Hello! I recently came up with a new dark-elf race, but wanted to run it by some more trained eyes since I won’t get a lot of time to playtest it. Any insight or comments are appreciated!
— bare in mind I haven’t done a lot of the wording or naming. I just focused on the technical stuff first.
Malkaz Traits
Your elf character has a variety of natural abilities, the result of thousands of years of elven refinement.
Ability Score Increase
Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Age
Although Malkaz reach physical maturity at about the same age as humans, the elven understanding of adulthood goes beyond physical growth to encompass worldly experience. An elf typically claims adulthood and an adult name around the age of 100 and can live to be 750 years old.
Alignment
Malkaz love freedom, variety, and self-expression, so they lean strongly toward the aspects of chaos. They value and protect others’ freedom as well as their own.
Size
Malkaz range from under 5 to over 6 feet tall and typically have lean builds. Your size is Medium.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Strong Bodied.
You gain proficiency in the Athletics skill.
Hand to Hand
Malkaz are well versed in hand to hand combat. On a hit, your unarmed strikes will do slashing or bludgeoning damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength bonus, depending on if your fists or claws are used to make the attack.
Trance
Malkaz don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common and Elvish. Elvish is fluid, with subtle intonations and intricate grammar. Elven literature is rich and varied, and their songs and poems are famous among other races. Many bards learn their language so they can add Elvish ballads to their repertoires.
Subrace 1:
Ability Score Increase.
Choose either your Strength or Wisdom score to increase by 1.
Malkazen Weapon Training.
You have proficiency with three weapons of your choosing.
Fleet of Foot.
Your base walking speed increases to 35 feet.
Skilled.
You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.
Subrace 2:
Ability Score Increase.
Choose either your Intelligence or Charisma score to increase by 1.
Malkazen Weapon Training.
You have proficiency with three weapons of your choosing.
Cantrip.
You know one cantrip of your choice from the wizard spell list. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it.
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
As both subraces gain Skilled and Malkazen Weapon training, I suggest making it part of the race as a whole.
A good point. Maybe replace it with the strong bodied on the first subrace? Not sure what I’d replace it with for the second subrace just yet though...
Do you think giving a choice of three weapons is too much?
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hello! I recently came up with a new dark-elf race, but wanted to run it by some more trained eyes since I won’t get a lot of time to playtest it. Any insight or comments are appreciated!
— bare in mind I haven’t done a lot of the wording or naming. I just focused on the technical stuff first.
Malkaz Traits
Your elf character has a variety of natural abilities, the result of thousands of years of elven refinement.
Ability Score Increase
Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Age
Although Malkaz reach physical maturity at about the same age as humans, the elven understanding of adulthood goes beyond physical growth to encompass worldly experience. An elf typically claims adulthood and an adult name around the age of 100 and can live to be 750 years old.
Alignment
Malkaz love freedom, variety, and self-expression, so they lean strongly toward the aspects of chaos. They value and protect others’ freedom as well as their own.
Size
Malkaz range from under 5 to over 6 feet tall and typically have lean builds. Your size is Medium.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Strong Bodied.
You gain proficiency in the Athletics skill.
Hand to Hand
Malkaz are well versed in hand to hand combat. On a hit, your unarmed strikes will do slashing or bludgeoning damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength bonus, depending on if your fists or claws are used to make the attack.
Trance
Malkaz don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common and Elvish. Elvish is fluid, with subtle intonations and intricate grammar. Elven literature is rich and varied, and their songs and poems are famous among other races. Many bards learn their language so they can add Elvish ballads to their repertoires.
Subrace 1:
Ability Score Increase.
Choose either your Strength or Wisdom score to increase by 1.
Malkazen Weapon Training.
You have proficiency with three weapons of your choosing.
Fleet of Foot.
Your base walking speed increases to 35 feet.
Skilled.
You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.
Subrace 2:
Ability Score Increase.
Choose either your Intelligence or Charisma score to increase by 1.
Malkazen Weapon Training.
You have proficiency with three weapons of your choosing.
Cantrip.
You know one cantrip of your choice from the wizard spell list. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it.
Skilled.
You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.
As both subraces gain Skilled and Malkazen Weapon training, I suggest making it part of the race as a whole.
Tooltips | Snippet Code | How to Homebrew on D&D Beyond | Subclass Guide | Feature Roadmap
Astromancer's Homebrew Assembly
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
Because you have the natural weapon, I suggest one or two weapons or limit the three to simple, ranged, or martial weapons.
Tooltips | Snippet Code | How to Homebrew on D&D Beyond | Subclass Guide | Feature Roadmap
Astromancer's Homebrew Assembly
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett