
Forever changed by the powers of the Shadowfell, these twisted dragonborn can seemingly meld into darkness.
Features:
— Superior Darkvision
— One With Darkness
— Shadow Breath
Other Races:
Desert Goliath
Powerful, lively and near-mythical, these dune-bound nomads are driven by a fierce spirit.
Features:
— +1 STR/DEX/CON
— Dune Born
— Sand's Grace
— Desert Goliath Weapon Training
Raven Aarakocra
Known for their coats of black feathers, raven aarakocra are marked by the dark energies of the Shadowfell.
Features:
— Darkvision
— Sunlight Sensitivity
— Dread Feathers
Tenacious Human
Humans may be considered the youngest of races, but no one questions their ambition, versatility, and grit.
Features:
— +1 to two Ability Scores
— Inspired Spirit
— Perseverance
— Resolve
Subraces of Official Races
Elf:
Aberrant Elf - [Monstrous]
An elven cult once breached the alien plane of the Far Realm — now their descendants are wracked by a terrible curse.
Features:
— +1 CON
— Ethereal Reach
— Unleash Insanity
— Waking Mind
Drider Elf - [Monstrous]
— (See the 'D&D Monster Adaptations' section below)
Wild Elf
An offshoot of wood elves, the wild elves of the forlorn wilderness are a primal people, with savage expertise.
Features:
— +1 WIS
— Savage Weapon Training
— Tribal Secrets
— Primal Swiftness
Genasi:
Frost Genasi
A pale, steadfast genasi with the ability to turn their bodies into living ice.
Features:
— +1 STR
— Acid Resistance
— Might of the Glacier
— Touch of Frost
Glass Genasi
A genasi born of fire and earth. Glass genasi are magically talented, and can turn their hands into glass tools.
Features:
— +1 WIS
— Viewing Palms
— Artful Glazing
— Grasp of Glass
Material Genasi
While most genasi are associated with one element, material genasi can harness all four elements at once.
Features:
— +1 STR /INT
— Elemental Versatility
— Material Manipulation
Mist Genasi
Born of the energies of both air and water, mist genasi have an ethereal quality and are hard to pin down.
Features:
— +1 DEX
— Hold Breath
— Vapor Slip
— Gone with the Mist
Ooze Genasi - [Monstrous]
Wracked by an unnatural hunger, the strange ooze genasi can eat almost anything non-metal. They are a combination of earth and water.
Features:
— +1 WIS
— Darkvision
— Mireborn
— Hand of the Morass
Shadow Genasi
Shadow genasi are an anomaly that represent the absence of the elements. They have an innate cunning and skill with illusions.
Features:
— +1 CHA
— Superior Darkvision
— Umbral Whispers
— Void of the Shadow
Smoke Genasi
A rare and subtle variant of fire genasi. Smoke genasi can not only see through smoke, but also turn into it.
Features:
— +1 DEX
— Smogvision
— Fire Resistance
— Path of Smoke
Other:
Coastwood Halfling
Brawny halflings with a penchant for coastal life and seafaring.
Features:
— +1 STR
— Coastwood Sea Training
— Sailors and Fisherfolk
— Watercraft
Sky Gnome
A rare type of gnome, with feathery wings, and a lively yet dignified manner.
Features:
— +1 WIS
— Flight
D&D Monster Adaptations
Awakened Flesh Golem - [Monstrous]
Once no more than a construct, wrought of the flesh of the deceased, now imbued with soul.
Features:
— +2 STR/CON
— Berserk Slam
— Constructed
— Lightning Resistance
Cambion - [Monstrous]
A tiefling has fiendish essence in its ancestry — a cambion is the direct descendent of a mortal and fiend.
Features:
— +1 STR/DEX/CHA
— Flight
— Hellborn Power
— Dark Blessing
Doppelganger - [Monstrous]
A shapeshifter that masquerades as other humanoids. They are masters of deception, and readers of minds.
Features:
— +1 DEX/CHA
— Shapechanger
— Psychic Intuition
— Insidious Impostor
Drider Elf (Elf Subrace) - [Monstrous]
A drow that has been cursed by the goddess Lolth, and transformed into a hideous elf-spider hybrid.
Features:
— +1 CON
— Powerful Build
— Spider Climb
— Web Walker
Dryad
A woodland spirit in female, humanoid form. Shy, alluring and mystical, the dryad is a fey creature that protects the forest.
Features:
— +1 WIS, +2 CHA
— Fey Blessing
— Woodland Magic
— Forest Step
Half-<race> Races
Elf-Orc
Powerful, fast, and utterly unpredictable, these chaotic outcasts are the product of an impossible union.
Features:
— +1 STR/DEX/CON
— Elven Gift
— Aggression
— Erratic Dodge
Half-Dwarf
Caught between two worlds, half-dwarves are skillful folk infamous for vengeance, and famous for their crafting.
Features:
— +1 CON/CHA, +1 to any Ability Score
— Dwarven Resilience
— Skill Versatility
— Vengeful Retaliation
Half-Goliath
A half-goliath is not uncommon in the frigid mountain lands. Well respected, they can surprisingly adapt to fit in with either side of their parentage.
Features:
— +1 STR/CON, +1 to any Ability Score
— Stone-Forged Skills
— Gravel's Endurance
— Shrug It Off
100% Originals
Abomination - [Monstrous]
A person with the ability to shapeshift into a terrible beast, reminiscent of lycanthropy, created by a harrowing ritual.
Features:
— +1 STR/DEX/INT
— Apex Predator
— Eldritch Blood
— Unnatural Movement
Arachni - [Monstrous]
Four legs, four arms, and an inborn desire to manipulate and enslave. These chitinous, arachnid-people lurk in the darkest reaches of the forest.
Features:
— +2 DEX, +1 CHA
— Natural Armor
— Spider Climb
— Strand Dancer
Auricar
Created on the Elemental Plane of Earth, these regal, golden people can charm the eyestalks off a beholder.
Features:
— +2 CHA, +1 STR
— Regal Presence
— Golden Tongue
— Earthen Bond
Badgerfolk
Giant badgers blessed by the Green Lord, Oberon, archfey of the wilds. These wise, well-meaning creatures are nocturnal forest sentinels.
Features:
— +2 CON, +1 STR/WIS
— Keen Senses
— Badger Claws
— Careful Rover
Harefolk
Harefolk, also known as rabbitkin, resemble large hares and rabbits who stand upright. They are agile and mischievous.
Features:
— +1 DEX, +1 WIS
— Keen Senses
— Bunny Hop
Subraces:
Rabbit Harefolk
— The swiftest of the harefolk, and most prone to playing tricks.
Features:
— +1 DEX
— Down the Rabbit Hole
— Out of the Hat
Jackrabbit Harefolk
— The largest and feistiest of harefolk, sometimes known as true harefolk.
Features:
— +1 STR
— Powerful Build
— Natural Competitor
Almiraj Harefolk
— Exotic, horned harefolk that are rumored to be related to unicorns, originating from normal almiraj.
Features:
— +1 WIS
— Evade Predator
— Spiral Horn
Leonine
Leonine are a race of mystic, lion-like people. They are created by sphinxes from willing human devotees.
Features:
— +1 STR, +1 CHA
— Inscrutable Riddler
— Sacred Mind
Subraces:
Androsphinx Leonine
— Male leonine that resemble an androsphinx.
Features:
— +1 to either STR, CON or CHA
— Keeper of Knowledge
— Fearsome Roar
Gynosphinx Leonine
— Female leonine that resemble a gynosphinx.
Features:
— +1 to INT and WIS
— Bastion of Knowledge
— Sphinx Cantrip
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My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
Nothing wrong with obsession, I always say.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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Thanks, Matthias. One quick note is that the features need to show up twice, if only to function in the character builder in the way way as the official subraces do. The difference is that the official classes had their second set of features hidden in the view outside of the character builder. However, I agree it's odd, and is the reason some of the traits had different names, as I'd forgotten to update the new name to one of the necessary duplicates. We've seen this come up on the forums once before during the week, and perhaps needs to be fed back to the staff.
EDIT: I see a few posts on this subject have come up within the hour in another thread, and that I will indeed have to remove the duplicates, as the D&D Beyond Staff remove their own duplicates. I will work on that tomorrow when I have more time.
As for the em-dashes, I actually noticed Wizards' D&D material all uses them with spaces around them, more akin to journalists in newspapers (at least over here), as opposed to having no spaces as is the norm in pretty much all other content, as I understand it. You will see a mixture as you go through my races, as I only noticed this halfway through my homebrew race spree. When I can decide on which I prefer, I'll go through them all and standardize it.
As for travel(l)ing, I believe we use both over here, but I certainly do use it with double 'l's. However, like my em-dash dilemma, I am trying to format, phrase and word all of these as if they might be in official material. In other words, thanks for pointing that out, I am trying to use (and learn) American English for the purposes of my homebrew.
I've cleaned up the coastwood's text now. There's another few races that I either reworked a few times, or plainly rushed, which may suffer from equally extensive errors. So be warned if you do go through them! On the topic of the coastwood halfling, I had chosen 'vehicles (water)' to mirror the phrasing used in the relevant tool proficiency. On the other hand, having now checked the PHB, I see they're actually referred to as 'waterborne vehicles', which I have now changed it to.
All your other corrections have been implemented across the board, although I'm not certain as to what hyphen I've missed in the brineshell dragonborn's blurb. I'm still thinking over the brineshell's plural, I changed my mind more than once when I first created it.
Balance-wise, I've lowered the human's skill-giving trait to remove the tool proficiency. Somewhat amazingly I didn't realize my Determined feature had stolen half of the UA human feat, called Determined. I had originally called it Unwavering Resolve, and had not viewed that UA document in months until now. Nevertheless, I've left it there for the time being. The Tenacious Human was one of the hardest ones for me to balance, given that it's meant to be an attractive alternative to the variant human, and a free feat is hard to quantify into value, given how varied feats are. I'll be giving it some more thought, and hoping for some more opinions.
As for the brineshell dragonborn's balance, I am also undecided. I'm not sure if you noticed, but steam breath has a nerfed range compared to a dragonborn's normal breath weapon (20 ft., rather than 30 ft. range). Likewise, their resistance is locked to cold, whilst fire is generally considered the best resistance to get with the normal dragonborn. On top of that, the brineshell also has a 25ft movement speed, opposed to the standard 30. In return for those nerfs/being locked into a subpar resistance (from a min-max perspective), they have waterbreathing, a swim speed and natural armor. I would be more inclined to nerf perhaps the swim speed or natural armor, in order to balance it, if it is necessary. Thoughts on that?
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My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
That's two things I've learned from this. Thanks.
That blurb. It should be land-faring.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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Using Detect Balance on Brineshell Dragonborn, I get...
...which totals 27 BP. This is slightly above average (25), significantly higher than regular Dragonborn (20), and the same as a High Elf.
Waterbreathing (2) + cold resistance (3) is better than fire resistance (4), but regular Dragonborn are underpowered enough that I don't think it matters balance-wise.
Ability Score Increase - The Triton race uses an oxford comma for a series of 3 different ability score bonuses.
Age - "They swim hours after hatching" is grammatically ambiguous. Do you mean 'They swim for hours after hatching' or 'They can swim hours after hatching'?
Languages - You also want an oxford comma in "Common, Primordial, and Draconic", and you should include a line saying that this replaces the Languages trait of the base class.
Thanks again. I've made a few more changes, and will have another look tonight.
I'll also make a grammar pass over them all, and see if I can nail some of the obvious mistakes/typos.
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My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
Dang, how'd you come up with so many cool ideas? :0
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Wary the wizard who focuses on homebrew, for he can create nightmares that you wouldn't even dream of
Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
Auricar. I don't normally associate the element of Earth with high Charisma, which only makes them that much more intriguing.
In the "Natural Gravitas" section, in the last sentence of the second paragraph, you're missing an are. In the "Paragons of Law" section, in the second half of the second sentence of the first paragraph, you seem to be indicating that the dao now wish to see none subject to oppression. You've got a stray comma at the end of the male names. Under "Alignment," I would suggest reordering earthen and steady (and then considering the possibility that earthen heritage is a noun phrase); you also seem to have changed your mind about the plural sometime after you wrote that part and forgotten to change it accordingly. I think you should add "of your choice" to Regal Presence, change Immovable to Unyielding to match the PotA monsters, remove the bit in parentheses (and the word ability) from Golden Tongue, and replace the second sentence of Golden Tongue with the usual wording ("Once you have used this [feature/trait/ability], you cannot do so again until you finish a [(short or) long] rest.")
Edit: I almost forgot; you've got spaces around your em-dashes here, too.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
Thanks yet again. I've reviewed the WotC classes, and it seems they only uses spaces around em-dashes in Volo's content, as opposed to the Player's Handbook. With that in mind, I'll start to remove the spaces across the board.
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My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
Two races of mine that I found both interesting but difficult to balance were the Abomination and the Dryad, which also happen to be polar opposites.
The design philosophy behind the Abomination was to create a 'psuedo-werewolf/vampire', something that can fill the gap for the player into their gothic horror/monstrous transformations. It seems to be fairly common for players to want to play a were-creature or vampire, yet hard to balance, both in terms of game mechanics and alignment with the rest of the party. With that in mind, the Abomination's alignment is free to choose, and overall it's something of a 'Build-Your-Own-Monster' race, where you have to choose between different traits that would, if combined, be too powerful. It has a humanoid (true) form, and a monstrous form with its supernatural features. I feel like those features are compelling, but could use some fine-tuning.
The Dryad is a simpler concept. I took the Dryad from Basic Rules, wrote my own description, and tried to rework it as a player race instead of a monster. Naturally it's a large nerf—the standard one has Magic Resistance, and 6 spells, among other features—but then monsters features don't have player class features to contend with. I believe it turned out fairly well in terms of representing a Dryad and yet, like the Abomination, I still feel it could be better balanced.
Any thoughts on these two in particular?
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My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
I can see your videoludical inspiration for the Abomination race, and u greatly approve. As to it's fine-tuning, what if the alternative form (which I would suspects increases physical stats at the expense of the mental ones) was triggered only under certain circumstances, instead of being strictly at will? Or alternatively, that a WIS save is need on order to maintain "control", maybe with increasing DC the more the character is hurt? On a failed save, the transformation occurs, but the character attacks the nearest target (friend or foe), and has the option of making the WIS save again at the end of their turn.
On the Dryad, I have no suggestion at this time ;p
Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
Thanks LeK, that is a very cool idea, my only concern is it's going to be a lot of extra rules to remember/rolls to take up time. Perhaps it's a roll a DM might occasionally choose to call for, for story purposes, rather than a set mechanic.
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My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
I do seem to have the tendency of adding mechanics, that's part of the reason why I do not design races :p
Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
The abomination is doing a lot, for good reason. Monstrous Sight, I would nix the action part but add another option, possibly like see invisibility or like a ghost's Ethereal Sight. In Apex Predator, Eldritch Blood, and Unnatural Movement, take the Monstrous Form only parenthetical and work it in to the main description. Move Orcish Aggression to Unnatural Movement. Make Stirge's Fangs an action and gaining temporary hit points should be optional and once per short rest. Add another option to Eldritch Blood, perhaps along the lines of the troglodyte's chameleon skin.
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Astromancer's Homebrew Assembly
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
Chameleon skin is very intriguing. I do think it's a bit too powerful, especially if the player picks the Rogue class, but I'll look into a way to make a balanced version.
Likewise, I never thought about putting Aggression into the movement trait. I originally had a +5/10 speed planned for it, but it seemed a little plain next to the others. Aggression is much more interesting.
I'll work on a revised version that has 4 options across all the traits you can choose, as opposed to 5/3/3/3.
EDIT: I have finished the first revision to the Abomination. Changelog:
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My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]