Custom DnD 5th Edition Race: The Wightling

[ImSAMazing]

I found out that there wasn't an undead race, so I made one:

The Wightling
Wightlings are combinations of wights and humans. Nobody really knows how they are made, but also most people don't know that wightlings exist. Everybody does know that wightlings are fully undead.

As a wightling, you gain the following racial traits:

Ability Score Improvement
Your Constitution score increases with 2

Sleep
Magic can't put you to sleep, and instead of sleeping you go into a trance. During this trance you see visions of your life. After 4 hours of this trance, you gain the same benefits as a human of 8 hours of sleeping
Age
You are undead, you can't die of old age

Alignment
Most wightlings are evil, because most of their makers are evil. A wightling has the alignment of his creator.

Size
Wightlings are around 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.

Speed
You have a base walking speed of 30ft.

Sunlight Sensetivity
You have disadvantage on attack rolls and perception checks while you or the target is in direct sunlight.

Undead Endurance
As a undead, when you have a long rest, your exhaustion level decreases with 2, instead of 1.

Undead Resistance
As a undead, you gain immunity to poison and resistance to necrotic damage. You also count as undead for the purpose of spells.

Darkvision
You are superior in dim and dark light. You have a darkvision of 60ft.

Undead Regeneration
During combat, you regen 6 HP each round, as long as you aren't in direct sunlight.

Undead Death
As a undead, you still can die. When you drop to 0 hitpoints, you instantly die. You transform into a cloud of mist and disappear. You can only be brought back alive by resurrection or true resurrection.

Subraces
There are 2 kinds of wightlings, explorers and undead captain


Subraces:

Explorer
Made to explore, you gain the following additional traits:
Ability score improvement
Your dextery score increases by 1.

Skill
As a explorer, you are trained to look around. You are proficient in the skill: Perception

Explore Teleportation
1/rest you can use this feature. This feature lets you teleport to a location with dark/dim light that you can see within 30ft. of you.


Undead Captain
Made to fight, you gain the additional traits:

Ability Score Improvement
As a soldier, your strength score increases by 1.

Necrotic Slam

You can charge you body with necrotic energy and slam an enemy with a limb as an action. This necrotic slam is a attack with a range of 5' that uses your choice of strength or dexterity on the attack and damage rolls. The attack deals 1d8 necrotic damage. This damage increases by 1d8 for every 5 character levels you posses, to a maximum of 5d8 at 20th level. If you have the Extra Attack feature you may use necrotic slam in place of one of your regular attacks when you take the attack action.

Once you have used this feature you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

Undead Leader
WIP


What do you think about this race? Please leave feedback. More custom races coming soon!

[Theodoxus]

Are you half-undead or full undead (and is there an appreciable difference?)

If full undead, shouldn't it get all the undead traits? If half-undead, then I guess it should be akin to the warforged... just seems weird that it wouldn't have darkvision, immunity to (and lack of need for) sleep; lack of nurishment, etc.

As mechanical crunch, the jumble of traits make sense - but for being undead, not as much. I'd include the flaw that if you hit zero hit points, you're dead - no death saves, just inanimate meat. Probably need to include what resurrection magics do. Maybe Revivify reanimates it as a wightling (and can be used on it even after a minute is up - perhaps that's the process of creation in the first place - some low level cleric tried to bring his friend back from the dead with it after 3 months in a grave, and bam! wightling!), while anything stronger actually returns the wightling back to human.

Anyway, if there's a serious downside to playing one (outside of the fluff that it's undead (and probably evil) and thus chased with torches and pitchforks - you can boost its boons up.

[ImSAMazing]

Are you half-undead or full undead (and is there an appreciable difference?)

If full undead, shouldn't it get all the undead traits? If half-undead, then I guess it should be akin to the warforged... just seems weird that it wouldn't have darkvision, immunity to (and lack of need for) sleep; lack of nurishment, etc.

As mechanical crunch, the jumble of traits make sense - but for being undead, not as much. I'd include the flaw that if you hit zero hit points, you're dead - no death saves, just inanimate meat. Probably need to include what resurrection magics do. Maybe Revivify reanimates it as a wightling (and can be used on it even after a minute is up - perhaps that's the process of creation in the first place - some low level cleric tried to bring his friend back from the dead with it after 3 months in a grave, and bam! wightling!), while anything stronger actually returns the wightling back to human.

Anyway, if there's a serious downside to playing one (outside of the fluff that it's undead (and probably evil) and thus chased with torches and pitchforks - you can boost its boons up.
Totally forgot to add darkvision, and he is fully undead. I fixed the post. Can you give feedback on the new "version"?

[-Jynx-]

Some points to consider:


Nobody really knows how they are made, but also most people don't know that wightlings exist. Everybody does know that wightlings are fully undead.

How do most people not even know of their existence but everyone knows they are undead? (I know a lot of undead traits are 'obvious' but being half human half wight its not assumed they just look like well... wights.




Ability Score Improvement
Your Dexterty score increases with 2


I'm unsure about the 2 Dex. Most undead are no nimble/quick. Shambling tireless endurance (2 con) or memories of lives/experiences past (2 Wis) makes more sense for an undead race than dex does.



Exhaustion
As a half-undead, when you have a long rest, your exhaustion level decreases with 2, instead of 1.


Come on give it a catchier name than that! Something like Tirelessness I don't know. Something catchier than "exhaustion" (which is what it's effectively removing anyways making the name even more weird)




Undead Resistance
As a undead, you gain immunity to poison and resistance to necrotic damage.


There should be mention that healing spells harm the wightling as well if they have this trait as all undead creatures.




Explorer
Made to explore, you gain the following additional traits:
Ability score improvement
Your wisdom score increases by 1.


Since this is your "mobile" undead subrace I could see a 1 dex




Undead Attacks
When you attack (excluding spells) you can choose to change the kind of damage to necrotic, no matter what it should do.


I'm not a huge fan of this mostly because no other race can just decide to change their damage type at will. Furthermore that would eliminate creatures abilities that say have resistance to non-magical attacks which is a bit OP for a racial trait




Undead Leader
You have advantage on charisma checks for giving speeches to undead, and you give undead allies within a range of 10ft. advantage on their first attack in each round of combat.


I don't think the "undead" care much for speeches. They're pretty much bent to the will of their creator. Also since this race is pretty niche for a handful of reasons (its for fluff reasons usually evil as you've mentioned, plus its "obviously" undead so it's not like you'll be waltzing around a city shopping for tea and magic socks) it seems very OP to give the ability to hand out advantage 1 per turn to (most likely) all of your other teammates in 10ft (since if one of them is undead I assume most of the party would follow suit for campaign/efficiency reasons).

[PotatoGolem]

Quick note: healing spells no longer harm undead. Most just don't affect them. I wouldn't include that though (or make it half-effectiveness); you don't want a race that way too easy to kill. Immediately dying at 0 is a ridiculously large penalty already.

Edit: If anything, this race is already fairly underpowered. Dead at 0 is a tremendous penalty (way worse than any other penalty a current race has) and sunlight sensitivity is currently the worst drawback a race has.

[ImSAMazing]

Some points to consider:



How do most people not even know of their existence but everyone knows they are undead? (I know a lot of undead traits are 'obvious' but being half human half wight its not assumed they just look like well... wights.




I'm unsure about the 2 Dex. Most undead are no nimble/quick. Shambling tireless endurance (2 con) or memories of lives/experiences past (2 Wis) makes more sense for an undead race than dex does.



Come on give it a catchier name than that! Something like Tirelessness I don't know. Something catchier than "exhaustion" (which is what it's effectively removing anyways making the name even more weird)




There should be mention that healing spells harm the wightling as well if they have this trait as all undead creatures.




Since this is your "mobile" undead subrace I could see a 1 dex




I'm not a huge fan of this mostly because no other race can just decide to change their damage type at will. Furthermore that would eliminate creatures abilities that say have resistance to non-magical attacks which is a bit OP for a racial trait




I don't think the "undead" care much for speeches. They're pretty much bent to the will of their creator. Also since this race is pretty niche for a handful of reasons (its for fluff reasons usually evil as you've mentioned, plus its "obviously" undead so it's not like you'll be waltzing around a city shopping for tea and magic socks) it seems very OP to give the ability to hand out advantage 1 per turn to (most likely) all of your other teammates in 10ft (since if one of them is undead I assume most of the party would follow suit for campaign/efficiency reasons).


Thnx for the feedback. You are right, some things aren't that logical. I'll go with the +2 con, and +1 dex at the explorer. Also, changing your damage to necrotic doesn't mean your attack is magical. What do you think I should give to the Undead Captain instead of Undead Leader?

[ImSAMazing]

Quick note: healing spells no longer harm undead. Most just don't affect them. I wouldn't include that though (or make it half-effectiveness); you don't want a race that way too easy to kill. Immediately dying at 0 is a ridiculously large penalty already.

Edit: If anything, this race is already fairly underpowered. Dead at 0 is a tremendous penalty (way worse than any other penalty a current race has) and sunlight sensitivity is currently the worst drawback a race has.

I understand that, especially at higher levels. Added in Undead Regeneration, is this enough to make the race balanced?

[Inevitability]

Also, changing your damage to necrotic doesn't mean your attack is magical.

Yes, but it is not longer 'bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage dealt by a nonmagical weapon'. It would bypass many forms of defense against this.


I understand that, especially at higher levels. Added in Undead Regeneration, is this enough to make the race balanced?

Er... UR is insanely unbalanced. A Wightling can pick a fight with a tree or a mosquito and not have to worry about out-of-combat healing ever, not to mention that it is already quite strong in combat.

[ImSAMazing]

Yes, but it is not longer 'bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage dealt by a nonmagical weapon'. It would bypass many forms of defense against this.



Er... UR is insanely unbalanced. A Wightling can pick a fight with a tree or a mosquito and not have to worry about out-of-combat healing ever, not to mention that it is already quite strong in combat.

I understand your thinking about UR, but the DM can choose if fighting a tree counts as combat. Also, you can only do necrotic damage with your unarmed strikes.

[Inevitability]

1d6 is still better than, say, 1d10 that gets Resisted.

[ImSAMazing]

1d6 is still better than, say, 1d10 that gets Resisted.
You are right. Should I change it to d4?

[Mr.Moron]

Undead Attacks would probably work better as a long rest racial. Something like:

Necrotic Slam

You can charge you body with necrotic energy and slam an enemy with a limb as an action. This necrotic slam is a attack with a range of 5' that uses your choice of strength or dexterity on the attack and damage rolls. The attack deals 1d8 necrotic damage. This damage increases by 1d8 for every 5 character levels you posses, to a maximum of 5d8 at 20th level. If you have the Extra Attack feature you may use necrotic slam in place of one of your regular attacks when you take the attack action.

Once you have used this feature you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

(Necrotic Slam is not a ranged attack, melee attack, weapon attack or unarmed strike and does not benefit from any fighting style.)

[Inevitability]

Undead Attacks would probably work better as a long rest racial. Something like:

Necrotic Slam

You can charge you body with necrotic energy and slam an enemy with a limb as an action. This necrotic slam is a attack with a range of 5' that uses your choice of strength or dexterity on the attack and damage rolls. The attack deals 1d8 necrotic damage. This damage increases by 1d8 for every 5 character levels you posses, to a maximum of 5d8 at 20th level. If you have the Extra Attack feature you may use necrotic slam in place of one of your regular attacks when you take the attack action.

Once you have used this feature you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

(Necrotic Slam is not a ranged attack, melee attack, weapon attack or unarmed strike and does not benefit from any fighting style.)

Perhaps clarify if this requires you to have a free hand? Can a wightling in full plate holding a shield and a sword still use this ability?

[Mr.Moron]

Perhaps clarify if this requires you to have a free hand? Can a wightling in full plate holding a shield and a sword still use this ability?

I'd say that would be in the realm of the GM. I'd personally rule they could headbutt or kick just fine. However leaving some wiggle room in it allows GMs to rule either way depending on what they think is fitting for the campaign. I think that's somewhat in keeping with general 5e philosophy.

If you put a gun to my head and said "Put a definitive rule in there!" I would not require them to have a free hand. We can assume the necrotic energy also charges their gauntlets or helmet, or boots or whatever. Skin-to-Skin contact is not a requirement.


EDIT:( OF course it's not even my race here. Just a suggestion on how somebody could re-tool on of their concepts, so maybe if they like the format it's better to ask them.)

[ImSAMazing]

Undead Attacks would probably work better as a long rest racial. Something like:

Necrotic Slam

You can charge you body with necrotic energy and slam an enemy with a limb as an action. This necrotic slam is a attack with a range of 5' that uses your choice of strength or dexterity on the attack and damage rolls. The attack deals 1d8 necrotic damage. This damage increases by 1d8 for every 5 character levels you posses, to a maximum of 5d8 at 20th level. If you have the Extra Attack feature you may use necrotic slam in place of one of your regular attacks when you take the attack action.

Once you have used this feature you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

(Necrotic Slam is not a ranged attack, melee attack, weapon attack or unarmed strike and does not benefit from any fighting style.)

Thnx. This is really smart! Editing it now.

[ImSAMazing]

I'd say that would be in the realm of the GM. I'd personally rule they could headbutt or kick just fine. However leaving some wiggle room in it allows GMs to rule either way depending on what they think is fitting for the campaign. I think that's somewhat in keeping with general 5e philosophy.

If you put a gun to my head and said "Put a definitive rule in there!" I would not require them to have a free hand. We can assume the necrotic energy also charges their gauntlets or helmet, or boots or whatever. Skin-to-Skin contact is not a requirement.


EDIT:( OF course it's not even my race here. Just a suggestion on how somebody could re-tool on of their concepts, so maybe if they like the format it's better to ask them.)

I totally agree, I like it when the DM has space to rule things a bit different.

[ImSAMazing]

BUMP. Please leave some more feedback!