Awakened as an option for PCs?

[PastorofMuppets]

I have heard stories about players using awakened creatures as their chosen race in fantasy RPGs before but I cannot find rules in 5e for that. Is there a basis for it someplace or is it entirely up to GM house rules? Anything at all would be great in terms of recommendations on what would be a decent animal for pc equivalents.

The idea I had which the dm hated at first and now loves is a familiar of a deceased wizard out for revenge on the party that left him behind, as the short version. I intended him to be a squirrel but if there are more readily available awakened animal stats I could edit that part, even rewrite it as a ranger’s companion animal for more options though the motivation would be the same.

[Guy Lombard-O]

I have heard stories about players using awakened creatures as their chosen race in fantasy RPGs before but I cannot find rules in 5e for that. Is there a basis for it someplace or is it entirely up to GM house rules? Anything at all would be great in terms of recommendations on what would be a decent animal for pc equivalents.

The idea I had which the dm hated at first and now loves is a familiar of a deceased wizard out for revenge on the party that left him behind, as the short version. I intended him to be a squirrel but if there are more readily available awakened animal stats I could edit that part, even rewrite it as a ranger’s companion animal for more options though the motivation would be the same.

Well, I don't know about stats for an actual squirrel. But you could look at this:

https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Sciurian_(5e_Race)

Also, I think you'll have to home brew a conjure spell for this:

https://imgur.com/h1lMrpt

And perhaps one day polymorph into this:

https://imgur.com/5YFT0tL

[Azreal]

This is literally all I can think of now

https://m.imgur.com/gallery/5tVyi

[Man_Over_Game]

It is stated that Classes come from training, not from society or culture, and even a dog can be trained into getting a few levels into Fighter. Unfortunately, I don't have the reference on hand, was stated by Crawford or Mearls (I think Crawford).

The simplest approach would be to just to not allow any instances of Multiattack as that creature form and they reroll their mental stats upon being Awakened. Otherwise, just use that creature's statblock. If it comes with skills, the character gets those skills as bonus racial proficiencies.

[Unoriginal]

It is stated that Classes come from training, not from society or culture, and even a dog can be trained into getting a few levels into Fighter. Unfortunately, I don't have the reference on hand, was stated by Crawford or Mearls (I think Crawford).

It was Crawford, yeah.



The simplest approach would be to just to not allow any instances of Multiattack as that creature form and they reroll their mental stats upon being Awakened. Otherwise, just use that creature's statblock. If it comes with skills, the character gets those skills as bonus racial proficiencies.

Basically. Though Awaken just gives 10 in INT

For a squirrel, use the Rat's statblock. Maybe with some tweaking.

[Man_Over_Game]

It was Crawford, yeah.



Basically. Though Awaken just gives 10 in INT

For a squirrel, use the Rat's statblock. Maybe with some tweaking.

I think there is a literal squirrel stat block.

[Edit] Nevermind, there may not be. There is a Weasel, though, if Darkvision isn't a necessity.

[noob]

It is stated that Classes come from training, not from society or culture, and even a dog can be trained into getting a few levels into Fighter. Unfortunately, I don't have the reference on hand, was stated by Crawford or Mearls (I think Crawford).

The simplest approach would be to just to not allow any instances of Multiattack as that creature form and they reroll their mental stats upon being Awakened. Otherwise, just use that creature's statblock. If it comes with skills, the character gets those skills as bonus racial proficiencies.

Since there is no int requirement for wizard(nor clearly defined requirement about being able to read and write an actual language) now we can probably train a regular animal to become a wizard.

So you can totally go play a dog wizard.

[KorvinStarmast]

Basically. Though Awaken just gives 10 in INT.

For a squirrel, use the Rat's statblock. Maybe with some tweaking. Isn't a squirrel a rodent? Close.
Squirrels

Various members of the family Sciuridae a family that includes small or medium-size rodents.

And they are bloodthirsty!


Predatory behavior has been observed in various species of ground squirrels, in particular the thirteen-lined ground squirrel ... a scientist in the 1920s observed a thirteen-lined ground squirrel preying upon a young chicken. Wistrand reported seeing this same species eating a freshly killed snake. Whitaker examined the stomachs of 139 thirteen-lined ground squirrels and found bird flesh in four of the specimens and the remains of a short-tailed shrew in one; Bradley, examining the stomachs of white-tailed antelope squirrels, found at least 10% of his 609 specimens' stomachs contained some type of vertebrate, mostly lizards and rodents. Morgart observed a white-tailed antelope squirrel capturing and eating a silky pocket mouse. Source (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel)

[JakOfAllTirades]

You can play an awakened cat with these stats:

https://66.media.tumblr.com/3b4ab1642d60d2bd0d3f1248f8b36d8b/tumblr_p2kevuLJwX1wsk7jeo1_1280.jpg

[PastorofMuppets]

Thanks for all the input, is that awakened cat entry an unearthed arcana thing?

[noob]

Thanks for all the input, is that awakened cat entry an unearthed arcana thing?

Why play an awakened cat when you can play a regular cat wizard?
High dex, advantage on smell perception checks, high speed and climbing speed and a bonus to wisdom which is an important save(and your small size allows to flee through thin corridors or finally pursue those kobolds through their murder holes).
Does not lose intelligence in antimagic zones and also does not radiate transmutation magic and is not differentiable in any way from a normal cat because it is actually a normal cat.(the only non ribbon disadvantage is that you do not have darkvision because cats does not have darkvision in fact it is the reason we never see cats hunt the night(the nonsense stats blocs))
Or play a regular dog which just have insanely good stats which makes it a good anything that does not use charisma.

[JakOfAllTirades]

Thanks for all the input, is that awakened cat entry an unearthed arcana thing?

It's from one of the D&D homebrew wikis I believe.

[Guy Lombard-O]

Why play an awakened cat when you can play a regular cat wizard?
High dex, advantage on smell perception checks, high speed and climbing speed and a bonus to wisdom which is an important save(and your small size allows to flee through thin corridors or finally pursue those kobolds through their murder holes).
Does not lose intelligence in antimagic zones and also does not radiate transmutation magic and is not differentiable in any way from a normal cat because it is actually a normal cat.(the only non ribbon disadvantage is that you do not have darkvision because cats does not have darkvision in fact it is the reason we never see cats hunt the night(the nonsense stats blocs))
Or play a regular dog which just have insanely good stats which makes it a good anything that does not use charisma.

Good luck with those somatic and material component spells. At least squirrels have actual hands.

[nickl_2000]

Not perfect, but I actually wrote a few Awakened Animal Races (Bear, Spider, Canine, and Feline) awhile back when someone else was asking about this.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yEFIw2jlo35h9aEdKerlsuj4rOLwAzIIsKIn_1miUto/edit?usp=sharing

These all assume Medium or Large sized PCs. Feel free to take and modify as you like.