5e Races: Splitting Culture and Biology

[zeek0]

Why does an elf who was raised by halflings have elvish weapon proficiency? Is a half-elf who was raised by a half-orc tribe more terrifying in combat?

After some of my own ideas and reading this post by Angry DM (http://theangrygm.com/why-race-isnt-broken/), I decided to split biology and culture for my players - to be used if their character was not raised by their birth culture.

I tried to differentiate between traits that are biology, passed down, or gods-given abilities; and cultural abilities. Basically, splitting race and ethnicity.

Here is the end result. Players might choose one from each column:



Biology
Cultural Upbringing


Dwarf

+2 Con
Darkvision
Dwarven Resilience
Stonecunning
Armor doesn't slow you
25 movement speed


Dwarven Mountain Clanhold

+2 Str
Dwarven Armor Training
Tool Proficiency (brewer, smith, artisan)
Dwarven Combat Training
Language: Dwarven

Dwarven Hill Tribe
+1 Wis
Dwarven Toughness
Dwarven Combat Training
Language: Dwarven




Elf

+2 Dex
Darkvision
Keen Senses
Fey Ancestry
Trance


High Elven Enclave

+1 Int
Cantrip
Extra Langage
Elvish Weapon Training
Language: Elvish

Elven Forest Enclave

+1 Wis
Fleet of Foot
Mask of the Wild
Elven Weapon Training
Language: Elvish

Drow Underdark

+1 Cha
Darkvision (or Superior Darkvision)
Drow Magic
Drow Weapon Training
Sunlight Sesitivity
Language: Elvish

If Drow are raised outside of the Underdark they have neither Sunlight Sensitivity nor Superior Darkvision.



Halfling

+2 Dex
Lucky
Brave
Halfling Nimbleness
Small
25 Move Speed


Stout Farmland

+1 Con
Stout Resilience
Language: Halfling

Urban

+1 Cha
Naturally Stealthy
Language: Halfling




Human

+1 to two ablity scores
1 Skill Proficiency


Urban

1 Feat

This is culture feature is only available to Humans.



Dragonborn
As listed in PHB. Dragonborn are immutable; they gain no traits from being raised in a different culture.
Dragonborn do not raise outsiders in their culture.


Gnome

+2 Int
Darkvision
Gnome Cunning
Small
25 Move Speed


Hidden Gnomish Conclave

+1 Dex
Illusionist
Speak with Small Beasts
Language: Gnomish

Urban Tinker

+1 Con
Artificer's Lore
Tinker
Language: Gnomish




Half-Elf

+1 to 2 Ability Scores
Skill Versatility
Darkvision
Fey Ancestry


Urban

+2 Cha
Extra Language




Half-Orc

+1 Con
+1 St
Darkvision
Relentless Endurance


Half-Orc Tribe

+1 Str
Menacing
Savage Attacks
Language: Orcish




Tiefling

+1 Int
Darkvision
Hellish Resistance
Infernal Legacy
Language: Infernal


Urban

+2 Cha
Extra Language






Not every character would be described by this table, and can be tinkered with as needed. But if your player wants to play Spinney, the gnomish barbarian raised by the fearsome half-orc tribes of the Dardrekr Mountains, then I think that Spinney should be a bit stronger than the average gnome.

I took a look at it using this resource (https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/2j6xbo/5e_guide_to_homebrewing_races/), and while it causes more fluctuations in balance, nothing is obnoxiously terrible.

Let me know what works/what doesn't, and what you think!

[Ninja_Prawn]

nothing is obnoxiously terrible.

Except that no one will play a human and everyone will take the 'human city' culture.

I exaggerate, but only slightly. In my view, you might have to expunge variant human from this system, or perhaps swap it so that the feat is innate to all humans and the flexible stats/skill comes from living in a city.

[Levism84]

I can see you have put a lot of time and effort into this, and it shows. I do have a few observations I would like to point out.

Drow
I feel that Superior Darkvision and Sunlight Sensitivity is more of a biological trait unique to drow. Since they have adapted, over generations, to the Underdark and its lack of light, it would make sense that "plucking" a drow from this environment wouldn't necessarily negate their Superior Darkvision or Sunlight Sensitivity. Likewise, a non-drow raised by drow would not suddenly find they gain Darkvision and Sunlight Sensitivity. I see where you were coming from to give drow normal Darkvision (like other elves) outside of the Underdark, but it seems disconnected from what you are trying to do by splitting biological and cultural adaptations.

Human
I agree with Ninja_Prawn that divorcing the feat from the human race isn't the most ideal move. Mechanically it is reasonably balanced with other cultural choices (being roughly equivalent to the +2 Cha most other Urban choices allow). However, the ability to select a feat at 1st level is a unique advantage that should be the domain of the human race alone. At least, that is how I look at it. You could easily go with +1 to any ability score of your choice and an extra skill proficiency as their cultural choice without breaking anything. I would just caution away from making the starting feat available to other races, particularly when humans have little else going for them, mechanically speaking.

Those were the only two issues I really had with your division. I would like to see your take on other races and subraces presented in other books and see how the racial and cultural stuff stacks up. Aasimars and Eladrin from the DMG, the new SCAG gnome and halfling, as well as other supplemental races would be neat to see. Keep up the good work!

[Flashy]

Some sort of odd interactions with cultural implications I thought I'd point out, because I don't know if they're intentional.


Dwarves raised by half-elves or tieflings are arguably the most adept sorcerers in the world. +2 con +2 cha is fantastic.
Half-elf raised by urban humans is strictly better than human raised by urban humans. It's +1 to two stats, two skill proficiencies, darkvision, fey ancestry, and a feat compared to the human's +1 to two stats, a skill proficiency, and a feat.
Gnomes raised by high elves start with a +3 int, which normally isn't possible. Tieflings, humans, or half-elves raised by high elves are all able to start with a +2 int. All four are better wizards than high elves raised by high elves. Combined with the free wizard cantrip this is pretty great.
Half Orcs raised by mountain dwarves can start with +3 con and +1 str, which again is pretty spectacular.
Can you use the +1/+1 offered by humans and half-elves to stack with cultural features that give +2? If so, you can make a LOT of +3/+1 setups. If not you should probably make that explicit.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Some sort of odd interactions with cultural implications I thought I'd point out, because I don't know if they're intentional.


Dwarves raised by half-elves or tieflings are arguably the most adept sorcerers in the world.
Gnomes raised by high elves start with a +3 int
Half Orcs raised by mountain dwarves can start with +3 con and +1 str


Balance aside, I think the three points above are actually quite appropriate. Tiefling-influenced dwarves should be good sorcerers, elf-raised gnomes should be excellent wizards, and half-orcs raised by dwarves would be mega-tough.

I agree with Levism84 in principle that the drow cultural traits (including drow magic) feel like they should be racial... but so do all the base elf traits. Ultimately, I'd say that falls under 'acceptable breaks from fluff'.

[Sredni Vashtar]

I feel that something like this should be dealt with on a case by case basis, to avoid oddities like an entire party of adopted PCs.

[zeek0]

Hello!

Wow! Thanks for the comments. I've taken them into account.

Changes:
- Only humans can gain a feat at first level as their culture feature
- A note about Drow has been added, stating that if they are raised outside of the Underdark then they have neither Superior Darkvision nor Sunlight Sensitivity.

As for players simply picking what is best for the numbers...
If I didn't trust my players, I would present this to a player whose backstory included being raised in a different culture. But if I trusted them I'd put it on the table from the outset. I think that the interesting character created by a character raised in a different culture would make my game better than the minor benefits that can be had from a numbers-driven player.

I will work on getting other races put up here. Thanks all!

[zeek0]

So I found that non-PHB races are much harder to split between biology and culture. This is because of two reasons:
1) The race is less likely to have their own distinct culture, like the Minotaur.
2) The race is more likely to have it's defining characteristics be physical or innate, such as Aarokocra or Genasi.

But, I have tried my best. Genasi I am not happy with. Some, like the Shifter or Warforged, are impossible - their features are too innate to their biology and they have no parent culture to speak of. Shifter could do with some more features anyhow, but Warforged... eh, something to think about another time. Adivice and such is welcome.



Biology
Culture


Changeling

+1 Dex
Shapeshifter


Changeling Upbringing

+1 Cha
Skill: Deception
2 Chosen Languages




Tiefling Variant: Abyssal

+1 Con
Abyssal Arcana
Darkvision
Language: Abyssal


Urban

+2 Cha
Extra Language




Minotaur

+1 Str
Horns
Goring Rush
Hammering Horns
Labyrinthine Recall


Minotaur Sea Reaver

Choice of +1 Str, Int, or Wis
Proficiencies: Navigator's Tools, Vehicles: (water)




Aasimar

+1 Wis
Darkvision
Celestial Resistance
Celestial Legacy
Language: Celestial


Urban

+2 Cha
Extra Language




Aarokocra

+1 Dex
25 Speed
Flight
Talons
Language: Auran


Aarakocra Orrery

+1 Dex
+1 Wis
Language: Aarakocra




Gnome

+2 Int
25 Speed
Small
Darkvision
Gnome Cunning


Deep Gnome Underdark

+1 Dex
Stone Camouflage
Darkvision (or Superior Darkvision)




Genasi

Subrace Features
Language: Primordial


Genasi Wandering(?)

+2 Con




Goliath

+1 Str
Proficiency: Athletics
Stone's Endurance
Powerful Build


Goliath Highlands

+1 Con
+1 Str
Mountainborn
Language: Giant




Shifter
?



Warforged
?




But here, I think, is the strength of this system: I or players can create their own culture and plug it in. Here's an easy example: The Zorkian Raiders, whose (frankly, rather ridiculous) citizens all serve in the military for a time when they become adults. They live on immense barges in the Kelp Sea (from which they acquire kelp, their main form of sustenance), and raid coastal towns for food that isn't kelp.

Zorkian Raiding Barge
+1 Str
Zorkian Weapon Proficiency: Blowgun, Maul
Proficiency: Vehicles (water)
Language: Zork

Also, this adds a third layer - now a character chooses their Race(biology), Cultural Upbringing, and Background. Many, many more combinations!