Well met! I'm new here, and testing out some DDB features. I just posted a dinosaur folk race with 6 subraces that I designed a while ago for one of my homebrew settings. Would like some feedback as to how balanced you all think it is and how fun you think it might be to play.
Please note that this is not intended as a re-do of Forgotten Realms saurials. I didn't know about them until after I had made my notes for this race and went to see what others have done with a similar concept. In homage to the saurials, though, I did add in some tweaks to my spearcrown (triceratops folk) and spiketail (stegosaur folk) subraces to give them a more wizardly and clerical bent, respectively. And I need to track down that saurials trilogy!
My direct inspirations for this race and its homebrew setting were Harry Harrison's Eden trilogy and Dinotopia. The design principle of my homebrew setting is "Dinotopia meets The Lord of the Rings."
Anyway, thanks, everyone! I hope I can find a way to put DDB to even more use soon!
Base race: not much going on here. The disadvantage for saving throws against cold damage is interesting: it a slight flaw, but not as bad as straight up weakness against cold. It shouldn't come up too often, and is flavourful. I like it.
Clubtail: a base AC of 17 (19 with shield) is a LOT. It also makes little sense that your natural armor does not benefit from your dexterity, I understand that the idea behind it might be that they're bulky and clumsy, but what if they get a 16 or even 18 dexterity ? Then we have a super agile character that's apparently unable to dodge a single hit. I would change that, maybe just giving them a +1 AC as long as they'not wearing a shield (so a "free" half-shield).
Duckbill: the spittle is fun. It's powerful, but requires an attack roll AND grant a saving throw, so it's ok. There's apparently no limitation as to how many times per day you can do it (is it intentional ?), and note that as a ranged attack, you will probably have disadvantage on your attack roll. I would also make the DC evolve with you, maybe 8+prof+Con modifier.
This subrace gets a lot of small stuff (2 proficiencies, bonus on passive stats, a reaction to blind, help as a bonus action), I would probably cut back a bit to bring it in line with the previous one.
Helmhead: this subrace doesn't get much. The bonus dexterity kinda says rogue, but the fleet of foot ability is just a lower version of Cunning Action rogue get at level 2.
As written, I don't think "In addition, you have advantage on all Athletics checks to shove an opponent when using this attack" does anything, since shoving is its own attack, so i'm not sure what the intent is here ? Is the headbutt supposed to give a free shove ? Or do I get advantage if I headbutted him this turn ?
Compared to the previous subrace, this one does not get much, even if nimble sounds cool, it doesn't protect from AoO, and probably won't come up that often.
Spearcrown: two proficiencies, a cantrip, a natural attack, and again an alternative way to calculate AC. Nothing very exotic here, but it works, and it's solid.
Spiketail: a cantrip, a (bad) proficiency, a natural attack, and resistance to fire damage. Without the resistance, this would have nothing to go for it, with it, it's... Okay, I guess ? Clearly not the most interesting of all, and a spell below the previous one.
Thunderfoot: breaks the mold of "+1 to another ability score", with a +2, is it intentional ?
The footsteps of thunder aren't really clear as written. As I understand it, if I have extra attack, I could use the attack action, attack once, and then cast a free thunderwave ? This seems like this shouldn't be a thing (breaks action economy), and casting thunderwave should probably take your whole action, as usual.
Intimidating Size is a bit strong, but ok. You might as well remove the size condition, unless players often intimidate creatures of size Large and over.
My main criticism would be that these subraces don't really feel all that different from one another, and the various ability increase other than str/dex don't really feel reflected in the subrace's abilities. I would probably play a little less with AC calculations, and maybe play with HP instead ?
Otherwise, I'd say most of them are rather balanced, the Duckbill probably should get a little less stuff, and the helmhead a bit more.
-- The clubtail's AC feature was taken more less verbatim from the Tortle package. Seemed appropriate for an ankylosaur. I'll give it some more thought.
-- Duckbill's spittle: you're right. I meant to include a sentence about requiring a long or short rest before using it again.
-- Helmhead's shove: per PHB, p. 195, a shove action works similar to a grapple. "You make a Strength (Athletics) check contested by the target’s Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check (the target chooses the ability to use). If you win the contest, you either knock the target prone or push it 5 feet away from you." So in context, an advantage on the Strength check seems like a pretty good ability as an effect of the head-butt. I'll re-write it for clarity.
-- Helmhead's Nimble: this is just a re-skinned halfling ability. Seemed appropriate for the concept of a charger.
-- Helmhead's Fleet of Foot: Hm, maybe a re-skinning of the Tabaxi's agility thing would work better. I did intend it to be a rogue-like ability for PCs who didn't take that class. Maybe just say that if you take the Rogue class, then Cunning Action supercedes Fleet of Foot. Hm...
-- Spiketail Training was meant to reflect the subrace's spiritual/healer reputation. But I agree, it's pretty weak sauce. I'll definitely replace it.
-- Yeah, the thunderfoot's +2 was intentional. These are brontosaurus people!
-- Footsteps of Thunder is meant to consume a full action, not be an additional one. I'll re-write it for clarity.
-- Intimidating Size would only apply to Medium creatures and smaller. Thunderfeet are Medium, since they don't get bigger than 8 feet (the upper limit for Medium size).
I'll sleep on all this. Thanks again for the critique!
-- The clubtail's AC feature was taken more less verbatim from the Tortle package. Seemed appropriate for an ankylosaur. I'll give it some more thought.
I didn't know that ! Weirdly, I can see it better on a turtle, even though my point should still stand. So this my just be my subjective perception at play here.
Also I just realised I missed the bit about inability to wear regular armor, so this seems fine. They might be stronger in the early levels, but this will smooth out as enemies to-hit bonuses start increasing, especially if friends start getting magical armors.
-- Duckbill's spittle: you're right. I meant to include a sentence about requiring a long or short rest before using it again.
And maybe saying the attack doesn't get disadvantage for being a melee ? I really like this feature, it's really cool, but I feel like it wouldn't work most of the time. If it's a 1/short rest, I would only put the saving throw at the end of the target's turn, to end the effect early.
Or maybe (a bit stronger), instead of an automatic saving throw, just let the victim use an action to be allowed a saving throw (sort of like the way Maze works)
-- Helmhead's shove: per PHB, p. 195, a shove action works similar to a grapple. "You make a Strength (Athletics) check contested by the target’s Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check (the target chooses the ability to use). If you win the contest, you either knock the target prone or push it 5 feet away from you." So in context, an advantage on the Strength check seems like a pretty good ability as an effect of the head-butt. I'll re-write it for clarity.
I know how shove works, my issue is with the wording:
"In addition, you have advantage on all Athletics checks to shove an opponent when using this attack". I understood "this attack" as being the headbutt, but I don't understand what it means in terms of game mechanics. Do I get advantage on all of my attempts to shove, or do I need to have headbutted my enemy this turn ?
Because when I use a headbutt, I'm not shoving. And when I'm shoving, I'm not using the headbutt.
I do agree that it's very thematic, I really like the idea, I'm just sincerely unclear on the actual mechanics and implementation.
-- Helmhead's Nimble: this is just a re-skinned halfling ability. Seemed appropriate for the concept of a charger.
-- Helmhead's Fleet of Foot: Hm, maybe a re-skinning of the Tabaxi's agility thing would work better. I did intend it to be a rogue-like ability for PCs who didn't take that class. Maybe just say that if you take the Rogue class, then Cunning Action supercedes Fleet of Foot. Hm...
It is, but I would say Nimble is hardly the best Halfling ability, rerolling all of their nat1 is. So this race has a natural attack, which works off of STR, which they don't boost, and has a small damage dice (which is normal for a natural attack), an ability that will do nothing for a rogue, and a circumstantial ability. Nothing really exciting.
You don't have to say anything about Cunning Action superceding Fleet of Foot, since it's already the case. Maybe you could say that dashing lets you move 3*your speed, instead of 2*your speed ? This way, everyone gets a boost, and it could represent the charging abilities of this subrace.
I would probably say that doing so would limit you to moving in a straight line only. So you can either regular dash, or you can "double dash" in a straight line.
-- Spiketail Training was meant to reflect the subrace's spiritual/healer reputation. But I agree, it's pretty weak sauce. I'll definitely replace it.
It doesn't have to be replaced, Artisan Tool and Kit proficiencies can be fun, but they're not worth a lot. I think this subrace could do with one defining "big" thing, on top of what it has.
-- Intimidating Size would only apply to Medium creatures and smaller. Thunderfeet are Medium, since they don't get bigger than 8 feet (the upper limit for Medium size).
My point was that it makes the player remember a limitation that will almost never arise. Or maybe it's just the way I play, but PC mostly tend to interact with Medium-sized creatures, and whey it's a Large or over, intimidation is usually not their first instinct ;)
-- Spittle attack: 1/short rest. Target has to take an action for a DC 8+prof+Con mod save to end the effect.
-- Remove duckbill's proficiencies in Perception & Investigation. Maybe give those to spiketail instead?
-- Fleet Of Foot: Works like the longstrider spell but with a shorter duration. Recharges after a long rest. Alternately, the doubled speed lasts for entire turn, instead of just for one action, a la the tabaxi.
-- Make head-butt a stand-alone natural attack. Give the helmhead something like the Charger feat as a special ability.
-- Re-phrase the thunderfoot's Large-Bodied to Powerful Build, a la Goliaths and Firbolgs
-- Give spiketails advantage on all Insight checks instead of the tool proficiency. Also, give them the ability at 3rd level to use Truesight for one turn by spending an action and concentrating. Recharge after a long rest.
Duckbill -- Blinding Spittle: As a reaction to being hit by a melee attack, you can make a ranged attack to spit at your opponent’s face. If your spitting attack is successful, the target suffers from the Blinded condition until they take an action to make a Constitution saving throw against a DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier. You cannot use this feature again until after you have taken a short rest.
The subrace no longer has the Situational Awareness feature.
Spiketail -- Spiketail Training: Spiketails are known as keen observers of behavior, and are instilled with a love of spiritual pursuits at a young age. You have advantage on two of the following ability checks of your choice: Intelligence (Arcana), Intelligence (Religion), Wisdom (Animal Handling), or Wisdom (Insight). Your choice of skills to gain advantage on is permanent.
Thunderfoot - Footsteps of Thunder: You can channel the mighty power of your behemoth ancestors in a single great stomp that levels your foes. On your turn, you can use your action to stomp on the ground, and cast thunderwave as a 1st level spell, using Strength as your spellcasting ability. You must complete a long rest before using this feature again.
Thunderfoot - Menacing Size: You tower over your dinosapien kin, and are among the largest bipeds in the known world. Though your size is still Medium, your full height can be 8 feet, 2 of which are your neck alone. You weigh between 350 to 450 lbs. You can use this size to great effect. You add your Strength modifier (to a minimum of +0) to all Charisma (Intimidation) checks.
The Large-Bodied feature is now called Powerful Build, so that it reads the same as the identical feature for firbolgs and goliaths.
Just a wording thing, advantage are usually granted to skill, rather than skill+attribute combination, to take into account the possibility of, say, anintelligence (animal handling) check. See "Variant: skill with different abilities", in the PHB p175.
Thanks for the feedback, once again! I think these will be the final form of this race. Now onto my next race, and other stuff for my homebrew campaign world.
So, for those who might be interested, I am going to use this thread to work out the details of my pterosaur-folk race/subraces before posting anything about them in the Homebrew database. Once I get the final form achieved, I will put in it the Homebrew races. Feedback welcome!
The pterosapiens (as they are called by humans) or vrinshreen(as they call themselves) are a clade of reptilian humanoids who display traits in common with pterosaurs. They were once a diverse order of life, but thanks to long rivalries with and a major war (which they lost) against the bird-folk races, their population has been reduced to only two "subraces." These are the small-bodied Elderwing (Ramphorhyncid) and the large-bodied Wanderwing (Pterodactylid).
Tradition holds that the elderwings were the first of the flying folk, and thus they are held in high regard by the wanderwings. They are an arboreal species who make their homes in forest lands, and their communities tend to be insular.
Wanderwings are tribal and nomadic, rarely settling in one area for more than a season. It was their competition for roosting and nesting grounds with bird-folk which sparked the tragic Bleeding Sky Years that decimated so much of their population generations ago.
Pterosapien (The Vrinshreen) Traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2. Your subrace grants you an additional ability score increase.
Age. Pterosapiens age in a fashion similar to their dinosapien cousins. They reach full adulthood by 15, and can live up to 100 years.
Alignment. Vrinshreen are more free-spirited than the vrintralla. They tend towards chaotic and good alignments.
Flight. You have a flying speed of 50 feet. To use this speed, you can't be wearing medium or heavy armor.
Keen Eyesight. Pterosapiens evolved from predators, and as such have magnificent eyesight. You have advantage on all Perception checks that rely on sight.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Draconic.
Subrace. There are two extant subraces of pterosapien: elderwings and wanderwings. Choose one of these subraces.
Elderwing
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Arboreal Camouflage. Elderwings have skin patterns that make it easy for them to hide in forested areas, the better to observe their prey unseen before striking. You have advantage on all Stealth checks to hide in areas of heavy foliage.
Flyby. You do not provoke an opportunity attack when you fly out of an enemy's reach.
Natural Attack. Elderwings have short snouts and mouths full of needle-sharp teeth. You are proficient with your bite attack, which inflicts 1d4 + your Strength bonus piercing damage.
Size. Elderwings stand between 3 and 4 feet tall, and average about 20 pounds. Your size is Small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Wanderwing
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Dive Attack. If you dive at least 30 feet straight toward a target and then hit it with a melee weapon attack, the attack deals an extra 2 (1d4) points of damage.
Feathered Foes. Wanderwings distrust bird-folk such as aarakockra and kenku. They have dedicated many long hours to teaching every tribe member how to fight such foes if the need ever again arises. You have advantage on all Insight checks involving birds, bird-folk, or other creatures with bird-like traits.
Natural Attack. Wanderwings have long, toothless beaks that they use stab their enemies or prey. You are proficient with your beak attack, which inflicts 1d4 + your Strength bonus piercing damage.
Size. Wanderwings stand about 5 feet tall. They have thin, lightweight bodies and average about 80 to 100 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Also, since I'm still tinkering with the original idea, I will ultimately consolidate both dino- and ptero- races into one entry, probably called "Saurianborn" or "Behemothkin."
Consolidated all these revisions and info into a single, new Homebrew entry, titled "Saurianfolk." I haven't made it public yet, and might hold onto it while I get my campaign prep in order, only releasing it when I'm ready to start granting actual players access to it. But, everything on this thread is in it.
BTW, is there a thread or forum here to share world-building and homebrew campaign ideas?
Not too bad, one thing's missing, though...Carnivore sub species. You got the base Herbivores down, and added a Pterosaur sub species, but what about Raptors or Tyrannosaurs?
Well met! I'm new here, and testing out some DDB features. I just posted a dinosaur folk race with 6 subraces that I designed a while ago for one of my homebrew settings. Would like some feedback as to how balanced you all think it is and how fun you think it might be to play.
Please note that this is not intended as a re-do of Forgotten Realms saurials. I didn't know about them until after I had made my notes for this race and went to see what others have done with a similar concept. In homage to the saurials, though, I did add in some tweaks to my spearcrown (triceratops folk) and spiketail (stegosaur folk) subraces to give them a more wizardly and clerical bent, respectively. And I need to track down that saurials trilogy!
My direct inspirations for this race and its homebrew setting were Harry Harrison's Eden trilogy and Dinotopia. The design principle of my homebrew setting is "Dinotopia meets The Lord of the Rings."
Anyway, thanks, everyone! I hope I can find a way to put DDB to even more use soon!
https://www.dndbeyond.com/races/204959-dinosapiens-the-vrintralla
My thoughts:
Base race: not much going on here. The disadvantage for saving throws against cold damage is interesting: it a slight flaw, but not as bad as straight up weakness against cold. It shouldn't come up too often, and is flavourful. I like it.
Clubtail: a base AC of 17 (19 with shield) is a LOT. It also makes little sense that your natural armor does not benefit from your dexterity, I understand that the idea behind it might be that they're bulky and clumsy, but what if they get a 16 or even 18 dexterity ? Then we have a super agile character that's apparently unable to dodge a single hit. I would change that, maybe just giving them a +1 AC as long as they'not wearing a shield (so a "free" half-shield).
Duckbill: the spittle is fun. It's powerful, but requires an attack roll AND grant a saving throw, so it's ok. There's apparently no limitation as to how many times per day you can do it (is it intentional ?), and note that as a ranged attack, you will probably have disadvantage on your attack roll. I would also make the DC evolve with you, maybe 8+prof+Con modifier.
This subrace gets a lot of small stuff (2 proficiencies, bonus on passive stats, a reaction to blind, help as a bonus action), I would probably cut back a bit to bring it in line with the previous one.
Helmhead: this subrace doesn't get much. The bonus dexterity kinda says rogue, but the fleet of foot ability is just a lower version of Cunning Action rogue get at level 2.
As written, I don't think "In addition, you have advantage on all Athletics checks to shove an opponent when using this attack" does anything, since shoving is its own attack, so i'm not sure what the intent is here ? Is the headbutt supposed to give a free shove ? Or do I get advantage if I headbutted him this turn ?
Compared to the previous subrace, this one does not get much, even if nimble sounds cool, it doesn't protect from AoO, and probably won't come up that often.
Spearcrown: two proficiencies, a cantrip, a natural attack, and again an alternative way to calculate AC. Nothing very exotic here, but it works, and it's solid.
Spiketail: a cantrip, a (bad) proficiency, a natural attack, and resistance to fire damage. Without the resistance, this would have nothing to go for it, with it, it's... Okay, I guess ? Clearly not the most interesting of all, and a spell below the previous one.
Thunderfoot: breaks the mold of "+1 to another ability score", with a +2, is it intentional ?
The footsteps of thunder aren't really clear as written. As I understand it, if I have extra attack, I could use the attack action, attack once, and then cast a free thunderwave ? This seems like this shouldn't be a thing (breaks action economy), and casting thunderwave should probably take your whole action, as usual.
Intimidating Size is a bit strong, but ok. You might as well remove the size condition, unless players often intimidate creatures of size Large and over.
My main criticism would be that these subraces don't really feel all that different from one another, and the various ability increase other than str/dex don't really feel reflected in the subrace's abilities. I would probably play a little less with AC calculations, and maybe play with HP instead ?
Otherwise, I'd say most of them are rather balanced, the Duckbill probably should get a little less stuff, and the helmhead a bit more.
Hope this helps!
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Thanks for the quick feedback!
-- The clubtail's AC feature was taken more less verbatim from the Tortle package. Seemed appropriate for an ankylosaur. I'll give it some more thought.
-- Duckbill's spittle: you're right. I meant to include a sentence about requiring a long or short rest before using it again.
-- Helmhead's shove: per PHB, p. 195, a shove action works similar to a grapple. "You make a Strength (Athletics) check contested by the target’s Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check (the target chooses the ability to use). If you win the contest, you either knock the target prone or push it 5 feet away from you." So in context, an advantage on the Strength check seems like a pretty good ability as an effect of the head-butt. I'll re-write it for clarity.
-- Helmhead's Nimble: this is just a re-skinned halfling ability. Seemed appropriate for the concept of a charger.
-- Helmhead's Fleet of Foot: Hm, maybe a re-skinning of the Tabaxi's agility thing would work better. I did intend it to be a rogue-like ability for PCs who didn't take that class. Maybe just say that if you take the Rogue class, then Cunning Action supercedes Fleet of Foot. Hm...
-- Spiketail Training was meant to reflect the subrace's spiritual/healer reputation. But I agree, it's pretty weak sauce. I'll definitely replace it.
-- Yeah, the thunderfoot's +2 was intentional. These are brontosaurus people!
-- Footsteps of Thunder is meant to consume a full action, not be an additional one. I'll re-write it for clarity.
-- Intimidating Size would only apply to Medium creatures and smaller. Thunderfeet are Medium, since they don't get bigger than 8 feet (the upper limit for Medium size).
I'll sleep on all this. Thanks again for the critique!
I didn't know that ! Weirdly, I can see it better on a turtle, even though my point should still stand. So this my just be my subjective perception at play here.
Also I just realised I missed the bit about inability to wear regular armor, so this seems fine. They might be stronger in the early levels, but this will smooth out as enemies to-hit bonuses start increasing, especially if friends start getting magical armors.
And maybe saying the attack doesn't get disadvantage for being a melee ? I really like this feature, it's really cool, but I feel like it wouldn't work most of the time. If it's a 1/short rest, I would only put the saving throw at the end of the target's turn, to end the effect early.
Or maybe (a bit stronger), instead of an automatic saving throw, just let the victim use an action to be allowed a saving throw (sort of like the way Maze works)
I know how shove works, my issue is with the wording:
"In addition, you have advantage on all Athletics checks to shove an opponent when using this attack". I understood "this attack" as being the headbutt, but I don't understand what it means in terms of game mechanics. Do I get advantage on all of my attempts to shove, or do I need to have headbutted my enemy this turn ?
Because when I use a headbutt, I'm not shoving. And when I'm shoving, I'm not using the headbutt.
I do agree that it's very thematic, I really like the idea, I'm just sincerely unclear on the actual mechanics and implementation.
It is, but I would say Nimble is hardly the best Halfling ability, rerolling all of their nat1 is. So this race has a natural attack, which works off of STR, which they don't boost, and has a small damage dice (which is normal for a natural attack), an ability that will do nothing for a rogue, and a circumstantial ability. Nothing really exciting.
You don't have to say anything about Cunning Action superceding Fleet of Foot, since it's already the case. Maybe you could say that dashing lets you move 3*your speed, instead of 2*your speed ? This way, everyone gets a boost, and it could represent the charging abilities of this subrace.
I would probably say that doing so would limit you to moving in a straight line only. So you can either regular dash, or you can "double dash" in a straight line.
It doesn't have to be replaced, Artisan Tool and Kit proficiencies can be fun, but they're not worth a lot. I think this subrace could do with one defining "big" thing, on top of what it has.
My point was that it makes the player remember a limitation that will almost never arise. Or maybe it's just the way I play, but PC mostly tend to interact with Medium-sized creatures, and whey it's a Large or over, intimidation is usually not their first instinct ;)
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So, here are the possible fixes I'm thinking of.
-- Spittle attack: 1/short rest. Target has to take an action for a DC 8+prof+Con mod save to end the effect.
-- Remove duckbill's proficiencies in Perception & Investigation. Maybe give those to spiketail instead?
-- Fleet Of Foot: Works like the longstrider spell but with a shorter duration. Recharges after a long rest. Alternately, the doubled speed lasts for entire turn, instead of just for one action, a la the tabaxi.
-- Make head-butt a stand-alone natural attack. Give the helmhead something like the Charger feat as a special ability.
-- Re-phrase the thunderfoot's Large-Bodied to Powerful Build, a la Goliaths and Firbolgs
-- Give spiketails advantage on all Insight checks instead of the tool proficiency. Also, give them the ability at 3rd level to use Truesight for one turn by spending an action and concentrating. Recharge after a long rest.
So, here are the current changes I've made.
Duckbill -- Blinding Spittle: As a reaction to being hit by a melee attack, you can make a ranged attack to spit at your opponent’s face. If your spitting attack is successful, the target suffers from the Blinded condition until they take an action to make a Constitution saving throw against a DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier. You cannot use this feature again until after you have taken a short rest.
The subrace no longer has the Situational Awareness feature.
Spiketail -- Spiketail Training: Spiketails are known as keen observers of behavior, and are instilled with a love of spiritual pursuits at a young age. You have advantage on two of the following ability checks of your choice: Intelligence (Arcana), Intelligence (Religion), Wisdom (Animal Handling), or Wisdom (Insight). Your choice of skills to gain advantage on is permanent.
Thunderfoot - Footsteps of Thunder: You can channel the mighty power of your behemoth ancestors in a single great stomp that levels your foes. On your turn, you can use your action to stomp on the ground, and cast thunderwave as a 1st level spell, using Strength as your spellcasting ability. You must complete a long rest before using this feature again.
Thunderfoot - Menacing Size: You tower over your dinosapien kin, and are among the largest bipeds in the known world. Though your size is still Medium, your full height can be 8 feet, 2 of which are your neck alone. You weigh between 350 to 450 lbs. You can use this size to great effect. You add your Strength modifier (to a minimum of +0) to all Charisma (Intimidation) checks.
The Large-Bodied feature is now called Powerful Build, so that it reads the same as the identical feature for firbolgs and goliaths.
I think all of it sounds cool !
Just a wording thing, advantage are usually granted to skill, rather than skill+attribute combination, to take into account the possibility of, say, anintelligence (animal handling) check. See "Variant: skill with different abilities", in the PHB p175.
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Thanks for the feedback, once again! I think these will be the final form of this race. Now onto my next race, and other stuff for my homebrew campaign world.
So, for those who might be interested, I am going to use this thread to work out the details of my pterosaur-folk race/subraces before posting anything about them in the Homebrew database. Once I get the final form achieved, I will put in it the Homebrew races. Feedback welcome!
The pterosapiens (as they are called by humans) or vrinshreen (as they call themselves) are a clade of reptilian humanoids who display traits in common with pterosaurs. They were once a diverse order of life, but thanks to long rivalries with and a major war (which they lost) against the bird-folk races, their population has been reduced to only two "subraces." These are the small-bodied Elderwing (Ramphorhyncid) and the large-bodied Wanderwing (Pterodactylid).
Tradition holds that the elderwings were the first of the flying folk, and thus they are held in high regard by the wanderwings. They are an arboreal species who make their homes in forest lands, and their communities tend to be insular.
Wanderwings are tribal and nomadic, rarely settling in one area for more than a season. It was their competition for roosting and nesting grounds with bird-folk which sparked the tragic Bleeding Sky Years that decimated so much of their population generations ago.
Pterosapien (The Vrinshreen) Traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2. Your subrace grants you an additional ability score increase.
Age. Pterosapiens age in a fashion similar to their dinosapien cousins. They reach full adulthood by 15, and can live up to 100 years.
Alignment. Vrinshreen are more free-spirited than the vrintralla. They tend towards chaotic and good alignments.
Flight. You have a flying speed of 50 feet. To use this speed, you can't be wearing medium or heavy armor.
Keen Eyesight. Pterosapiens evolved from predators, and as such have magnificent eyesight. You have advantage on all Perception checks that rely on sight.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Draconic.
Subrace. There are two extant subraces of pterosapien: elderwings and wanderwings. Choose one of these subraces.
Elderwing
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Arboreal Camouflage. Elderwings have skin patterns that make it easy for them to hide in forested areas, the better to observe their prey unseen before striking. You have advantage on all Stealth checks to hide in areas of heavy foliage.
Flyby. You do not provoke an opportunity attack when you fly out of an enemy's reach.
Natural Attack. Elderwings have short snouts and mouths full of needle-sharp teeth. You are proficient with your bite attack, which inflicts 1d4 + your Strength bonus piercing damage.
Size. Elderwings stand between 3 and 4 feet tall, and average about 20 pounds. Your size is Small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Wanderwing
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Dive Attack. If you dive at least 30 feet straight toward a target and then hit it with a melee weapon attack, the attack deals an extra 2 (1d4) points of damage.
Feathered Foes. Wanderwings distrust bird-folk such as aarakockra and kenku. They have dedicated many long hours to teaching every tribe member how to fight such foes if the need ever again arises. You have advantage on all Insight checks involving birds, bird-folk, or other creatures with bird-like traits.
Natural Attack. Wanderwings have long, toothless beaks that they use stab their enemies or prey. You are proficient with your beak attack, which inflicts 1d4 + your Strength bonus piercing damage.
Size. Wanderwings stand about 5 feet tall. They have thin, lightweight bodies and average about 80 to 100 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Also, since I'm still tinkering with the original idea, I will ultimately consolidate both dino- and ptero- races into one entry, probably called "Saurianborn" or "Behemothkin."
Consolidated all these revisions and info into a single, new Homebrew entry, titled "Saurianfolk." I haven't made it public yet, and might hold onto it while I get my campaign prep in order, only releasing it when I'm ready to start granting actual players access to it. But, everything on this thread is in it.
BTW, is there a thread or forum here to share world-building and homebrew campaign ideas?
You could do this in this forum or, if you're afraid your player might see, in the "Dungeon Masters Only" section, maybe ?
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Not too bad, one thing's missing, though...Carnivore sub species. You got the base Herbivores down, and added a Pterosaur sub species, but what about Raptors or Tyrannosaurs?
Perhaps start by imagining a spelljamming circle of Saurian (subtype: Space) druids.