Races for an anthropomorphic Campaign setting

[Felcat]

Hello board! So I've made a campaign setting involving 8 anthropomorphic races, Cats (As in domestic cats), Leopards, Lynxes, Cougars, Dogs (Again, domestic dogs), Wolves, Foxes, and Coyotes.

I'm hoping to get some feedback on what I've cooked up so far for them.

Cats
+2 Charisma
+1 Dexterity or Intelligence
Dark Vision
Skill Versatility: Gain proficiency in two skills of your choice
Lucky (as per Halfling)
Bonus Feat: Alertness

Cougars
+2 Constitution
Dark Vision
Weapon Training: Proficiency with Battle Axes, Hand Axes
Resilience: Advantage on Saving Throws against Poison, and resistance to Poison Damage
Sub-Race: Clan Cougars
+1 Strength
Craft Apprenticeship: Proficiency with Artisan Tools
Armor Training: Proficiency with Light Armor
Sub-Race: Protectorate Cougars
+1 Wisdom
Toughness: +1 Hit Point per Level

Lynxes
+2 Intelligence
+1 Charisma or Dexterity
Dark Vision
Bonus Language
Cantrip: Select a Wizard Cantrip
Magical Familiarity: Proficiency in Arcana
Lynx Cunning: Advantage on Intelligence Saving Throws

Leopard
+1 Dexterity
+1 Wisdom
Dark Vision
Bow Training: Proficiency with Long and Short Bows
Keen Senses: Proficiency in Perception
Mask of the Wild (As per Wood Elves)
Bonus Feat: Athlete

Wolf
+2 Strength
+1 Charisma or Wisdom
Menacing: Proficiency in Intimidation
Heraldry Lessons: Proficiency in History
Relentless Endurance
Savage Attacks
Bonus Languages: Wolf, Dog, and one choice

Dog
Two +1 bonuses to ability scores of choice
Bonus Feat: One of your choice
Healthy: Advantage vs. Disease and Poison
Proficient in Persuasion

Fox
+1 Intelligence
+1 Dexterity or Charisma
Dark Vision
Fox-ish Focus: Increase your Proficiency Bonus with a selected skill by +2. At level 5 and 11 gain this bonus with another skill.
Bonus Feat: Keen Mind
Sub-Race: Grey Fox
Stonecunning
Born to Intrigue: Proficiency in Deception
Sub-Race: Red Fox
Craft Apprenticeship: Proficiency with Artisan Tools
Distrustful of Words: Proficiency in Insight

Coyote
+2 Wisdom
+1 Constitution or Dexterity
Fey Ancestry: Advantage on saves vs. Charm, and immune to magic Sleep
Wanderers: Proficient in Geography
Natural Actors: Proficient in Performance
Illusionist Legacy: Gain the cantrip Minor Illusions,. At 3rd level learn the spell Silent Image, usable once per day.

[Zweisteine]

I don't have the focus to review all these races right now, but I'll say a few things.


Using Gnomes as a basis for comparison, Coyotes seem rather weak.

I assume the Fox is meant to have +2 Dex. If not, it needs a +2 bonus to an ability. The same goes for Dog and Leopard. This isn't strictly necessary, but it makes the racemroe desirable, and helps balance it against other races. (Note: I did not look at those races' other features carefully; they might be otherwise imbalanced.)

I'm not sure, but Cats seem either too good or too weak to me. The Alert feat makes them superior to the variant human (+1 to 2 abilities, 1 skill, 1 feat) for certain classes/concepts, but without it, they seem lackluster compared to the half-elf.

This is how I might to anthropomorphic cats:
+2 Dexterity
Darkvision
Lucky
Proficiency in Acrobatics and Stealth
Subrace 1: +1 Intelligence, one more minor ability
Subrace 2: +1 Charisma, one more minor ability

Assuming everyone knows a basic language (i.e. Common), each race probably should have a language section. Everyone knows Common and a racial language, and some might get bonuses. I would recommend Feline and Canine as racial languages, though they are a bit general.

[Felcat]

First, thank you for the feedback, I appreciate it :)

The reasoning behind Dogs, Leopards and Foxes not having a +2 Ability Score modifier is that Foxes and Leopards each get a fixed bonus feat that gives an extra +1, while the Dog's free feat selection can do the same, or hopefully the choice of a Feat at level 1 is worth losing a +1.

I should have thrown up a bit of the Campaign fluff along with the numbers but I didn't want to be too boring. For the language issue, when I made the setting originally using 3.5 I used the house rule of no "Common" so characters would know their race's tongue only by default. Languages beyond that came from having an int mod of +1 or more, or the Linguistics skill (I ported in the Pathfinder Skill set). With 5E's different handling of language I will probably rework all of that. (I already want to home rule a bonus language per Int modifier)

SO anyhow, Coyotes could use more (not surprising to me) and Cats may need some tweaking.

Thank you again! I'll probably post changes when I make them.

(Edit: Oh, one additional note: All the races are size Medium, 30ft move speed)

[Admiral Squish]

I can't comment on the balance, I haven't gotten into 5e yet. But I gotta be honest, these seem a little limited in scope. Maybe you could include options that aren't feline or canine? Or at least not obligate carnivores? How about horses, to start with.
Or maybe you should make semi generic 'canine' and 'feline' races, with options that would let you pick the specific species.

[Sartharina]

I think there are too many feats/copied abilities. Not enough creativity to make a character stand out as 'animal' to me.

[Dyhmas]

I think there are too many feats/copied abilities. Not enough creativity to make a character stand out as 'animal' to me.

I'll have to agree with this, somewhat.

Basically, these races don't keep up with the core material in terms of uniqueness or fluff. Really, they all just seem the same race, only with different appearance.

In fact, do just that! Make a single race (call it Moreau, Wild Born, Antropomorph or whatever) and make the different animals all into subraces. Think of things they all have in common, perhaps tied to fluff, like darkvision and some form of Wild Empathy kind of feature, and then give to each subraces more unique traits. This way it'll make the whole concept more appealing and organized...

I don't wanna sound harsh, I quite like this idea, but they all don't seem unique enough to be unique races. Turning them all into also goes along with the idea of antropomorphic humanoids, as showin in Dr.Moreau's stories and such.

Just throwing that out there, hoping it sticks.

Brew on!

-Dyhmas

[Admiral Squish]

You know, speaking of generic anthropomorphic races, I made a race along those lines for the crossroads setting. If you'd like, you could use that.
The fluff describes beings born from the union of Named Animals (I.E. Coyote, Wolf, Bear) and humans, but you could just use the mechanical side of it, easy enough.
Spirit-Born (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?322881-Spirit-Born-Race-Crossroads)

[Citrakayah]

Wait, why do gray foxes have stonecunning? They live in forests and are arboreal.