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M Placeholder
2015-12-24, 05:20 AM
Here is the deep imaskari race from the 3.5 sourcebook Underdark, converted to 5e.

Deep Imaskari

http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070915234221/forgottenrealms/images/f/f5/Imaskari_vengeance_taker.jpg

The secretive and rare deep imaskari are the descendants of those that fled deep into the bowels of Toril to preserve the arcane heritage of Imaskar Empire, and underwent magical modifications to survive in their new home far from the sun.

The deep imaskari look like their human forebears, but have pale skin that resembles in appearance marble.
Generally, the deep imaskari are a guarded and a detached people, but they have a passion for magic, and gifts related to the arcane are a sure way of gaining the trust of a deep imaskari.

Those deep imaskari that leave the underground haven of the deep imaskari have their mind wiped of the location of the refuge, so in the event that the deep imaskari is captured, then the location will stay secret.

As a deep imaskari, you have the following characteristics -

Ability Score Increase – Your intelligence increases by 2 and your Constitution increases by 1
Size – Deep imaskari weigh around 160 pounds, and stand between 5 and 6 foot high. Your size is medium
Speed – your base speed is 30 feet
Darkvision – you have Darkvision up to 60 feet. You can see in low light conditions as if it were bright light and darkness as if it were dim light. You cannot discern colour in the darkness, just shades of grey.
Age – Deep imaskari age at the same rate as their human forebears.
Sculpted Stealth - You have advantage on Stealth checks to hide underground.
Stonecunning – Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.
Spell Clutch – Magic has seeped into your blood as a consequence of your forebears studying magic for days on end. Once per day, you can cast one 1st level spell that you have previously cast without expending a 1st level spell slot. You can also cast the Mold Earth Cantrip, with Intelligence as the modifier.
Knowledge of the Arcane – You have proficiency in Arcana.
Portal Discernment – As a result of your heritage, you have a sense for portals. If you pass within 5 feet of a secret door or portal, you are entitled to an investigation check with advantage to find the door.
Languages – You can speak Undercommon and Common.

Ninja_Prawn
2015-12-24, 06:51 AM
Hm... you might want to rephrase spell clutch for 5e, given that you don't memorise specific spells anymore. You'd just recover one expended first-level spell slot. Also, I wouldn't be comfortable with a race having a feature that does literally nothing for some classes... it seems heavyhanded. Maybe innate spellcasting would be better? Once/day casting of a 1st-level spell is mechanically the same as recovering a slot once/day, but everyone can benefit from it.

Didn't elves have that portal feature before? That makes me wonder if WotC had a reason for removing it. And is Investigation really the right skill? I know that this is an Int-focussed race, but surely spotting a hidden door is mostly down to Perception?


Deep Imaskari

3 ASI
0.5 Darkvision
0.5 Stone Camouflage
0.5 Stonecunning
0.5 Spell Clutch/Innate Spellcasting
0.5 Skill
0.5 Portal Discernment

TOTAL: 6

The balance looks fine. If anything, I might say it's a little bit on the weak side, because there's no big-hitting, headline feature to make you say: "yes, this is why I want to play this race!"

PoeticDwarf
2015-12-24, 06:54 AM
I think this is a really cool race, I'm sure I'm going to play this once, balance also looks nice.

SterlingWren
2015-12-24, 07:16 AM
If I remember correctly, wasn't this a race in previous editions? :smalltongue:

M Placeholder
2015-12-24, 08:31 AM
The portal feature works like this - you pass by a portal/door, and you sense the presence of it. Then you investigate to find the portal. You know there is a hidden door or portal near you as you have sensed it, and then you make an intelligence check to determine the exact location of the portal or the door from clues around, as described under Investigation in the Players Handbook.

For the spellcasting feature, yeah, it doesn't do much for some classes, but then again, dwaves have the heavy armour feature that doesn't do much for many classes, though the deep imaskari are less powerful. With the boost to Int and Con, most people will play arcane classes with this anyway.

Edit - Added cantrip.

The deep imaskari were first mentioned in 3.5, but the imaskar were mentioned in Forgotten Realms in the earliest days, in which they were builders of a large empire in the east of Faerun, and took the ancestors of the Mulan (the main ethnic group of Mulhorand and the ethnic group that rules Thay) from some insignificant planet far away.

Ninja_Prawn
2015-12-24, 01:18 PM
The portal feature works like this - you pass by a portal/door, and you sense the presence of it. Then you investigate to find the portal. You know there is a hidden door or portal near you as you have sensed it, and then you make an intelligence check to determine the exact location of the portal or the door from clues around, as described under Investigation in the Players Handbook.

For the spellcasting feature, yeah, it doesn't do much for some classes, but then again, dwaves have the heavy armour feature that doesn't do much for many classes, though the deep imaskari are less powerful. With the boost to Int and Con, most people will play arcane classes with this anyway.

Edit - Added cantrip.

I didn't realise the portal thing was like "you know for sure that there is a portal here, you just have to find it". That makes more sense now.

Adding the cantrip works. I'd say that this looks pretty good overall now.