The Caliban Chronicles: Nonhuman-Friendly Ravenloft

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Is there no way in 5e to give red widows an alternate form?

[Hell_Born]

Is there no way in 5e to give red widows an alternate form?

The problem is two fold. Firstly, actually shapechanging into an animal form - in this case a giant spider - is very hard to do as a racial trait because it overlaps a lot with the Druid's class feature of Wild Shape. Secondly, there's no canonical examples of races with "real" shapeshifting along those lines to crib from.

I'm not opposed to giving Red Widows the ability to switch between human and spider forms, I just need ideas on how to make it mechanically interesting without making it overpowered. Otherwise, I figured just make it more of a flavor element than a mechanical one would suit the purposes fine, at least for now.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Maybe you can compensate for it somehow?
The spider-form might be no larger than Medium.
Spiderclimb is only available in spider-form.
Maybe Intelligence takes a big hit while the red widow remains in spider-guise.

[Hell_Born]

Honestly, if I were going to build a Red Widow PC race around the old paradigm of "spider form for spider stuff, human form for interaction", I'd probably do it something like this, at least for a kneejerk version:

Red Widow, Mark 2
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Charisma, +1 Dexterity
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
Spider Queen: You can cast the Infestation cantrip, using Charisma as your spellcasting ability score. Additionally, you can communicate with spiders as per the Speak with Animals spell at will.
Spiderwere: Your native form is a Medium sized Giant Spider. In spider form, your ability scores remain the same and you retain access to the Spider Queen racial trait, but you also gain access to the Giant Spider's Spider Climb, Web Sense and Web Walker racial traits. In spider form, your only attack options are the Bite and Web attacks of the Giant Spider, using your Proficiency bonus. As a bonus action, you can assume your human guise, which appears as a specific female member of a Medium-sized (or Small sized, with the DM's permission, in which case your spider form is also Small) humanoid race of your choice. In this form, you gain access to the standard attack options and also to class features dictated by your chosen class. You can transform from human guise back to spider form as a bonus action; doing so causes your equipment to meld with your body, as part the rules for the Druid's Wild Shape class feature. Neither your current nor your maximum hit point total changes when you shift between forms.

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

I agree that a shapeshifting creature should have some sort of shapeshifting power. I kind of want that for the paka as well, though the distinction between humanoid and cat-person form is much smaller.

Adopting the wording of the Shapechanger ability of a doppelganger might be appropriate, as long as it is specified that the paka loses its claws.

[Hell_Born]

I agree that a shapeshifting creature should have some sort of shapeshifting power. I kind of want that for the paka as well, though the distinction between humanoid and cat-person form is much smaller.

Adopting the wording of the Shapechanger ability of a doppelganger might be appropriate, as long as it is specified that the paka loses its claws.

My only problem with that is that the Paka's shapeshifting aspect really feels like such a minor component - it's more flavor text and an enhanced ability to pass as human. If if I were to rework it into an explicit shapechanger, I can't really see any other way of doing it aside from this:

Paka, Mark 2
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Dex, +1 Cha
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
Feline Agility: When you move on your turn in combat, you can double your speed until the end of your turn. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you move 0 feet on one of your turns.
Cat's Claws: You have a Climb speed of 20 feet and can make unarmed strikes with your claws, dealing 1d4 + Str modifier Slashing damage instead of the normal bludgeoning damage.
Speak With Cats: You can communicate with cats, as per the Speak with Animals spell, at will.
Human Guise: As an action, you can polymorph from your paka form to your human form, or vice versa. In your human form, you physically resemble a specific human or half-elf (chose at character creation); this is your persona identity, as inescapable as your paka identity. Taking human form prevents you from using your Cat's Claws racial feature, although your racial traits and ability scores do not otherwise change, but it also means you automatically pass Deception checks made against passive Investigation checks made to determine if you are human.
Lick Wounds: When you spend Hit Die to regain hit points as part of a short rest, you can reroll results of 1; the second roll's result must be taken.

[Hell_Born]

So, I'm still waiting on opinions/feedback on all the races so far, but here's the dhampir's first draft.

Dhampir
Ability Score Modifiers: Determined by Subrace
Size: Determined by Subrace
Speed: Determined by Subrace
Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
Sunlight Sensitivity: You suffer Disadvantage on Attack Rolls and visual Perception checks when you or the object of your focus is in direct sunlight.
Deathborn: You have Resistance to Necrotic damage. Additionally, you can choose whether your type is Undead or Humanoid when faced with effects that key off of type.
Bloodsucker: When you start your turn either grappling or being grappled, you can automatically drain hit points from your opponent equal to your level + your Proficiency bonus + your Str modifier.
Multifarious Curse: Choose the Vampire, Jiangshi, Nosferatu, Dwarven Vampire, Elven Vampire, Gnomish Vampire or Halfling Vampire subrace.

Vampire
Ability Score Modifier: +2 Cha, +1 Str
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Spider Climb: You have a Climb speed of 30 feet. From 3rd level, you can climb across vertical surfaces and upside down on horizontal surfaces without penalty.

Jiangshi
Ability Score Modifier: +2 Wis, +1 Dex
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Weightless Step: You are always considered to have a Running Start when making Jump checks. From 3rd level, you can make flying leaps as a Move action; treat this as using a Fly speed of 30 feet, but you must land at the end of your turn or else crash.

Nosferatu
Ability Score Modifier: +1 Str, +1 Dex, +1 Cha
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Kiss of the Moon: When you are exposed to direct moonlight, you have Advantage on Constitution saving throws. From 3rd level, you have Advantage on Constitution saving throws whenever it is night.

Dwarven Vampire
Ability Score Modifier: +2 Con, +1 Wis
Size: Medium
Speed: 25 feet
Stonewalk: You can cast Meld with Stone without using a spell slot once per long rest. When you cast it using this trait, you can only target yourself, and you can only merge with the stone for (Con modifier, minimum 1) minute.

Elven Vampire
Ability Score Modifier: +2 Dex, +1 Str
Size: Medium
Speed: 35 feet
Spawn of Blight: You can cast the Infestation and Primal Savagery cantrips, using Str as your spellcasting ability score.

Gnomish Vampire
Ability Score Modifier: +2 Int, +1 Con
Size: Small
Speed: 25 feet
Sadistic Humor: You can cast the Vicious Mockery cantrip. From 3rd level, you can cast Tasha's Hideous Laughter as a 1st level spell once per long rest. Both these spells use Intelligence as their spellcasting ability score.

Halfling Vampire
Ability Score Modifier: +2 Dex, +1 Cha
Size: Small
Speed: 25 feet
Padfoot: You have Proficiency in Stealth.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

How about the Kender Vampire?

[Hell_Born]

How about the Kender Vampire?

No. There is a 3.5 Kender and Half-Kender I could reference, but... dang it all, maybe. I'll take a look and see what occurs.

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

So, I'm still waiting on opinions/feedback on all the races so far,

It is hard for me to judge some of this, as I am not too steeped in balance considerations for 5e, but I can try.

Bakhna Rakhna
This one seems fairly well balanced. Teleportation once per short rest seems strong, but sunlight sensitivity really impacts activity during what would be the most active time for normal characters, so it probably evens out.

Carrionette
This is tricky, as there are no official precedents I am aware of that cover Tiny characters. There was a warning about them in one of the earlier links I gave:

So why are no official PC races tiny, or even approaching it? Because tiny creatures are basically non-functional as heroes. Their greatest advantages are being able to squeeze through 1'3" gaps and needing only half the food and water of another creature. Of course, they can do fun things like ride in someone else's inventory, or hide behind a large brass carafe on the bar room table, but other than these few moments of fun, a tiny race that cannot fly is in for a lot of difficulties. For example, where most PCs can simply ascend stairs, a tiny creature may have to actually climb each step. A tiny PC will likely have to swim in water of a depth greater than 3ft. Tiny PCs typically have very low weights, which means pretty much anyone who grapples them can toss them around like a rag doll. They have half carry capacity, which means they can't carry as much gear or treasure on an adventure, reducing their equipment options and value to the group. There is no official tiny weapons counterpart to the oversized weapons optional rule, so tiny creatures must use weapons sized for medium creatures.
To balance a tiny race, you need to pair their inherent weaknesses with a system of bonuses which mitigate the problems of being <3ft tall. Flight is a simple solution to the most glaring issues; those which interfere with basic exploration. However, giving them other unique modes of movement might equally work, such as granting them spider climb, or stating that they travel by leaping up to 10ft in the air, rather than walking. These kinds of mobility traits not only fix the exploration problem, but are also typically so good, they also qualify as a regular bonus trait. This makes tiny races a prime opportunity to use empowering movement types. Outside of a unique movement type, it can be very hard to balance a tiny race to be fun in all areas of play beyond socialization- without going overboard. That is the key though, the entire process of balancing a tiny race revolves around trying to find all of the different ways it sucks the fun out of a game (Introducing new challenges doesn't suck the fun out of the game. Getting left behind or having nothing to say or do for hours of play does.) and trying to find workarounds. The Tiny Player Characters homebrew variant rule is a good resource when making Tiny player races.

You did cover the weapon issue, and giving the carrionette a climb speed helps with movement issues. On the whole, this race may well be fine. The silver needles and ventriloquism abilities are missing, but possession really wouldn't be a balanced racial trait, and there is already enough in this race that voice-throwing might be too much.

Ermordenung
I don't know what a balance damage die progression looks like in 5e, but 2d6 poison on a touch seems high to me at first glance. I see a greatsword does 2d6 damage (plus modifiers), so such a damage die is accessible to normal characters. It is sort of like getting a free poison spray cantrip, though it has no range, the damage die is slightly better, and the possibility of getting multiple attacks later would improve it even more. The addition of Martial Arts damage would make this even stronger. I might suggest reducing the damage die, but I am not sure by how much. Also, the Utter Venom ability might be worth tweaking so its benefits phase in at later levels, but I am not sure that it has enough of an effect to worry about.

Hebi-no-Onna
I have the same concern about the poison damage die here. All of the other bits seem reasonable to me.

Lebendtod
The Lebendtod seems to be in order, though there are probably some questions worth raising about the implications of breaking oneself into Tiny parts. For example, how fast can independent limbs move?

Quevari
I think this builds an interesting race out of the original theme. I take it the savage frenzy that overtakes them during the full moon is now part of the fluff rather than the mechanics?
What does it mean to "use a bonus action to end your turn"? Is this a special bonus action to end Caged Demon's Wrath, or does taking any bonus action end the Wrath?

Ravenkin
The Ravenkin seems to be in working order. Further implications of being avian instead of humanoid exist, but addressing any beyond those you mentioned already is probably unnecessary. Those can be handled logically in play.

[Hell_Born]

It is hard for me to judge some of this, as I am not too steeped in balance considerations for 5e, but I can try.

Appreciate the effort!

Bakhna Rakhna
This one seems fairly well balanced. Teleportation once per short rest seems strong, but sunlight sensitivity really impacts activity during what would be the most active time for normal characters, so it probably evens out.

Well, Misty Step 1/short rest was used by WotC in the original DMG version of the Eladrin, and there's no Phasedoor (Passdoor?) in 5e as far as I'm aware, so I went with the closest thing I could figure.

Carrionette
This is tricky, as there are no official precedents I am aware of that cover Tiny characters. There was a warning about them in one of the earlier links I gave:
You did cover the weapon issue, and giving the carrionette a climb speed helps with movement issues. On the whole, this race may well be fine. The silver needles and ventriloquism abilities are missing, but possession really wouldn't be a balanced racial trait, and there is already enough in this race that voice-throwing might be too much.

To be honest, since 5e has now officially retconned the Carrionette as Small sized, I could just make it Small sized. You're right, body-swapping is far too overpowered and mechanically complex to be a PC racial trait. As for ventriloquism... really, it's very hard to see that working in a mechanical sense - it's much more of a 3e thing, which was a lot more simulationist that 5e tries to be. Heck, even 4e had better rules for ventriloquism.

Ermordenung
I don't know what a balance damage die progression looks like in 5e, but 2d6 poison on a touch seems high to me at first glance. I see a greatsword does 2d6 damage (plus modifiers), so such a damage die is accessible to normal characters. It is sort of like getting a free poison spray cantrip, though it has no range, the damage die is slightly better, and the possibility of getting multiple attacks later would improve it even more. The addition of Martial Arts damage would make this even stronger. I might suggest reducing the damage die, but I am not sure by how much. Also, the Utter Venom ability might be worth tweaking so its benefits phase in at later levels, but I am not sure that it has enough of an effect to worry about.

The Poison damage for all of these races uses the damage dice value from the Dragonborn, which has been lambasted for years as very underpowered. Add to it that it's one of the most commonly resisted damage types (albeit Utter Venom makes that less of a balancing issue for the Ermordenung specifically) and, well, I'm not so sure it's that big of a deal. And yeah, it stacking with Martial Arts is a little cheesy, but on the other hand, the Ermordenung's stats don't exactly align with the Monk's requirements, and you would kind of expect the kung fu master whose naked skin is deadly poisonous to be a bit more effective at unarmed combat than the regular kung fu guy, wouldn't you? Still, I can see the point... maybe Ermordenung Monk's can choose to either do Toxic Touch attacks, or Martial Arts strikes, which do Martial Arts-dictated bludgeoning damage plus bonus Poison damage equal to, say, the Ermordenung's Proficiency bonus?

Hebi-no-Onna
I have the same concern about the poison damage die here. All of the other bits seem reasonable to me.

As I said above, the Hebi-no-Onna is doing one of the most commonly resisted damage types and the same amount that a dragonborn would be doing to multiple targets in an area. I'm not averse to reworking the trait with suggested improvements, but I'm not so sure just looking at it that it's hugely broken.

Lebendtod
The Lebendtod seems to be in order, though there are probably some questions worth raising about the implications of breaking oneself into Tiny parts. For example, how fast can independent limbs move?

Ironically, there's actually no real guide in Denizens of Dread as to how fast the Lebendtod's dismembered limbs can move.

Quevari
I think this builds an interesting race out of the original theme. I take it the savage frenzy that overtakes them during the full moon is now part of the fluff rather than the mechanics?
What does it mean to "use a bonus action to end your turn"? Is this a special bonus action to end Caged Demon's Wrath, or does taking any bonus action end the Wrath?

Yeah, basically, the idea I was working with is that the Quevari can release a little of their bloodmoon-induced frenzy in play without completely succumbing to it. It's only during the full moon that they lose total control, which is why they remain in that frenzied state for a full 12 hours and attack all non-Quevari indiscriminately. So, yes, largely it's flavor rather than mechanics.
It means I flubbed my writing. It's supposed to be "you can spend a bonus action to end your rage".

Ravenkin
The Ravenkin seems to be in working order. Further implications of being avian instead of humanoid exist, but addressing any beyond those you mentioned already is probably unnecessary. Those can be handled logically in play.

Yeah, with the Ravenkin, I largely looked at its PC writeup from 2nd edition. Since giving it a super-high natural AC (I think it was 6 in 2e) but preventing it from using armor was a no-go, and since 5e is largely abstract with its mechanics compared to the more simulationist mindset of 2e and 3e, I decided to just go with some basic, obvious mechanical effects and largely leave it to the DM's capability to apply logic.

[Hell_Born]

So, just a head's up, I have written but am sitting on stats for the Braunchen, Caliban, Dread Genasi, Deathtouched, Hagbreed and Ratling, and still need to work on stats for the Broken One, Vampyre, Vorlog, Vryloka and Diabolus. Aside from getting all of these statted up... what else do I need to do to start making this into a proper QTR article? I really am stumbling about in the dark here.

Speaking of Broken One... does that really need its own race, or should it just be a lore justification for any D&D beastfolk race, such as lizardfolk, aarakocra, minotaurs or centaurs?

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Hmm... Tricky.
On the one hand, Broken Ones are supposed to be the result of crimes against nature, like Dr. Moreau-style surgery or ancient curses, rather than species that are simply a bit stranger than the core races.
On the other hand, I can see how statting them out would be easier if you could use established species from the monster manual.

[Hell_Born]

Hmm... Tricky.
On the one hand, Broken Ones are supposed to be the result of crimes against nature, like Dr. Moreau-style surgery or ancient curses, rather than species that are simply a bit stranger than the core races.
On the other hand, I can see how statting them out would be easier if you could use established species from the monster manual.

Originally, I actually thought of doing the Broken One as a subrace to a race I called the "Blaspheme", a race that covers both flesh golems and broken ones, due to their common origins as the product of obscene sorcery or mad science seeking to twist and pervert the stuff of life.

In fact... I figured I might as well just repurpose my original "Demihumans of Dark Fantasy" Gdoc for this project, so here's the link and I'll start moving over the races from this thread to it.

Also... I could really use some opinions/guidance on how to actually write this as a proper QtR article, and I'd love some feedback on the lore I've put together for the races in this doc so far.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FyD ... 1jmxbqh99x

[Rock of the Fraternity]

The crunch is important, but do not underestimate the value of the fluff. Take some time to discuss the races' culture, their society and history.
Having a viewpoint character to narrate an interaction with all these marvelous creatures can be very helpful.