I am happy to finally present the newest additions to my homebrew library. The Dark Kenku and the Wild Human are my answer to some problems which have been bugging me... Why doesn’t the Kenku get played more? Can we have a variant human that makes thematic sense and feels more on par with other races?
The Kenku felt bland to me so I made a more sinister feeling style of race that still fit the overall criminal style background of the original race. I gave them a perk which I felt they should have always had which is feather fall at all times, then I took away the forgery stuff which never seemed to be used anyway. They became a sort of mystic style race over time and I ended up adding the fear which really rounded out the race. These guys are actually more fun than I thought they would be.
I hate the official variant human. Having a free feat at level one is far too enticing for many players and as people in my campaign began making new characters I saw that we had started out as a diverse group like guardians of the galaxy and ended as the hobbit but with humans instead of dwarves. This would normally would not be a problem but the variant human was never chosen because they WANT to be human. It was because of the damn feat. In response to this I dropped the ban hammer on the official Variant human and began work on the Wilds. The race gives more direct bonuses that I wish were present in the original race. ASIs across the board just feels lazy and I wanted something to focus on the survivalist humans of the world. The big perk here is sudden fortitude which lets you heal yourself for a certain amount any time you roll a mat 20 during combat. I have a player who uses this race and he LOVES this perk. It does exactly as advertised, it makes clutch moments more clutch. For example taking a Hail Mary attack against an enemy while you’re low on health then rolling a nat 20 you do huge damage and save yourself from dying. The wilds are a lot of fun and I encourage you to use these guys instead of the other human types. I wrote lore for this race but most players don’t use it. You don’t need to either, however it may help if you are in a character building rut.
Once again I thank you all for your continued support of my homebrew. For those of you who subscribe to my other races you will have a special treat on it’s way to you right now. I am giving full updates to the Takara, Grikor, and Akryd with a special surprise in each. There are no major changes but the races are much more polished. I can’t wait for you to see what I’ve been up to.
I like the Dark Kenku, however it's not really clear which features are overruled by your version and which are additional. (Like, what happens to Mimicry?) Since it is a subrace it seems now that everything is additional.
The permanent feather fall seems fine, have you considered the Monk class feature Slow Fall? It might be more suitable since as you've described it it would not work in antimagic zones (since it is a spell) and it seems like you want it to feel like a biological feature, not magical.
Sinister is a bit odd, mostly due to the "especially while doing damage"-part. You could make them proficient in the Intimidation skill (like the Half-Orc) and maybe on higher levels give them expertise?
Frightening Presence is very cool, but a flat DC is a bit strange and normally doesn't happen in racial features. You may want to consider making the DC Charisma based. (equal to 8 + proficiency modifier + Cha modifier).
Hope it helps, curious where you agree/disagree :)
I will say that I used the fact DC both because as a racial trait it may not be optimized for what class you are playing and also because it is cast at level 3. If I see enough of a demand for a flexible DC then I will make that change.
The wording is iffy on sinister because it really depends on your DM. He/She may not want you to have that bonus unless you are risking killing whoever you’re talking to. This perk creates role play opportunities and the vague wording allows each group to interpret it differently. As with the above, if there is demand for clarification I will may the change no problem.
I agree with the slow fall change however I’m unsure on if feather fall or [Tooltip Not Found] would be better since the functionality is there. I suppose if there is simply a wording problem here I could write “The effect is on you only and cannot be dispelled by any magical or nonmagical means”
I’m unsure how to clarify which perks were overridden. I know that forgery is gone but mimicry is still a strong part of the race. If anyone has any ideas on how to show this I’m all ears. Obviously the ASI is different and is now +2 cha +1 dex.
Hey there, SkillCheck here.
I am happy to finally present the newest additions to my homebrew library. The Dark Kenku and the Wild Human are my answer to some problems which have been bugging me... Why doesn’t the Kenku get played more? Can we have a variant human that makes thematic sense and feels more on par with other races?
The Kenku felt bland to me so I made a more sinister feeling style of race that still fit the overall criminal style background of the original race. I gave them a perk which I felt they should have always had which is feather fall at all times, then I took away the forgery stuff which never seemed to be used anyway. They became a sort of mystic style race over time and I ended up adding the fear which really rounded out the race. These guys are actually more fun than I thought they would be.
I hate the official variant human. Having a free feat at level one is far too enticing for many players and as people in my campaign began making new characters I saw that we had started out as a diverse group like guardians of the galaxy and ended as the hobbit but with humans instead of dwarves. This would normally would not be a problem but the variant human was never chosen because they WANT to be human. It was because of the damn feat. In response to this I dropped the ban hammer on the official Variant human and began work on the Wilds. The race gives more direct bonuses that I wish were present in the original race. ASIs across the board just feels lazy and I wanted something to focus on the survivalist humans of the world. The big perk here is sudden fortitude which lets you heal yourself for a certain amount any time you roll a mat 20 during combat. I have a player who uses this race and he LOVES this perk. It does exactly as advertised, it makes clutch moments more clutch. For example taking a Hail Mary attack against an enemy while you’re low on health then rolling a nat 20 you do huge damage and save yourself from dying. The wilds are a lot of fun and I encourage you to use these guys instead of the other human types. I wrote lore for this race but most players don’t use it. You don’t need to either, however it may help if you are in a character building rut.
Once again I thank you all for your continued support of my homebrew. For those of you who subscribe to my other races you will have a special treat on it’s way to you right now. I am giving full updates to the Takara, Grikor, and Akryd with a special surprise in each. There are no major changes but the races are much more polished. I can’t wait for you to see what I’ve been up to.
Anyway have a good one, SkillCheck.
Dungeon Master for Heroes of Agarra
I have a growing library of Homebrew: Subclasses | Races | Feats | Items
You check out my newest Homebrew: Doctor - The Survey Corps - Order of the Shadow Master
I like the Dark Kenku, however it's not really clear which features are overruled by your version and which are additional. (Like, what happens to Mimicry?) Since it is a subrace it seems now that everything is additional.
The permanent feather fall seems fine, have you considered the Monk class feature Slow Fall? It might be more suitable since as you've described it it would not work in antimagic zones (since it is a spell) and it seems like you want it to feel like a biological feature, not magical.
Sinister is a bit odd, mostly due to the "especially while doing damage"-part. You could make them proficient in the Intimidation skill (like the Half-Orc) and maybe on higher levels give them expertise?
Frightening Presence is very cool, but a flat DC is a bit strange and normally doesn't happen in racial features. You may want to consider making the DC Charisma based. (equal to 8 + proficiency modifier + Cha modifier).
Hope it helps, curious where you agree/disagree :)
Subclass: Dwarven Defender - Dragonborn Paragon
Feats: Artificer Apprentice
Monsters: Sheep - Spellbreaker Warforged Titan
Magic Items: Whipier - Ring of Secret Storage - Collar of the Guardian
Monster template: Skeletal Creature
Thank you for your feedback.
I will say that I used the fact DC both because as a racial trait it may not be optimized for what class you are playing and also because it is cast at level 3. If I see enough of a demand for a flexible DC then I will make that change.
The wording is iffy on sinister because it really depends on your DM. He/She may not want you to have that bonus unless you are risking killing whoever you’re talking to. This perk creates role play opportunities and the vague wording allows each group to interpret it differently. As with the above, if there is demand for clarification I will may the change no problem.
I agree with the slow fall change however I’m unsure on if feather fall or [Tooltip Not Found] would be better since the functionality is there. I suppose if there is simply a wording problem here I could write “The effect is on you only and cannot be dispelled by any magical or nonmagical means”
I’m unsure how to clarify which perks were overridden. I know that forgery is gone but mimicry is still a strong part of the race. If anyone has any ideas on how to show this I’m all ears. Obviously the ASI is different and is now +2 cha +1 dex.
Dungeon Master for Heroes of Agarra
I have a growing library of Homebrew: Subclasses | Races | Feats | Items
You check out my newest Homebrew: Doctor - The Survey Corps - Order of the Shadow Master