Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 DiamondDrinker Apr 16, 2015 4:26:03	So I'm brewing up a campaign world, and I want to include a new reptilian player race, the schorr.  I haven't really run 5e yet (aside from an early TPK in LMoP) so I'm not really sure how their "Regenerative Power" trait measures up.  Any thoughts from those who might know better?     SCHORR Your schorr character has certain traits possessed by all members of that race.  As well, there are two distinct subtypes of schorr – the larger or “robust” schorr and the smaller or “gracile” schorr.  Two-thirds of schorr females are of the robust variety, while three-quarters of males are of the gracile variety.   Ability Score Increase.  Your Intelligence score increases by 2.  Your Strength score increases by 1 if you are robust; your Dexterity score increases by 1 if you are gracile.   Age.  Schorr reach maturity at roughly the same rate as humans, although they can live for nearly 250 years.   Alignment.  Most schorr tend toward lawful alignments, prizing tradition, law, and stability.  Their cerebral nature and practical bent makes most schorr think of themselves as being above matters of good and evil, although their history of slave-holding and general amoral outlook give most good folk reason to look darkly on them.   Size.  Robust schorr average the same height and weight as a human, from just over 5 feet to nearly 7 feet long and between 135 to 180 pounds.  Gracile schorr are smaller, generally ranging from 4-and-a-half feet to 5-and-a-half feet long and weighing in between 90 and 140 pounds.  You have a tail that is about one-third the length of your body.  Your size is Medium.   Speed.  Your base walking speed on all-fours is 30 feet, on just your hind legs your base walking speed is 25 feet.   Natural Climbers.  You have advantage on your Strength (Athletics) checks to climb, and climbing does not increase your movement cost.   Tool Proficiency.  You gain proficiency with a set of artisan’s tools of your choice.   Regenerative Power.  Schorr bodies possess extraordinary healing power, even regrowing lost limbs over time.  At the end of a long rest, your regain all of your spent hit dice (instead of half of your maximum).  You can regrow a lost hand or foot in month, while regrowing an arm, leg or eye may take as long as a year.   Language.  You can speak, read, and write Common and Schorric.  Schorric is a language full of sibilance and trilling, with flattened vowels.  Several mutually-intelligible dialects exist, with the standard being "coastal schorric" as spoken by natives of the capitol region. They all share a common writing system that uses pictographic symbols to represent consonants or groups of consonants.
#2 EmpactWB Apr 16, 2015 10:20:47	Catodon has done some excellent work on figuring out how races are balanced against one another. Looking this over according to his guidelines, Regenerative Power will need to provide almost half the benefit of choosing the race since they get so little else. The immediate problem is that it doesn't. At 1st level, it provides no benefit whatsoever. Sure, there isn't much of 1st level to play, but if one ends up spending more than a day at that level, they spend time getting no benefit from the feature. Conversely, it doubles the healing a character can do at second level. That immediately suggests it needs to be looked at. (Well, the Hit Dice thing. The actual regenerating body parts seems fine if you use limb loss rules of any sort.)   Personally, I'd recommend something like "Whenever you start a short rest and have no Hit Dice remaining, you regain Hit Dice equal to you Constitution modifier (minimum 1). You cannot exceed your maximum pool of Hit Dice in this fashion." It still needs playtesting, and may end up stronger at low-mid levels than what you have, but it's a benefit from day one.
#3 DiamondDrinker Apr 16, 2015 13:58:40	Hmmm.  I see what you mean about benefit from 1st level.  I'd still like the power to feel like an extension of the Hit Die system though.  How about:   Regenerative Power.  You may take the maximum value for one of the Hit Dice you spend at the end of a short rest.  You can regrow a lost hand or foot in month, while regrowing an arm, leg or eye may take as long as a year.     Using Catodon's guidelines: Int +2 (4); Other attr. +1 (2); Speed 30/25 (-1); Regenerative Power (7); Language: standard two (0); Lesser traits: Natural Climber, Tool Proficiency   It potentially doubles your per-day natural healing rate at low levels (assuming you spend one Hit Die per short rest), so on the whole it should be rated a bit stronger than Dwarven Toughness at those levels.  My instinct says that it gets less valuable as level increases and more healing is done through magic, whereas Dwarven Toughness increases your hit point maximum, and scales with your level.  Catodon rates a feat as being worth 6 at first level, and honestly I think this ability is less good than Healer.
#4 EmpactWB Apr 16, 2015 17:09:25	Natural Climber is actually +3, I think. A32 has climbing at full speed listed, and A250 is advantage on limited ability (skill) checks. You also shouldn't have -1 for speed if you default to 30 ft. Set it to 25 ft and add an entry like "Quadruped: When you move on all fours, your base speed is 30 feet. You cannot be holding any weapons or objects in your hands to move on all fours." That way there is actually a drawback.   Adjusted this way, you want Regenerative Power to come out as a +4 ability. With that out of the way, I agree by and large with the updated RP being less valuable than a feat, but more powerful than a simple bonus to Constitution, so +4 feels right. Play testing time. Kudos!