Min/Max my homebrew Races Challenge

[eleazzaar]

There's a lot of homebrew content out there-- but most of it doesn't have very polished mechanics.  I'd like to give my homebrew the extra balancing passes to make it really solid.  Most of my races have gone through several drafts on reddit and other forums, but I expect the citizens of the min/max boards can find yet unnoticed loopholes and abusable features.

So here's Eleazar's DnD 5e Homebrew Race Compendium: current population 11 races, nearly 30 counting subraces.  Some are pretty conservative, but a few have rather exparamental mechanics.

I challenge you to create the most broken and overpowered build you can with these races-- using the RAW as errataed, and the sage advice.  No credit for builds that are about equally overpowered using PHB races.  I'm as interested in earlier builds at the breakpoints (L5, and L10-L11) as theoretical builds at L20.

Thanks in advance to everyone that participates!

[thesoulgamer]

don't know about op but iv been playing a monk blink-dog and its definitely a fun challenge currently level 9




statistics 
current
str   14             AC    22             tradition way of the open hand
dex  20            speed 55            background Folk Hero
con  15             hp 66                feat  Mobile
int    10            initiative 5
wis   20
cha  9

rolled (#super-lucky)
str   14         
dex  18           
con  14       
int    10 
wis   18
cha  9

[eleazzaar]

At one point I was going to give them a choice of one of a small selection of feats, including mobile.  It seemed appropriate. But then I got together sufficient original traits.

Glad to hear you are enjoying it-- that one was a challenge.

[awaken_D_M_golem]

I like the Alt Human.

Probably don't need the 2 Skills choices, just 1.
Encroaches a little on the Half-Elf's shtick.

Expertise heads off some ~unnecessary multiclassing.
Grapplers want Athletics.  Wizards want Arcana.
+1 Armor AC while countering the Dis Stealth.

[eleazzaar]

I like the Alt Human.

Probably don't need the 2 Skills choices, just 1.
Encroaches a little on the Half-Elf's shtick.

I'm not really worried about stepping on the half-elf's toes.  The half-elf has a lot going for it, and the Alt human certainly isn't a universally superior choice.

Conceptually it didn't make sense to me that the half-elf (which is half-human) was more versatile than the full human.  It certainly doesn't get the extra skills from it's elf side.  But perhaps one skill and one existing skill turing to an expertise captures that well enough.

What I'm still a bit concerned about is the power level.

Convince me that it pushes or exceeds the power of existing PHB & EE races (minus variant human), or makes an existing race an objectively inferior choice for nearly all builds, and I can certainly get rid of one skill.

[awaken_D_M_golem]

Ah I get it now.
Var Human could take that Skill-y feat
and start with lots more.  It just seems
like 2 was the province of half-elf.
Still, Dwarf + Elf get a feat's worth
of Weapon proficiencies.

1 skill ain't breaking anything,
and training is available via 250gp
downtime, or sub for treasure.
So it's in the same ballpark.

[sambojin]

Expertise is very good however. Who doesn't want double proficiency on Perception, Stealth or Persuasion? I'd put the race in the ballpark of V.Human or H.Elf. Powerful, good, but not broken. I really like it.

Blinkdogs almost seem made for Moon Druids, because your wildshapes might actually increase your options for doing things, and you've got slightly limited casting anyway. The extra fighting styles look great too. Especially not having the "melee weapon attack" thing attached to all of them, but with light/simple/finesse attached to your bite, so as not to limit options and classes.

Elephants aren't bad. Pack-mule and grapple masters or a mini-Sage. Kind of cool. I'm trying to work out some way of making them weird with Mage Hand (especially Arcane Trickster MH).

The Genasi changes are cool. Just rounds out the weaker ones nicely, while staying in character.

GW Halflings are really good. Telepathy and a free Cutting Words is ace. Another nice option for the race, but not OP at all. Mini-GOO lock in a can, kind of.

The spiders might be quite powerful. I love it that they're original, but 10' reach and free ropes or spider climb is pretty good. They're begging for Polearm Master and a Quaterstaff due to the wording of the feat (see the Fun Finds thread for Giant Octopi with a stick for reference). Creepy, funny, and awesome. Not as bad as EE's birdmen anyway, so not OP.

Half-Drow are fine. Versatile, but not broken, on the positives or negatives of the race. A good solid take on them (and far more usable than proper Drow).

I'll go through the rest later, but they all seem really well thought out. Excellent work!

I'll see if I can make something stupid and broken soon (looking at spiders dubiously)

Bat Werelings are also very good. Maybe OP. Blindsight is friggen awesome, and with limited flight/shapechanging/possible mini-telepathy, it's a very good package. Same with Ravens, due to the ability to speak while in bird-form. There's no real reason that you can't do verbal components of spells as a Raven, usually an 18th level Druid ability, and you have limited flight that level scales early too. It's not as good as those stupid EE birdmen, but it is very good still (fortunately Ravens and Bats aren't amazing as forms go, but they're not exactly bad either).

[eleazzaar]

Expertise is very good however. Who doesn't want double proficiency on Perception, Stealth or Persuasion? I'd put the race in the ballpark of V.Human or H.Elf. Powerful, good, but not broken. I really like it.

1 skill ain't breaking anything,
and training is available via 250gp
downtime, or sub for treasure.
So it's in the same ballpark.

I was really aiming for a power level a bit lower than Variant Human and Half elf, so in reponse to this and other recent feedback, I've taken away one of the Alternate Human's free skills.  Everything else is the same.

The spiders might be quite powerful. I love it that they're original, but 10' reach and free ropes or spider climb is pretty good. They're begging for Polearm Master and a Quaterstaff due to the wording of the feat (see the Fun Finds thread for Giant Octopi with a stick for reference).

You are talking about the provoking attacks of opportunity?  I wish there was more clarity around reach and attacks of opportunity, but my understanding is that you still only have one reaction, no matter how many AoO are proked.

Creepy, funny, and awesome. Not as bad as EE's birdmen anyway, so not OP.Excellent work!
I'll see if I can make something stupid and broken soon (looking at spiders dubiously)

Thanks!

[sambojin]

I'd leave the A.humans as is. It's not quite as good as a feat in versatility, but it's still very good. Maybe just pip them down to three stat gains instead of four if you're worried about them.

It is only 1 AoO for spiders, but it can be pretty useful. Might also have weird Monk synergies with Flurry and Ki use.

[eleazzaar]

Bat Werelings are also very good. Maybe OP. Blindsight is friggen awesome, and with limited flight/shapechanging/possible mini-telepathy, it's a very good package.

I do have concerns about the bat, even though you'll note it gets one less ASI than the other flyers.  In fact I'm kinda suprized that the blindsight range is 30 ft. I had considered lowering it to 15 or 20 ft.

Same with Ravens, due to the ability to speak while in bird-form. There's no real reason that you can't do verbal components of spells as a Raven, usually an 18th level Druid ability, and you have limited flight that level scales early too. It's not as good as those stupid EE birdmen, but it is very good still (fortunately Ravens and Bats aren't amazing as forms go, but they're not exactly bad either).

The wereling's animal form follows druid's wildshape rules except where it states they are different.  Druids can't cast while in animal form, so ravens can't either, though I admit "A wereling changes to his animal form according to a druid’s Wild Shape feature with the following differences: (long list here...)" is kinda confusing, though the alternative is confusing too since people's eyes glaze over when reading the familiar and then miss the differences.

[sambojin]

Bat Werelings are also very good. Maybe OP. Blindsight is friggen awesome, and with limited flight/shapechanging/possible mini-telepathy, it's a very good package.

I do have concerns about the bat, even though you'll note it gets one less ASI than the other flyers.  In fact I'm kinda suprized that the blindsight range is 30 ft. I had considered lowering it to 15 or 20 ft.

Same with Ravens, due to the ability to speak while in bird-form. There's no real reason that you can't do verbal components of spells as a Raven, usually an 18th level Druid ability, and you have limited flight that level scales early too. It's not as good as those stupid EE birdmen, but it is very good still (fortunately Ravens and Bats aren't amazing as forms go, but they're not exactly bad either).

The wereling's animal form follows druid's wildshape rules except where it states they are different.  Druids can't cast while in animal form, so ravens can't either, though I admit "A wereling changes to his animal form according to a druid’s Wild Shape feature with the following differences: (long list here...)" is kinda confusing, though the alternative is confusing too since people's eyes glaze over when reading the familiar and then miss the differences.

All good then. If you can talk, but not cast spells, it's a bit weird, but it's not a problem. You could write it off RP-wise that the speech is understandable, but not precise enough for actual spellcasting.

The blindsight thing is just a thing. It's really handy sometimes for certain encounters, so lowering its range couldn't hurt when in normal form (15-20' seems fine). I'd also make note that it doesn't work through things like scrying sensors, even though it should be obvious due to it being echolocation. Strangely enough, crab blindsight does though.

Blink Dogs need a tiny typo fixup too. I think you meant "deals 1d6 piercing OR bludgeoning damage", not AND in the bite damage bit. Unless you did mean that. Which doesn't make sense on the fighting styles bit.

[sambojin]

Actually, do you mind if I do a bit of document editing on it through the googledocs app?

Just little things like typos, and a bit of extra info where needed. I've noticed a few little things, and it's probably easier for me to just fix them, rather than list them here.

I'm cool either way though.

Hybsil look amazing too, even after the "You're a deer, so you don't have hands and can't do a lot of stuff" bit gets added. See Invisible, PwT, Mirror Image, all for one feat? I can see a rougeish caster in the making. Or a monk. Or something. I don't know. It's a first draft, and it's characterful, probably not even OP, but those are very good spells for a feat. Especially if you can convince a DM that you can use them with normal slots too (might make a mention that you can/can't, depending on how you want the race). I really like them, just because it could be fun.

[eleazzaar]

Actually, do you mind if I do a bit of document editing on it through the googledocs app?

Just little things like typos, and a bit of extra info where needed. I've noticed a few little things, and it's probably easier for me to just fix them, rather than list them here.

The document is set up so you can suggest edits, which is very helpful.

Hybsil look amazing too, even after the "You're a deer, so you don't have hands and can't do a lot of stuff" bit gets added. See Invisible, PwT, Mirror Image, all for one feat? Especially if you can convince a DM that you can use them with normal slots too

Nope they have little arms, just like their centauroid traditional form.  The feat does seem pretty awesome for a feat, but it is possible even a little less good than the deep gnome's magic feat. I believe the sage advice is you can use feat spells with spell slots if they are on your class spell list.