So my sister wanted to play as a slime, and since I don't have anything else to do I actually tried making a new playable race loosely based on the Lore given on the Monsters Manual about oozes. Now, writing lore and backgrounds is fun and simple, but I have no experience balancing races out. This is what I have so far in Traits and abilities, what do you guys think? too weak? too strong? too boring?
Slimes
Fluid body Slimes can change the shape of their bodies willingly, some with more ease than others. They can squeeze themselves through a hole, expand as a shield to protect someone from a nasty spray, among other things. (It should be a straight Constitution check)
Dissolvable body
Having such a flexible body has it's drawbacks. Slime's bodies will start dissolve if they get in contact with water or liquids. They'll take twice the water damage from any source (Water vulnerability). If they are under rain they will get disadvantage on all physical checks. If they are submersed in water or under heavy rain they will lose 1 HP per turn, or minute.
Poison damage resistance Slime's bodies are already somewhat poisonous, so for a poison to damage them it has to be incredibly powerful.
Traits No matter the type of slime, all of them share these particular traits.
- Ability score increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2. - Age. Slimes don't age, as long as they eat they'll live forever. - Aligment. Most Slimes are Neutral and the ones awakened by Juiblex are Chaotic Evil. - Size. All Slimes are Medium size, apart from Black slimes who are small. - Speed. Slime's base walking speed is 30 feet. - Languages. Slimes can speak Common and Abyssal.
Sub-races
Jellies Jellies's bodies are harmless to all types of items so they can use them to storage items. (Gain +50% of their total carrying capacity)
Black slimes These are the most fluid and acidic type of slime, but because of that they suffer even more mistrust than the rest of their kind. - Ability score decrease. Your charisma score decreases by 1. - Superior Fluid body. Advantage on Fluid body rolls. - Acidic body. When anyone touches the black slime they must make a Constitution saving throw higher than 10, if failed they take 1d6 of poison damage for each minute of exposure.
Stone slimes Due to being made of dissolved stone these slimes are stronger than their counterparts, they are also more stiff and have more difficulty making different shapes with their body. - Stiffer fluid body. Disadvantage on all fluid body rolls. - Ability score increase. Your strength increases by 2
Maybe give the slimes access to Alter Self by default with Con as Spellcasting ability? Or a version of Alter Self that replaces Aquatic Adaptapility with something else?
The thing is, I think alter self is too strong of an alteration spell. The slimes don't change that much. I just thought that letting them squish trough holes and spread like a shield without having to make rolls was too strong of a skill.
Oozes are acidic, so I would change poison to acid.
For Fluid Body I would word it like this: Your form is amorphous and can change at will. You can squeeze through a hole about 1in. in diameter. This also allows you to stretch your body to create cover for others. You cannot be wearing anything while using this feature. Alter dimensions for subraces.
Also add a ASI to the Jellies, like +1 Dexterity. Increased storage is good, but not enough to match the other subraces.
For the Gelatin Humaniods, you could ad either a strength or dexterity increase to reflect the more rigid form they have. +5 for the reach of unarmed attacks. This reach is used with disadvantage while attacking with one handed weapons and doesn't work with two handed weapons.
I love this, though Dissolvable Body seems a little harsh, and considering the new campaign with waterdeep, which from the sounds of it is an extremely vertical water based city, they would probably be impossible to use there, since the entire place would constantly deal damage.
But I think I might recycle the Fluid Body Trait to an extent for my homebrew race the Limeri if thats okay, they are kinda like this, but a lot tougher.
They can also cross breed with other races to mixed results, for example the Braftling, part Limeri, part Tiefling, and they will have an exclusive spell that lets them turn their arms into stretchable tendrils.
You could Let them Steal the bones of their enemies to make a humanoid form. You can really start making something Venomous if you get silly with the Black Puddings.
I am a little confused by the Dissolvable Body feature because, as far as I know, there isn't striclty a type of "water damage" that the creature could be vulnerable too. Water-based spells will many times deal bludgeoning damage.
That being said, I think that if you simply had everything listed after "(Water vulnerability) " as the actual effects they may be subject to, that would work fine. It may be worthwhile to also look at the vampire stat block in the Monster Manual and the way running water affects them if you are still looking for some inspiration
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Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Also considering the whole fact that slimes will simply just die to being in water is kinda too trope like. The whole falling into a puddle or being in heavy rain just seems more difficult to play the character of a storm happens along the way to a monster fight, when out of nowhere a sudden rainstorm happens and everyone else except for the slime is fine as the slime turns into a watery mass that just washes away, instead you should make it more fun where if the slime was out in the rain too long it suddenly grows to a human sized slime and the shock that a slime medium or large sized slime moving around with an adventuring party would make for a lot of fun with the party walking up to a gate to a sprawling city and the guardsmen caught off guard at the fact that there is a slime amongst the party that seems much larger than the the usual small sized blob makes for a hilarious reaction if played right. Also along with the whole takes a few bones of the opponent that was defeated allowing the slime to have a physical forms seems cool but what about if you did something like give the slime goo or jelly a racial ability to maybe learn a skill from a creature it has defeated
shouldn't slimes have immunity to acid? and heck even a resistance to non magical weapons , the fluid ones i mean (aka not rock ) (for the nonmagical not the acid resistance) in turn they would have a lower defense and/or total hp and possibly even heightened regenerative abilities (sort of a nerfed, though faster troll i guess as they are still killable even if the regeneration isn't stopped)
as an idea why not add a splitting/fusing ability where they can clone themselves (though reducing mass) to create multiple beings with one conscious mind, and them fuse into one body
and due to their fluid body they could have advantage against grappling, also would freezing be a problem for the slimes? the jellies i mean, as they dont have a very strong acid.
The cloning thing sounds like it would be interesting however if the ooze acquired its intelligence from a magic item granting it intelligence like described in the video then if it were to ever lose said magic item then would it not revert to its natural state and cease to be sentient? If this was the case you could technically create clones however would they not just be mindless oozes? yes, you could recombine with them again but they might potentially attack your party while separated. That being said, that does seem like a good balancing feature for such an ability. Splitting creates additional slimes that are hostile to all but you and maybe doing this it lowers your health depending on how much health you want to give your clones. I suppose another balancing feature provided by the magic item explanation is that you would only be able to squeeze through spaces that also allowed you to squeeze that magic item through also.
The demon lord of oozes and shapeless things will sometimes grant sentience to his creatures.
Magic Item
Whether by design of some wizards experiment or by sheer happenstance some oozes manage to acquire sentience after engulfing a magic item which, under normal circumstances, grants its hold a bonus to intelligence. Such items become the mind and nucleus of these oozes, and should this nucleus be removed the ooze reverts back to being a mindless monster with an intelligence of 0.
Sentient Ooze Features
Fluid Body. Oozes can move through an area as small as one-quarter its space without squeezing, or one-eighth its space when squeezing. Additionally you gain + 50% to your total carrying capacity and are capable of storing objects within your body. Retrieving an object stored within your body is an action.
Acidic Nature. Sentient Oozes have a Slam attack which deals 1d6 + acid damage equal to their Constitution modifier. Additionally, whenever you would take acid damage, reduce that damage by 2 + your Constitution Modifier.
Blindsight. Oozes have blindsight up to 60 ft. but are otherwise blind (thus negating the blind condition’s normal penalties) and are immune to gaze attacks, visual effects, visual illusions, and other attack forms that rely on sight unless gaining eyes from another source.
Ability score increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2, and your Intelligence and charisma decreases by 4.
Age. You do not age. As long as you eat, you will endure.
Engulf. Your liquid body gives you a +5 on all grapple checks, and pinned creatures can't breathe. As a bonus action you may deal your slam attack damage to any creature you are currently grappled with.
Formles body. Sentient oozes have slightly more control over their form then their natural kindred and can assume the general shape of any medium creature they have previously engulfed. Additionally you can manipulate objects, wield weapons and wear gear as the creature you are imitating as well as gain their land movement speed and produce any sounds they were capable of producing. Sentient Oozes can only imitate the shape of one creature at a time and all imitations are crude and do not function as a disguise.
Alignment. Most Oozes are typically Neutral however those awakened by Juiblex are Chaotic Evil.
Size. All sentient Oozes are Medium size.
Speed. Your base land movement speed is 20 feet.
Languages. You can speak and understand one language of your choice. You cannot read or write.
Hibernation. As a side effect of sentience, you require at least 4 hours of rest for your surrogate mind each day. Resting in this way grants the same benefit that a human gains from 8 hours of sleep.
Subspecies
In addition to the traits above, Sentient Oozes typically possess one of the following packages listed below.
Gelatinous Cube
These oozes gain resistance to electricity equal to their constitution modifier. Gelatinous cubes gain a +5 circumstance bonus to stealth that does not stack with invisibility. The acid from their slam attack only affects organic material and not stone or metal.
Jellies
The acid damage from the jellies slam attack only affects organic material and not stone or metal. Unless a creature succeeds at a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 Hit Dice + Constitution modifier), the acid damage affects any clothing and non-metal armor a creature is wearing on a successful attack, and also damages any wooden weapon that successfully attacks the jelly. This damage bypasses the material’s hardness.
Puddings
The acid damage of these black oozes slam attack does not bypass hardness but can damage both organic and metal objects but not stone. They have a climb speed of 20 ft, and the ability to suction. Activating or deactivating suction is a swift action, and as long as it is using suction, it moves at half speed, but may climb any surface with ease, even inverted ones. Suction also grants a +10 circumstance bonus to CMD vs. bull rush, awesome blows, and other attacks and effects that would physically move the target.
Amoebas
These fluorescent oozes have a 20 feet swim speed, a 10 ft. climb speed, and the ability to breathe underwater. Their bodies also produce dim light up to a 10-foot radius.
Stone slimes
Due to being made of dissolved stone these slimes are stronger than other oozes. All Sentient Stone Slimes strength increases by 2. Furthermore, they are often mistaken for golems, and when they remain still are indistinguishable from natural stone or rock.
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So my sister wanted to play as a slime, and since I don't have anything else to do I actually tried making a new playable race loosely based on the Lore given on the Monsters Manual about oozes. Now, writing lore and backgrounds is fun and simple, but I have no experience balancing races out. This is what I have so far in Traits and abilities, what do you guys think? too weak? too strong? too boring?
Slimes
Fluid body
Slimes can change the shape of their bodies willingly, some with more ease than others. They can squeeze themselves through a hole, expand as a shield to protect someone from a nasty spray, among other things. (It should be a straight Constitution check)
Dissolvable body
Having such a flexible body has it's drawbacks. Slime's bodies will start dissolve if they get in contact with water or liquids. They'll take twice the water damage from any source (Water vulnerability). If they are under rain they will get disadvantage on all physical checks. If they are submersed in water or under heavy rain they will lose 1 HP per turn, or minute.
Poison damage resistance
Slime's bodies are already somewhat poisonous, so for a poison to damage them it has to be incredibly powerful.
Traits
No matter the type of slime, all of them share these particular traits.
- Ability score increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2.
- Age. Slimes don't age, as long as they eat they'll live forever.
- Aligment. Most Slimes are Neutral and the ones awakened by Juiblex are Chaotic Evil.
- Size. All Slimes are Medium size, apart from Black slimes who are small.
- Speed. Slime's base walking speed is 30 feet.
- Languages. Slimes can speak Common and Abyssal.
Sub-races
Jellies
Jellies's bodies are harmless to all types of items so they can use them to storage items.
(Gain +50% of their total carrying capacity)
Black slimes
These are the most fluid and acidic type of slime, but because of that they suffer even more mistrust than the rest of their kind.
- Ability score decrease. Your charisma score decreases by 1.
- Superior Fluid body. Advantage on Fluid body rolls.
- Acidic body. When anyone touches the black slime they must make a Constitution saving throw higher than 10, if failed they take 1d6 of poison damage for each minute of exposure.
Stone slimes
Due to being made of dissolved stone these slimes are stronger than their counterparts, they are also more stiff and have more difficulty making different shapes with their body.
- Stiffer fluid body. Disadvantage on all fluid body rolls.
- Ability score increase. Your strength increases by 2
Gelatin humanoids
I still don't know what I should give these guys
GMT+1
I like writing, and playing DnD is like watching a story write itself. I love playing and I write some original stuff for the DMsGuild once in a while.
Maybe give the slimes access to Alter Self by default with Con as Spellcasting ability? Or a version of Alter Self that replaces Aquatic Adaptapility with something else?
The thing is, I think alter self is too strong of an alteration spell. The slimes don't change that much. I just thought that letting them squish trough holes and spread like a shield without having to make rolls was too strong of a skill.
GMT+1
I like writing, and playing DnD is like watching a story write itself. I love playing and I write some original stuff for the DMsGuild once in a while.
Oozes are acidic, so I would change poison to acid.
For Fluid Body I would word it like this: Your form is amorphous and can change at will. You can squeeze through a hole about 1in. in diameter. This also allows you to stretch your body to create cover for others. You cannot be wearing anything while using this feature. Alter dimensions for subraces.
Also add a ASI to the Jellies, like +1 Dexterity. Increased storage is good, but not enough to match the other subraces.
For the Gelatin Humaniods, you could ad either a strength or dexterity increase to reflect the more rigid form they have. +5 for the reach of unarmed attacks. This reach is used with disadvantage while attacking with one handed weapons and doesn't work with two handed weapons.
I love this, though Dissolvable Body seems a little harsh, and considering the new campaign with waterdeep, which from the sounds of it is an extremely vertical water based city, they would probably be impossible to use there, since the entire place would constantly deal damage.
But I think I might recycle the Fluid Body Trait to an extent for my homebrew race the Limeri if thats okay, they are kinda like this, but a lot tougher.
They can also cross breed with other races to mixed results, for example the Braftling, part Limeri, part Tiefling, and they will have an exclusive spell that lets them turn their arms into stretchable tendrils.
You could Let them Steal the bones of their enemies to make a humanoid form. You can really start making something Venomous if you get silly with the Black Puddings.
I am a little confused by the Dissolvable Body feature because, as far as I know, there isn't striclty a type of "water damage" that the creature could be vulnerable too. Water-based spells will many times deal bludgeoning damage.
That being said, I think that if you simply had everything listed after "(Water vulnerability) " as the actual effects they may be subject to, that would work fine. It may be worthwhile to also look at the vampire stat block in the Monster Manual and the way running water affects them if you are still looking for some inspiration
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Also considering the whole fact that slimes will simply just die to being in water is kinda too trope like. The whole falling into a puddle or being in heavy rain just seems more difficult to play the character of a storm happens along the way to a monster fight, when out of nowhere a sudden rainstorm happens and everyone else except for the slime is fine as the slime turns into a watery mass that just washes away, instead you should make it more fun where if the slime was out in the rain too long it suddenly grows to a human sized slime and the shock that a slime medium or large sized slime moving around with an adventuring party would make for a lot of fun with the party walking up to a gate to a sprawling city and the guardsmen caught off guard at the fact that there is a slime amongst the party that seems much larger than the the usual small sized blob makes for a hilarious reaction if played right. Also along with the whole takes a few bones of the opponent that was defeated allowing the slime to have a physical forms seems cool but what about if you did something like give the slime goo or jelly a racial ability to maybe learn a skill from a creature it has defeated
shouldn't slimes have immunity to acid? and heck even a resistance to non magical weapons , the fluid ones i mean (aka not rock ) (for the nonmagical not the acid resistance) in turn they would have a lower defense and/or total hp and possibly even heightened regenerative abilities (sort of a nerfed, though faster troll i guess as they are still killable even if the regeneration isn't stopped)
as an idea why not add a splitting/fusing ability where they can clone themselves (though reducing mass) to create multiple beings with one conscious mind, and them fuse into one body
and due to their fluid body they could have advantage against grappling, also would freezing be a problem for the slimes? the jellies i mean, as they dont have a very strong acid.
If anything slimes should be stronger in water, or drawn to it.
The cloning thing sounds like it would be interesting however if the ooze acquired its intelligence from a magic item granting it intelligence like described in the video then if it were to ever lose said magic item then would it not revert to its natural state and cease to be sentient? If this was the case you could technically create clones however would they not just be mindless oozes? yes, you could recombine with them again but they might potentially attack your party while separated. That being said, that does seem like a good balancing feature for such an ability. Splitting creates additional slimes that are hostile to all but you and maybe doing this it lowers your health depending on how much health you want to give your clones. I suppose another balancing feature provided by the magic item explanation is that you would only be able to squeeze through spaces that also allowed you to squeeze that magic item through also.
So, what do you guys think of this?
Sentient Oozes
Awakening
Juiblex
The demon lord of oozes and shapeless things will sometimes grant sentience to his creatures.
Magic Item
Whether by design of some wizards experiment or by sheer happenstance some oozes manage to acquire sentience after engulfing a magic item which, under normal circumstances, grants its hold a bonus to intelligence. Such items become the mind and nucleus of these oozes, and should this nucleus be removed the ooze reverts back to being a mindless monster with an intelligence of 0.
Sentient Ooze Features
Subspecies
In addition to the traits above, Sentient Oozes typically possess one of the following packages listed below.
Gelatinous Cube
These oozes gain resistance to electricity equal to their constitution modifier. Gelatinous cubes gain a +5 circumstance bonus to stealth that does not stack with invisibility. The acid from their slam attack only affects organic material and not stone or metal.
Jellies
The acid damage from the jellies slam attack only affects organic material and not stone or metal. Unless a creature succeeds at a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 Hit Dice + Constitution modifier), the acid damage affects any clothing and non-metal armor a creature is wearing on a successful attack, and also damages any wooden weapon that successfully attacks the jelly. This damage bypasses the material’s hardness.
Puddings
The acid damage of these black oozes slam attack does not bypass hardness but can damage both organic and metal objects but not stone. They have a climb speed of 20 ft, and the ability to suction. Activating or deactivating suction is a swift action, and as long as it is using suction, it moves at half speed, but may climb any surface with ease, even inverted ones. Suction also grants a +10 circumstance bonus to CMD vs. bull rush, awesome blows, and other attacks and effects that would physically move the target.
Amoebas
These fluorescent oozes have a 20 feet swim speed, a 10 ft. climb speed, and the ability to breathe underwater. Their bodies also produce dim light up to a 10-foot radius.
Stone slimes
Due to being made of dissolved stone these slimes are stronger than other oozes. All Sentient Stone Slimes strength increases by 2. Furthermore, they are often mistaken for golems, and when they remain still are indistinguishable from natural stone or rock.