Considering a brief campaign where the PCs get to play as monsters who level up with classes.
Is there any way to import a monster "race" into the character creation process on this site? For instance, a player who wants to create a mind flayer wizard?
That is not possible, and Beyond is unlikely to implement such a system. From what I have seen, it seems like Wizards is restricting Beyond implement RAW and Beyond is contract bound to do so to the best of their ability. You can homebrew a feat that gives you up to 6 attunement slots for example, but you cannot implement a feat that grants you 7 attunement slots, since nothing in RAW has that.
The closest system to that would be the sidekick system, but that is not fully implemented yet.
I have something that you can use! I haven't home-brewed any of them to actually work, and they aren't entirely accurate to their monster counterparts, but they should be mildly balanced. Ask me any questions that you have about where I got this or any specific traits. Also note that this document includes levels you can take to become a ghost, revenant, vampire, lich, etc. Prestige classes I think they are called. Here ya go!
In terms of actual gameplay with these things, keep realism in mind and don't be afraid to tell a player off if they exploit something. I have experience home brewing on Dndbeyond and could make the race playable on the site if you have a subscription.
I hope I helped you! Also, keep any Homebrew discussion in the Homebrew tab.
There isn't a quick fix button to press that turns a Monster into a playable race; but it's not impossible to homebrew and it's really easy to adopt someone's public homebrew. Have you browsed the hombrew races? Looks like somewhere between 60-80 users have attempts at Illithid/Mind Flayer player races. It's homebrew and just because it's available doesn't mean it's "good" but there's a rating system and # of users who've adopted a homebrew are there too. I'd be surprised if any of the sentient humanoid shaped beings in the MM weren't represented somewhere as homebrew.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
If your monsters are CR 1/2 or lower when you start, you can use the sidekick rules to level them up. There is no character sheet support from DnDbeyond for this, yet, though.
A workaround would be to create homebrew copies of the monsters, changing the stat blocks when they level up, and add them to a dummy character sheet in the 'Extras' section.
There is a method in the create a monster section of the DMG that describes adding class levels to monsters. Simply put, all you do is increase the hit dice by 1 per level you give it. The other thing to remember with this method is that Extra Attack and Multiattack are exclusive, extra attack doesn't mean you can use Multiattack twice, nor does it increase the amount of hits made with Multiattack. I've never used this method for players myself and I'm not sure what such a campaign would be like.
If you set a maximum CR (And possibly a maximum size) for the monsters your players pick from then it could be fun, however their character's will be a lot stronger than normal ones so it might be difficult to make encounters of sufficient difficulty.
I've been asking for this for a while, there are ways to tinker with the homebrew features till tons of the parameters change, but it's hard to get the widgets working in the character sheet.
I recently tried homebrewing the actual features of the Centaur monster over the PC Centaur, and I managed to change the size, replace the text for language, swap the Charge attack feature, and so on, and it mostly worked... but I missed a few adjustments, and when I tried to edit them later, they wouldn't transfer into the actual homebrew and kept artifacting the parts I was trying to replace.
Beyond that, there is a huge progression disparity with monsters that are higher CR with no natural class, they would naturally be leveled up highly in the specific monster class, and it's like pulling teeth to generate a completely original class for monster "self" progression.
In the end I just have players use Monster stat blocks, and homebrew stronger or weaker versions for them, adding class levels and features over time. They can generate a proxy character sheet with the same stats, saves and proficiencies to roll directly from the character sheet for some things, and just do manual rolls otherwise. The question is how much your relying on apps and whether the players care enough to classically operate the character. There's almost nothing preventing you from fabricating a classic paper sheet with exactly whatever you have on your character.
You can also make a typical PC to track the class functions and spells, than select the extras section of your character sheet and add monsters as pets, mounts or sidekicks to have their monster stat block at hand. From there you can make basic adjustments to the monster for different HP, stats, and such, or go back to the alternative feature and homebrew a monster with additional features... than just add that to the character sheets extras.
When you actually do start doing this though, you'll realize that certain creatures clash with certain classes. Like how do you combine all the extra attacks with the native multi attack of a creature?, will you allow a creature to burrow 60% faster because they gained unarmored movement?, what if they take wizard levels on a tank monster that has tremendous physical prowess naturally?
I like to create a level progression of the monsters own abilities, removing features at low levels and restoring them later on, if the monster has several entries for different stages I will slowly introduce features of their next stage per level between the two stages, than replace them with the next stage at the appropriate point. If they do want to take traditional class levels, I offer class choices that have the least complexity and conflict, and exchange some of the monsters natural progress for alternative progress.
Anyway, I hope that helps... and add me to this campaign >.<
Considering a brief campaign where the PCs get to play as monsters who level up with classes.
Is there any way to import a monster "race" into the character creation process on this site? For instance, a player who wants to create a mind flayer wizard?
Create a homebrew race. Probably going to be a pain to do, but there's no simple import or translation function.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
That is not possible, and Beyond is unlikely to implement such a system. From what I have seen, it seems like Wizards is restricting Beyond implement RAW and Beyond is contract bound to do so to the best of their ability. You can homebrew a feat that gives you up to 6 attunement slots for example, but you cannot implement a feat that grants you 7 attunement slots, since nothing in RAW has that.
The closest system to that would be the sidekick system, but that is not fully implemented yet.
Check Licenses and Resync Entitlements: < https://www.dndbeyond.com/account/licenses >
Running the Game by Matt Colville; Introduction: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YZvLUXcR8 >
D&D with High School Students by Bill Allen; Season 1 Episode 1: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52NJTUDokyk&t >
I have something that you can use! I haven't home-brewed any of them to actually work, and they aren't entirely accurate to their monster counterparts, but they should be mildly balanced. Ask me any questions that you have about where I got this or any specific traits. Also note that this document includes levels you can take to become a ghost, revenant, vampire, lich, etc. Prestige classes I think they are called. Here ya go!
In terms of actual gameplay with these things, keep realism in mind and don't be afraid to tell a player off if they exploit something. I have experience home brewing on Dndbeyond and could make the race playable on the site if you have a subscription.
I hope I helped you! Also, keep any Homebrew discussion in the Homebrew tab.
My only good homebrews: Races, Subclasses.
An aspiring DM and Homebrewer. Ask me if you need anything.
There isn't a quick fix button to press that turns a Monster into a playable race; but it's not impossible to homebrew and it's really easy to adopt someone's public homebrew. Have you browsed the hombrew races? Looks like somewhere between 60-80 users have attempts at Illithid/Mind Flayer player races. It's homebrew and just because it's available doesn't mean it's "good" but there's a rating system and # of users who've adopted a homebrew are there too. I'd be surprised if any of the sentient humanoid shaped beings in the MM weren't represented somewhere as homebrew.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Create a homebrew race or use the sidekick option in Tasha's.
If your monsters are CR 1/2 or lower when you start, you can use the sidekick rules to level them up. There is no character sheet support from DnDbeyond for this, yet, though.
A workaround would be to create homebrew copies of the monsters, changing the stat blocks when they level up, and add them to a dummy character sheet in the 'Extras' section.
Not very elegant, but an option...
More Interesting Lock Picking Rules
I just remembered another method.
There is a method in the create a monster section of the DMG that describes adding class levels to monsters. Simply put, all you do is increase the hit dice by 1 per level you give it. The other thing to remember with this method is that Extra Attack and Multiattack are exclusive, extra attack doesn't mean you can use Multiattack twice, nor does it increase the amount of hits made with Multiattack. I've never used this method for players myself and I'm not sure what such a campaign would be like.
If you set a maximum CR (And possibly a maximum size) for the monsters your players pick from then it could be fun, however their character's will be a lot stronger than normal ones so it might be difficult to make encounters of sufficient difficulty.
I've been asking for this for a while, there are ways to tinker with the homebrew features till tons of the parameters change, but it's hard to get the widgets working in the character sheet.
I recently tried homebrewing the actual features of the Centaur monster over the PC Centaur, and I managed to change the size, replace the text for language, swap the Charge attack feature, and so on, and it mostly worked... but I missed a few adjustments, and when I tried to edit them later, they wouldn't transfer into the actual homebrew and kept artifacting the parts I was trying to replace.
Beyond that, there is a huge progression disparity with monsters that are higher CR with no natural class, they would naturally be leveled up highly in the specific monster class, and it's like pulling teeth to generate a completely original class for monster "self" progression.
In the end I just have players use Monster stat blocks, and homebrew stronger or weaker versions for them, adding class levels and features over time. They can generate a proxy character sheet with the same stats, saves and proficiencies to roll directly from the character sheet for some things, and just do manual rolls otherwise. The question is how much your relying on apps and whether the players care enough to classically operate the character. There's almost nothing preventing you from fabricating a classic paper sheet with exactly whatever you have on your character.
You can also make a typical PC to track the class functions and spells, than select the extras section of your character sheet and add monsters as pets, mounts or sidekicks to have their monster stat block at hand. From there you can make basic adjustments to the monster for different HP, stats, and such, or go back to the alternative feature and homebrew a monster with additional features... than just add that to the character sheets extras.
When you actually do start doing this though, you'll realize that certain creatures clash with certain classes. Like how do you combine all the extra attacks with the native multi attack of a creature?, will you allow a creature to burrow 60% faster because they gained unarmored movement?, what if they take wizard levels on a tank monster that has tremendous physical prowess naturally?
I like to create a level progression of the monsters own abilities, removing features at low levels and restoring them later on, if the monster has several entries for different stages I will slowly introduce features of their next stage per level between the two stages, than replace them with the next stage at the appropriate point. If they do want to take traditional class levels, I offer class choices that have the least complexity and conflict, and exchange some of the monsters natural progress for alternative progress.
Anyway, I hope that helps... and add me to this campaign >.<
Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Found lots of great stuff on the homebrew page. Thanks so much.
Sean