I'm making a race that includes the option to choose a race that you have become a Sepulchral (essentially an undead version) of, but I am unsure if I should use the Subrace or the Variant. What's the difference in how they're used in DDB?
This isn't a "how they're handled in D&D Beyond" and more a "how they're handled in the rules". Let me try and explain.
For examples sake let's say every single race has five traits, A, B, C, D and E.
Subraces fill in gaps, so base race (1) would have traits A, B and C, while each subrace provides traits D and E. A race with subraces is incomplete without selecting a subrace. When homebrewing a subrace, you must fill in all the required 'gaps'
Variant races replace traits, so for race (2), variant (a) might replace A, C, and E with A1, C1, and E1, while variant (b) might replace B, D, and E with B1, D1, and E1. When homebrewing a variant race, you can replace as few or as many traits as you like.
When homebrewing, if you're making a race completely from scratch it's largely moot as each subrace or variant will be listed out as it's own, complete entry in the character builder.
I'm making a race that includes the option to choose a race that you have become a Sepulchral (essentially an undead version) of, but I am unsure if I should use the Subrace or the Variant. What's the difference in how they're used in DDB?
This isn't a "how they're handled in D&D Beyond" and more a "how they're handled in the rules". Let me try and explain.
For examples sake let's say every single race has five traits, A, B, C, D and E.
Subraces fill in gaps, so base race (1) would have traits A, B and C, while each subrace provides traits D and E. A race with subraces is incomplete without selecting a subrace.
When homebrewing a subrace, you must fill in all the required 'gaps'
Variant races replace traits, so for race (2), variant (a) might replace A, C, and E with A1, C1, and E1, while variant (b) might replace B, D, and E with B1, D1, and E1.
When homebrewing a variant race, you can replace as few or as many traits as you like.
When homebrewing, if you're making a race completely from scratch it's largely moot as each subrace or variant will be listed out as it's own, complete entry in the character builder.
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Ah I see! That makes a lot of sense, thank you