Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Osaka_SLoKU5yqWE Dec 21, 2014 19:28:27	One of my players recently lost a character and is making a new one. They want to use a homebrew, undead race, called Deathborn (since the skeleton in the DMG is pretty weak as an actual player race). I'm all fine with it in principle, but thought some folks could look over the mechanics he's proposing and see if they balance with other races in the PHB:   Abilities: +2 Dex, +1 Con, -2 Cha Deathborn are nimble and generally resilient, but their undead nature makes them unlikable to most people. Senses: 60 ft darkvision Languages: Common and one language from its previous life Bony: Vulnerable to bludgeoning damage. Deathborn have only bones to absorb heavy impacts. Undead: Immune to poison damage, the poisoned condition, and exhaustion. Doesn't require air, food, drink or sleep.   Fluff-wise, the idea with this race is that they're animated skeletons who've broken out of their magical enslavement. They vaguely recall their previous lives and are often keen to rediscover their past.
#2 Macv12 Dec 21, 2014 20:14:56	If anything, this seems exceptionally weak. Same stat boosts as every other race with an extra penalty, standard darkvision, standard languages, an extra weakness, and some very situational boons.   First, I wouldn't give a CHA penalty. CHA isn't about how other people feel about you, so much as your inner "force of personality." Or put another way, if this undead person was a Sorcerer, would their bad reputation make their spells weaker? Would they be less intimidating? Instead of that penalty, I would give them didadvantage on Diplomacy checks against living humanoids, or something like that.   As for the rest, the easiest approach would be to take an extant race + subrace - Elf (Drow), say - and just replace their traits one-by-one with traits of similar power. Boost the stats you want instead of the defaults for that race, same darkvision, switch light sensitivity for an equally severe penalty, or multiple penalties (as you have), switch their spells for the immunities you list, and so on. Agree with the player that this is tentative, and if you later find that you gave them something too powerful, the race will be tweaked.
#3 MechaPilot Dec 21, 2014 21:28:54	I agree with Macv12 that the race as listed in the OP is a little weak compared to the other races, and that the penalty to Charisma isn't needed for the reasons he mentioned.   You might want to add necrotic resistance and resistance to piercing weapons, you could toss in radiant vulnerability to balance that.
#4 Fall3n0 Dec 21, 2014 21:35:35	Add in a ability to come back to life, instead of a death save it's a "Reanimate Save".
#5 Osaka_SLoKU5yqWE Dec 22, 2014 9:14:28	Macv12, I take your point about Charisma, so in fact how about this:   Abilities: +2 Dex, +1 Cha. Deathborn are nimble and have a strong force of will. Senses: 120 ft darkvision Languages: Common and one language from its previous life. Creepy: Deathborn take disadvantage on Diplomacy checks when talking to living creatures. If the NPC has been fooled into beleiving the deathbornis a normal person, they don't take this disadvantage (for example, with a high Deception check or if under an illusion). Bony: Vulnerable to bludgeoning damage. Deathborn have only bones to absorb heavy impacts. Eternal: Advantage on death saving throws. Deathborn cling stubbornly to their unlife. Undead: Immune to poison damage, the poisoned condition, and exhaustion. Doesn't require air, food, drink or sleep.
#6 sleypy Dec 22, 2014 20:51:36	Osaka_SLoKU5yqWE wrote: