Hello! I am new to D&D and have tried my hand at making characters. Recently I came up with a character I really like but wanted to check if the race I chose for her would work. Extra bit, she's called Odiviej (oh-dee-vei).
To answer the burning question, yes she's a hybrid, a human one, feel free to crucify me but please do so after I finish.
First up, her race modifiers:
To begin Odiviej is half kenku half human, this means her mods are as follows.
- 1 to charisma: Kenkus aren't seen too positively by other races, coupled with her halfie status and looks (discussed later on) her charisma isn't high by default
- 2 to strength: Since she is more smarts orientated and her class is either wizard, warlock or artificer, strength wasn't something I glorify too much and neither would she personality wise. Apart from this I thought it'd be a fun little detail since kenkus have weaker bones and in the real world hybrids can suffer from weakness by proxy.
+ 1 stealth: Kenkus are aided in stealth not only by their feathers, which Odiviej possesses, but also somewhat of an ability to hide themselves, this translates in part to her, while she isn't that great at it she is slightly above average
+ 2 agility: Going back up she has the internal build of a kenku (brittler bones) but it also means she is much more agile, being able to jump around and move easier than others.
Now onto abilities:
I have made it so, for playability purposes, she can speak common lenguage like humans and auran like kenkus, her vocal cords are akin to them and so her voice is hoarser. I'll admit that maybe, just maybe I did this so she can have a quirk where she makes bird noises when surprised or excited.
Now this isn't that much of an ability but it is a small patch, kenkus can't make plans all by themselves, but since Odiviej is part human she can make small, simple ones, but she still works better under orders. In fact, she is an amazing minion, following instruction naturally and with ease, her brain absorbs the knowledge given and archives it for later, coming up when needed.
Finally, appearance:
I thought for a while when designing her, sadly my ability to draw humanoids is absolute dumpster water so I have no art of her.
Odiviej's body is mostly covered by a thin layer of dark grey feathers, though they thin in patches along her shoulders, neck and back. Her arms and legs are covered by "scales", similar to those in bird feet, and her hands only count with 4 fingers that end in sharp talon-like fingers that are further apart than human ones, same for her feet. The palm of her hands and sole of her feet have normal skin, if not lighter in color than the rest of her.
Her skin is grey and dull, strangely she has no skin imperfections like moles or freckles. Her pupils are constantly dilated, making her iris a thin, golden ring that surrounds them. She lacks a nose and ears, but has bristly hair that seems to come in small separate locks.
Her feathers are soft and surprisingly neat, with an iridescent shine. (She preens herself almost obsessively, mostly when altered or stressed, which can be easy to achieve.)
That's that! Please let me know if you have ANY comments, nothing is unwelcome, just please tell me your reasoning, wether you like it or not so I can work on this further.
First of all, 5E doesn't do racial ability score penalties. Even beyond that, this is an absurdly weak character. She doesn't feel like a human-kenku hybrid, she's more "a human only worse" and the base human is the weakest PC race in the PHB. If you want to make a half-kenku, I'd recommend looking at the Custom Lineage in Tasha's Cauldron and using that as your starting point.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I agree and if you are new to D&D I wouldn’t be in a rush to make homebrew anything.
The standard now for all PC race ability score adjustments is +2/+1 or +1/+1/+1 and the player chooses where they go (can’t add them to the same ability score)
What the above have said is correct but on top of those, by 5e 'Stealth' and 'Agility' are both Dexterity traits so these wouldn't even be separate bonuses unless you randomly for a boost to an ability and a boost to a skill.
I would not starting homebrewing right away, at least not whole races / classes. I understand the temptation because people talk about how flexible the system is and you can create anything you want, but a lot of times it will just annoy your DM. I made the same mistake when I started out as a player.
Your abilities aren't actually abilities or game mechanics. They are roleplay notes, and as such they don't need to be part of a race description / write up.
My suggestion is start with something that exists already, and if that doesn't work, ask your DM if you can tweak it slightly.
The Kenku from the recent Monsters of the Multiverse fits all of what you want, so just start with that.
Hello! I am new to D&D and have tried my hand at making characters. Recently I came up with a character I really like but wanted to check if the race I chose for her would work. Extra bit, she's called Odiviej (oh-dee-vei).
To answer the burning question, yes she's a hybrid, a human one, feel free to crucify me but please do so after I finish.
First up, her race modifiers:
To begin Odiviej is half kenku half human, this means her mods are as follows.
- 1 to charisma: Kenkus aren't seen too positively by other races, coupled with her halfie status and looks (discussed later on) her charisma isn't high by default
- 2 to strength: Since she is more smarts orientated and her class is either wizard, warlock or artificer, strength wasn't something I glorify too much and neither would she personality wise. Apart from this I thought it'd be a fun little detail since kenkus have weaker bones and in the real world hybrids can suffer from weakness by proxy.
+ 1 stealth: Kenkus are aided in stealth not only by their feathers, which Odiviej possesses, but also somewhat of an ability to hide themselves, this translates in part to her, while she isn't that great at it she is slightly above average
+ 2 agility: Going back up she has the internal build of a kenku (brittler bones) but it also means she is much more agile, being able to jump around and move easier than others.
Now onto abilities:
I have made it so, for playability purposes, she can speak common lenguage like humans and auran like kenkus, her vocal cords are akin to them and so her voice is hoarser. I'll admit that maybe, just maybe I did this so she can have a quirk where she makes bird noises when surprised or excited.
Now this isn't that much of an ability but it is a small patch, kenkus can't make plans all by themselves, but since Odiviej is part human she can make small, simple ones, but she still works better under orders. In fact, she is an amazing minion, following instruction naturally and with ease, her brain absorbs the knowledge given and archives it for later, coming up when needed.
Finally, appearance:
I thought for a while when designing her, sadly my ability to draw humanoids is absolute dumpster water so I have no art of her.
Odiviej's body is mostly covered by a thin layer of dark grey feathers, though they thin in patches along her shoulders, neck and back. Her arms and legs are covered by "scales", similar to those in bird feet, and her hands only count with 4 fingers that end in sharp talon-like fingers that are further apart than human ones, same for her feet. The palm of her hands and sole of her feet have normal skin, if not lighter in color than the rest of her.
Her skin is grey and dull, strangely she has no skin imperfections like moles or freckles. Her pupils are constantly dilated, making her iris a thin, golden ring that surrounds them. She lacks a nose and ears, but has bristly hair that seems to come in small separate locks.
Her feathers are soft and surprisingly neat, with an iridescent shine. (She preens herself almost obsessively, mostly when altered or stressed, which can be easy to achieve.)
That's that! Please let me know if you have ANY comments, nothing is unwelcome, just please tell me your reasoning, wether you like it or not so I can work on this further.
First of all, 5E doesn't do racial ability score penalties. Even beyond that, this is an absurdly weak character. She doesn't feel like a human-kenku hybrid, she's more "a human only worse" and the base human is the weakest PC race in the PHB. If you want to make a half-kenku, I'd recommend looking at the Custom Lineage in Tasha's Cauldron and using that as your starting point.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I agree and if you are new to D&D I wouldn’t be in a rush to make homebrew anything.
The standard now for all PC race ability score adjustments is +2/+1 or +1/+1/+1 and the player chooses where they go (can’t add them to the same ability score)
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
What the above have said is correct but on top of those, by 5e 'Stealth' and 'Agility' are both Dexterity traits so these wouldn't even be separate bonuses unless you randomly for a boost to an ability and a boost to a skill.
I would not starting homebrewing right away, at least not whole races / classes. I understand the temptation because people talk about how flexible the system is and you can create anything you want, but a lot of times it will just annoy your DM. I made the same mistake when I started out as a player.
Your abilities aren't actually abilities or game mechanics. They are roleplay notes, and as such they don't need to be part of a race description / write up.
My suggestion is start with something that exists already, and if that doesn't work, ask your DM if you can tweak it slightly.
The Kenku from the recent Monsters of the Multiverse fits all of what you want, so just start with that.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/races/1026394-kenku
(market link: https://www.dndbeyond.com/marketplace/sourcebooks/mordenkainen-presents-monsters-of-the-multiverse)
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