An awakened badger as a PC?

[Dwarfi]

Hello everyone,
I opened a similar thread in the inspiration sub forum, but after checking the thread post intervals and reactions its unlikely to actually get any reaction over there. ^^
If thats a problem, just delete the one over there.

I want to play a badger that has been fey touched and is now an intelligent creature.

The class would be obvious, an ancient oath paladin.

EDIT: Here the current version, thanks for all the feedback guys

5e - Awakened badger
Type: Fey
Size: Small
Language: Common and Fey(Sylvan)
Stats: Con+2, Cha+1 (badgers are tough and thanks to the fae touch very cute and charismatic)
Speed: 25ft
Resistances: Since he is a fey he is is already imune to the charm-person spells so no more resistances, but Keen senses would be nice: Adv. on perception when based on smell.
Darkvision is fine
Prof weapons: prof. in perception, animal senses and all.
Prof tools: burrow 10ft in natural ground? Doubt it would be useful beyond 1 or 2 uses in an entire campaign ^^
Stonecunning: prof. in knw. nature when related to field and forests
Toughness: Would fit the badger, I am open for more ideas though as its a bit boring. - Animal messenger? Speak to animals like a language and move one of the languages above to the background ?

Open for everything you can come up with. Thanks and have fun.

[TenaciousJ]

All player natural attacks are usually worded like, "Your bite is a natural weapon, which you can use when you make unarmed strikes.  If you hit with it, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 plus your Strength modifier instead of the normal bludgeoning damage for an unarmed strike."

Multiattack is a specific action a creature takes on its turn.  It is not the same thing as the Attack action which the Extra Attack feature and several other class features function with.  If you have a multiattack line that says, "You attack once with your claws and once with your bite," that's all you do with the action.  You cannot combine multiattack and weapons unless the multiattack line says you can use a weapon.  Also worth pointing out, even though you can picture a giant badger with two claws, it does not have two claw attacks in its multiattack routine.

With the exception of wildshaped druids, players don't get multiattack.  You should leave that out of the homebrewed race if you want to avoid balance issues.  It's generally too good from 1 to 4 and then useless from 5 on unless you don't get Extra Attack.

My suggestion:

Look at the Aasimar in Volo's Guide to Monsters.  Pick an Aasimar you like and reflavor it as a celestial badger.  5e doesn't do PC templates (yet), and it's going to be messy to try to create one to tack onto an already-homebrewed race.  Swap out an Aasimar racial to gain the natural attacks if you must have those.  Don't tack on the multiattack and just rely on the paladin's Extra Attack for balance.  If you want the burrow speed, trade off another racial.

[Dwarfi]

I dont have that book ...yet but from a review it seems pretty strong.
Just found the DMG version of the Aasimar too.

I think you are right and they would make a good base for what I have in mind.
Some slight changes to make it a badger.

scent and burrow -
maybe change the +1Wis to +1Con
res to nec/rad seems strong but alright, fits too
casting lights + darkvision, seems a bit odd to have both.

from what I heard the aasimar in volos also have some sort of nova ability but since I dont have the book... ^^

[awaken_D_M_golem]

Anthropomorphic Mice ... are in the DMG, as an example of that.

  

shhhh , don't tell anybody where it is = easter egg

[Dwarfi]

@awaken_D_M_golem:
I have no idea where those are, just looked through the 5e DMG again but I cant find it.

Edit: Havent really noticed before, but maybe a reskinned half elf would work just as well with some tweaks.
Might look like this:
Same as half elf except:
Fey ancestry -> res to nec and rad damage
Skill vers > Sent and burrow
Languages> elvish to celestial

[Nunkuruji]

With the exception of wildshaped druids, players don't get multiattack.  You should leave that out of the homebrewed race if you want to avoid balance issues.  It's generally too good from 1 to 4 and then useless from 5 on unless you don't get Extra Attack.

Definitely. In the ranger rework where they fix beast master, there are some comments around multi-attack being a DM thing for combat balance/simplification, and it is removed from animal companions.

[Dwarfi]

With the exception of wildshaped druids, players don't get multiattack.  You should leave that out of the homebrewed race if you want to avoid balance issues.  It's generally too good from 1 to 4 and then useless from 5 on unless you don't get Extra Attack.

Definitely. In the ranger rework where they fix beast master, there are some comments around multi-attack being a DM thing for combat balance/simplification, and it is removed from animal companions.

Good to know, I will definatley not use it then. I think the half-elf is actually better than an Aasimar for the badger. Love the idea already. The slightly higher abilitys reflect, that he is tougher and not one of those "fancy types" of celestials.

[Dwarfi]

Just fleshing out the character a bit more.
As I havent played a 5e pala yet, I am not sure HOW impoartant Cha is for him. For spells/day and Dcs and the SV-aura, is there anything else?
If its a 27PB 16 for STR/CON/CHA (incl. H-ELF racials) 10 WIS and 8 for the rest

Background: Outlander Celestial/ Survival + Athletics
Paladin: Common + Sylvan? or elvish?

Likely neutral good.
Very nature driven, trying to keep harm and evil out of his forest in particular, but very caring about animals in general. Of humanoids he isnt that fond of, but will try to help if need be. Children have a special place in his heart though. His goal is to someday earn his place in the golden woods of mount celestia - alternative idea: He is a knight of the fey queen Titania watching over her troublesome children.
He is a bit too proud and stubborn for his own good, has a deep hate against fiends.

[TenaciousJ]

Ability scores don't affect spells per day in 5e, so scratch that from the list of benefits.

For a paladin, Charisma affects spell save DCs, Aura of Courage, and a few spells like Cure Wounds that add the casting ability score modifier to the amount healed.  A paladin must have 13 Strength and 13 Charisma to multiclass in or out of paladin.

Many paladin spell do not rely on Charisma to function.  Others, like the smite spells, are less diminished by a successful saving throw than most spells are.  A paladin can function well with minimal Charisma, but Aura of Courage will reward you for a positive Charisma modifier even if you're not using spells that benefit from Charisma.  Strength is a higher priority.

[Nifft]

I'd allow a Giant Badger with some equipment restrictions, including no armor or shields.

Darkvision 30ft
Keen smell: adv on percep. wis checks based on smell.
Speed 30 ft., burrow 10 ft.
language: common+celestial

Your claws are a natural weapon, which you can use when you make unarmed strikes.  If you hit with a claw, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d8 plus your Strength modifier instead of the normal bludgeoning damage for an unarmed strike.

The one "celestial" racial ability would be around which stat contributes to AC.

Heavenly Avenger
+2 Con, +2 Str
Aura of Menace:

• You may calculate your AC as 12 + your Dexterity bonus + your Charisma bonus.
• You may cause a halo of holy fire to erupt from above your head. This halo sheds light like a torch, and while it is visible, you have Advantage on Intimidate checks.

Arborial Defender
+2 Con, +2 Wis
Spirit Shield:

• You may calculate your AC as 12 + your Dexterity bonus + your Wisdom bonus.
• When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

[Dwarfi]

Interesting thought, surely makes it more of a unique thing, but excluding a PC from basic things like armor and shields?
I dont think that would make for a lot of fun.
Usually I am in favor of the easiest solution, so if a reskin works already that should be the best way to go. Maybe some changes for flavor.

5e isnt much for multiclassing but lets have a quick look:
-Fighter 2Lvs: An extra action is always great. If taken on 1st Lv it would grant STR/CON svs which would be good for concentration. But we likely get a good CON score anyway so that shouldnt be that hard.

-Clercic 1Lv: For a domain, likely nature or knowledge. The problem is the WIS score necessary, Druid and Ranger have both the same problem and would likely be only for flavor addition.
Incl. Racial 13Wis 14CHa would work. Otherwise 10Wis/16CHa

-Sorcerer or Warlock would likely be an option: Warlock of the fey would fit well thematically, 2-3Lvs for a variation of packt boon and invocations and some spells. Familiar for flavor and some roleplaying +chain master or blade for power as a boon. And for the invocations: beguiling influence just for 2 extra skills, eyes of the runekeeper would be useful, , fiendish vigor, mask of many faces... too proud to hide ^^.
Sorceror doesnt seem to be any good except for some spells.

Or just complete Paladin, which is totally fine as well.

[TenaciousJ]

Sorcerer is a great paladin multiclass.  Or rather, paladin is a great sorcerer multiclass.  If you have sorcerer levels, you can leave paladin at level 6 and just gain sorcerer levels the rest of the way for increased spellcasting ability and minimal loss to melee damage.  You miss out on Improved Divine Smite, but you gain much better spell progression, metamagic, and sorcerer cantrips like Green-Flame Blade or Booming Blade that can be quickened for a 3rd attack per turn (or 4th if you Haste yourself).

[Dwarfi]

Yea, I guess the possibility of multiclassing is something I will decide once I play the character.
Of course CHA casters are both a great addition, thematically the Fey-Warlock would fit better, but the quickening from the sorcerer is very good too. I dont know those spells you mentioned, I assume they are not from the PH? For now I stick to the core books.
Multiple fighter levels would be nice too if you want more ability increases.

For now I think this is about all I can gather for this character idea. Thanks again.

[TenaciousJ]

Both of those are cantrips from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.  You make a melee weapon attack as you cast them, so they play nicely with weapon users.  If you're sticking to core only, quickening is still nice to get buffs like Blur and Haste up without losing your attack(s) for the turn.

[Dwarfi]

I wanted to ask:
Would the sword pact of the Warlock be a good pick for a melee class (in this case Paladin ? I dont know how common +1/magical weapons are in 5e.
If I get a magical weapon easily like you did in 3.5e, it wouldnt make much sense to take it and I could as well go for a roleplay thing like pact of the chain.

[TenaciousJ]

It depends on how many levels you will go into each class.  If you go into paladin past level 5, pact of the blade is not a great choice unless you would also get to warlock 12 for the Lifedrinker invocation.  Extra Attack from paladin and the Thirsting Blade invocation do not stack with each other per the multiclassing rules in chapter 6 of the PHB.  Any other benefits from pact of the blade are outside of core.

Paladins have access to Magic Weapon and Elemental Weapon on their spell lists, so pact of the blade just to gain a magic weapon is not necessary for a paladin to overcome weapon resistances.  The other two pacts bring much more utility to a warlock than pact of the blade.  If you really want access to a magic weapon on-demand, you can take pact of the tome and pick Shillelagh as one of your tome cantrips and use the other picks for more utility than pact of the blade.

[Dwarfi]

Thanks for all the good help again.

Just a thought that came to my mind recently: If I was the DM I would make the Badger a "humanoid" type even if others things like fey, celestial or magical beast might make more sense.
Simply because there are spells that target humanoids, and beeing a magical beast might cause trouble or unwanted imunitys a PC shouldnt have.

[Nifft]

I dunno.

At the point where you're using a re-skinned humanoid, I feel like you're not playing a Celestial Badger.

I totally agree that avoiding some spell which target Humanoids is a bonus, but that's what being a Celestial Badger ought to imply. It should be obvious to people that you're a giant badger with a golden halo of righteousness, so they oughtn't waste Hold Person spells on you in the first place.

[Dwarfi]

Good point, it should be pretty obvious ^^
Would be magical beast then, maybe extraplanar, but since there is no dimensional anchor spell in 5e (or none that I saw) it might be a problem to fight banishment spells and alike. In 3e I would have just bought a small amulet with a permanent dimensional anchor on it to avoid beeing teleported to the celestial plane. Or just touched by Celestials, like an Aasimar, who isnt an extraplanar either.

If the flavor goes more towards a fey touched/awakened creature, then the celestial part falls away of course, he could strive to become a celestial/ divine protector of the woods though.

The reskinning is more of a base in terms of balance, the less you have to change the less problems it will cause in terms of balance or for the DM.
Of course in the end its up to what your DM allows you to do or take anyway, so this is just theorycrafting at this point.
It should still be a different thing then just a dwarf or halfelf or course.

If based on a hill dwarf and we switch the things around a bit:
Con+2, Cha+1
25ft speed, not slowed by heavy armor
poison res > would be fine otherwise res to necrotic/radiant
darkvision
prof weapons> prof perception
prof tools> burrow ? Doubt it would be useful beyond 1 or 2 uses in an entire campaign ^^
stonecunning> knw nature when related to field and forests?
toughness > would fit the badger

A mountain dwarf base wouldnt have the toughness, but higher Stats
Con+2, Cha+2 or STR+1/Cha+1
Armor prof > ???


Sometimes i look at spells and want to add them to increase the overall flair of the character.
As this badger paladin might be a knight of the fey queen, spells like animal friendship, animal messenger or find familiar (or he just has a small mouse friend with him) would make sense, but unless the DM thinks of a way it might be tricky to get those otherwise. ^^

[Dwarfi]

The character is pretty much set, now I am working on a backstory, traits, ideas and so on:

Story:
Born as a natural badger.
As a cub, he got caught by a fiend and almost died, but a local druid (or ranger) saved him. He tried to heal the little one but couldnt cure the evil taint, so he preyed to the local spirits and deities of the woods for help. The feyqueen Titania responded and saved the badger and with her touch awakening him.
As typical for fey, they are free spirits and so they left the little one with the druid to take care of him. The druid raised him and taught him about nature, spirits and all, but couldnt quite explain to him what he was, why he was saved or if there was a purpose to all this....after some years the badger still didnt know who or what he was (besides a talking badger) and so the druid comes to the conclusion that he cant answer these questions and sends him of into the world, to maybe find the answers he seeks.
This backstory would give the PC something child like. Very trusting, nature loving and trying to learn from others, he definately wouldnt call himself a paladin nor a fey, but would slowly expand his abilities and eventually finds out who and what he is. He still has a scar from the fiend's attack and hates them eversince.

Character traits:  Ideals, bonds and flaws:
Uphold the light of hope and joy, protect the life (especially fey and animals) and help where you can. Social rules and laws are not unknown to him but he sees them more as an abstract thought, but abides by them unless his oath forces him to do something of "greater importance".
He has a deep bond to all forests and a loyality to the fey queen and her kin. One of his goals is to maybe become a knight of the green court and a patron of the fey - others would say to become a god or deity of sorts. ^^
Winning people over is easy for him, but he is too trusting and naive at times, he isnt the smartest either, which makes it easy to trick him. Luckily he isnt one to hold a grudge but can be very straight forward and stubborn when he wants to reach a goal.
He never drinks alcohol (and dreadfully remembers the ony time he did) and always sleeps on the ground or in a hole if he can dig one. Also he is naturally scared of fire, usually he can manage it, but he still dislikes torches.

Trinketideas: -A small nest with a tiny bird in it that he fosters, I imagine his backback looks more like a leather bag, partially overgrown with dirt, moss and grass.
He could be fostering a lot of injured animals in there. ^^
- A thing given to him from the druid?
- A symbol of Queen Titania? (White crystal with a blue star in it)
... anything else that might make a story ^^

He helps wandering and lost people through the woods and those in need, be it animal or man.
Every now and then he visits the nearby villages, plays with the children, checks on some animals and trades berrys or honey for other things and brings back traps, that he found.

Open for all ideas as usual. If you have something let me know.