Multiverse 3: The Rest Incarnate the good, the bad, and the monstrous with this homebrewed rework to player races for D&D 5th Edition!

 

 

Multiverse 3: The Rest

Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition has featured a lot of weird races in its time. Some, like the vedalken or simic hybrid, were pulled from Magic: The Gathering, while others, like the grung or locathah, came from the obscure depths of the Forgotten Realms, making for a large and diverse roster of player options.

Reception to these races has been mixed, however: while certain options like the dhampir or warforged became popular, many have fallen by the wayside, and some are so obscure as to virtually never see play. This is, in large part, due to wild inconsistencies in their design and balance: some, like the grung, are the product of poor translation of monster races to player races, and are unsuited for serious play, while many feature excessively bland or weak trait lists that, for all the varied races in the D&D multiverse and beyond, don’t have a distinct identity or much originality. Many a player race has significant untapped potential, and could shine with some adjustments or the odd rework.

The following intends, first and foremost, to apply some key design standards set by Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse to a number of player races, namely obscure ones not commonly seen at tables. A separate brew covers races from the Player’s Handbook, leaving this one to cover the ones that remain. This chiefly includes making many races more setting- and culture-agnostic, while also updating the mechanics of several of their traits. Another goal is also to adjust less successful races so that they can become viable and interesting choices alongside staples. Finally, this brew includes several new additions, including some monster races and options featured in Unearthed Arcana.

Creating Your Character

When creating your character, choose whether your character is a human, or a member of another race. As a human, you have the following traits.

  • Ability Score Increase. Each of your ability scores increases by 2, to a maximum of 20.
  • Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character.
  • Type. You are a Humanoid.
  • Size. You are Medium.
  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.

If you select another race, follow these additional rules during character creation.

Ability Score Increases

When determining your character’s ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. Regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, you can’t raise any of your scores above 20.

Languages

Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character.

Life Span

Barring the possibility of an untimely death, the typical life span of a player character is about a century. If a race’s average life span meaningfully differs from this range, that fact is mentioned in the race’s description.

Height and Weight

Player characters of Medium size, regardless of race, typically fall into the same ranges of height and weight that humans have in our world. Small characters tend to weigh half as much as a typical Medium character.

PART 1 | INTRODUCTION

 

 

Dhampir

5e has many player races that function as ersatzes to famous creature archetypes, and the dhampir is one such race: having most of the key traits of vampires, yet none of the monsters’ more excessively powerful traits or restrictive weaknesses, dhampirs are a safe option for players looking to replicate the vampire experience.

As presented in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, the lineage is altogether well-designed, offering a well-rounded trait package that accurately captures most of a vampire’s iconic traits. It does, however, have a few issues: for one, it’s likely a bit too strong, in large part due to its Ancestral Legacy trait, which in trying to enable application on top of other races lends itself to abuse via inheritance of flying speeds. Even the trait’s baseline of two freeform skill proficiencies is likely excessive next to such a packcage of bonuses. A more minor issue is a slight degree of overcomplication, in part due to to the lineage’s Ancestral Legacy trait but also the many bells and whistles attached to its Vampiric Bite.

Despite the above, the following does not intend to drastically overhaul the dhampir, so much as simplify certain aspects of it, and try to bring it even closer to its vampiric heritage. Its lineage is made into a race, dropping its Ancestral Legacy trait, with the assumption being that a player wanting to become a dhampir could simply swap out their character’s previous racial traits for this one’s. Its unarmed strike is altered and made to function more like the Lizardfolk’s Hungry Jaws, while its creature type is now undead, with a compensatory feature added to still allow healing as normal. The end result ought to be a race that’s relatively easy to understand, and potentially even closer in theme and function to a vampire, or at least as much as a player race can get.

Dhampir do not age, and so live indefinitely until killed.

Dhampir Traits

As a dhampir, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are an Undead.
  • Size. You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race.
  • Speed. Your walking speed is 35 feet, and you have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed.
  • Bite. You have fangs that you can use to make unarmed strikes. When you hit with them, the strike deals 1d6 + your Strength modifier piercing damage, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
  • Darkvision. 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 discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.
  • Deathless Nature. You don’t need to breathe.
  • Feeding Frenzy. As a bonus action, you can make a special attack with your Bite. If the attack hits, it deals its normal damage, and you gain temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
  • Living Undead. Spells that restore hit points or stabilize creatures and would not normally affect Undead can still affect you.

PART 2 | DHAMPIR

 

 

Giff

One of many spelljamming races featured in Unearthed Arcana, giff are easily recognizable as humanoid hippos, yet beyond that have surprisingly few distinctive traits to work with: culturally, giff are militaristic and love all things involving gunpowder, but that’s not helpful when trying to create a player race that is culture- and setting-agnostic. Beyond their sizeable build, giff are sometimes mentioned to have a mild degree of magic resistance, and that’s it. It should therefore be no great surprise that their Unearthed Arcana release came off as fairly uninspired, with a trait list overly favoring Strength-based characters and benefiting few other builds.

Despite this, the following aims to recreate a race that stands out independently of culture, with traits made to benefit a greater variety of characters. The Damage Dealer trait featured in UA is expanded to apply to any damage die, the goliath’s trait replaces a Hippo Build trait that would amplify Strength builds a bit too effectively on its own, and the race’s magic resistance is implemented here as a counterpart to the gnome’s, focusing on physical saves.

Giff Traits

As a giff, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Humanoid.
  • Size. You are Medium.
  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
  • Damage Dealer. Once on each of your turns when you roll a 1 on a damage die, you can reroll the die. If you do so, you must use the new roll.
  • Giff Magic Resistance. You have advantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws against spells.
  • Little Giant. You have proficiency in the Athletics skill, and you count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

PART 3 | GIFF

 

 

Gnoll

A commonly-employed monster race, the gnoll has surprisingly not yet found its way as a player race. Perhaps this may be due to the overly specific nature of its defining Rampage trait and typical association with a demon lord, but the same could be said for the orc race, which found its way into Volo’s Guide to Monsters and then again into MP:MM. Without further ado, the following attempts to translate gnolls to a player race, with care taken to make its Rampage trait more generally usable.

Gnoll Traits

As a gnoll, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Humanoid.

  • Size. You are Medium.

  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.

  • Bite. You have serrated teeth that you can use to make unarmed strikes. When you hit with them, the strike deals 1d6 + your Strength modifier piercing damage, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

  • Darkvision. 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 discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.

  • Rampage. As a bonus action, you can move up to your walking speed and make a special attack with your Bite, which deals its normal damage on a hit.

    You can use your Rampage a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

    If you reduce a creature to 0 hit points on your turn, you can use your Rampage on the same turn without expending a use.

  • Toxin Resilience. You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end a disease or the poisoned condition on yourself. You also have resistance to poison damage.

PART 4 | GNOLL

 

 

Grung

One Grung Above took a monster race almost entirely at random, made a player race out of it, and ended up demonstrating pretty thoroughly the difficulty in translating the former into the latter: in the hands of the DM, grungs cause few to no issues, but in the hands of a player, its trait package is highly prone to abuse. The combination of the race’s climbing speed and tremendous jump distance trivializes many environmental puzzles, whereas its innate poison is so disproportionately effective on certain martial builds that the race would find itself on many more ban lists if it were picked much at all. On the flipside, its water dependency trait restricts player characters to certain campaigns, as adventures in deserts or other arid areas are sure to kill a low-level grung in days.

With the above in mind, the goal behind these changes is to rein in certain aspects of the race to make it less prone to abuse: rather than have an always-on massive standing jump distance, the race gets the Harengon’s leap trait, while its iconic poison trait also gets changed to a limited-use poison debuff it can apply through melee attacks. In exchange, its water dependency trait is removed entirely, allowing a player character of this race to survive different environments more equally.

Grung Traits

As a grung, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Humanoid.

  • Size. You are Small.

  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a climbing speed and a swimming speed equal to your walking speed.

  • Amphibious. You can breathe air and water.

  • Frog Leap. As a bonus action, you can jump a number of feet equal to five times your proficiency bonus, without provoking opportunity attacks. You can use this trait only if your speed is greater than 0. You can use it a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

  • Poison Resilience. You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the poisoned condition on yourself. You also have resistance to poison damage.

  • Poisonous Touch. When you make a melee attack and hit, you can imbue the attack with poison. A target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against a DC of 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus, or be poisoned for 1 minute. A target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

    You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

PART 5 | GRUNG

 

 

Gully Dwarf

Oh good, a race nobody wanted. The world of Krynn has several races that have rarely been seen outside of the setting, and with good reason: they’re awful. Mechanical considerations aside, gully dwarves are consistently depicted as deeply stupid, unprincipled, and altogether unheroic, making them poor material for a player race in most adventures. Alongside the kender, the gully dwarf is generally considered one of the worst-written and least likeable races in any setting, making the demand for their implementation as a player race unsurprisingly low.

With WotC taking a crack at the kender race in Unearthed Arcana, however, there is still perhaps room for this race to be implemented in some form, if only as a thought exercise. Mechanically, the following trait list tries to capitalize on a degree of standardization brought about by MP:MM, replacing the usual cultural traits of dwarves with the survival instincts found in their lowlier kin. Generally, this brew does not focus on flavor, but in this instance an exception is in order: if you do intend to play a gully dwarf, try to play them as if they came from the state of Florida. The character doesn’t have to be particularly refined, let alone sane, but they do have to be able to partake in heroics. Even if you do not follow this advice, please avoid bringing an exceedingly cowardly, moronic, and unhygienic character to the table without the express consent of every other player and the DM.

Gully Dwarf Traits

As a gully dwarf, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Humanoid. You are also considered a dwarf for any prerequisite or effect that requires you to be a dwarf.
  • Size. You are Medium.
  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
  • Darkvision. 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 discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.
  • Dwarven Toughness. Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level.
  • Poison Resilience. You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the poisoned condition on yourself. You also have resistance to poison damage.
  • Nimble Escape. You can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of your turns.

PART 6 | GULLY DWARF

 

 

Hadozee

A niche spelljamming race originally borrowed from another game, the hadozee race is interesting in that it offers the potential option of a race that can use its feet as well as its hands. Its Unearthed Arcana implementation, however, avoided that entirely, and generally WotC has been overly cautious with letting players do hand-based actions with more than just two hands. The following aims to enable feet-as-hands shenanigans while offering a very mobile trait package overall.

Hadozee Traits

As a hadozee, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Humanoid.

  • Size. You are Medium.

  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed.

  • Agile. You have proficiency with the Athletics and Acrobatics skills.

  • Dexterous Feet. Your feet are prehensile and capable of manual precision, allowing you to use them as you would your hands.

    While one of your feet is holding an object, walking, climbing, or swimming 1 foot costs 1 additional foot of movement, and you have disadvantage on Strength and Dexterity saving throws. You also suffer this penalty until the start of your next turn if you use one of your feet to perform a task requiring manual precision on your turn, such as using tools or magic items or performing the somatic components of a spell.

  • Glide. As a reaction when you fall, you can extend your skin membranes and glide, reducing the fall’s damage to 0. When you use this reaction, you can move up to 1 foot horizontally for every 1 foot you descend during the fall, spending 1 foot of movement for each foot moved in this way.

  • Nimble Maneuver. You can take the Dash or Disengage action as a bonus action on each of your turns.

PART 7 | HADOZEE

 

 

Hagblood

Hags are one of those races that many players would like to play for their witchy flavor, but that can’t be directly given as a race option for various lore and power reasons. To this effect, the hexblood lineage in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft acts as a substitute. However, whereas the book’s other lineages fared pretty decently (and in the dhampir’s case, perhaps even a bit too well), the hexblood hasn’t done amazingly well: after three uses of fairly situational magical effects, the lineage turns into a fey with darkvision and maybe a few skill proficiencies.

To answer this, the following aims to improve the lineage overall, taking out its Ancestral Legacy trait and instead strengthening some of its existing traits. Key improvements include at-will Disguise Self and remote viewing through the Eerie Token trait, which is also reworded here to let the player keep the same token around for longer than a day, and use it regardless of distance. Adding to this is a Claws trait for added hag flavor, to round off a race that ought to feel much more hag-like in its abilities.

Hagblood Traits

As a hagblood, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Fey.

  • Size. You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race.

  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.

  • Claws. You have sharp claws that you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal 1d6 + your Strength modifier slashing damage, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

  • Darkvision. 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 discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.

  • Eerie Token. As a bonus action, you can harmlessly remove a part of your body, imbuing it with magic. While this token is on the same plane of existence as you, you can take the following actions:

    • Remote Viewing. You can see and hear through the token as if you were in its space, becoming blinded and deafened to your own surroundings. You remain in this state until you use an action to revert back to your normal senses.
    • Telepathic Message. You can telepathically send a message containing up to twenty-five words to a creature holding or carrying the token.

    When you finish a long rest, you can choose to regrow the body part you removed, destroying the token harmlessly.

  • Hag Magic. You can cast the Disguise Self spell at will, without expending a spell slot. You can also cast the Hex spell with this trait. Once you cast Hex with this trait, you can’t cast that spell with it again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast the spell using any spell slots you have.

    Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells when you cast them with this trait (choose when you select this race).

PART 8 | HAGBLOOD

 

 

Hybrid

One of the funkier MtG races ported to 5e, the Simic hybrid is conceptually fantastic, catering both to the fantasy of hybridizing humanoid and bestial traits and that of a race that evolves over time, and so in a manner the player can determine. Unfortunately, the implementation leaves much to be desired: the trait selection is fairly limited, and the race is fairly weak at 5th level, let alone 1st level, which makes it difficult for a player to commit to a race that only starts out with two minor traits. It is unsurprising then that this race is often picked up in homebrew, usually with significant expansions to its trait options.

With this in mind, the following overhaul has two main goals in mind: the first is to straight-up buff the race, and justify much of its power being locked away at 5th level and beyond. The second is to significantly expand its options, in order to cover a large number of effects one would not be able to acquire through a feat. This ought to keep the race distinct from Variant Human or any custom race option, whose feat should be its main appeal. Finally, filing off the serial numbers should allow this race to become setting-agnostic: in Ravnica, this race would be the Simic hybrid, but in other settings, a player could simply pick this race to play any hybrid of multiple races, which need not even be beasts either.

Hybrid Traits

As a hybrid, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Humanoid.
  • Size. You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race.
  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
  • Minor Enhancements. Your body has been enhanced. Choose two options from the Minor Enhancements list. You gain these chosen options as racial traits.
  • Major Enhancement. Starting at 5th level, choose one option from the Major Enhancements list. You gain this chosen option as a racial trait.

Minor Enhancements

Appendages

You have two appendages that can grasp things, have a reach of 5 feet, and can lift a number of pounds equal to five times your Strength score. You can use your appendages to do the following simple tasks: lift, drop, hold, push, or pull an object or a creature; open or close a door or a container; grapple someone; or make an unarmed strike. Your DM might allow other simple tasks to be added to that list of options. Your appendages can’t wield weapons or shields or do anything that requires manual precision, such as using tools or magic items or performing the somatic components of a spell.

Aquatic Affinity

You have a swimming speed equal to your walking speed, and can breathe air and water.

Darkvision

You can see in dim light within 120 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.

Glide

As a reaction when you fall, you can glide, reducing the fall’s damage to 0. When you use this reaction, you can move up to 1 foot horizontally for every 1 foot you descend during the fall, spending 1 foot of movement for each foot moved in this way.

Natural Armor

While you aren’t wearing armor, your base AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield’s benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.

Poison Resilience

You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the poisoned condition on yourself. You also have resistance to poison damage.

Primal Form

You have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed, and a part of your body is particularly adapted for combat, such as claws, fangs, or a tail (choose when you select this option). You can use this body part to make unarmed strikes, and when you hit with it, the strike deals 1d6 + your Strength modifier bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage (choose when you select this option).

Skill Proficiency

You have proficiency with a skill of your choice.

Speed

Your walking speed increases to 40 feet.

PART 9 | HYBRID

 

 

Spellcasting

You know a cantrip (choose when you select this option). Starting at 3rd level, choose a 1st-level spell. You can cast the chosen spell with this trait. Starting at 5th level, choose a 2nd-level spell. You can cast the chosen spell with this trait.

You do not require a material component to cast the chosen spells with this trait. Once you cast either of these spells with this trait, you can’t cast that spell with it again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast these spells using spell slots you have of the appropriate level.

Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells when you cast them with this trait (choose when you select this option).

Major Enhancements

Ability Score Increase

Each of your ability scores increases by 1, to a maximum of 20.

Blindsight

You have blindsight out to a range of 60 feet.

Flight

You have a flying speed equal to your walking speed. You can’t use this flying speed if you’re wearing medium or heavy armor.

Magic Resistance

You have advantage on saving throws against spells.

Mutation

Choose four options from the Minor Enhancement list. You gain those options, and whenever you finish a long rest, you can choose one of your minor enhancements and replace it with another minor enhancement available to you.

PART 9 | HYBRID

 

 

Illithid

Mind flayers are among the most iconic monster races in Dungeons & Dragons, and this brew aims to present them as a player race. The main challenge here is designing a trait list that fits the illithid’s terrifying capabilities, while still being appropriate for a level 1 character: obviously, a 60-foot cone attack that deals massive psychic damage and stuns for 1 minute is not appropriate, so instead the player race version gets a pseudo-breath attack that incapacitates for a turn instead.

Illithid Traits

As an illithid, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are an Aberration.

  • Size. You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race.

  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.

  • Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 120 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.

  • Mind Blast. When you take the Attack action on your turn, you can replace one of your attacks with a blast of psychic energy in a 15-foot cone. A creature in the area must succeed on an Intelligence saving throw against a DC of 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus, or be incapacitated until the start of your next turn.

    You can use your Mind Blast a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

  • Psionic Mind. You can telepathically speak to any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You don’t need to share a language with the creature, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language.

  • Tentacles. You have tentacles coming out of your face that can grasp things, have a reach of 5 feet, and can lift a number of pounds equal to five times your Strength score. You can use all of your tentacles simultaneously to do the following simple tasks: lift, drop, hold, push, or pull an object or a creature; open or close a door or a container; grapple someone; or make an unarmed strike. Your DM might allow other simple tasks to be added to that list of options. Your tentacles can’t wield weapons or shields or do anything that requires manual precision, such as using tools or magic items or performing the somatic components of a spell.

PART 10 | ILLITHID

 

 

Kender

Quite possibly the most infamous race in all of Dungeons & Dragons, the kender is the last option a DM would want to see given to their players. As written in Dragonlance, the kender are a race of feckless, kleptomaniacal children, best known for stealing from others, intruding on conversations, and blithely walking into danger for no reason other than sheer boredom. So annoying are kender that their taunts induce murderous rages. In short: a kender is just about the worst party member you could ever hope to have.

Thus, it is surprising that WotC tried to bring the race to 5e with an Unearthed Arcana release. Its description and trait list try to sanitize the kender’s kleptomania, though the end result is a weak, unreliable, and confusing trait. The race itself is exceedingly weak in its UA iteration, which is perhaps for the best.

However, this brew aims to update as many player races as it can, which includes the dregs. To this effect, the following uses the halfling race as a template and attaches a taunt trait to round it off. If you truly intend to play a kender at your table, do not play them to type: a character can be curious, even child-like in outlook, but the moment they start stealing, invading others’ privacy, or causing unnecessary danger for the rest of the party, that is going to induce severe friction with the other players at your table. Even if you have a solid plan of action to prevent that from happening, make sure you still check in with everyone else, as the mere mention of this race is often enough to warrant an instant veto or, fittingly enough, frothing rage.

Kender Traits

As a kender, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Humanoid. You are also considered a halfling for any prerequisite or effect that requires you to be a halfling.

  • Size. You are Small.

  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.

  • Brave. You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the frightened condition on yourself.

  • Lucky. Whenever you roll a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll. If you do so, you must use the new roll.

  • Nimble. You can move through the space of any creature.

  • Taunt. Kender have a supernatural ability to strike a nerve in other creatures. You know the Vicious Mockery cantrip. You can cast it as normal, and you can also cast it as a bonus action a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

    Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for this cantrip (choose when you select this race).

PART 11 | KENDER

 

 

Leonin

A bulkier cousin to the tabaxi, the leonin is a MtG-adapted race emphasizing brawn over agility. Its addition could have led to a family resemblance among catfolk, but the leonin’s trait list ended up having only a passing similarity to the tabaxi’s, while also being largely uninspired in its own right: outside of its roar trait, not much stands out.

Two goals outline the following changes: the first is to make the leonin more interesting overall, and bring its roar trait to more current standards of design. The second is to bring it closer to the tabaxi, with key trait differences allowing each to branch out as if they were subraces of the same race.

Leonin Traits

As a leonin, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Humanoid.

  • Size. You are Medium.

  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed.

  • Cat’s Talent. You have proficiency in the Perception and Stealth skills.

  • Claws. You have sharp claws that you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal 1d6 + your Strength modifier slashing damage, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

  • Darkvision. 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 discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.

  • Daunting Roar. As a bonus action, you can let out a fierce roar. Creatures of your choice within 10 feet of you that can hear you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against a DC of 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus, or become frightened of you until the start of your next turn.

    You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

PART 12 | LEONIN

 

 

Locathah

Much like the grung, the locathah is a race with a powerful trait package balanced out by a downside. Unlike the grung, the player race version of the locathah isn’t prone to mechanical abuse, but like the grung, its water-dependent trait is a pain, more so even than its predecessor. Whereas most other races are fairly autonomous, a locathah needs to have a container of water carried around, including in many dungeons, just for it to not die. That is not a reasonable expectation, particularly with MP:MM eliminating most of the downsides to player races.

One major boon to the locathah race, however, is its overall simplicity, as the race offers a broad and strong range of defensive benefits. The following changes aim to make the race stand out further in this respect, stripping it of its downside while condensing much of its defensive potential into one exceptionally strong trait, and giving it some entirely separate utility to round it out.

Locathah Traits

As a locathah, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Humanoid.
  • Size. You are Medium.
  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a swimming speed equal to your walking speed.
  • Amphibious. You can breathe air and water.
  • Control Water. You know the Shape WaterXGtE cantrip. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it (choose when you select this race).
  • Resilient. You have proficiency with Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws.

PART 13 | LOCATHAH

 

 

Loxo

It is strange that the first elephantine player race added to 5e came from MtG in the form of the loxodon, rather than the similarly-named loxo native to the Dungeons & Dragons multiverse. Despite this, the race as released offers an interesting set of traits, albeit one that lends itself to a mild degree of abuse. The following tries to reimplement the loxodon as the more D&D-friendly loxo, with some trait adjustments to complement the adjustment.

Loxo Traits

As a loxo, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Monstrosity.
  • Size. You are Medium.
  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
  • Darkvision. 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 discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.
  • Natural Armor. You have thick, leathery skin. While you aren’t wearing armor, your base AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield’s benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.
  • Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
  • Trampling Rush. Immediately after you take the Dash action on your turn and move at least 20 feet, you can take the Shove action as a bonus action.
  • Trunks. You have two trunks that you can use as snorkels, can grasp things, have a reach of 5 feet, and can lift a number of pounds equal to five times your Strength score. You can use one of your trunks to do the following simple tasks: lift, drop, hold, push, or pull an object or a creature; open or close a door or a container; grapple someone; or make an unarmed strike. Your DM might allow other simple tasks to be added to that list of options. Your trunk can’t wield weapons or shields or do anything that requires manual precision, such as using tools or magic items or performing the somatic components of a spell.

PART 14 | LOXO

 

 

Owlin

Controversies around racial flight aside, the Owlin is an otherwise simple option that gives practically everything one would want or expect from an owl race. The only adjustment here is the addition of the choice to pick proficiency in Perception rather than Stealth, as both are traits equally well-attributed to owls.

Owlin Traits

As an owlin, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Humanoid.
  • Size. You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race.
  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
  • Aerial Advantage. You have proficiency with either the Perception or Stealth skill (your choice).
  • Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 120 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.
  • Flight. Because of your wings, you have a flying speed equal to your walking speed. You can’t use this flying speed if you’re wearing medium or heavy armor.

PART 15 | OWLIN

 

 

Plasmoid

A promising option featured in Unearthed Arcana, the plasmoid offered both the potential of playing an ooze, and that of playing a character who could shapeshift into much stranger configurations than a changeling, minus the disguise aspect. The listed result, however, needed a few more adjustments, as the race was surprisingly rigid, with its shapeshifting trait only allowing for a limited set of configurations. While there are certainly balance considerations to be had around being able to potentially grow more limbs, more could have been done to enable greater freedom of cosmetic choice.

To this effect, the following changes aim to restructure the plasmoid’s shapeshifting and general amorphousness in its traits, using the rest of this brew’s standards as a framework: its pseudopod is now its own trait, whereas its amorphous trait encompasses both the plasmoid’s shapeshifting and its ability to move through tiny spaces. Like the updated changeling, this new trait allows for adjustments in size, but unlike the changeling also allows for entirely new configurations of limbs, with wording to maintain mechanical consistency regardless of the player’s cosmetic choice.

Plasmoid Traits

As a plasmoid, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are an Ooze.
  • Size. You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race.
  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
  • Amorphous. As an action, you can reshape your body in one of two configurations:
    • Blob. You revert to your true form, which is that of a limbless blob. While in blob form, you drop all objects you are holding, wearing, or carrying, have advantage on ability checks you make to avoid or end the grappled condition, and can squeeze through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide.
    • Humanoid. You take on a vaguely humanoid form, which has the capabilities of a typical creature with two arms, two legs, and a head. You choose the appearance of this form, can also adjust your height and weight, and can change your size between Medium and Small. You stay in this new form until you use an action to revert to your true form, until you fall unconscious, or until you die.
  • Hold Breath. You can hold your breath for up to 1 hour.
  • Natural Resilience. You have advantage on saving throws to avoid or end the poisoned condition on yourself. You also have resistance to acid and poison damage.
  • Pseudopod. You can extrude a pseudopod that can grasp things, has a reach of 10 feet, and can lift a number of pounds equal to five times your Strength score. You can use your pseudopod to do the following simple tasks: lift, drop, hold, push, or pull an object or a creature; open or close a door or a container; grapple someone; or make an unarmed strike. Your DM might allow other simple tasks to be added to that list of options. Your pseudopod can’t wield weapons or shields or do anything that requires manual precision, such as using tools or magic items or performing the somatic components of a spell.

PART 16 | PLASMOID

 

 

Possessed

Unlike the other races of Eberron, particularly the changeling or warforged, the kalashtar race has never really gained that much traction. Part of the issue stems from an altogether anemic trait package, but part of it also stems from the race being far too specific: in theory, the kalashtar has tremendous potential to satisfy the archetype of the possessed character, where one soul has taken over another creature’s body. In practice, though, that potential is limited by the kalashtar’s own bonded soul being extremely setting-dependent (do most players even know or care about the quori?), with its flavor being expressed in one of the most situational traits ever written (you’re immune to one spell and that’s pretty much it). Any player intrigued by the kalashtar’s twin spirits would have to first grapple with a lot of ancillary lore, then contend with a trait list that isn’t really going to let them make the most of the race’s unique predicament.

To remedy this, the following changes aim to make the race a bit stronger, more flavorful, and less setting-dependent: the intent here is to present a player race suitable for anyone who wants to play a character with twin souls, or even just one soul that’s partially detached from the body, regardless of setting. In Eberron, this would describe the kalashtar, though in other settings this could be used to describe any other sort of character whose body and soul do not have the same origin.

Possessed Traits

As a possessed, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Humanoid.

  • Size. You are Medium.

  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.

  • Mental Resistance. You have advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws.

  • Psionic Mind. You can telepathically speak to any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You don’t need to share a language with the creature, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language.

  • Psychic Resilience. You have resistance to psychic damage.

  • Severed from Dreams. You do not dream when you sleep, and so are immune to effects that require you to dream, like the Dream spell. Instead, you can have your spirit emerge from your body while asleep, so long as the sleep was not induced by magic or by being knocked unconscious. While in spirit form, you have the following benefits:

    • You have a flying speed equal to your walking speed, and can move through solid objects.
    • You are immune to damage of all types except force and psychic.
    • You are invisible.

    While in spirit form, you can see and hear as normal, but cannot do anything other than move within 30 feet of your body, use your Psionic Mind trait, or wake yourself up. You immediately return to your body if you wake up, and taking damage in spirit form wakes you up as normal.

PART 17 | POSSESSED

 

 

Reborn

Just like the dhampir is the player-friendly vampire race, the reborn is the player lineage for anyone seeking to play a zombie or a flesh golem. Difficult to kill and gifted with a bit of utility, reborn fit the bill pretty well. More so even than the dhampir, however, the reborn suffers from a type discrepancy: clearly, the race is undead or a construct, yet is still listed as a humanoid, because undead and constructs innately make for terrible player races: they may have certain benefits thanks to their immunity to many spells, but that immunity also extends to healing spells, making them exceptionally vulnerable. This creates an uncomfortable situation where there clearly is a demand for playing “true” undead or construct races, but where doing so in 5e would be unfeasible without some sort of serious compensation.

Compensation is how the following attempts to reimplement the reborn as an undead race: trading the lineage’s Ancestral Legacy trait for the Undead type and a trait that enables interaction with healing spells, the intent is to reinforce its theme while keeping it simple overall. Also contributing to this is an adjustment to its Knowledge from a Past Life trait to function like part of the Kenku’s Kenku Recall trait, giving full-on advantage on certain checks a limited number of times per long rest.

Reborn do not age, and so live indefinitely until killed.

Reborn Traits

As a reborn, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are an Undead.
  • Size. You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race.
  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
  • Living Undead. Spells that restore hit points or stabilize creatures and would not normally affect Undead can still affect you.
  • Recall from a Past Life. You temporarily remember glimpses of the past, perhaps faded memories from ages ago or a previous life. Whenever you make an ability check using any skill or tool with which you have proficiency, you can give yourself advantage on the check before rolling the d20. You can give yourself advantage in this way a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
  • Sentry’s Rest. You can finish a long rest in 4 hours if you spend those hours in an inactive, motionless state, during which you retain consciousness.
  • Undead Resilience. You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end death, a disease, or the poisoned condition on yourself. You also have resistance to poison damage.
  • Unusual Nature. You don’t need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

PART 18 | REBORN

 

 

Thri-Kreen

Thri-kreen are known for two things: they’re the bug race, and have lots of arms. The former entails an alien psychology that doesn’t quite match up to that of ordinary humanoids, and provides some benefit against mind control spells, whereas the latter provides quite a few benefits when wielding and attacking with multiple weapons. WotC has been quite timid with the latter, as 5e on release was designed with strict rules around multi-weapon fighting, as well as the separation of casting and weapons usage.

However, 5e‘s design has advanced somewhat since: War Caster is a popular feat to take the hassle out of casting with somatic components, and Xanathar’s Guide to Everything added the Ruby of the War Mage as an item to better enable gish playstyles. Meanwhile, two-weapon fighting rarely causes issues even with the Dual Wielder feat, leaving the only truly unexplored region the ability to wield a two-handed weapon and a shield at the same time. This is what the UA thri-kreen expressly sought to avoid, at the expense of making its Secondary Arms trait disproportionately favor casters. The following proposes a “true” multi-armed race that would enable that kind of fighting, while leaving room for even gish combatants to cast spells with somatic and material components freely.

Thri-Kreen Traits

As a thri-kreen, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Monstrosity.
  • Size. You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race.
  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
  • Darkvision. 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 discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.
  • Natural Armor. You have a tough exoskeleton. While you aren’t wearing armor, your base AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield’s benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.
  • Secondary Arms. You have a pair of secondary arms below your primary pair of arms. These arms function like your primary arms.
  • Sleepless Nature. You do not need to sleep, and magic can’t put you to sleep. To gain the benefits of a long rest, you can spend all 8 hours doing light activity, such as keeping watch.

PART 19 | THRI-KREEN

 

 

Troll

An oft-requested and homebrewed race, the troll poses an interesting design challenge in the form of its regeneration: in the hands of a DM, a regenerating monster can make for a good combat puzzle, or at least a tough opponent, but in the hands of a player, a race simply cannot regenerate hit points infinitely without severely affecting balance. Even limited amounts of self-healing do not easily lend themselves to an interesting feature: tying hit point restoration to an action or bonus action makes for a trait that can be all too easily used outside of combat, defeating its purpose, whereas tying it to a reaction risks skirting too close to the goliath’s Stone’s Endurance trait, despite both races diverging significantly otherwise.

The proposed solution here is in the form of temporary hit points: because this type of hit point does not stack with other sources of itself, the mechanic is ideal for damage mitigation that would have minimal impact out of combat. Ideally, the end result here should be a race capable of soaking up much more damage over time, without being disproportionately hard to kill.

Troll Traits

As a troll, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Giant.
  • Size. You are Medium.
  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
  • Darkvision. 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 discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.
  • Little Giant. You have proficiency in the Athletics skill, and you count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
  • Tooth and Claw. You have sharp teeth and claws you can use to make unarmed strikes. When you hit with them, the strike deals 1d6 + your Strength modifier piercing or slashing damage (your choice), instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
  • Troll Regeneration. As a bonus action, you can gain temporary hit points equal to half your proficiency bonus, rounded down. Whenever you take acid or fire damage, you cannot use this bonus action until the end of your next turn.

PART 20 | TROLL

 

 

Vedalken

While many MtG races ported to 5e tend to come out half-baked, the vedalken turned out pretty decent, with a trait list that for the most part accurately encapsulated their obsession with knowledge and emotional distance. The following doesn’t aim to redo the race, so much as drop a more setting-dependent trait in favor of condensing its “proficiency plus” trait into expertise, the main intent here being to cut down on nonstandard floating modifiers.

A typical vedalken has a life span of about 350 years.

Vedalken Traits

As a vedalken, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Humanoid.
  • Size. You are Medium.
  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
  • Mental Resistance. You have advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws.
  • Vedalken Expertise. You have proficiency in one skill and one tool of your choice. Additionally, you have expertise in the chosen skill and tool, meaning that your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make with it.

PART 21 | VEDALKEN

 

 

Verdan

What even is a verdan? Released with Acquisitions Incorporated, the race is intentionally light on history, and its chaotic bent is reflected in a sprinkle of largely unexceptional traits, save for its change in size. As a result, the race hasn’t made much of an impact.

Despite this, there remains potential in an innately chaotic and mutable race. The following trait list alters certain aspects of the verdan race to enable this, making its stature change more fluid and accompanied by other changes in appearance, while expanding its healing trait to encompass all rolls. Additionally, it makes the race’s goblinoid heritage clearer, incorporating its associated fey ancestry from MP:MM.

Verdan Traits

As a verdan, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Humanoid. You are also considered a goblinoid for any prerequisite or effect that requires you to be a goblinoid.
  • Size. You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race.
  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
  • Change Appearance. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can change your appearance and your voice. You still appear as a verdan, but determine the other specifics of the changes, including your coloration, hair length, and sex. You can also adjust your height and weight and can change your size between Medium and Small. You can’t duplicate the appearance of another individual. Your clothing and equipment aren’t changed by this trait.
  • Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the charmed condition on yourself.
  • Mutable. Whenever you roll a 1 on any roll, you can reroll. If you do so, you must use the new roll, and cannot use this trait again until the start of your next turn.
  • Psionic Mind. You can telepathically speak to any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You don’t need to share a language with the creature, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language.

PART 22 | VERDAN

 

 

Warforged

A lot of players want to play a robot. Wizards of the Coast have noticed this, and have tried numerous times to capture the experience of playing a construct, but most have failed, and the warforged remains the next best thing. A mechanically solid race, the warforged makes up for not actually being a construct by being overloaded with a slew of traits that approximate what one would normally expect from one.

While there is thus no great need to rework the race, the release of the autognome and glitchling in Unearthed Arcana both prove that the search for a true construct race is still on, and hint at how one could go about implementing that. The following attempts to integrate those advances by making the warforged an actual construct, adding a trait to still enable healing and therefore prevent the creature type’s biggest downside. The other changes mainly clean up the race’s trait list, removing certain extraneous aspects while augmenting its utility.

A typical warforged lives indefinitely until killed.

Warforged Traits

As a warforged, you have the following racial traits.

  • Type. You are a Construct.
  • Size. You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race.
  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
  • Living Construct. Spells that restore hit points or stabilize creatures and would not normally affect Constructs can still affect you.
  • Sentry’s Rest. You can finish a long rest in 4 hours if you spend those hours in an inactive, motionless state, during which you retain consciousness.
  • Tool Configuration. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can choose a tool. You gain proficiency with the tool if you do not have it already, as well as expertise with it, meaning that your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make with it. Additionally, you can use your own body as if it were the tool. You retain the benefits you gain with the chosen tool from this trait until you finish your next long rest.
  • Toxin Resilience. You have advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end a disease or the poisoned condition on yourself. You also have resistance to poison damage.
  • Unusual Nature. You don’t need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

PART 23 | WARFORGED

 

 

Acknowledgments

Art

This brew uses art assets created by a variety of talented artists. Gratitude and due credit go towards the following artists for their work, with indications on where their assets have been used.

Art Credits

Resources

This brew was created using resources and guides written by dedicated individuals. Without their contributions, this brew would not have been possible, and would not have been nearly as much of a joy to write.

Resource Credits

Using This Brew

This is a homebrew intended to be read and used freely by all. If you were to use any part of this in your games, I would be honored.

I am always looking to improve my work, and would love to hear your feedback and suggestions. You can find me on Reddit as /u/Teridax68, and on Discord as 2B#7614.

I hope this was, at the very least, a fun read. Thank you for taking the time to read through this brew, and best of success and enjoyment with your own creations!

PART 24 | ACKNOWLEDGMENTS