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jollysunflora
2017-03-14, 03:46 PM
I'm a newbie to homebrewing and have several concepts for different alien races, several of which are non humanoid. How would I get started with that? Like basic stats and such; everything seems skewed towards humanoid races for obvious reasons...

GalacticAxekick
2017-03-14, 03:51 PM
All you need to do is grant them appropriate features and stat bonuses, really.

What system is this for? How do your races differ from humanoids?

jollysunflora
2017-03-14, 04:10 PM
For Pathfinder but convertible to 5e and so on. Well, theres one race that are basically sentient octopuses, a race of psychic slug people, some fungi people...

GalacticAxekick
2017-03-14, 04:52 PM
For Pathfinder but convertible to 5e and so on. Well, theres one race that are basically sentient octopuses, a race of psychic slug people, some fungi people...The octopus race is quite compatible with the race-building conventions of 5e, though I can't comment on the others without more information on what psychic powers the slugs hold or how (if?) the fungi locomote.

Skipping fluff like age, alignment, specific size and language (which are up to you), here's what the octopus might look like

Cephalopod Dude
Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Size: Medium
Speed: Your base walking speed is 20 feet. You have a swimming speed of 40 feet.
Darkvision: Accustomed to the ocean depths, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. 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.
Boneless: You can move through any opening large enough for a small creature without squeezing.
Polydextrous: You may simultaneously hold and manipulate up to four objects, such as weapons, shields and potions. You may use an object as a bonus action, rather than an action, on your turn.

Mighty Octupus Dude Subrace
Ability Score Increase: Your Strength score increases by 1.
Tentacles: Your unarmed strike uses a d4 damage die. A large or smaller creature hit by your unarmed strike is grappled (escape DC 10).

Sneaky Squid Dude Subrace
Ability Score Increase: Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Chromatophores: By changing the colour and texture of your skin, you can attempt to hide in plain sight. You are no longer hidden if you move, either intentionally or due to an outside effect.

jollysunflora
2017-03-14, 05:10 PM
:O

Awesome! Ok so the other day I made a post (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?518053-Homebrew-12-Alien-Races-for-D20) describing the alien races and was wondering what you thought

freeWeemsy
2017-03-14, 05:27 PM
To expand on what was said above. I would start with an existing race and flavor it to your liking. This way you don't have to worry about it becoming horribly imbalanced.

GalacticAxekick
2017-03-14, 05:56 PM
I'll write up one more example, since there are quite a few races here. It may not be totally balanced, but it should give an idea of how these things are handled!

Quel'dsats: Beetle People]
Ability Score Increase: Your Constitution score increases by 2.
Size: Medium
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Exoskeleton: Your AC cannot be less than 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier, regardless of what kind of armour you're wearing.
Airtight: You can hold your breath for a number of minutes equal to your Constitution score.

Beetle Subrace
Ability Score Increase: Your Strength score increases by 1.
Elytra: You are a source of total cover for medium or smaller targets.
Flutter: You may make a long jump or high jump without a running start.

Cockroach Subrace
Ability Score Increase: Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Pest: You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage
Darkvision: you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. 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.

Exoskeleton is an extremely powerful trait: it means that the race can endure combat without armour. For Fighters, Barbarians, Monks, Paladin and Rangers, this is insignificant: they can the same defense using armour or their own class features. And so it's alright for me to write a few more benefits for those kinds of front-line classes. But for spellcasters and Rogues, this is a very significant feature: it means they can survive a lot more punishment than usual, without needing to cast defensive spells or take Cunning Actions. I need to be careful not to grant them much more with this race.

The beetle subrace gains a tiny bit a Strength to help those front-line characters out. The Elytra feature means the beetle subrace can protect its allies, but doesn't actually help it protect itself (which, again is great for a front-line sort of PC, but doesn't do much for spellcasters and Rogues). And finally, the Flutter feature improves jumps, which rely on Strength, ultimately giving front-line characters a new way to move around while offering relatively less to spellcasters and Rogues.

The cockroach subrace gains a bit of Wisdom: the spellcasting ability of Clerics and Druids. But Clerics and Druids gain armour and weapon profiencies: they're somewhere between squishy mage and true frontliner, so Exoskeleton isn't a massive bonus to them, and the Wisdom is a fair bonus on top of that. Pest is a situational benefit that mostly exists for thematic reasons. Darkvision makes up for it by being very, very frequently useful regardless of your class.

All in all, I tried to make this race viable but not too powerful for every class and build.

jollysunflora
2017-03-14, 06:02 PM
To expand on what was said above. I would start with an existing race and flavor it to your liking. This way you don't have to worry about it becoming horribly imbalanced.

Hmmm, good idea. I just don't want to mess up the whole "races gotta be humanoid" thing.

GalacticAxekick
2017-03-14, 06:17 PM
Hmmm, good idea. I just don't want to mess up the whole "races gotta be humanoid" thing.Very few, if any, racial traits assume that the race is humanoid. Most races have some extraordinary ability humans don't have—whether or not they're humanoid won't change that. So all you need to worry about is things they can't do that humans can. You'll need to write those penalties in and compensate for them.

For instance, your slugs might not be able to hold weapons (or any objects, really). But they psychic, so there are a few ways you can compensate. In addition to a "limbless" feature, you could grant them a "telekenisis" feature. Let them manipulate up to two objects within 5 feet using only their minds. Give them an unarmed strike that deals force damage. This telekenisis is biological, not magical, and so it's okay if they still use Strength and Dexterity for weapon attacks and AC.