Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Ginjiro Apr 14, 2015 3:37:29	Hello heyo folks alright so I'm gonna lay this flat out, literally have not played DnD yet but recently I stumbled upon the 5th edition starter kit and for god knows how many years I've been wanting to play it but felt like it was something I needed a person to guide me through. So I've jumped in myself and bought the DM's Guide and the Player Hand Book and have been reading so freaking much. Ok so while looking and reading over races back like... I think 4 years ago if not longer I was being helped along in making a character and I wanted to be a warforged. However from what I could find there was no 5th edition update for them so I was kinda sad in the fact that I'd have to piece one together myself. It wasn't long that after spending several days calculating, thinking and planning that I finally bumped into the actual WotC official warforged thingy. At this point I felt I had already put in so much effort into making my own "Living Construct" race that why should I just drop it?!   So folks I present to you! My own "Living Construct" race, the Homunculus! And yes for those of you wondering it was inspired by the Full Metal Alchemist series in its creation but I also did my own digging and found a small one someone made on a homebrew site for 4th edition and have been working on it since borrowing and modifying traits and ideas from other races to try and balance it out.   Now I'm looking for any kind of feed back as I have no experience in the game itself so I'm clueless on what would be considered broken or unbalanced I've just been using what I've read and finding that there is sort of a formula for races to all remain balanced.     Race: Homunculus   Homunculus Traits   Ability Score Increases: +1 to constitution   Age: Homunculus were made to be everlasting, thus regardless homunculi age is normally determined by how long they have been active but their appearance age wise is based upon what their creator wanted.   Alignment: Similar to Humans, Homunculi can come in any form of alignment as the soul powering them is what determines it.   Size: Also like humans they vary in height and weight from but with even more variety, however they overall remain medium in size.   Speed: Base walking speed is 30ft   Language: Speak, read and write common and one extra language of choice as a homunculus can be infused with the knowledge or the memory of the language within the Soul-core can sometimes remain intact.   Artificial Being: As Homunculus are considered constructs powered by a magically enhanced soul-core they don't need to eat or breathe, trance for 4 hours per day instead of sleeping for 8 hours for the same effect, immune to disease. Trance state semi-conscious and start seeing memories from your past, some of which may have been lost/forgotten by you.   Superior Body: Since homunculus are artificially created through means of magical and alchemy the creators can change and modify the body as they see fit before the soul-core is imbedded bringing the homunculus to life. Choose two of the 4 passives.   Living Weapon: +1 to strength, you now have a “Natural Weapon” one of your limbs can becomes a weapon with which you are automatically proficient with. The weapon is light and does either Slashing, Piercing or Bludgeon damage, rolls a 1d6 plus a strength modifier. Not sure if this should be able to be used as an unarmed bonus roll too similar to shifter claws shifters have.   High Density Skin: +1 to Constitution and 1 bonus health and your health increases by 1 with each level gained.
#2 SterlingRat Apr 14, 2015 4:38:55	I like it. not overpowered; very customizable... in fact, I would consider making the basic bonus a +2 to con and removing the con option from the customization choices. Then I would add a +1 Cha option for one that was sculpted by an artist who happens to be a wizard rather than a wizard who was lucky to get the right number of limbs; Proficiency in Performance and an Artisan's tools to go with it?   I would change the name, though, since a D&D Homunculus has already been defined in several editions and is part of the d20srd. In this game, they tend to be tiny little flying frogs... re-using the name could get confusing, especially if you are trying for a Medium-Sized Construct. Something in a Golem... there was a living construct thing a couple editions back, too, which was very cool, but you want to be separate from them as well, since they were the result of one specific spell being cast on a construct.
(Reply to #2) Ginjiro	SterlingRat wrote:
#4 Varden_Khol Apr 14, 2015 14:14:02	Since Dexterity is such a widely used ability I would probably add in the Acrobatics proficiency you were considering and call that option done. Alternatively, giving them +1 Dex and some kind of long/high jump bonus could work, if you want to steer clear of the proficiency. Overall, I really like the flavour of the race. It fills a weird niche between the customizable human and the constructed warforged.
(Reply to #4) Ginjiro	Varden_Khol wrote:
#6 Varden_Khol Apr 15, 2015 14:35:37	You could allow them to make Long and High jumps using their Dexterity in place of strength. That way, if they're focussing on Dex then their jump distances will go up with it. Another option would be advantage of any check made to jump, but that will come into play less often as jump distances are static. It will help with vaulting obstacles during a long jump or getting a little extra height out of a high jump.   The good thing with these options is that they don't step on the toes of the Athlete Feat's jumping bonus.
(Reply to #6) Ginjiro	Varden_Khol wrote: