In the setting we're developing there's a kind of sentient skeleton I'm thinking of making playable. I'm looking at the damage resistance and vulnerability specifically. At first I was thinking resistance to slashing / piercing. At first that seemed to broad and powerful for a PC race, but then the vulnerability to bludgeoning seems pretty drastic. Especially considering that most intelligent beings in this kind of setting would know about both traits, so in most cases intelligent beings would know to strike with the back of spears, or flatblade, etc.
In your opinion does this kind of resistance/vulnerability combo work out as a plus or a minus to a player race?
Attacking with the blunt end of a weapon at best would be disadvantage on the attack as they are not designed to be used that way. Yes bludgeoning hits would be rather poochie but in exchange for resistance to the other two wouldn't be awful. Another direction to go would be vulnerability to radiant and immunity or resistance to necrotic.
Are you giving them immunities to poisons or things of that nature as well? Maybe something like the warforged construct traits?
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"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
In my opinion resistances and immunity's shouldn't be given to player races inherently. Yes I realize that there are several that already exist and in each case I find them either slightly or dramatically overpowered.
You can drop the slashing piercing and bludgeoning nonsense simply by describing the creature as a more robust skeleton or magically modified. It's physically different that justifies the change. What that difference is, is up to you.
Poison immunity is pretty bog standard for undead. Not a lot of flexibility here unless you want to homebrew all undead into having a different resistance/immunity or not having one at all. Personally too many creatures are immune to poison already, kind of ruining the uniqueness of the trait.
Have you considered what creature the skeleton originally was for inspiration on this.
A human skeleton could be a variant human or normal human with poison immunity for instance.
I was planning on having poison immunity in there. I was specifically asking about the vulnerability/resistance combo.
They're specifically skeletons with sentience. I don't really have the freedom to change that, since I'm adapting for publication a setting that's been in use for about fifty years.
In the setting we're developing there's a kind of sentient skeleton I'm thinking of making playable. I'm looking at the damage resistance and vulnerability specifically. At first I was thinking resistance to slashing / piercing. At first that seemed to broad and powerful for a PC race, but then the vulnerability to bludgeoning seems pretty drastic. Especially considering that most intelligent beings in this kind of setting would know about both traits, so in most cases intelligent beings would know to strike with the back of spears, or flatblade, etc.
In your opinion does this kind of resistance/vulnerability combo work out as a plus or a minus to a player race?
Attacking with the blunt end of a weapon at best would be disadvantage on the attack as they are not designed to be used that way. Yes bludgeoning hits would be rather poochie but in exchange for resistance to the other two wouldn't be awful. Another direction to go would be vulnerability to radiant and immunity or resistance to necrotic.
Are you giving them immunities to poisons or things of that nature as well? Maybe something like the warforged construct traits?
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
In my opinion resistances and immunity's shouldn't be given to player races inherently. Yes I realize that there are several that already exist and in each case I find them either slightly or dramatically overpowered.
You can drop the slashing piercing and bludgeoning nonsense simply by describing the creature as a more robust skeleton or magically modified. It's physically different that justifies the change. What that difference is, is up to you.
Poison immunity is pretty bog standard for undead. Not a lot of flexibility here unless you want to homebrew all undead into having a different resistance/immunity or not having one at all. Personally too many creatures are immune to poison already, kind of ruining the uniqueness of the trait.
Have you considered what creature the skeleton originally was for inspiration on this.
A human skeleton could be a variant human or normal human with poison immunity for instance.
I was planning on having poison immunity in there. I was specifically asking about the vulnerability/resistance combo.
They're specifically skeletons with sentience. I don't really have the freedom to change that, since I'm adapting for publication a setting that's been in use for about fifty years.