The Caliban Chronicles: Nonhuman-Friendly Ravenloft

[Hell_Born]

I'm a distinct oddity amongst Ravenloft fans in that I prefer a more Castlevania-inspired "Dark Fantasy" approach to the setting as a whole. In particular, I've never been a big fan of the humanocentric nature of Ravenloft, or really of TSR's settings as a whole - one of the reasons I took so firmly to the Nentir Vale setting. With Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft almost upon us, and not being extremely impressed with the races on offer in it (I mean, they're not BAD, just a little underwhelming, and only being three of them doesn't help). So, I decided to finally stick my neck out and attempt this project, which will basically be a kind of homebrewed "expanded 5e Ravenloft Player's Handbook", but focusing on non-human player character races for the Ravenloft setting or use in homebrewed dark fantasy worlds.

The focus will be on a combination of collecting and refining ideas, creating and testing PC stats, and refining "lore writeups" for the resultant races, hence why I compare this to the Player's Handbook. I want to get these races looking at least as fleshed out as those.

So, what races are actually going to be present in this project? Well, that's a pretty big part of why I'm looking for some helping hands. I have rough categories of potential races, but not so much races themselves, if that makes sense? Not helping is that some of these would overlap a lot - the Book of Secrets gave rules for Flesh Golem PCs in AD&D, for example, but in 5e, I'd say that's more of a lore adaptation for the Warforged race, for example.

Pseudo-Official Ravenloft Races:
Ravenloft has had other people try to make non-human PC races appropriate to it before. White Wolf's Caliban, masterfully revamped in Quoth the Raven #8, immedaitely springs to mind. This portion of the project would focus on finding those older "suggested" races and updating them to 5th edition. This would be things like calibans, braunchen, broken ones, paka, and dread genasi.

Ravenloft Demihuman Subraces:
We have the iconic D&D non-human races; Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, Halfling. But Ravenloft has never really tried to canonically make them "fit" into the setting in the way that the Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance did. In this portion of the project, I'd like to correct that mistake. In particular, I want to explore potential "revamped" races - maybe Sithican elves are no longer just Krynnish High Elves in Ravenloft, but have changed into something else as a result of the lingering essences of Lord Soth, Inza and the nature of the Demiplane of Dread itself.

Adapted Races from Other Settings:
This section could technically be broken into two subsections; pseudo-official races from Dragon that could believably fit into Ravenloft if brought back - for example, the "Deathtouched" family of races from Dragon #313, which consist of the Khatane (dhampir), Ghul (half-ghoul), Ghedan (half-zombie), Fetch (half-ghost) and Mortif (undead ancestry tiefling-equivalent), would be a perfect fit for Ravenloft - and official races from other settings that just would work so well in Ravenloft with some lore touchups.

Of course, in that last part, I'm pretty much only thinking of Warforged and Shifters from Eberron. Shifters make so much sense in Ravenloft with the amount of therianthrope-infested domains. And Warforged? Well, if we ditch the idea that Dread Golems have to be inherently evil, then Warforged would make perfect mechanical basis to build dread golem PCs from - perhaps the downside to being born from the spark of madness and passion is that dread golems are more "alive" than regular golems, which manifests in their increased mortality as well as their increased intelligence. I mean, I can just see a Warforged Storm Herald Barbarian based on Golem from Castlevania: Judgment.

....Well, alright, I also think of the revenants and vryloka from Nentir Vale, too.

Revamped Ravenloft Monsters:
Let's face it; Ravenloft is crawling with near-human monsters who largely exist to be killed, in a slightly more "horror-themed" version of the disposable goblinoids and orcoids of TSR's other settings. But... they don't have to be one-note always hostile creatures. I mean, even the Books of S explored the idea of playable broken ones, flesh golems and werebeasts, whilst Quoth the Raven #19 took the paka, one of the many one-note enemy humanoids, and recast them as a playable race. Tone down the powers as necessary (since you can compensate with class powers), and there's probably a few (monstrous) humanoid races that could be revamped into something playable.

Take the quevari, for example. In and of themselves, they're kind of unimpressive; the only place I really thought they were used well as in the netbook domain "Wayward on the Bone Sands", and I've even seen them denounced as racist. But imagine if you tweaked them, playing around with their "jekyll & hyde: the race" basic starting point? Imagine quevari as a race wrestling with a literal inner demon, a monstrous alter ego that craves blood and suffering - and rather than just embracing a mixture of fatalism and denial and letting others suffer, the quevari actively try to work against it. They keep other people at a distance so they won't be hurt, they take steps to control their dark selves, and some even become adventurers - some to seek a possible cure for themselves if not their race, others under the mentality that if they must be become beasts, then better to sate their bloodlust on the wicked and corrupt. That's an interesting angle, I think, and it's something that offers players something you could only get in Ravenloft.

And there's gotta be other monstrous humanoids who could be similarly fleshed out. What about hebi-no-onna? Or red widows? Vampyres and vorlorgs could make for interesting alternative lore-skins or even subraces to the dhampir? If it's intelligent enough to walk amongst humanoids and to integrate into society effectively, then why does it have to be inherently, irredeemable evil?

Completely Original Stuff:
The last and least important category would be just making up races from scratch. For example, Richemulot, to me, seems just perfect to include a sort of wererat-specific "neo-shifter" race, simply because there's so many wererats interbreeding freely with humans and rats alike; that's got to be doing something to the local bloodlines, even before you take the Gothic tropes into account!

So... yeah. Long story short, I feel that there is a lot of untapped potential for non-human PC races in Ravenloft, and I'd like to try and explore that unexploited niche, hopefully to the extent I can get something meaty put together for Quoth the Raven this year. Would anyone be interested in giving me a hand? Because, I'm afraid I really don't know where to really begin tackling this on my own, not having anybody I can turn to for help with this in real life.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Re: the quevari.
You might get situations like in Stephen King's "the rainy season", with the quevari trying to keep outsiders away, only to be ignored and slaughter to ensue. Or situations common to many horror movies, with a harbinger character trying to stop people from crossing quevari borders - at the quevari's request - only for people to write them off as a loony.

In quevari society, alchemical suppressants might be all the vogue. Or maybe they're trying to cultivate a spellcaster who can use Calm Emotions or similar magic on the community. One village might have prevented bloodshed by virtue of a wand with that spell... only now its charges are running out. The elders are desperate to commission a new wand, but the night of blood approaches, the nearest crafting wizard lives days away, and they have only one wand...

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Red widow and Vampyre PCs sound very interesting.
How does an obligate predator, raised to see humans as food, interact with other species?
How does a vampyre mask the claws and fangs?
Red widows must somehow come to terms with having a short lifespan. Are they prone to depression? Are they frenetically active, struggling to pack as much activity into every day as they can, so they won't die with regrets?
How do vampyres with human parents relate to them? Are their puberties as traumatic as a dread doppelganger's, with their predator's instincts combining with all the other stuff happening?
Do red widows as a species have a quest for longevity? Even immortality? Do they have a secret society that has been gathering lore from victims for generations of their kind? Do red widows consider undeath a viable solution or an abomination?
Is there any stigma in vampyre society against those who mate and reproduce with humans? What about their offspring?

[Hell_Born]

Red widow and Vampyre PCs sound very interesting.
How does an obligate predator, raised to see humans as food, interact with other species?
How does a vampyre mask the claws and fangs?
Red widows must somehow come to terms with having a short lifespan. Are they prone to depression? Are they frenetically active, struggling to pack as much activity into every day as they can, so they won't die with regrets?
How do vampyres with human parents relate to them? Are their puberties as traumatic as a dread doppelganger's, with their predator's instincts combining with all the other stuff happening?
Do red widows as a species have a quest for longevity? Even immortality? Do they have a secret society that has been gathering lore from victims for generations of their kind? Do red widows consider undeath a viable solution or an abomination?
Is there any stigma in vampyre society against those who mate and reproduce with humans? What about their offspring?

...Huh. I gotta be honest, I just threw out the red widow and vampyre as random examples, but these questions actually make them seem like they could genuinely be candidates for this project, given the thoughts they raise.

Also, I may be wrong, but I think canonically vampyre fangs and claws are already retractible, which is how they manage to be thriving in Falkovnia, of all domains.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Or maybe they wear customised gloves and make sure not to show teeth when they smile. Vampyres could project an aloof air when not giving in to the bloodlust, acting superior and sophisticated.
I note in the RL Monster Manual that Vampyre Clerics can draw from a certain set of domains, but who is the deity granting these? Vampyres once had a divine mandate to cull the human herd and maintain the balance of nature, like lions preying on gazelle and zebras. Is theirs a god of natural balance, rather than one of evil? What form does their worship take now?

I wonder whether red widows actually have a culture. Their short lifespan and rather ruthless biological imperatives give them so little time, and most spiders aren't very good at playing happy families. But mother red widows do take some effort to provide their offspring with a good start, if I recall correctly, and linger nearby until the kids have hatched and grown enough to set off on their own.
Do mother red widows impart any knowledge to their daughters? Do they just trust instinct to guide them? Or is there a form of inherited knowledge in play?
If there is an element of teaching in play, what would happen if someone stole an egg and tried to raise the hatchling as a moral, ethical creature? How conflicted would such a red widow be, trying to harmonize what they've been taught by their foster parent and the predator's instinct beating on their hindbrain?
If red widows do have a culture, do they pass on a racial history? A religion?

There are so many possibilities!

[Cromstar]

If I'm not mistaken, in addition to the 'PCs as undead slash undead as PCs' rules found with the Necropolis adventure(s), there was another D&D product that made werecreatures PC playable: Night Howlers wasn't officially a Ravenloft product (or even a 2nd Edition product; its compatible with I think 1st Edition D&D; its part of the Challenger Series, whatever that was). So that may be worth looking into if you are interested, although there may be a question of balance, but if you're converting to 5th Edition, that seems like that can be handled in conversion.

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

So... yeah. Long story short, I feel that there is a lot of untapped potential for non-human PC races in Ravenloft, and I'd like to try and explore that unexploited niche, hopefully to the extent I can get something meaty put together for Quoth the Raven this year. Would anyone be interested in giving me a hand? Because, I'm afraid I really don't know where to really begin tackling this on my own, not having anybody I can turn to for help with this in real life.

These links about 5e races might be useful:
Marasmusine Meter
5e Race Design Guide
Logistically, a good first step might be to identify all of the races you are thinking of working with and making a huge list, categorizing them into those groupings you gave initially. That would give a good idea of the scope of the project. My guess is that such a list would be large and ambitious, so it can be followed by deciding how much is reasonable to complete, and what seems mission critical. Anything that doesn't make the initial cut can be added in if things go well and there is extra time. Anything that still remains can become the sequel project.

There were some interesting races in the Dragon Compendium (a collection of Dragon Magazine contributions) that could work, like the diaboli, who reside in the Plane of Shadow.

[Hell_Born]

Logistically, a good first step might be to identify all of the races you are thinking of working with and making a huge list, categorizing them into those groupings you gave initially. That would give a good idea of the scope of the project. My guess is that such a list would be large and ambitious, so it can be followed by deciding how much is reasonable to complete, and what seems mission critical. Anything that doesn't make the initial cut can be added in if things go well and there is extra time. Anything that still remains can become the sequel project.

There were some interesting races in the Dragon Compendium (a collection of Dragon Magazine contributions) that could work, like the diaboli, who reside in the Plane of Shadow.

Firstly, can I just say how grateful I am that people are taking an interest? Secondly, I must confess that I hadn't considered diaboli, despite my liking of the race; thank you for the suggestion! And third... a draft list sounds perfectly reasonable, and in fact I could actually use a hand getting that refined - in particular, there's the issue of "Ravenloftifying" Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes and Halflings, because there's a lot of different angles you can go with - duergar actually would work pretty well for a more "folkloric" take on dwarves, since they already come packaged with innate magic (admittedly patterned on the spriggan, but then the "dwarf archetype" is pretty sprawling), whilst I've also commentated on the possibilities of Sithican elves.

...To be honest, I kind of want to leave "Ravenloft subraces" as a low priority element, since they're simultaneously low-hanging fruit and also very multi-optional, because there's a lot of directions you can take them. So, I'll just focus on the other categories I listed in my opening post, if folks are okay with that? I'll give a name and a hopefully short explanation of why I feel that race might work with each of them.

Pseudo-Official Ravenloft Races:
Caliban: I can't start this list without calibans, obviously. Ideally, I'd want to update the original subraces from Quoth the Raven 8 - the Banshee, Bestial, Brute, Cannibal and Witchbreed. But there's also arguments to be made to drop Caliban as a race in and of itself and instead make it a "race term" - a name given in general to any "cursed lineage" type race, such as planetouched, deathtouched, shifters, hagbreed etc.

Dread Genasi: A Qouth a Raven original, dread elemental genasi make sense to me for the same reason that tieflings do; they strike a balance between planetouched and caliban, and they fit well into the setting with their ties to dark magic and the dire forces of nature.

Broken One: Inspired by their writeup in the Book of S, Broken Ones could either make an interesting bestial alternative to dread golems, or they could be repurposed as a "race name" and/or common background for "manbeast" races from other settings - there aren't native populations of minotaurs, centaurs, lizardfolk, gnolls, etc in Ravenloft, but there could well be humans or animals mutated by magic or dark science into the equivalent thereof.

Braunchen: Tucked away in the Books of S is this little beauty; a fanggen (shadow fey hag that pretends to be a vilay, a shadow fey dryad) that consumed 100 good souls and was transformed through the collective goodness, creating a genuinely compassionate and benevolent being stricken with guilt for her wicked former identity and striving to make amends for her history of evil. What about that doesn't sound like a good Ravenloft PC race to you?

Ravenloft Monsters:
Bakhna Rakhna: These are basically light sensitive goblin-analogues with a short-ranged teleport. Even in their official lore, they're potentially dangerous, but largely concerned with just acquiring food. No reason these couldn't be redeemed.

Carrionette: I admit I might be biased, because Grim Hollow has a playable race of child-mimicking fey constructs created to cover up when their creators steal children, but still, I feel if you drop the "body snatcher" angle, carrionettes could work using the Warforged as a basis.

Dhampir: Now, in fairness, there's an official 5e dhampir coming, and it's not terrible. But I think we can do something more. Maybe even make the dhampir have subraces to represent all of the variant vampires found in the Demiplane of Dread? After all, the dhampir's statblock would also work well to represent a "vampire who is pursuing redemption" - there's an old trope about redeemed monsters losing a lot of their powers (but also their weaknesses) because they've chosen to turn their backs on evil.

Dread Doppelganger: Whilst the Fraternity of Shadow's excellent Paridon netbooks have already justified the inclusion of Eberronian changelings in the Misty Realms as "dread doppelganger calibans", there's also the option to borrow a leaf from the Nentir Vale and just replace Dread Doppelgangers with changelings; give them a racial feat to emulate the detect thoughts and glamer abilities, and bam.

Ermordenung: Having a poisonous touch isn't that huge a power set, given that poison resistance is now a thing in D&D. Plus, with the fact ermordenungs are cut off from all physical affection and were often tricked into the role, I can definitely see them trying to escae Ivana's clutches and working against her.

Hebi-no-Onna: Probably not the best idea, since Rokushima Taiyoo is canonically so isolated, but I really don't think they're that implausible a PC race; you can easily justify the power difference as "NPC hebi-no-onna is a 14th level Enchanter; you're a level 1 scrub".

Lebendtod: Honestly, this could basically be a backstory for a "Reborn" character using the official rules - you were turned into a Lebendtod, your creator was killed, and now you're a free...sapient zombie thing. Maybe the whole "animate limbs" thing and the official restriction to... what was the domain they come from again? It's the central hub-domain of the Sea of Sorrows, the one ruled by that Mystaran arch-necromancer? Well, that could justify them as a unique race.

Paka: They were turned into a PC race in Quoth the Rave #19. That's reason enough for me.

Quevari: As I said in my opening post; drop the denial/fatalism angle, make them actively try to keep their dark sides under control, let their bloodmoon side be able to "peek out" even when the full moon isn't present, and there's an interesting jekyll/hyde meets the wolfman angle going on here.

Ravenkin: These actually had a playable writeup in AD&D, in Dragon #262, so I don't see why it'd be a bad idea to upgrade them to that status again.

Red Widow: I admit, mostly I'm interested in these because aranea were a playable race in AD&D, but there's definite possibilities here. Most red widows don't care to reject their traditional lifestyle, but nothing says it's impossible. Heck, Denizens of Dread even says that there are red widows who rise above their instinct-driven lifestyles and seek to better themselves.

Vampyre: None of their abilities are all that powerful, and even Denizens of Dread implies that the major reason that vampyres are evil is because their culture has twisted into one that glorifies them as divinely ordained predators of the humanoid races - a claim that might not even be true.

Vorlog: Now, I've seen a lot of backlash in more recent years against these because of their basic concept being "abuse victim turned abuser". Well, drop the angle of vorlogs being compelled to seek out replacements for their vampire creator, only to murder them when they inevitably fail to live up to the idealized picture in the vorlog's head, and instead focus on the idea of vorlogs being once-ordinary people forever imbued with some vampiric taint, and you've got a more nuanced and potentially playable creature, at least in my opinion.

Swiped From Other Settings:
Shifter: These just seem too natural a fit to me in a setting as full of werebeasts as Ravenloft. And, like dhampirs, they could easily work as a "redeemed but weakened" therianthrope race. There is maybe an argument to be made that they need more shifting options (subraces? Whatever they were) to represent the broader array of unique Ravenloft therianthropes, like werejaguars, wereravens, werefoxes, etc.

Warforged: This race is just tailor made for Dread Golem PCs. Maybe flesh golem PCs could have an alternative statblock, I don't know, but as-is, the warforged statblock works perfectly if you presume that the downside of being a dread golem is that your free will and fully developed sapience comes at the cost of being more vulnerable to harm than the mindless magic-spawned true golems.

Revenant: Specifically, I'm talking the very Crow-inspired revenant from 4th edition's core setting, the Nentir Vale. I have no real idea how to spin them, but the basic idea of them being souls brought back as pseudo-undead things by some dark power that has a mysterious purpose for them to fulfill just sounds plenty gothic to me.

Vryloka: Essentially, this was Nentir Vale's attempt to make a dhampir-esque race of living vampires; people who bargained with a mysterious dark entity called the Red Witch, and who gained vampire-like powers as a result of it. Perhaps not very gothic, but certainly quite dark fantasy. And, yes, I am aware that this list has multiple "vampire but not" races in it, and I'm in full favor of condensing those down to a single race if that seems the best way to handle things.

Dragon Races:
Ghost Elf: Introduced in Dragon #313, ghost elves are elves who were taken from the material and stranded in first the Abyss and then the Ethereal, where they developed into a more mystical race. I may be wrong, but I'm sure I remember that an old bit of Ravenloft lore is that elves feel unnaturally "cut off" from nature, due to the fundamental taint of the Demiplane. Add in the "Mist-Elves" race from Quoth the Raven #, and I think ghost elves could work as a unique Ravenloft elf race who have bonded to the mists and partaken of their fundamental nature.

Deathtouched: Dragon #313 introduced five races based on the idea of unnatural unions between the living and the undead; the khatane (a dhampir with a sillier name), the half-ghoul (ghul), the half-ghost (fetch), the half-zombie (ghedan) and the mortif, which is basically their aasimar/tiefling/genasi equivalent. We all know that the dhampir fits Ravenloft like a glove, so by that same logic, the rest of the deathtouched should do as well.

Diaboli: Originating from Mystara, rendered playable in Dragon #327, diaboli are a race of chaotic good humanoids from the "Demiplane of Nightmares" (a region of the Plane of Dreams where the Far Realm bleeds through) who have been largely driven from their homes by waves of aberrations. Unfortunately, they look like stereotypical devils, but purple, so people don't react too kindly to them.

Truly Homebrewed:
Hagbreed: I know we're getting something like this in the Hexblood lineage, but... well, I really like both Pathfinder's Changelings (larval hags are a race of cute witches who have to be transformed into proper hags, inspired by Paizo's ecology of the night hag) and the Forgotten Realms' Hagspawn (male hag children are magic-less deformed humanoids), both of which were playable. I just think that if you mix these two bases together and drop the sexist "girls get to be hot magic users, guys have to be ugly brutes" angle, you can have an interesting race that works well given the abundance of hags in Ravenloft. I mean, Ravenloft is literally the home of the Redeemed Hag monster, the Bruja; what better place to make "child of a hag" PCs?

Ratling: Now, I can understand the arguments that wererat shifters make this superfluous. But, inspired by Swords of Lankhmar, Richemulot just seems so fitting as a place where the line between man and rat has become increasingly muddled, to the point that the wererats may actually be breeding themselves and their "base stocks" out of existence to replace them with something new.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Given that Calibans are mutations that occur due to having fetuses exposed to curses, too much magic etc. while still in the womb, you might consider creating types of Caliban based on the other races abroad in the Demiplane of Dread.

A Caliban born of Dwarves could differ from those born of Elves. A Caliban born due to accidental exposure to an ancient curse laid upon a pyramid in Har'Akir could differ from a Caliban born due to a Hag's maliciously cursing a pregnant mother -- or waiting too long to use Cuckoo's Egg to swap her own brood out for another woman's. Then again, a Caliban born of any kind of supernatural power at all might differ from one born because Victor Mordenheim and his ilk have been dumping chemical waste in the local well.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Ermordenung and Paka characters sound like a hoot.

You're right, the ermordenung have plenty of reason to despise Ivana. Right now, a rogue ermordenung is the Mordentish Bastion and gets by wearing gloves, so there's no reason why others couldn't do the same.

Paka ... Well. I love cats. Need I say more?
But seriously, paka have a certain mystique. I'd like to see more done with them.

[Hell_Born]

Given that Calibans are mutations that occur due to having fetuses exposed to curses, too much magic etc. while still in the womb, you might consider creating types of Caliban based on the other races abroad in the Demiplane of Dread.

A Caliban born of Dwarves could differ from those born of Elves. A Caliban born due to accidental exposure to an ancient curse laid upon a pyramid in Har'Akir could differ from a Caliban born due to a Hag's maliciously cursing a pregnant mother -- or waiting too long to use Cuckoo's Egg to swap her own brood out for another woman's. Then again, a Caliban born of any kind of supernatural power at all might differ from one born because Victor Mordenheim and his ilk have been dumping chemical waste in the local well.

Yeah... there's really a lot of options for calibans, which is actually why I want to focus on the five subraces from the original Brutes & Banshees article; it'll keep them from exploding into too convoluted a mess. I'm not against trying to "5eify" the create-a-caliban rules from that same article, however.

But, I must admit, I'm not sure what to do now. Share the statblocks I do have for commentary and playtesting? Wait for more feedback on my current draft racial list? I don't really know.

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

Dhampir: Now, in fairness, there's an official 5e dhampir coming, and it's not terrible. But I think we can do something more. Maybe even make the dhampir have subraces to represent all of the variant vampires found in the Demiplane of Dread? After all, the dhampir's statblock would also work well to represent a "vampire who is pursuing redemption" - there's an old trope about redeemed monsters losing a lot of their powers (but also their weaknesses) because they've chosen to turn their backs on evil.

Vampyre: None of their abilities are all that powerful, and even Denizens of Dread implies that the major reason that vampyres are evil is because their culture has twisted into one that glorifies them as divinely ordained predators of the humanoid races - a claim that might not even be true.

Vorlog: Now, I've seen a lot of backlash in more recent years against these because of their basic concept being "abuse victim turned abuser". Well, drop the angle of vorlogs being compelled to seek out replacements for their vampire creator, only to murder them when they inevitably fail to live up to the idealized picture in the vorlog's head, and instead focus on the idea of vorlogs being once-ordinary people forever imbued with some vampiric taint, and you've got a more nuanced and potentially playable creature, at least in my opinion.

Vryloka: Essentially, this was Nentir Vale's attempt to make a dhampir-esque race of living vampires; people who bargained with a mysterious dark entity called the Red Witch, and who gained vampire-like powers as a result of it. Perhaps not very gothic, but certainly quite dark fantasy. And, yes, I am aware that this list has multiple "vampire but not" races in it, and I'm in full favor of condensing those down to a single race if that seems the best way to handle things.

I like the idea of dhampir subraces for the different variants. There are 8 vampire strains in Denizens of Dread (four are racial, and cerebral is a variant nosferatu), which makes for a lot of dhampir subraces. It gets even higher if you take the three strains (savage, shadow, and terror) from Dragon #348, but that is just a side note. As long as there are going to be subraces of dhampir, it probably makes sense (and saves work) to make the other vampire-like races part of it.

Lebendtod: Honestly, this could basically be a backstory for a "Reborn" character using the official rules - you were turned into a Lebendtod, your creator was killed, and now you're a free...sapient zombie thing. Maybe the whole "animate limbs" thing and the official restriction to... what was the domain they come from again? It's the central hub-domain of the Sea of Sorrows, the one ruled by that Mystaran arch-necromancer? Well, that could justify them as a unique race.

They came mostly from Graben Island, where they served Meredoth. According to the lore, lebendtod cannot be without a master, and will seek a new one if their master is slain. A PC could still be an exception. The animate limbs part will probably be a tricky feature to balance.

Dragon Races:

Dragon #313 also had the Strange Bedfellows article, which had a bunch of half-creature templates. Some of these could have a place, such as the half-rakshasa being a possibility in Sri Raji.

But, I must admit, I'm not sure what to do now. Share the statblocks I do have for commentary and playtesting? Wait for more feedback on my current draft racial list? I don't really know.

If you have some stat blocks, it probably wouldn't hurt to present them. We can always refer to and comment on the list, even with some other things going on.

As this gets going and organization is needed, it might be good at some point to open threads on the Community Projects section of the board. This is fine for now, though.

[Hell_Born]

I still think maybe try and see if vampyres, vorlogs and vryloka can work as seperate races first, or even just pick one race over the others, before going so far as to fold them into the dhampir cluster, which I want to largely focus on the variant vampires - "standard", nosferatu, chiangshi, maybe cerebral, and the demihuman vampires - as subraces.

What I was basically thinking was to retcon the Lebendtod and allow them to at least identify with an organization (say, an adventuring partry) as their "master" if not achieve full independence. But fluff-building is something all of these races will need, and it's probably going to ironically be the toughest portion.

Currently the list is mental only, and my power supply is unstable, so I'll post this and try to squeeze them into this thread as my shaky internet permits, if multiposting will be acceptable?

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

I still think maybe try and see if vampyres, vorlogs and vryloka can work as seperate races first, or even just pick one race over the others, before going so far as to fold them into the dhampir cluster, which I want to largely focus on the variant vampires - "standard", nosferatu, chiangshi, maybe cerebral, and the demihuman vampires - as subraces.

True, those three are a bit distinct. The vampyre being a living being gave me pause while thinking of fusing everything together, and I didn't quite remember enough about the vryloka (which sounds confusingly a lot like vrykolaka, the diseased vampire that perhaps would not be a great PC race). Of the three, the vorlog is the most likely one I would consider folding into the cluster if any were going in, but it is distinct enough to perhaps be separate. Mechanically, these three might be very close to the dhampir.

What I was basically thinking was to retcon the Lebendtod and allow them to at least identify with an organization (say, an adventuring partry) as their "master" if not achieve full independence.

I had a vaguely similar imprinting idea for the lebendtod. That sort of psychological dependency would really inform how one is played.

if multiposting will be acceptable?

I don't mind.

[Hell_Born]

Okay, so, here's the first draft of the converted Ravenloft monsters-as-PCs races, sans the Dhampir, which will take me some time to complete since I've got 8 subraces (Standard, Nosferatu, Chiang-shi, Cerebral, Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, Halfling), and its follow-ups the Vampyre and Vorlog. Besides, you've got enough to start trying to pick apart here as-is.

Bakhna Rakhna
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Dexterity, +1 Constitution
Size: Small
Speed: 25 feet, Climb 25 feet
Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
Sunlight Sensitivity: You suffer Disadvantage on attack rolls and visual Perception checks if you or the object of your focus is in direct sunlight.
Misty Step: You can cast Misty Step (self only) once per short rest.
Poisonous Blood: As a bonus action, you can sacrifice one hit die to coat one piece of ammunition or one slashing or piercing weapon in your blood. The smeared weapon does +2d6 Poison damage on its next successful hit, after which the effect wears off.

Carrionette
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Dexterity, +1 Charisma
Size: Tiny
Speed: 25 Feet, Climb 25 feet
Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
Living Construct: You are Immune to Disease and do not need to eat, drink, breathe or sleep. You are Immune to magically induced sleep.
Puppets Always Watch: When you take a long rest, you do not actually sleep, but instead spend the time in an inactive, motionless state, retaining full awareness.
Wooden Body: You suffer Disadvantage on saving throws against attacks that inflict Fire damage.
Comedy & Tragedy: You have Proficiency in both Performance and Intimidation.
Construct Strength: You are treated as a Small creature for determining what weapons you can use.

Ermordenung
Ability Score Modifiers: +1 Str, +1 Con, +1 Cha
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Vision: Normal
Toxic Touch: Your unarmed strikes do 2d6 Poison damage instead of the normal bludgeoning damage. This Poison damage increases to 3d6 at 6th level, 4d6 at 11th level, and 5d6 at 16th level. If you have the Martial Arts class feature, your unarmed strikes do the bludgeoning damage determined by that feature plus the Poison damage dictated by Toxic Touch.
Utter Venom: Poison damage inflicted by your Toxic Touch ignores Poison Resistance and treats Poison Immunity as Poison Resistance.
Venom-Steeped: You have Immunity to Poison Damage.
Kiss of Death: If you start your turn grappled or grappling a creature, that creature takes Poison damage as per Toxic Touch.

Hebi-no-Onna
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Int, +1 Cha
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Vision: Normal
Serpent's Blood: You have Resistance to Poison Damage and Advantage on saves against the Poisoned condition.
Snake Talker: You can speak with snakes (as per Speak With Animals) at will. You can compel docility from snakes, as per the Animal Friendship spell, at will.
Serpent Arms: Your unarmed strikes do 1d4 + Proficiency bonus Piercing damage + 2d6 Poison damage instead of the normal bludgeoning damage. This Poison damage increases to 3d6 at 6th level, 4d6 at 11th level, and 5d6 at 16th level. If you have the Martial Arts class feature, your unarmed strikes do the damage determined by that feature as piercing damage, plus the Poison damage dictated by this feature.
Hypnotic Eyes: You have Proficiency in Persuasion.
Kiss of Nightmare Wine: When you successfully inflict damage with a Serpent Arms attack, you can declare you are injecting daigatu as part of the attack. The target must succeed on a Wisdom save (DC 8 + your Cha modifier + your Proficiency bonus) or be Frightened until the end of your next turn. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to your Proficiency bonus and all uses recharge on a long rest.

Lebendtod
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Str, +1 Con
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
Unliving: You do not need to eat, breathe, drink or sleep, and are Immune to Disease and the Poisoned condition. You are also Resistant to Necrotic damage.
Unsleeping: When you take a long rest, you do not actually sleep, but instead spend the time in an inactive, motionless state, retaining full awareness.
Living Visage: You have Advantage on Deception checks made to pass as a living creature.
Made to Use: You have Proficiency in one Skill or Tool of your choice.
Detachable Limbs: You can freely remove and reattach your extremities by using an action. Detached limbs are Tiny, do not benefit from any armor you are wearing, and share your hit point total. So long as you are within (Proficiency bonus times 10) feet, you can control your detached limbs mentally. At the DM's discretion, using this trait can give you Advantage on an Intimidation check.

Paka
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: You have Advantage on Deception checks made to pass yourself as a human or half-elf.
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.

Quevari
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Wis, +1 Dex
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Vision: Normal
Bloodmoon's Savagery: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.
Caged Demon's Wrath: As a bonus action, you can invoke the fury of your inner demon, gaining Advantage on Dexterity checks and Dexterity saving throws for 1 minute or until you are either knocked unconscious, end a turn without attacking a hostile creature, or use a bonus action to end your turn. If you have the Rage class feature, you can benefit from both a Rage and Caged Demon's Wrath at the same time.
Two Minds: You have Advantage on Wisdom saves.

Ravenkin
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Int, +1 Cha (or +2 Cha/+1 Int)
Size: Small
Speed: 25 feet, Fly 40 feet
Vision: Normal
You're a Bird: You can only use Melee weapons that a Small sized character can wield, due to the limitations of your bodily structure. Additionally, nonmagical armor will need to be custom-tailored for you. Finally, you cannot fly if you are incapacitated, wearing Medium or Heavy armor, or Encumbered.
Birdspeech: You can communicate with ravens and other scavenging birds at will, as per the Speak with Animals spells.
Raven's Wisdom: You have Proficiency in Insight and Perception.

Red Widow
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Charisma, +1 Dexterity
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet, Climb 30 feet
Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
Spider Climb: From 3rd level, you can move freely on vertical and upside down horizontal surfaces without needing to make a Climb check.
Spider Queen: You can cast the Infestation cantrip, using Charisma as your spellcasting ability score.
Human Guise: You have Advantage on Deception checks made to pass as human.
Poisonous Bite: As a bonus action, you can make a bite attack. This is an unarmed strike that, on a hit, inflicts 2d6 Poison damage. This Poison damage increases to 3d6 at 6th level, 4d6 at 11th level, and 5d6 at 16th level.