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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next The Wara - A homebrewed race



LordFluffy
2016-04-21, 10:44 AM
Wara

The Wara (the Family, in their language) are native to a great forest, renowned for its dangers, so treacherous that it has kept the Wara from discovery until relatively recently. They lived in clearings protected by thick brush in small groups, usually extended families. Their society emphasizes mobility, such that in their tongue, a person who owns significantly more than they can carry is referred to as Nomjoi or “Willing Food”.

The key to their survival is that they are exceptionally gifted in the area of the senses, traits which also define their appearance (http://i.imgur.com/CurktO2.jpg?3). Wara have wide, flat noses with large nostrils, enormous eyes, and large ears which call to mind dogs, deer or rabbits. They have fine hair as the tips of their pointed ears, and also down their spine, on the backs of their hands and claves, as well as their chests. They are lithe in build and range from five to seven feet tall. Their appearance has been described by other races as reminiscent of bats, wolves, raccoons, badgers and other furry creatures while looking like none of the above, exactly. Some find them very cute while others think they are bestial and disturbing.

Their society is matriarchal, with the eldest mother in charge of a clan, followed by the eldest father, other mothers, other fathers, women who have not born children and men who have not sired them. They are hunter/gatherers with very little in the way of cultivated agriculture, another facet that has allowed them to survive in such a hostile homeland.

When introduced to the cities and wide open spaces outside of their forest, the Wara met it with distrust, but adapted. They established trade, though they still limited themselves to few possessions. Some ventured into cities and after time, lived as another race, taking up trades and ordinary lives. After a few generations, they have integrated well, more Wara living outside of the forest than in it. Some keep the old ways while others have embraced the opportunity for excess and plenty with open arms.

Family remains important, though and many Wara adopt friends as if they were family.

The Wara, in addition to their keen senses, are born with certain gifts. There are three specific gifts, any of which may be found in a particular tribe. Each gift involves the release of a pheromone, each gift producing a different effect. The Gono, or friendmakers, are often preferred for leadership roles. The Nomgi, or food gatherers, are called upon as scouts for their ability to pacify prey and foes alike. The Kadik, or stinkfurs, are sent out as warriors in the rare instance that Wara families fight or, more commonly, when the tribe needs defense from a more organized enemy.

Wara Traits:
Ability Score: Wara have a +2 to their Wisdom score
Age: Wara age at about the same rate as humans, reaching maturity at the age of 14 and living to 80 or 90. In their natural environment, it was very rare for a Wara to live past 40.
Alignment: Wara tend towards neutrality, mirroring the natural order of the forest. Most Wara have a strong tendency towards lawful, however, as rogue behavior was a danger to the tribe. More civilized Wara have bucked this tendency out of the need for self-definition.
Size: Wara vary in height from five to seven feet tall. They tend towards slender, gangly builds.
Speed: Wara have a base speed of 30
Keenly Aware: Wara have proficiency is either Perception or Insight (pick one).
Languages: Wara speak Common and Wari (their native language). Wari is a very blunt language that does not lend itself well to lies; anyone trying to lie to a Wara in their native tongue does so with Disadvantage to the Deception roll.

Subrace:
Gono:
Ability Score: +1 Charisma
Attractive Pheremones: A Gono Wara may release pheromones that act identically to the Charm spell on anyone in 10 feet. They may effect a maximum of creatures equal to 1 + their Charisma modifier (always at least 1), starting with the creatures with the lowest wisdom; use Charisma as the stat to determine the targets saves. As this is not a magical ability, it may not be counterspelled and magic resistance offers no protection.

This ability has no effect creatures with no sense of smell, the undead or constructs. After using it, the Gono Wara may not use it again until after a long rest.

Nomgi:
Ablity Score: +1 Intelligence
Soporific Pheremones: A Nomgi Wara may release pheromones that put people to sleep, the effects as if casting Sleep spell. Use Intelligence as the spell casting attribute. As this is not a magical ability, it may not be counterspelled and magic resistance offers no protection.

This ability has no effect creatures with no sense of smell, the undead or constructs. After using it, the Nomgi Wara may not use it again until after a long rest.

Kadik:
Abilty Score: +1 Constitution
Offensive Pheremones: A Kadik Wara may release noxious pheromones that sicken those up to 10 feet away. Targets in the range must make a Constitution save versus 8+the Wara’s proficiency bonus + the constitution modifier. If they fail, they are Poisoned until the end of their following turn. A Kadik Wara may effect up to 1 + their Constitution modifier targets (always at least 1), starting with the target with the lowest Constitution.

This ability has no effect creatures with no sense of smell, the undead or constructs. After using it, the Kadik Wara may not use it again until after a long rest.


Notes:
The idea behind this race started out as a top down, "Why would have +2 wisdom" concept. As wisdom translates into awareness, I figured a race that had been hunted viciously seemed appropriate. I wanted pheromone abilities to be similar to spells effects, to keep in line with existing mechanics. The wording is clunky as heck, so I need to revisit this at some point.

Final Hyena
2016-04-21, 11:22 AM
Size: Wara vary in height from five to seven feet tall. They tend towards slender, gangly builds.
Specifying a size I assume medium is helpful.


Languages: Wara speak Common and Wari (their native language). Wari is a very blunt language that does not lend itself well to lies; anyone trying to lie to a Wara in their native tongue does so with Disadvantage to the Deception roll.
This is a weird feature, if you're set on it perhaps add in that the language is in some way magical explaining the affect.


Nomgi:
Soporific Pheremones: A Nomgi Wara may release pheromones that put people to sleep, the effects as if casting Sleep spell. Use Intelligence as the spell casting attribute. As this is not a magical ability, it may not be counterspelled and magic resistance offers no protection.
This does not have the descriptors of the others, the 10 feet aoe, the number affected. Sleep is a fair bit stronger than charm and so should be limited in some way.

Wara
+2 stats
+1 skill

Gono
+1 stat
10 foot aoe charm (1+cha affected) ~ long rest ~ relies on smell

nomgi
+1 stat
Sleep ~ long rest ~ relies on smell

Kadik
+1 stat
10 foot aoe poison (1+con affected) ~ long rest ~ relies on smell ~ 1 round

overall I feel it is a reasonable race, al though the pheromone abilities should specify if they use an action.

LordFluffy
2016-04-21, 11:40 AM
Specifying a size I assume medium is helpful.



This is a weird feature, if you're set on it perhaps add in that the language is in some way magical explaining the affect.
I was basing on a real world language, actually. I can't find the links, but there was a language of a relatively recently discovered tribe where lying wasn't a concept and it was hard to lie in the language.


This does not have the descriptors of the others, the 10 feet aoe, the number affected. Sleep is a fair bit stronger than charm and so should be limited in some way.

I need to shore this up.


Wara
+2 stats
+1 skill

Gono
+1 stat
10 foot aoe charm (1+cha affected) ~ long rest ~ relies on smell

nomgi
+1 stat
Sleep ~ long rest ~ relies on smell

Kadik
+1 stat
10 foot aoe poison (1+con affected) ~ long rest ~ relies on smell ~ 1 round

overall I feel it is a reasonable race, al though the pheromone abilities should specify if they use an action.
Thanks very much for the feedback. I'll address it in the next version.

Final Hyena
2016-04-21, 11:47 AM
I was basing on a real world language, actually. I can't find the links, but there was a language of a relatively recently discovered tribe where lying wasn't a concept and it was hard to lie in the language.
This is very bizarre, I find it hard to imagine this being the case, is there any reason it's hard to lie with the language, or is it just that the tribesmen didn't know/approve of lying and so were not good at it?

LordFluffy
2016-04-21, 03:21 PM
This is very bizarre, I find it hard to imagine this being the case, is there any reason it's hard to lie with the language, or is it just that the tribesmen didn't know/approve of lying and so were not good at it?

Again, this is from memory, but I think that the language was just very unambiguous, so doing half truths was very difficult.

ReturnOfTheKing
2016-04-21, 06:54 PM
I like this! Is it an original creation or are you basing it off a race in another medium or edition?

LordFluffy
2016-04-21, 10:50 PM
I like this! Is it an original creation or are you basing it off a race in another medium or edition?

Whole cloth creation.

ReturnOfTheKing
2016-04-23, 01:21 PM
Whole cloth creation.

Awesome! I feel like there are too few wholly original races in the homebrewing community - they're all either based on mythology, pop culture, previous editions or irl animals. Nice to see something new for a change :smallbiggrin:

cyberman09
2016-05-12, 07:17 PM
Seems interesting. It seems well balanced