For the last few months, I’ve been working on a new homebrew race: the Sphurx. It’s basically an anthropomorphic skunk, but there’s more to it than that. Unfortunately, I only recently started DnD, and I’m not really sure if it’s too overpowered. That’s where you come in. I only need advice on the actual traits, and potentially the racial feat. I don’t intend to change the lore (aka pretty much everything else), except for grammatical fixes. For the time being, I don’t intend to publish this anywhere for the time being, but that might change.
Edit: Advised to not use a link to the google doc due to security reasons. I went ahead and pasted the details in a new post, although I don’t know how to format so it’ll look a bit wonky. You can still access it at tinyurl.com/lesphurx if you so desire.
I doubt many people will use your link for security reasons, but if you copy/paste the descriptions into a post here people can comment on it here for you.
Here’s a copy-paste of the google doc for those who don’t want to use the link (Thanks IamSposta!)
Homebrew Race: Sphurx
By Dev (EeveeBoi777)
“The elven hunter moved from bush to bush looking for his target. A green Dragonborn was said to be taking shelter in a nearby settlement. As he approached the supposed location, a rancid odor began to overwhelm his senses. As he stood up to get a better understanding of his surroundings, a striped creature confronted him. It got on its fours and raised its tail. “I’d recommend you get going,” said the creature. He slowly backed away from the beast and fled, fearing what it had in store for him if he didn’t.”
-an excerpt from The Lesser Known, by Uronaar Arjuuth
A Striped Beast
Sphurx are a bipedal race of creatures that resemble skunks. Their faces appear similar to a fox, except for a shorter snout and rounder ears. They also have a large, bushy tail that can be moved independently. They tend to walk on the tips of their paws. While they only have four digits on each paw, they are all opposable. They have soft pads and retractable claws on their paws, which contribute to a better grip on objects. There is a large stripe that runs from their snout to their waist, and it splits into two smaller stripes that meet at the tip of the tail. Although their body is mainly black, their stripes can be a variety of colors. Due to their lack of reproductive organs, they have no desire to have a relationship with others. They also don’t have traditional genders, although they do identify themselves as such. They often don’t wear clothes, as they feel no need to. They are often defensive and shy, finding peace in numbers. When threatened, they can emit a noxious spray from their rear that is then aerosolized. This leaves a vile odor that puts an ordinary skunk to shame. This smell doesn’t actually bother the Sphurx, nor does it actually bother Dragonborn.
Shaped by Gods
The Sphurx species was created by Thion, a green dragonborn turned god after a valiant fight. The Sphurx were created as a cope for Thion after his best friend Willow, a humanoid skunk, died during the final fight. Due to their lack of reproductive organs, Thion recreates the Sphurx who have done the best for their kind, as well as giving their kin new traits to aid their survival. When created by him, they are born into adulthood, having basic education, survival skills, and understanding of Sphurx culture.
Sphurx Society
Sphurx have closely knit groups, and are often highly defensive when they are alone. These groups are located in densely wooded forests and are mainly for safety, as they aren’t very strong by themselves. The settlements often consist of around 50 Sphurx, all of which share a close bond. They even are able to distinguish each other based on their spray. Due to stirking being performed in mass in these areas, a large area around these settlements have a putrid odor, much to the dismay of other creatures that might reside in the area. Very rarely, a Sphurx may venture outside of their group in an attempt to find themselves, often getting killed in the process.
Relationships
Sphurx share a great relationship with Dragonborn due to their spray not affecting them, often helping them out in any way they can. Lone Dragonborn will occasionally stop at Sphurx settlements, where they are provided with food and shelter free of charge. To a Sphurx, anyone who is a friend of a Dragonborn is a friend to them. However, other races don’t have much of an opinion of them, as they rarely venture far from the woods. Some races don’t even know that they exist due to them never venturing there. Nonetheless, they will try to aid any creature that needs it, as long as they can get past the smell.
Spray Production
The body of a Sphurx is able to utilize urine and turn it into spray. Due to the limited storage for spray and the rapid production of it, the Sphurx is able to survive off of 1/4 the water than normal, reducing the amount created. Due to the low amount of spray storage the Sphurx has, they must empty their spray storage regularly, often using a tree in a remote forest or similar. This practice is known as “stirking” by the Sphurx.
Naming Customs
Unlike most races, Sphurx use the same names for all genders, and they name themselves. These are usually based on precious stones, fruits, or tree types, however occasionally foul-smelling things may be used as a name. Names based on precious stones or fruit usually match the color of their stripe, and the use of the name “Willow” is forbidden to respect Thion’s fallen friend.
Ability Scores. Your Constitution score increases by 2, up to a maximum of 20.
Age. Sphurx are created into adulthood, knowing all that they need to survive. They have a fairly short lifespan of 40 years, but their age isn’t easily distinguishable from the outside.
Alignment. Most Sphurx are good, as they want to live up to Thion’s ideation.
Size. Most Sphurx usually weigh around 210 pounds and are about 6’6” tall.
Speed. Sphurx have a base walking speed of 30 feet.
Languages. As a Sphurx, you can read, write and speak Common, as well as Sphit, their native language.
Alert. Due to their timid nature, Sphurx have become proficient in perception and stealth.
Celibate. Due to their lack of romantic interest, Sphurx have immunity to the Charmed condition.
Darkvision. Sphurx are fairly active at night, thanks to their ability to see in the dark. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of yourself as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.
Bare Defense. While you aren’t wearing clothes and not wielding a shield, your Armor Class equals 9 plus your Dex modifier plus your Con modifier. This is overwritten by the Monk Unarmored Defense and the Barbarian Unarmored Defense. Additionally, while wearing medium or heavy armor, your speed is reduced by 5 ft. for medium and 10 ft. for heavy.
Sphurx Spray. By getting on their paws and lifting their tail, Sphurx can emit a foul-smelling liquid from their rear. You can perform this as an action, forcing each creature in a 20 foot cone to roll a Dexterity save with a DC equal to 8+CON mod+PROF bonus. On a failed save, the creature is poisoned and blinded for 1d4+1 rounds. Undead creatures, Constructs, Dragonborn, other Sphurx, and creatures that cannot smell automatically pass, while creatures with a keen sense of smell have disadvantage. Any creature or object struck by the spray regardless of the save has the scent linger for 24 hours or until the smell is removed, whichever is first. The scent cannot be fully removed without spells such as Lesser Restoration, and other attempts only mask it. As long as the smell hasn't been masked or removed, attempts to track or spot the affected target via smell have advantage. Sphurx gain an additional +5 bonus when doing this.
This can also be used via a practice known as stirking, which involves spraying a static object in a remote location.
This ability can be used a number of times equal to your con mod, with a minimum of one use. These uses are reset on a long rest.
Random Height And Weight
Table: Sphurx Random Height And Weight
Base Height
Height Modifier
Base Weight
Weight Modifier
6’2”
1d10
175 lbs.
2d4-2
Racial Feats
Spray Mastery. Requirements: Sphurx
You have learned to improve your spraying ability, increasing the potency and overall stench. The spray gets the following buffs:
You gain an additional use of your spray.
The range of the spray increases to a 30 ft. cone.
The DC of the spray gains a +1 bonus.
The scent now lasts up to 48 hours, and is much harder to remove, requiring more potent magic to remove it.
Ability Scores. Your Constitution score increases by 2, up to a maximum of 20. (The current standard is for the player to choose their own ASIs, either a +2/+1, or a +1/+1/+1.)
Age. Sphurx are created into adulthood, knowing all that they need to survive. They have a fairly short lifespan of 40 years, but their age isn’t easily distinguishable from the outside.
Alignment. Most Sphurx are good, as they want to live up to Thion’s ideation. (Players don’t like to be told what their alignment should be, that’s why they don’t include any comments on alignment for the newer races.)
Size. Most Sphurx usually weigh around 210 pounds and are about 6’6” tall. Your size is Medium. (Players like to be able to choose their own height and weight without being told what they should be. Just give them the mechanical size as that's all that's relevant for game purposes.)
Speed. Sphurx. (You) have a base walking speed of 30 feet. (Traits are written in the second person.)
Languages. As a Sphurx, you can read, write and speak Common, as well as Sphit, their native language.
Alert. Due to their timid nature, Sphurx have become (You are) proficient in perception and stealth. (People don't like to be told how to play their characters, and traits are written in the second person.)
Celibate.Due to their lack of romantic interest, Sphurx have immunity to the Charmed condition. (You have advantage on saving throws to resist or end the charmed condition on yourself.) (Again, players don't like to be told how to play their characters, and that was OP. Besides, there are other kinds of charm.)
Darkvision. Sphurx are fairly active at night, thanks to their ability to see in the dark. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of yourself as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.
Bare Defense. While you aren’t wearing clothes and not wielding a shield, your Armor Class equals 9 (7) plus your Dexterity modifier plus your Constitution modifier. This is overwritten by the Monk Unarmored Defense and the Barbarian Unarmored Defense. Additionally, while wearing medium or heavy armor, your speed is reduced by 5 ft. for medium and 10 ft. for heavy. (That's a bit OP at 9++, you don't need to mention the Monk or the Barbarian since that's already covered under the rules, and the part about the different armors slowing you down should be left out.)
Sphurx Spray. By getting on their paws and lifting their tail, Sphurx can emit a foul-smelling liquid from their rear. You can perform this as an action, forcing each creature in a 20 foot cone to roll a Dexterity save with a DC equal to 8+CON mod+PROF bonus. On a failed save, the creature is poisoned and blinded for 1d4+1 rounds. Undead creatures, Constructs, Dragonborn, other Sphurx, and creatures that cannot smell automatically pass, while creatures with a keen sense of smell have disadvantage. Any creature or object struck by the spray regardless of the save has the scent linger for 24 hours or until the smell is removed, whichever is first. The scent cannot be fully removed without spells such as Lesser Restoration, and other attempts only mask it. As long as the smell hasn't been masked or removed, attempts to track or spot the affected target via smell have advantage. Sphurx gain an additional +5 bonus when doing this.
This can also be used via a practice known as stirking, which involves spraying a static object in a remote location.
This ability can be used a number of times equal to your con mod, with a minimum of one use. These uses are reset on a long rest.
(That spray ability is overpowered. Also, poisoned and blinded is also a little redundant since they do much the same things in this instance. And the lingering stink is too powerful too. I would drop the poisoned condition since you don’t need it; add supplemental saving throws at the end of each of their turns to end the blinded condition, reduce the AoE to a 15-foot line or a 10-foot cube instead of a 20-foot cone; let the stench be removable with simple soap, and drop the tracking bonus to simple advantage. I would also not give Dragonborn or other Sphurx any special resistance either.)
I went ahead and modified it accordingly. I greatly appreciate the insight. Here’s the new version:
Sphurx Traits
Ability Scores. When determining your ability scores, you increase one of those scores by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or you increase three different scores by 1. You follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy.
Your class's "Quick Build" section offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You're free to follow those suggestions or to ignore them. Whichever scores you decide to increase, none of the scores can be raised above 20.
If you are replacing your race with a lineage, replace any Ability Score Increase you previously had with these.
Age. Sphurx are created into adulthood, knowing all that they need to survive. They have a fairly short lifespan of 40 years, but their age isn’t easily distinguishable from the outside.
Size. Your size is Medium.
Speed. You have a base walking speed of 30 feet.
Languages. As a Sphurx, you can read, write and speak Common, as well as Sphit, their native language.
Alert. You are proficient in perception and stealth.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of yourself as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.
Bare Defense. While you aren’t wearing clothes and not wielding a shield, your Armor Class equals 7 plus your Dex modifier plus your Con modifier.
Sphurx Spray. By getting on their paws and lifting their tail, Sphurx can emit a foul-smelling liquid from their rear. You can perform this as an action, forcing each creature in a 10 foot cone to roll a Dexterity save with a DC equal to 8+CON mod+PROF bonus. On a failed save, the creature is poisoned for 1d4-1 rounds, with a minimum of one round. Undead creatures, Constructs, and creatures that cannot smell automatically pass, while creatures with a keen sense of smell have disadvantage. Any creature or object struck by the spray regardless of the save has the scent linger for 4d6 hours or until the smell is removed, whichever is first. As long as the smell hasn't been masked or removed, attempts to track or spot the affected target performed by a Sphurx have advantage.
This can also be used via a practice known as stirking, which involves spraying a static object in a remote location.
This ability can be used a number of times equal to your con mod, with a minimum of one use. These uses are reset on a long rest.
Random Height And Weight
Table: Sphurx Random Height And Weight
Base Height
Height Modifier
Base Weight
Weight Modifier
6’2”
1d10
175 lbs.
2d4-2
Racial Feats
Spray Mastery. Requirements: Sphurx
You have learned to improve your spraying ability, increasing the potency and overall stench. The spray gets the following buffs:
You gain an additional use of your spray.
The range of the spray increases to a 15 ft. cone.
Better. I would still adjust the spray a little bit, maybe something more like this:
Sphurx Spray. By getting on their paws and lifting their tail, Sphurx can emit a foul-smelling liquid from their rear. As an action you can eject a spray in a 10-foot cone. All creatures and objects in the area are doused with the smell that lingers for 4d6 hours or until the smell is removed. As long as the smell hasn't been masked or removed, any Sphurx has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) and Wisdom (Survival) checks made to detect or track the affected target. Additionally, each creature in the area must make a Constitution saving throw with a DC equal to 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus; undead creatures, constructs, and creatures that cannot smell automatically succeed at this saving throw, while creatures with a keen sense of smell have disadvantage on this save. A creature is poisoned for 1d4+1 rounds on a failed saving throw, or half as long (rounded down) on a success. An affected creature can repeat this saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the condition on itself on a success.
You can use this trait a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier, and regain all uses whenever you finish a long rest.
That’s how I would suggest implementing that trait. It’s a little more powerful in some ways and a little less powerful in others, but more reliable and still balanced.
Aside for a few spots that were worded weird, this is really good. It also made sense to remove the “stirking” part, I doubt anyone is actually going to use it that way.
To be honest, I have only played around 10 sessions of DnD and none as a DM, so I really appreciate the help.
I might suggest the spray just poisoning them for 1 round. Rolling for X rounds is kind of cumbersome to track and just isn't very common in 5e. I'm not really a fan of the mechanic as either a player or a DM.
Personally, I really liked the Celibate feature. I think that it's a really neat description for a potentially interesting ability (yet immunity is obviously a tad OP). No offence to IamSposta, but the "Players don't like being told how they should play their characters" is a bit silly. A race should have a culture, ethics, lifestyle variants, lest they just become options for Min Maxers. For that what it is, this should never stop a player from playing the character how they want to play it, but alerts the player to how their specific character deviates from the general mass of their species. I would love to see this feature revamped, even if just as a blurb in the opening description, or replacing or merging with one of the less crucial features. Here's my best suggestion:
[replacing Alert and Celibate from the original document] Isolationist. Due to your natural apathy towards other creatures, you have advantage on contested Charisma checks. Your reclusive ancestry also allows you to gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.
I'm not sure if this is the specific feature or wording you intend for the race, I'm just spit balling. I do genuinely find the little societal quirks within each race to be very dynamically intriguing and help flush out how the world operates when these creatures are inserted. It can also help newer players who have a basic character concept fill in the blanks of who they could be, rather than reading through dozens of stat blocks and not know which race to pick.
…A race should have a culture, ethics, lifestyle variants, lest they just become options for Min Maxers.
…I do genuinely find the little societal quirks within each race to be very dynamically intriguing and help flush out how the world operates when these creatures are inserted.
Haven’t you noticed how WotC is intentionally divorcing culture from race/species, and generally not really giving any descriptions about racial societies anymore in the new races? They discontinued Volo’s Guide and replaced it with MtoF. All that lore is now essentially gone for new players, and the bland, generic nondescript versions of the races are what remains. Apparently the player base felt strongly enough about the subject to complain to WotC about it enough that WotC is now giving us absolutely no cultural information whatsoever regarding various races. 🤷♂️
Yeah, I've seen. Can't say I'm terribly satisfied with the changes. I have no clue who is complaining about the game lore, I have never met a single IRL player who saw a race description and was like "WHHHAAAT!?! My Half-Elf isn't a natural diplomat!! This is ridiculous and should be changed!!!" aside from the Dwarf 'Stonecunning' type stuff. I'm gonna let WotC figure themselves out and continue to promote interesting Homebrew races produced by the community. Worst-case scenario, you have to remove a few sentences of text in about 2-4 years for the race to be 6th edition compatible. You might as well have fun with it now.
Miraculous Origin. People can roll vs. Intelligence (Religion) to see if they know about your kind. Dragonborn have Advantage on the roll, and devotees of Thion automatically pass.
Genderless. You have been rendered neuter, asexual, and aromantic. You are immune to seduction and have Advantage vs. attempts to Charm you.
Inured. You are immune to the Stinking Cloud spell and other noxious smells. You do still need to breathe, however.
If this were my campaign, I'd rule that Thion seeks out worthy mortals and changes them into Sphurx upon death, giving them forty years of young, vigorous life. They remember dying, and bits and pieces of their former lives (just enough to start out as 1st-level characters). "Session Zero" would be the character waking up as a Sphurx. After the initial confusion, how do they react? How do they feel about Thion now? Will they seek out the Sphurx settlement or strike out on their own? Are other anthropomorphic creatures common in the setting, and if not, how do people react to a skunk? Are they prejudiced against them? Is the character determined to recover their memories, and if so, what path will they take? Will they turn to someone else for guidance? What will they do next? Let us know how it goes!
For the last few months, I’ve been working on a new homebrew race: the Sphurx. It’s basically an anthropomorphic skunk, but there’s more to it than that. Unfortunately, I only recently started DnD, and I’m not really sure if it’s too overpowered. That’s where you come in. I only need advice on the actual traits, and potentially the racial feat. I don’t intend to change the lore (aka pretty much everything else), except for grammatical fixes. For the time being, I don’t intend to publish this anywhere for the time being, but that might change.
Edit: Advised to not use a link to the google doc due to security reasons. I went ahead and pasted the details in a new post, although I don’t know how to format so it’ll look a bit wonky. You can still access it at tinyurl.com/lesphurx if you so desire.
I doubt many people will use your link for security reasons, but if you copy/paste the descriptions into a post here people can comment on it here for you.
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Here’s a copy-paste of the google doc for those who don’t want to use the link (Thanks IamSposta!)
Homebrew Race: Sphurx
By Dev (EeveeBoi777)
“The elven hunter moved from bush to bush looking for his target. A green Dragonborn was said to be taking shelter in a nearby settlement. As he approached the supposed location, a rancid odor began to overwhelm his senses. As he stood up to get a better understanding of his surroundings, a striped creature confronted him. It got on its fours and raised its tail. “I’d recommend you get going,” said the creature. He slowly backed away from the beast and fled, fearing what it had in store for him if he didn’t.”
-an excerpt from The Lesser Known, by Uronaar Arjuuth
A Striped Beast
Sphurx are a bipedal race of creatures that resemble skunks. Their faces appear similar to a fox, except for a shorter snout and rounder ears. They also have a large, bushy tail that can be moved independently. They tend to walk on the tips of their paws. While they only have four digits on each paw, they are all opposable. They have soft pads and retractable claws on their paws, which contribute to a better grip on objects. There is a large stripe that runs from their snout to their waist, and it splits into two smaller stripes that meet at the tip of the tail. Although their body is mainly black, their stripes can be a variety of colors. Due to their lack of reproductive organs, they have no desire to have a relationship with others. They also don’t have traditional genders, although they do identify themselves as such. They often don’t wear clothes, as they feel no need to. They are often defensive and shy, finding peace in numbers. When threatened, they can emit a noxious spray from their rear that is then aerosolized. This leaves a vile odor that puts an ordinary skunk to shame. This smell doesn’t actually bother the Sphurx, nor does it actually bother Dragonborn.
Shaped by Gods
The Sphurx species was created by Thion, a green dragonborn turned god after a valiant fight. The Sphurx were created as a cope for Thion after his best friend Willow, a humanoid skunk, died during the final fight. Due to their lack of reproductive organs, Thion recreates the Sphurx who have done the best for their kind, as well as giving their kin new traits to aid their survival. When created by him, they are born into adulthood, having basic education, survival skills, and understanding of Sphurx culture.
Sphurx Society
Sphurx have closely knit groups, and are often highly defensive when they are alone. These groups are located in densely wooded forests and are mainly for safety, as they aren’t very strong by themselves. The settlements often consist of around 50 Sphurx, all of which share a close bond. They even are able to distinguish each other based on their spray. Due to stirking being performed in mass in these areas, a large area around these settlements have a putrid odor, much to the dismay of other creatures that might reside in the area. Very rarely, a Sphurx may venture outside of their group in an attempt to find themselves, often getting killed in the process.
Relationships
Sphurx share a great relationship with Dragonborn due to their spray not affecting them, often helping them out in any way they can. Lone Dragonborn will occasionally stop at Sphurx settlements, where they are provided with food and shelter free of charge. To a Sphurx, anyone who is a friend of a Dragonborn is a friend to them. However, other races don’t have much of an opinion of them, as they rarely venture far from the woods. Some races don’t even know that they exist due to them never venturing there. Nonetheless, they will try to aid any creature that needs it, as long as they can get past the smell.
Spray Production
The body of a Sphurx is able to utilize urine and turn it into spray. Due to the limited storage for spray and the rapid production of it, the Sphurx is able to survive off of 1/4 the water than normal, reducing the amount created. Due to the low amount of spray storage the Sphurx has, they must empty their spray storage regularly, often using a tree in a remote forest or similar. This practice is known as “stirking” by the Sphurx.
Naming Customs
Unlike most races, Sphurx use the same names for all genders, and they name themselves. These are usually based on precious stones, fruits, or tree types, however occasionally foul-smelling things may be used as a name. Names based on precious stones or fruit usually match the color of their stripe, and the use of the name “Willow” is forbidden to respect Thion’s fallen friend.
Sphurx Names: Amber, Amethyst, Diamond, Emerald, Jade, Lapis, Onyx, Opal, Pearl, Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire, Topaz, Apple, Apricot, Berry, Cherry, Grape, Kiwi, Lemon, Lime, Mango, Melon, Orange, Peach, Pear, Plum, Acacia, Ash, Aspen, Balsa, Birch, Cedar, Cypress, Elm, Fir, Hemlock, Hickory, Maple, Oak, Pine, Spruce, Walnut, Carbon, Durian, Egg, Garlic, Onion, Sulfur
Sphurx Traits
Ability Scores. Your Constitution score increases by 2, up to a maximum of 20.
Age. Sphurx are created into adulthood, knowing all that they need to survive. They have a fairly short lifespan of 40 years, but their age isn’t easily distinguishable from the outside.
Alignment. Most Sphurx are good, as they want to live up to Thion’s ideation.
Size. Most Sphurx usually weigh around 210 pounds and are about 6’6” tall.
Speed. Sphurx have a base walking speed of 30 feet.
Languages. As a Sphurx, you can read, write and speak Common, as well as Sphit, their native language.
Alert. Due to their timid nature, Sphurx have become proficient in perception and stealth.
Celibate. Due to their lack of romantic interest, Sphurx have immunity to the Charmed condition.
Darkvision. Sphurx are fairly active at night, thanks to their ability to see in the dark. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of yourself as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.
Bare Defense. While you aren’t wearing clothes and not wielding a shield, your Armor Class equals 9 plus your Dex modifier plus your Con modifier. This is overwritten by the Monk Unarmored Defense and the Barbarian Unarmored Defense. Additionally, while wearing medium or heavy armor, your speed is reduced by 5 ft. for medium and 10 ft. for heavy.
Sphurx Spray. By getting on their paws and lifting their tail, Sphurx can emit a foul-smelling liquid from their rear. You can perform this as an action, forcing each creature in a 20 foot cone to roll a Dexterity save with a DC equal to 8+CON mod+PROF bonus. On a failed save, the creature is poisoned and blinded for 1d4+1 rounds. Undead creatures, Constructs, Dragonborn, other Sphurx, and creatures that cannot smell automatically pass, while creatures with a keen sense of smell have disadvantage. Any creature or object struck by the spray regardless of the save has the scent linger for 24 hours or until the smell is removed, whichever is first. The scent cannot be fully removed without spells such as Lesser Restoration, and other attempts only mask it. As long as the smell hasn't been masked or removed, attempts to track or spot the affected target via smell have advantage. Sphurx gain an additional +5 bonus when doing this.
This can also be used via a practice known as stirking, which involves spraying a static object in a remote location.
This ability can be used a number of times equal to your con mod, with a minimum of one use. These uses are reset on a long rest.
Random Height And Weight
Table: Sphurx Random Height And Weight
Base Height
Height Modifier
Base Weight
Weight Modifier
6’2”
1d10
175 lbs.
2d4-2
Racial Feats
Spray Mastery. Requirements: Sphurx
You have learned to improve your spraying ability, increasing the potency and overall stench. The spray gets the following buffs:
You gain an additional use of your spray.
The range of the spray increases to a 30 ft. cone.
The DC of the spray gains a +1 bonus.
The scent now lasts up to 48 hours, and is much harder to remove, requiring more potent magic to remove it.
Here are my suggestions:
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I went ahead and modified it accordingly. I greatly appreciate the insight. Here’s the new version:
Sphurx Traits
Ability Scores. When determining your ability scores, you increase one of those scores by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or you increase three different scores by 1. You follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy.
Your class's "Quick Build" section offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You're free to follow those suggestions or to ignore them. Whichever scores you decide to increase, none of the scores can be raised above 20.
If you are replacing your race with a lineage, replace any Ability Score Increase you previously had with these.
Age. Sphurx are created into adulthood, knowing all that they need to survive. They have a fairly short lifespan of 40 years, but their age isn’t easily distinguishable from the outside.
Size. Your size is Medium.
Speed. You have a base walking speed of 30 feet.
Languages. As a Sphurx, you can read, write and speak Common, as well as Sphit, their native language.
Alert. You are proficient in perception and stealth.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of yourself as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.
Bare Defense. While you aren’t wearing clothes and not wielding a shield, your Armor Class equals 7 plus your Dex modifier plus your Con modifier.
Sphurx Spray. By getting on their paws and lifting their tail, Sphurx can emit a foul-smelling liquid from their rear. You can perform this as an action, forcing each creature in a 10 foot cone to roll a Dexterity save with a DC equal to 8+CON mod+PROF bonus. On a failed save, the creature is poisoned for 1d4-1 rounds, with a minimum of one round. Undead creatures, Constructs, and creatures that cannot smell automatically pass, while creatures with a keen sense of smell have disadvantage. Any creature or object struck by the spray regardless of the save has the scent linger for 4d6 hours or until the smell is removed, whichever is first. As long as the smell hasn't been masked or removed, attempts to track or spot the affected target performed by a Sphurx have advantage.
This can also be used via a practice known as stirking, which involves spraying a static object in a remote location.
This ability can be used a number of times equal to your con mod, with a minimum of one use. These uses are reset on a long rest.
Random Height And Weight
Table: Sphurx Random Height And Weight
Base Height
Height Modifier
Base Weight
Weight Modifier
6’2”
1d10
175 lbs.
2d4-2
Racial Feats
Spray Mastery. Requirements: Sphurx
You have learned to improve your spraying ability, increasing the potency and overall stench. The spray gets the following buffs:
You gain an additional use of your spray.
The range of the spray increases to a 15 ft. cone.
The DC of the spray gains a +1 bonus.
Better. I would still adjust the spray a little bit, maybe something more like this:
That’s how I would suggest implementing that trait. It’s a little more powerful in some ways and a little less powerful in others, but more reliable and still balanced.
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Aside for a few spots that were worded weird, this is really good. It also made sense to remove the “stirking” part, I doubt anyone is actually going to use it that way.
To be honest, I have only played around 10 sessions of DnD and none as a DM, so I really appreciate the help.
Happy to help. If I might ask, what parts were worded weirdly? That’s pretty close to official wording and in some places is actual official wording.
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Well this is awkward, I must have read this when I was half asleep or something because it seems perfectly fine now.
No worries neighbor. If something sticks out to you or you remember what it was please just lemme know. I’m always looking to improve my work.
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I might suggest the spray just poisoning them for 1 round. Rolling for X rounds is kind of cumbersome to track and just isn't very common in 5e. I'm not really a fan of the mechanic as either a player or a DM.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Personally, I really liked the Celibate feature. I think that it's a really neat description for a potentially interesting ability (yet immunity is obviously a tad OP). No offence to IamSposta, but the "Players don't like being told how they should play their characters" is a bit silly. A race should have a culture, ethics, lifestyle variants, lest they just become options for Min Maxers. For that what it is, this should never stop a player from playing the character how they want to play it, but alerts the player to how their specific character deviates from the general mass of their species. I would love to see this feature revamped, even if just as a blurb in the opening description, or replacing or merging with one of the less crucial features. Here's my best suggestion:
[replacing Alert and Celibate from the original document] Isolationist. Due to your natural apathy towards other creatures, you have advantage on contested Charisma checks. Your reclusive ancestry also allows you to gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.
I'm not sure if this is the specific feature or wording you intend for the race, I'm just spit balling. I do genuinely find the little societal quirks within each race to be very dynamically intriguing and help flush out how the world operates when these creatures are inserted. It can also help newer players who have a basic character concept fill in the blanks of who they could be, rather than reading through dozens of stat blocks and not know which race to pick.
Haven’t you noticed how WotC is intentionally divorcing culture from race/species, and generally not really giving any descriptions about racial societies anymore in the new races? They discontinued Volo’s Guide and replaced it with MtoF. All that lore is now essentially gone for new players, and the bland, generic nondescript versions of the races are what remains. Apparently the player base felt strongly enough about the subject to complain to WotC about it enough that WotC is now giving us absolutely no cultural information whatsoever regarding various races. 🤷♂️
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Yeah, I've seen. Can't say I'm terribly satisfied with the changes. I have no clue who is complaining about the game lore, I have never met a single IRL player who saw a race description and was like "WHHHAAAT!?! My Half-Elf isn't a natural diplomat!! This is ridiculous and should be changed!!!" aside from the Dwarf 'Stonecunning' type stuff. I'm gonna let WotC figure themselves out and continue to promote interesting Homebrew races produced by the community. Worst-case scenario, you have to remove a few sentences of text in about 2-4 years for the race to be 6th edition compatible. You might as well have fun with it now.
Perhaps these?
Miraculous Origin. People can roll vs. Intelligence (Religion) to see if they know about your kind. Dragonborn have Advantage on the roll, and devotees of Thion automatically pass.
Genderless. You have been rendered neuter, asexual, and aromantic. You are immune to seduction and have Advantage vs. attempts to Charm you.
Inured. You are immune to the Stinking Cloud spell and other noxious smells. You do still need to breathe, however.
If this were my campaign, I'd rule that Thion seeks out worthy mortals and changes them into Sphurx upon death, giving them forty years of young, vigorous life. They remember dying, and bits and pieces of their former lives (just enough to start out as 1st-level characters). "Session Zero" would be the character waking up as a Sphurx. After the initial confusion, how do they react? How do they feel about Thion now? Will they seek out the Sphurx settlement or strike out on their own? Are other anthropomorphic creatures common in the setting, and if not, how do people react to a skunk? Are they prejudiced against them? Is the character determined to recover their memories, and if so, what path will they take? Will they turn to someone else for guidance? What will they do next? Let us know how it goes!