Satyr PC Race by DracoKnight

[DracoKnight]

So, a player in one of my games is a huge Percy Jackson/Narnia fan, and asked if Satyrs could be playable, and so I decided to make them. I haven't written up the fluff yet, but I have most of the mechanics down. To me, it feels very weak, though, and I was wondering if the forum has any suggestion for how I could buff my Satyr PC Race (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PxWydzNKtAVHjnO7x8T7FkD5y9k6bPx4eNt0jTVEmlI/edit?usp=sharing).

[JNAProductions]

Well, your fluff is just fantastic. Perfect, no need for improvement. :P

Stats, now let's see.

Dex+2, Cha+1, both very useful stats, but normal amounts.

35' walking speed.

Blah blah blah, more PHB stuff...

Pipes of the Lost Gods-probably won't come up much, but neat.

Overall... This is just like Wood Elves. But weaker. I'd say buff it up a little.

[Venardhi]

Are you using the traditional Greek Satyr or the more popular version conflated with Fauns by late Roman writers and later European writers and artists?

I assume the latter because of the Pan reference but just want to be clear.

Might be a good opportunity for subraces. One more stout, hedonistic and uncouth and the other beautiful, charming and lithe. The former might have been banished from the fey realms much earlier, with the latter more recent arrivals.

[DracoKnight]

I'm thinking of giving them a buff via racial spells:

At 1st level: the friends cantrip
At 3rd level: Tasha's hideous laughter
At 5th level: charm person as a 2nd-level spell

[GandalfTheWhite]

I'm thinking of giving them a buff via racial spells:

At 1st level: the friends cantrip
At 3rd level: Tasha's hideous laughter
At 5th level: charm person as a 2nd-level spell

I think that these work :smallbiggrin:

[DracoKnight]

Edit to the OP: I have added two new racial features, Drunken Devotees and Fey Magic. :smallsmile:

Hopefully these bring up the race's power :smallbiggrin:

[MAL1CE]

So, a player in one of my games is a huge Percy Jackson/Narnia fan, and asked if Satyrs could be playable, and so I decided to make them. I haven't written up the fluff yet, but I have most of the mechanics down. To me, it feels very weak, though, and I was wondering if the forum has any suggestion for how I could buff my Satyr PC Race (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PxWydzNKtAVHjnO7x8T7FkD5y9k6bPx4eNt0jTVEmlI/edit?usp=sharing).

For comparison's sake, take a look at this. I made a satyr race for mtg/5e a few weeks ago.

[DracoKnight]

For comparison's sake, take a look at this. I made a satyr race for mtg/5e a few weeks ago.

There is no link.

[MAL1CE]

There is no link.

My mistake, here is the link http://mtgdnd.jimdo.com/races/satyr/

It isn't letting me use the link button for some reason, but there you go.

[DracoKnight]

My mistake, here is the link http://mtgdnd.jimdo.com/races/satyr/

It isn't letting me use the link button for some reason, but there you go.

Interesting. I think you gave it way too much movement speed. It has movement equal to a 6th level Monk, and at 1st level - without being a monk. Combine that with all of the other racial goodies it gets (spells, natural weapons on a Dash action (90ft.), and Fey Ancestry), and it appears to me to be too strong.

At 20th level, a Wood Elf Monk (the most optimized race for the class) will have 65 feet of movement. 75, if they take the Mobile feat. A 20th level monk using your Satyr race will have 75 movement without the feat. 85 with the feat. That's a Dash of 170, and they still get to deal damage. The fastest a character can move by RAW (and without spells like Haste) and still attack is 150 feet. That's a 20th level Wood Elf Monk with the Mobile feat. That's moving, using Step of the Wind to bonus action Dash, and then taking the Attack action.

[PoeticDwarf]

Interesting. I think you gave it way too much movement speed. It has movement equal to a 6th level Monk, and at 1st level - without being a monk. Combine that with all of the other racial goodies it gets (spells, natural weapons on a Dash action (90ft.), and Fey Ancestry), and it appears to me to be too strong.

At 20th level, a Wood Elf Monk (the most optimized race for the class) will have 65 feet of movement. 75, if they take the Mobile feat. A 20th level monk using your Satyr race will have 75 movement without the feat. 85 with the feat. That's a Dash of 170, and they still get to deal damage. The fastest a character can move by RAW (and without spells like Haste) and still attack is 150 feet. That's a 20th level Wood Elf Monk with the Mobile feat. That's moving, using Step of the Wind to bonus action Dash, and then taking the Attack action.
Race seems nice with changes. I like it
A barb 5 / monk 15 wood elf has without spells 80 base speed with mobile so can 160ft with attacking but well, who cares

[Ninja_Prawn]

You know, satyrs are funny. You've done a version, MAL1CE has done a version, I've done a version (https://www.dropbox.com/s/q24i7p2n6u4vn3x/Fey%20Creatures%20Part%203.pdf?dl=0)... but none of them are any good. I don't know what it is, but all three versions just seem flat and uninspired.

I reckon it must be a fey curse. Next time someone asks to play a satyr, we should just say "no".

[MAL1CE]

You know, satyrs are funny. You've done a version, MAL1CE has done a version, I've done a version (https://www.dropbox.com/s/q24i7p2n6u4vn3x/Fey%20Creatures%20Part%203.pdf?dl=0)... but none of them are any good. I don't know what it is, but all three versions just seem flat and uninspired.

I reckon it must be a fey curse. Next time someone asks to play a satyr, we should just say "no".

I disagree. They aren't uninspired, but like any other race, it's up to the player to bring them to life. That and I haven't written fluff yet :P just stats.

Anyway, I wanted to make the satyr significantly faster than any other humanoid race, but perhaps 45 is a bit much. What about 40? 35 just seems kinda... whatever. But that may just be me.

If there's anything else, btw, let me know, I'm new to homebrew.

[JNAProductions]

You know, satyrs are funny. You've done a version, MAL1CE has done a version, I've done a version (https://www.dropbox.com/s/q24i7p2n6u4vn3x/Fey%20Creatures%20Part%203.pdf?dl=0)... but none of them are any good. I don't know what it is, but all three versions just seem flat and uninspired.

I reckon it must be a fey curse. Next time someone asks to play a satyr, we should just say "no".

Challenge accepted. Satyrs (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?478193-Satyr&p=20411302#post20411302), with two subraces.

[DracoKnight]

You know, satyrs are funny. You've done a version, MAL1CE has done a version, I've done a version (https://www.dropbox.com/s/q24i7p2n6u4vn3x/Fey%20Creatures%20Part%203.pdf?dl=0)... but none of them are any good. I don't know what it is, but all three versions just seem flat and uninspired.

I reckon it must be a fey curse. Next time someone asks to play a satyr, we should just say "no".


I disagree. They aren't uninspired, but like any other race, it's up to the player to bring them to life. That and I haven't written fluff yet :P just stats.

Anyway, I wanted to make the satyr significantly faster than any other humanoid race, but perhaps 45 is a bit much. What about 40? 35 just seems kinda... whatever. But that may just be me.

If there's anything else, btw, let me know, I'm new to homebrew.

I'm with MAL1CE on this one. The races aren't uninspired, but are currently lacking fluff. It takes me a while to write that up, and this time I paid special care to include fluff within the racial traits themselves. Even yours doesn't feel uninspired, it's just lacking fluff.

It's like this: as a player, I can play a human (regarded, in my group at least, as the most uninspired race), and not Variant. Straight human. And I can take that race with bland fluff and make an interesting character.

The second character I ever made for D&D was Darvin Greycastle, a non-Variant Human Rogue. He was a criminal mastermind, owning a large network that operated throughout the realm. He was betrayed by his group and after a botched execution in the woods, Darvin lost all of his memories. So, the once proud and evil criminal mastermind threw in with a newly founded party of adventurers in order to recover his memories. He was good while in this amnesiac state, and later when he recovered his memories, he hated who he used to be, but saw the usefulness of his old reputation and shifted to a more neutral moral viewpoint. And for the rest of the party, it was an excellent reveal, that the person that they had trusted - and were helping recover his memory - was the leader of the organization that was hunting them, and that the organization was hunting them because of him. The party got to feel betrayed for a couple of sessions, but Darvin got to prove himself to the party, by single-handedly slaying an troll that wandered into the area, and could have killed the mages fairly easily.

Yes, this character played to some of the tropes of amnesiac charcaters, but the tropes exist because they work for making an interesting character.

EDIT: My point is this: racial fluff and abilities can catch a player's eye, and make them choose a particular race over another, but ultimately, it's up to them how they play the character, and that's what makes it inspired or uninspired. Honestly, it's almost cooler when a player takes an uninteresting race and makes an interesting character.

[GandalfTheWhite]

I'm with MAL1CE on this one. The races aren't uninspired, but are currently lacking fluff. It takes me a while to write that up, and this time I paid special care to include fluff within the racial traits themselves. Even yours doesn't feel uninspired, it's just lacking fluff.

I find myself on this side of the aisle too. Not that I have anything at stake in this :smalltongue:


It's like this: as a player, I can play a human (regarded, in my group at least, as the most uninspired race), and not Variant. Straight human. And I can take that race with bland fluff and make an interesting character.

I was honestly unaware that there was any player that would willingly do this. Feats are awesome...and yet, you ditched a feat at level 1?


The second character I ever made for D&D was Darvin Greycastle, a non-Variant Human Rogue. He was a criminal mastermind, owning a large network that operated throughout the realm. He was betrayed by his group and after a botched execution in the woods, Darvin lost all of his memories. So, the once proud and evil criminal mastermind threw in with a newly founded party of adventurers in order to recover his memories. He was good while in this amnesiac state, and later when he recovered his memories, he hated who he used to be, but saw the usefulness of his old reputation and shifted to a more neutral moral viewpoint. And for the rest of the party, it was an excellent reveal, that the person that they had trusted - and were helping recover his memory - was the leader of the organization that was hunting them, and that the organization was hunting them because of him. The party got to feel betrayed for a couple of sessions, but Darvin got to prove himself to the party, by single-handedly slaying an troll that wandered into the area, and could have killed the mages fairly easily.

Honestly...this is pretty cool. It shows growth, depth, and tainted redemption. As a (hobby) writer, I find this character to be fairly engaging.


Yes, this character played to some of the tropes of amnesiac charcaters, but the tropes exist because they work for making an interesting character.

Eh, every genre and character is built on tropes. That's how stories work. There are no new ideas under the sun.


EDIT: My point is this: racial fluff and abilities can catch a player's eye, and make them choose a particular race over another, but ultimately, it's up to them how they play the character, and that's what makes it inspired or uninspired. Honestly, it's almost cooler when a player takes an uninteresting race and makes an interesting character.

This. It's up to the player to make the character interesting. It's up to the writer to make the race balanced and attractive, but the player's imagination should be what gives the character life.

[DracoKnight]

Are there any comments as to this race's current balance?

[JNAProductions]

I would add a note to Drunken Revelry-this advantage only applies in places where being drunk is appropriate.

This to avoid things like getting smashed to improve diplomacy with the king in his royal court.

[MAL1CE]

I would add a note to Drunken Revelry-this advantage only applies in places where being drunk is appropriate.

This to avoid things like getting smashed to improve diplomacy with the king in his royal court.

"I understand you have a proposition for me, Satyr?" The king rose slightly in his throne to better see the young satyr on the council floor below.

"Oh, yeah (hic) and yer gon' love it!" Said Knil, taking another giant swig of mead. "See there's (hic) a durgon... A dargon... ah you know what I mean. A big ass lizard. An' he's got (hic) got a treasure! A big one!"

The king Macar raised his eyebrows, keenly interested. "Go on..."

"Whatdya say, you an' me an' somma yer men go an' get the (hic) treasure, huh? Eh Mac? Macky? Bud?"

The room grew silent, the council looking to Macar for approval. Slowly, his face shrouded by his golden mask, Macar rose to his feet. The rest of the party cowered slightly, ready to dash for the door. Surely the King would't stand for such disrespect. Knil stood defiantly in the middle of the room, unshaken.

The tensity in the room was suddenly broken. A single clap pierced through the air. Then another. And another. The king was applauding Knil. One by one the council members joined in, until the room was roaring in jovity. Macar raised his fist high and declared "At dawn, we set out. Bring me that dragon's treasure! And it's head!"

Kofer the dwarf leaned over Elabor, whispering "I can't believe that worked."

Knil whipped around to the group, smashing his now empty bottle on the ground. "I fuggin' TOLD you it would work!"

--------

Yeah, I don't see the problem. I'd totally play in that campaign.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Yeah I agree. Fey creatures are supposed to fly in the face of humanoid norms. To be honest, I actually thought that feature was underpowered; satyrs should get more out of being drunk. I'd also like to see it backed up by general (i.e. non-satyr) rules for getting drunk, so that you can tell exactly what benefit the feature is giving.