Informally known as 'sphinxfolk', leonine are a race of lion-like people that can change at will into an exotic human form. They typically serve sphinxes, travelling the world and bringing worthy challengers to face the sphinx's trials.
(As there are two types of sphinxes in D&D 5th Edition, leonine have two subraces, the androsphinx leonine (male) and gynosphinx leonine (female). With the latest update to homebrew races, both these subraces will be added to your collection when you add the parent race.)
Pureblood Dragonborn—a rare type of dragonborn with closer ties to their draconic ancestors. Their scales are extremely durable, their claws are stronger, and they often possess tails. In addition, they gain an extra boon from the standard dragonborn's draconic ancestry trait.
(Pureblood dragonborn are designed to be more powerful than the official dragonborn race, which are generally considered underpowered. These changes boost them to a Detect Balance score of 25, which puts them exactly at average. Their armor trait was inspired by Matthias' post in this thread.)
Shadow Dragonborn—an unusual dragonborn, whose scales have dulled to a dark charcoal hue despite the color of their draconic ancestry, with their forms flickering like smoke. Twisted by the Shadowfell, they are sensitive to sunlight, but have excellent vision in darkness, as well as the ability to blend into the shadows.
(Following the precedent of Pureblood Dragonborn, and my original Brineshell Dragonborn, these are also designed to be slightly more powerful than the official dragonborn race—without being overpowered.)
As with my other races, feel free to share any ideas, feedback or critique! Thanks!
Half-dwarf. You missed an as in the first part of the first sentence of the "Legendary Hatred" section. Under "Pragmatic and Versatile," you should probably put an apostrophe at the end of cousins in the first sentence (so you aren't comparing [half-dwarves' roles in society] and [humans]) and replace other such professions in the second sentence with something along the lines of so forth (for much the same reason). Under "Half-Dwarf Names," replace the yet in the first sentence with a comma and an each, and review the second sentence. Why is there a "Subrace" heading when the race has no subraces? Under "Alignment," it should be either law or lawfulness, not lawful. Vengeful Retaliation should drop the phrase melee, ranged, or spell as there are no other types of attacks, remove choose to as it's already considered optional because of the word can, remove movement as it's just generally redundant, remove melee or ranged as there are no other types of weapon attacks, and replace the phrase Vengeful Retaliation in the description with this ability because that's the way everything else is phrased. Balance-wise, it looks a bit too good, rather like the variant human; maybe cut it down to one skill, instead of two?
Pureblood dragonborn. I'd be a bit happier if the second column of the Gift of Purity table was more detailed ("You can hold your breath for up to 15 minutes," and so on). Other than that, the only problems I can see are merely a matter of personal preference. On a non-grammatical, non-developmental note, Gift of Purity is positively inspired; I would've just given their breath weapon recharge 6 and called it a day.
Raven aarakocra. The only problem I can see is that you capitalized the name of a magic item (potion of invisibility), which the books don't. Incidentally, the word whilst is quite rare in American English.
I have a project where I have someone transform into a Lich Dragon and technically is not the final boss! But these for more or less the second story arc. The first story arc is taking on three separate bosses there actually be normal minions underage your servitude of the guide to become a Dragon.
I have a project where I have someone transform into a Lich Dragon and technically is not the final boss! But these for more or less the second story arc. The first story arc is taking on three separate bosses there actually be normal minions underage your servitude of the guide to become a Dragon.
What are you talking about, and why are you talking about it in this thread?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
The Leonine traits description says "It’s hard to make generalizations about humans, but your human character has these traits." I suggest turning Keeper of Knowledge and Bastion of Knowledge into one trait for the race as a whole. It might also be a nice sidebar to have rules around becoming a Leonine, as I suspect that a DM might find that interesting.
Is the pureblood dragonborn's claws strength based?
"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
"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
I've made all the grammar corrections to the half-dwarf, and both removed a skill and nerfed Vengeful Retaliation so it's once per long rest, as opposed to per short rest. It was definitely way too strong.
I'll have to mull over the pureblood dragonborn's Gift of Purity table. I see where you're coming from, but I've just tried changing it and the repeat of so many full sentences looked a little tedious, as well as more difficult to pick out the actual effect. I'm glad you like it though.
Regarding the abomination, those are all fun creatures! I could have added all sorts of options to it really, but feared it would get a little overwhelming. It's already the most difficult race to put together compared to the official races. Also, as a little bit of design trivia, I only chose traits from living creatures (even if fiendish). However, there are some brilliant undead effects that I may yet take inspiration from on a new race.
Finally, I've made those minor tweaks to the raven aarakocra.
Thanks!
@Astromancer:
Good catch on the leonine trait description. All fixed. I haven't the energy to make the change tonight, but the inclusion of a special section on the transformation is great—I had tried to cram in a condensed version of my original vision into the general description, so as not to flood the text with rules a player may not care to go through. I'll get to this tomorrow.
A pureblood dragonborn's claws are Strength-based. I shamelessly took the wording from aarakocra, which I believe is phrased to allow the unarmed attacks to run on the standard rules. (Strength by default, Dexterity if you're a monk.)
My latest races have finally been worked into the original post, and leonine finally have a 'quoted' section for DMs who may wish to offer the transformation to an existing player's character, or simply understand the process.
I also have a whole two homebrew monsters listed, which I may as well add. Both are inspired by novelty themes, but are fully-fledged monsters intended for actual use.
The result of a dark wizard empowering regular hunter sharks. These underwater terrors have had their eyes replaced by enchanted crystals, which fire beams of otherworldly magic.
(In truth, the result of a fellow moderator joking that I should make 'a shark that shoots laser beams'. Challenge accepted.)
Talos, god of storms, blessed a pack of brutal yet intelligent wolves with the ability to exhale destructive blasts of wind, and so ensured their survival when forced to hunt prey behind stone walls.
Ooh, monsters! I love monsters! As the harefolk* rogue said to the orange-furred ogre, "Monsters are such interesting people."
Ocular shark (part 1). Those numbers are just all over the place; +6 to hit, +4 Str, and only +1 damage (should be +4 damage); 10d10 Hit Dice, +3 Con, a +20 bonus to HP (should be +30), and average HP listed as 77 (10d10=55, 55+20=75); +1 Wis and +8 Perception (should be +3, or +5 with expertise); and DC 12 for one eye ray, DC 14 for the other (they really should be the same), and +1 damage on the DC 14 one (should be +4 if it's actually DC 14).
Ocular shark (part 2). Now that I've got that out of my system, on to the rest of it. I remember the ocular shark. I thought it was a joke. It seems I was right. I think I'll start being helpful now. With the new stat blocks, trait (including action) names are supposed to be in bold and italics. In the panic ray, that first be isn't strictly necessary (though I'm not sure whether the game requires it), you forgot to tooltip frightened, and I'm pretty sure it should specify that the target is frightenedof the ocular shark. Multiattack probably shouldn't capitalize the names of the actions it refers to, and the last bit should be reworded to something like "and makes one bite attack." It shoots eye rays, so should it be tagged as a beholder? And, finally, I notice that you put two spaces after each sentence (is that a British thing? I do it because my mother says I'm supposed to, but I can't remember seeing it in (m)any books), so you should probably add the spaces to the stat block.
Storm wolf. Do you have a problem with the equation 10*3=30, or do you keep changing your mind about your monsters' Con modifiers? I ask because you're currently 0 for 2. Anyway, the period is supposed to go after the recharge note ("Recharges after a Long Rest," "1/Day," or "Recharge 5-6") in the trait name. And please, please, switch the bite damage to 2d8+4 to match the thing's Strength bonus. In the description, you should get rid of the second comma in the second sentence of the second mini-paragraph (because with the power to shatter stone is modifying terrible blasts of wind), maybe swap the were in the second sentence of the first paragraph for a was (that sentence gives me a headache, as does trying to figure out why I want you to make that change to it), and rewrite the last bit of the third sentence of the first paragraph to clarify that the livestock was/were not penned inside the stone walls (maybe change in to within). Change the is in the second sentence of "Huff and Puff" to being, put a taking in front of the half in that same sentence, and add and not being knocked back after the last instance of damage in, again, that same sentence.
*You (or someone) need(s) to make a harefolk race. Give them at least two subraces: one a fast-talking, rogue-oriented Bugs Bunny subrace and the other a more martial subrace suitable for the Salamandastron boxing hares from Brian Jacques' Redwall series.
Edit: Whew. That's practically unreadable, isn't it? Sorry about that.
My monster game is clearly very weak! Be gentle with me.
I have updated both monsters with either your exact suggestions, or otherwise tweaked them further beyond your suggestions in some areas. Although your tone cuts like a jagged knife, I do appreciate all the corrections! As of such, just for you, I completely reworked the sentence with the were/was conundrum in the first paragraph.
My poor ocular shark was the first homebrew I ever made. I believe it makes a lot more sense now. I don't even think we could tooltip frightened when I released it, but I could be wrong. Regardless, hopefully it all makes more sense now. The reason I used two spaces is probably the same reason you use two spaces. I have changed my typing style, but it still slips in occasionally. It's a throwback to the days of typewriters, where the spaces were not automatically adjusted. When I was taught to type, it was by people who learned to type on typewriters. Good catch though, I have also corrected it.
And finally, I am strangely intrigued by the harefolk, if only for the opportunity to sneak in a reference to the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, or the Tortoise and the Hare story (Tortle and the Harefolk?). I'll add it to my list of ideas.
Legend has it that a ruthless inquisitor sealed a captured transmutation wizard in a pocket dimension, with the only gateway bound inside a tiny twenty-sided die. The story goes that the inquisitor, having no other use for this prisoner, would eventually release the wizard from his timeless mini-plane after ten years of repairing anything the inquisitor desired. That same legend has it this was four centuries ago. They say wizard has since perfected the art of mending, yet has gone entirely insane, with no obvious way to ever release him... Results may vary.
It's genasi time, and I may have gone overboard, but why settle for the existing four subraces when you can have ten? Genasi are one of my favorite races which I feel are sadly underrated. I like their strong identities, with clear traits and tropes to draw from the elements, yet the ability to make them unique.
Some of these I've made here are just variants of the existing four elemental genasi given significant changes (frost, smoke), some are unique fusion of two types (glass, mist), and some are inspired by 3.5 creatures—notably the material genasi are inspired by the jann, and my shadow genasi from the khayal. I've aimed for the 24-27 mark on the 'detect balance' score, although I think my mist genasi fall a little short of that—I didn't want them to entirely eclipse the weaker air genasi.
Given that the upcoming supplement, Tom(b)e of Foes, appears to deal with the planes, I may be updating some of these descriptions to work alongside the possible new lore when it's released.
I have tested all of them, but let me know if any errors slip through into the character builder. As ever, your feedback is appreciated!
A Charisma-based anomaly among genasi, not truly born of any element; rather, they embody an absence of elements and are associated with the Shadowfell.
I'm surprised by the lack of an ooze or Swamp of Oblivion based genasi, however I particularly enjoy the glass genasi. Is the mist genasi's vapor slip an ongoing effect or does it require an action?
"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
Just a quick heads up, I've noticed a few people have been publishing various copies of my homebrew races, from exact clones to minor changes. There's only been a small handful, and right now I believe they've all been removed from the public homebrew listing.
I want to be very clear to everyone—I am very happy for people to go out there and tweak my homebrew! After all, I made it for free. I only ask that you please don't try to republish any of them here, on dmsguild, or anywhere else.
It's honestly a compliment and I'm glad there are people who want to use what I've created. I'm even happy to personally help people tweak my homebrew, just keep to using those versions privately! If you really think deserves to be published then tell me, and if I agree I'll happily submit it and credit you with whatever part of its design you contributed to.
Thanks all!
In other news, I've 2-3 more races in the pipeline before I begin releasing a series of spells that I've also been toying with. That will probably continue up until the powers-that-be release homebrew subclasses, and I try my hand at a few of those.
Also known as rabbitkin, the harefolk are an energetic race that resemble their namesakes stood upright. They have three subraces: the mischievous rabbit harefolk, the competitive jackrabbit harefolk, and the elusive almiraj harefolk.
A peculiar Wisdom-based genasi born of the elements of earth and water. They are born with a ravenous hunger, and the ability to consume almost anything as food.
Ooze Genasi are really gross. I love it! I can see an ooze genasi barbarian or Circle of Land (Swamp) druid being really interesting as both a PC and NPC.
With the Rabbit and Almiraj's Ability Score Increase, make it clear that the ability increases to a total of 2.
"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
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It turns out I couldn't resist creating a few more homebrew races. Introducing:
Two new dragonborn variants.
As with my other races, feel free to share any ideas, feedback or critique! Thanks!
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My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
Sorry I took so long.
"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)
I have a project where I have someone transform into a Lich Dragon and technically is not the final boss! But these for more or less the second story arc. The first story arc is taking on three separate bosses there actually be normal minions underage your servitude of the guide to become a Dragon.
"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)
Is this talking about homebrew villains so I have to about the homebrewed villains? But I don't want to give out too much of the story!
The Leonine traits description says "It’s hard to make generalizations about humans, but your human character has these traits." I suggest turning Keeper of Knowledge and Bastion of Knowledge into one trait for the race as a whole. It might also be a nice sidebar to have rules around becoming a Leonine, as I suspect that a DM might find that interesting.
Is the pureblood dragonborn's claws strength based?
Tooltips | Snippet Code | How to Homebrew on D&D Beyond | Subclass Guide | Feature Roadmap
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
Tooltips | Snippet Code | How to Homebrew on D&D Beyond | Subclass Guide | Feature Roadmap
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
"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)
@Astromancer:
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
My latest races have finally been worked into the original post, and leonine finally have a 'quoted' section for DMs who may wish to offer the transformation to an existing player's character, or simply understand the process.
I also have a whole two homebrew monsters listed, which I may as well add. Both are inspired by novelty themes, but are fully-fledged monsters intended for actual use.
Ocular Shark - CR 4 - [Underwater]
The result of a dark wizard empowering regular hunter sharks. These underwater terrors have had their eyes replaced by enchanted crystals, which fire beams of otherworldly magic.
(In truth, the result of a fellow moderator joking that I should make 'a shark that shoots laser beams'. Challenge accepted.)
Storm Wolf - CR 3 - [Forest/Hill/Mountain]
Talos, god of storms, blessed a pack of brutal yet intelligent wolves with the ability to exhale destructive blasts of wind, and so ensured their survival when forced to hunt prey behind stone walls.
(No prizes for guessing what this parodies!)
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
Ooh, monsters! I love monsters! As the harefolk* rogue said to the orange-furred ogre, "Monsters are such interesting people."
*You (or someone) need(s) to make a harefolk race. Give them at least two subraces: one a fast-talking, rogue-oriented Bugs Bunny subrace and the other a more martial subrace suitable for the Salamandastron boxing hares from Brian Jacques' Redwall series.
Edit: Whew. That's practically unreadable, isn't it? Sorry about that.
"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)
My monster game is clearly very weak! Be gentle with me.
I have updated both monsters with either your exact suggestions, or otherwise tweaked them further beyond your suggestions in some areas. Although your tone cuts like a jagged knife, I do appreciate all the corrections! As of such, just for you, I completely reworked the sentence with the were/was conundrum in the first paragraph.
My poor ocular shark was the first homebrew I ever made. I believe it makes a lot more sense now. I don't even think we could tooltip frightened when I released it, but I could be wrong. Regardless, hopefully it all makes more sense now. The reason I used two spaces is probably the same reason you use two spaces. I have changed my typing style, but it still slips in occasionally. It's a throwback to the days of typewriters, where the spaces were not automatically adjusted. When I was taught to type, it was by people who learned to type on typewriters. Good catch though, I have also corrected it.
And finally, I am strangely intrigued by the harefolk, if only for the opportunity to sneak in a reference to the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, or the Tortoise and the Hare story (Tortle and the Harefolk?). I'll add it to my list of ideas.
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
"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)
I'm being slightly dramatic ;)
I may as well throw out some more homebrew whilst I'm posting:
Die of the Heartless Mender—inspired by Hartlessd20, D&D Beyond bug-fixer extraordinaire.
Legend has it that a ruthless inquisitor sealed a captured transmutation wizard in a pocket dimension, with the only gateway bound inside a tiny twenty-sided die. The story goes that the inquisitor, having no other use for this prisoner, would eventually release the wizard from his timeless mini-plane after ten years of repairing anything the inquisitor desired. That same legend has it this was four centuries ago. They say wizard has since perfected the art of mending, yet has gone entirely insane, with no obvious way to ever release him... Results may vary.
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
And we're back to my main focus, races!
It's genasi time, and I may have gone overboard, but why settle for the existing four subraces when you can have ten? Genasi are one of my favorite races which I feel are sadly underrated. I like their strong identities, with clear traits and tropes to draw from the elements, yet the ability to make them unique.
Some of these I've made here are just variants of the existing four elemental genasi given significant changes (frost, smoke), some are unique fusion of two types (glass, mist), and some are inspired by 3.5 creatures—notably the material genasi are inspired by the jann, and my shadow genasi from the khayal. I've aimed for the 24-27 mark on the 'detect balance' score, although I think my mist genasi fall a little short of that—I didn't want them to entirely eclipse the weaker air genasi.
Given that the upcoming supplement, Tom(b)e of Foes, appears to deal with the planes, I may be updating some of these descriptions to work alongside the possible new lore when it's released.
I have tested all of them, but let me know if any errors slip through into the character builder. As ever, your feedback is appreciated!
Frost Genasi
A Strength-based variant of water genasi that can turn their bodies into living ice.
Glass Genasi
A Wisdom-based fusion of earth and fire genasi with powerful magic, and glass-based utility.
Material Genasi
An unusual genasi with a brawn (Strength), brains (Intelligence) and a lesser affinity for all four elements at once.
Mist Genasi
A Dexterity-based fusion of air and water genasi that are mischievous hard to pin down.
Shadow Genasi
A Charisma-based anomaly among genasi, not truly born of any element; rather, they embody an absence of elements and are associated with the Shadowfell.
Smoke Genasi
A Dexterity-based variant of fire genasi. They are subtle compared to most genasi, and can learn to turn into smoke.
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My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
I'm surprised by the lack of an ooze or Swamp of Oblivion based genasi, however I particularly enjoy the glass genasi. Is the mist genasi's vapor slip an ongoing effect or does it require an action?
Tooltips | Snippet Code | How to Homebrew on D&D Beyond | Subclass Guide | Feature Roadmap
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
Ooze genasi—it sounds extremely weird, and that's why I think it's a brilliant idea. I'll add it to the list and see what I can make of it!
I'm glad you like the glass genasi. As for the mist genasi, Vapor Slip is passive/permanent, similar to Fey Ancestry.
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
Just a quick heads up, I've noticed a few people have been publishing various copies of my homebrew races, from exact clones to minor changes. There's only been a small handful, and right now I believe they've all been removed from the public homebrew listing.
I want to be very clear to everyone—I am very happy for people to go out there and tweak my homebrew! After all, I made it for free. I only ask that you please don't try to republish any of them here, on dmsguild, or anywhere else.
It's honestly a compliment and I'm glad there are people who want to use what I've created. I'm even happy to personally help people tweak my homebrew, just keep to using those versions privately! If you really think deserves to be published then tell me, and if I agree I'll happily submit it and credit you with whatever part of its design you contributed to.
Thanks all!
In other news, I've 2-3 more races in the pipeline before I begin releasing a series of spells that I've also been toying with. That will probably continue up until the powers-that-be release homebrew subclasses, and I try my hand at a few of those.
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
Introducing... Races by Request?! Maybe not, but here are some inspired by the suggestions of both Matthias and Astromancer's posts in this thread.
Harefolk - (Race+Subraces)
Also known as rabbitkin, the harefolk are an energetic race that resemble their namesakes stood upright. They have three subraces: the mischievous rabbit harefolk, the competitive jackrabbit harefolk, and the elusive almiraj harefolk.
Ooze Genasi - (Subrace)
A peculiar Wisdom-based genasi born of the elements of earth and water. They are born with a ravenous hunger, and the ability to consume almost anything as food.
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
Ooze Genasi are really gross. I love it! I can see an ooze genasi barbarian or Circle of Land (Swamp) druid being really interesting as both a PC and NPC.
With the Rabbit and Almiraj's Ability Score Increase, make it clear that the ability increases to a total of 2.
Tooltips | Snippet Code | How to Homebrew on D&D Beyond | Subclass Guide | Feature Roadmap
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