The Misty Shadow's Halfbreed Races - PEACH

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

So, you're doubtlessly wondering what the hell is going on. Well, to put things simply, I've got a huge array (70+, at last counting) of homebrewed races for 5e that I want to get critiqued, plus plans for future races beyond that. For obvious reasons, I can't post each race here individually; I'd drown us all. But, at the same time, I can't hope to get any reviews or comments if I put them all in one thread - wall of text to the nth degree. So, I tried to compromise and instead make a relatively small group of splinter topics that I can post them under in more manageable numbers.

To see these races in their natural habitat, follow the linked google-doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XovWm65MSmIzQWSMDMXo0_aIpZgq9YSa2KkpO3kThS4/edit#

To see the index of all my 5e homebrew, follow this linked thread: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?516554-The-Misty-Shadow-s-Absurd-Amount-of-5e-Homebrew-PEACH

Human fecundity is a funny thing, in D&D. It's pretty well-established that humans in the D&D world are drawn to xenophiliac relationships in many different settings. After all, xenophilia is pretty common in our world, and thus it really shouldn't surprise anyone that there are D&D humans would be attracted to, say, the strong yet curvaceous build of a female dwarf, or the salacious cuteness of a lusty gnome or halfling. And yet, no major attention has ever been given to any human halfbreeds beyond the iconic half-orc & half-elf combo, and the less iconic but still fairly recognizable planetouched.

Why? As far as I can tell, simply due to overbearing "Tolkeinian" tradition. Tolkein mixed humans with elves and orcs, and so D&D doesn't ever really consider anything else.

Well, I consider this an unacceptable answer. We have had a long tradition of humans mating with non-humans in D&D, and even producing offspring. From the half-goblins, half-gnomes and half-dwarves of Krynn, to the muls of Athas, to the half-hobgoblins of Kalamar, this thread is dedicated to celebrating all the potential hybrid races that D&D has never really tried to explore.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

Let's start with the most obvious choice. There have been two different takes on half-dwarves in D&D; the more famous Muls of Dark Sun, who appeared in 2nd, 3rd and 4th edition, and the Half-Dwarfs of Krynn, who only appeared in 3rd edition to my knowledge. For obvious reasons, given the Krynnish variant was essentially a faster, watered-down dwarf, I went with the Mul as the basis for my half-dwarf species. Muls are traditionally strong and hardy, with their particular focus on being extra tough and having a huge amount of stamina, so that was the basis of what I have here.

Mul
Ability Score Modifier: +2 Constitution, +1 Strength
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Vision: Normal
Tireless: A mul ignores the first level of Exhaustion it suffers, and regains two levels of Exhaustion when it completes a long rest.
Limitless Endurance: A mul increases its hit point maximum by 1 point and further increases it by +1 point each time it gains a level.
Dwarven Vitality: A mul has Advantage on saving throws against Poison and Resistance to Poison damage.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

Although half-goblinoids were a thing in AD&D, to my admittedly fuzzy recollections, they've never really been differentiated from half-orcs until Dragonlance 3.5. The Krynnish half-goblin is explicitly called out as actually being a surprisingly strong race; if half-orcs are often said to get the worst of both human and orc (at least traditionally), then half-goblins get the best of their progenitors. They are strong-willed, determined, courageous, driven, aggressive, and full of self-esteem; they know what they want and they set out to get it. Although they did have a -2 Cha penality, this was due to being too self-assured, leading to others considering them overly aggressive or just overbearing.

They're also surprisingly diplomatic in nature despite that; half-goblins are described as natural bridgemakers, who, when confronted by a gulf between any two groups, will naturally see the bigger picture, and will be the first to suggest reaching a compromise or finding a common problem the two groups can solve by working together on. Unlike most mixed-race species, half-goblins are rarely conflicted about themselves - rather, they see the conflict as being in the world around them. Unlike your stereotypical half-orc or half-elf, who likes to wangst about not being accepted by either, your typical half-goblin would rather dream big and think of ways to make humans and goblins get over themselves and come together, to create an environment where who they are is nothing unusual. In many ways, they're much more healthy in terms of attitude than your typical mixed-race.

So... yeah, you can hopefully see why I thought the half-goblin sounded like an interesting conversion challenge for 5e.

Half-Goblin
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Dexterity, +1 Charisma
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Vision: Darkvision
Sneaky Git: You have Proficiency in Dexterity (Stealth).
Me Mind's Me Own: You have Advantage on Wisdom saves versus Fear and Charm effects.
Nimble Escape: You can Disengage or Hide as a bonus action on your turn.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

The half-gnoll was a... personal challenge of mine. Since I like gnolls as a viable, not necessarily evil replacement for orcs or as their own sapient race, in contrast to being mindless killing machines, I found myself wondering: what if gnolls could interbreed with humans? Add in this inspiring piece of art I found and I resolved to give it a shot.

Of course, starting a race from scratch makes it a little more challenging than just converting from a previous edition. To try and help differentiate half-gnolls from half-orcs, I went with the idea that half-gnolls would be the runts of the litter who survive through being naturally smarter than their peers. Purebred gnolls are strong, but the half-gnolls earn their place by being the thinkers who contribute skilled labor to the pack and solving more abstract problems. They do, however, still retain some of the physical hardiness of their kin and their naturally impressive set of chompers.

I'm not entirely sure if that worked, though, so I'm open to discussing ways to revamp and reinvigorate this idea.

Half-Gnoll
Ability Score Modifier: +1 Strength, +1 Intelligence, +1 Wisdom
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Vision: Darkvision
Filth-Eater's Gullet: You have Resistance to Poison and Advantage on Constitution checks against Poison and Disease.
Ripping Jaws: You can choose to Bite as an Unarmed Strike. Doing so causes this attack to inflict 1d4 Piercing damage as a basis. If you have the Martial Arts class feature, use the appropriate damage dice instead, although damage inflicted is still Piercing in type.
Rampage: When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points on its turn with a melee attack, you can take a bonus action to move up to half your speed and make a bite attack.
Runt's Survival: You gain Proficiency in one skill of youir choice.
Keep Up: You can add your Proficiency to Constitution checks made to resist Exhaustion.

[Jorgumander]

Not sure what this says about me as a person, but I want a half-Halfling... asking for a friend.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

Not sure what this says about me as a person, but I want a half-Halfling... asking for a friend.

Well, personally, I always figured that a human/Halfling crossbreeding would result in a distinctive subrace of Halfling, like how Halfling/dwarf gives you Stout Halfling and Halfling/elf gives you Tallfellow Hallfing. Check out my Canon Race Variants thread; the Strongheart Halfling subrace there is intended to be a human-blooded Halfling subrace, although it does need some work to be more functional.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

So, does anyone have any comments on the three races posted here so far? Or suggestions for other halfbreeds I might consider? I have been idly considering "Dwelves", simply because it'd be a unique halfbreed, but I've always personally assumed that rock gnomes (at least, back when they were more "sorcerous dwarves" in 3e) are the result of that sort of interbreeding.

Actually... speaking of gnomes, I really want to do a half-gnome race, but I'm not sure where to start. Anyone interested in giving me a hand?

[Mr.J]

There stands to be a question for the validity of some of these things. Like, Half-Orc, Half-Elf, etc. These work because humans are I suppose closely related to the other races in terms of their genetic makeup so they can breed. Can an orc and an elf breed? Rather, would an elf ever see a need to breed with an orc? You know they can be posh. Thematically speaking it's possible, but would it happen often enough for the race to EVER be encountered, or would it be slain as a demon child upon being born?

These are the kinds of questions I find myself asking when I saw "Dwelve" as I don't think that would ever be a thing.

[Morphic tide]

I'd focus on setting them up as racial variants, with one for each race mixing with each other race. Like, Half-Dwarf/Half-Human has Muls for the Human variant, but then you have a separate one for the Dwarf-heavy side.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

Alright, so, after talking some with a friend just about the themes of what a half-gnome would be like, they brought up that a half-gnome would probably blend the gnomish intellect and dexterity with humanity's sense of drive and focus. Basically, natural skill-monkeys, quick-witted and fleet-footed, jacks of all trades who are good at adapting on the fly. So, with that in mind, here's a first draft of the race; what do people think?

Half-Gnome:
Ability Score Modifiers: +1 Intelligence, +1 Dexterity
Size: Small
Movement: 30 feet
Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
Powerful Build: You are treated as being one size larger to determine your capacity to lift, push, pull, drag and carry loads.
Works the Angles: You can use an Intelligence check to determine your Initiative, instead of using a Dexterity check.
Jack of All Trades: When you are called upon to make a skill check you do not have Proficiency in, you can grant yourself Advantage on that check. After you use this trait, you must complete a long rest before you use it again.

Racial Feat: Strong Blooded
Prerequisite: Half-Gnome
Effect: Your gnomish lineage is stronger than usual, giving you traits more akin to your ancestor. Choose one lineage from the following list and gain the attendant bonuses.
Rock Gnome: You gain +1 Intelligence and the Tinker racial trait.
Forest Gnome: You gain the Natural Illusionist and Speak With Small Beasts racial traits.
Svirfneblin: You gain the Stone Camouflage racial trait and qualify for the Svirfneblin Magic feat.
River Gnome: You gain the Waterborn and Deep Diver racial traits.
Arcane Gnome: You gain the Magic in the Blood racial trait.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

Edit note: changed the Half-Gnoll's stat modifiers to +1 Str/Int/Wis after discussion with username Bunnynoah, who put their comments in the Beastfolk race thread for some mysterious reason...

As for the future of this thread... well, hybrid races are something I'd be interested in discussing; there's no real reason beyond "tradition" to focus on the human plus X halfbreeds of D&D, if folks here re interested in discussing possibilities.

But, even focusing on the traditional human-based hybrids, there's actually quite a list to choose from: just that I know of, there's:

Half-Ogre
Half-Dryad
Half-Nymph
Half-Satyr
Half-Giant
Half-Kender
Half-Undead
Half-Doppelganger
Half-Janni
Half-Minotaur
Half-Rakshasa
Half-Sahuagin
Half-Kuo-toa
Half-Reaver
Half-Selkie


Now, some of these aren't going to cut it. I'm happy to use the Eberron Changeling as the "Half-Doppelganger", I'm pretty sure an equivalent to Pathfinder's Beastbrood Tiefling works better for half-Rakshasa, and I think I might have more luck with a Mortif (humanoids thread) than with Half-Undead... although... there is a fanmade dhampir in the fanmade 5e Ravenloft corebook...

One thing I am set on, and I have to apologize for this rant: it has always, always ground my gears that half-monogendered races in D&D have been made monogendered in the same gender. I mean, am I the only one who thinks that's kind of screwy? If nymphs are an all-female race who procreate by mating with lucky human/elven men, wouldn't you expect the daughters to be pureblooded nymphs and the rare half-nymphs to be male sons of nymphs? Seriously! It just flies in the face of logic, to me. So, an advanced warning, when I do them, the Half-Dryad/Nymph/Satyr are going to be Male/Male/Female in terms of "always one gender".

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

You know, actually, after some thought, I wondered if maybe a subrace approach to the Half-Goblin wouldnt' work better. It is supposed to be a melting pot for any goblinoid/human interbreeding, after all...

How does this take look to folks here? Before anyone asks why Bugbear Lineage gives you the Brute trait, it's because I really don't approve of the official Bugbear PC statblock - the Powerful Build and Long-Limbed traits come out of nowhere, whilst Surprise Attack feels... wrong... to give to a PC race. Monsters and PCs not operating on the same rule cuts two ways; you should expect Bugbear PCs to be naturally suited for the Rogue class, not just given a class feature for free!

Anyway, on topic; I went with making them a +2 Cha race because, as I said, their racial lore from 3.5 is all about having very strong personalities and senses of self, which is what Charisma is supposed to represent. I did consider making the static bonus +1 Cha, but I felt that maybe would have been contentious. I'd be happy to switch things around instead if people think it'd work better.


Half-Goblin
Ability Score Modifier: +2 Charisma
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Vision: Darkvision
Sneaky Git: You have Proficiency in Dexterity (Stealth).
Me Mind's Me Own: You have Advantage on Wisdom saves versus Fear and Charm effects.
Goblinoid Blood: Choose either the Bugbear, Goblin or Hobgoblin Lineages. Your choice of subrace further determines your racial traits.

Bugbear Lineage:
Ability Score Modifier: +1 Strength
Brute: Melee weapons wielded by you increase their base damage by +1 dice. For example, a weapon that does 1d4 damage would, in your hands, do 2d4 damage. This racial trait does not increase the damage of ranged weapons or thrown weapons.

Goblin Lineage:
Ability Score Modifier: +1 Dexterity
Nimble Escape: You can Disengage or Hide as a bonus action on your turn.

Hobgoblin Lineage:
Ability Score Modifier: +1 Intelligence
Martial Training: You have Proficiency with two martial weapons of your choice, and also with Light Armor.
Saving Face: When you miss with an attack roll, or fail an ability check or saving throw, you can choose to apply a bonus to the roll's result equal to the number of allies that you can see within 30 feet (maximum bonus of +5). After invoking this bonus, you cannot use this trait again until you have completed a short rest or a long rest.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

We all know the half-orc. But, surely, you've wondered if there could be other options besides Orc/Human for it, right? Well, there have been some attempts at making mechanically different orc-hybrids in various settings: Kingdoms of Kalamar for 3.0 gave us the Tel-Amhothlan, an Elf/Orc, whilst Midnight, having reinvented its orcs as corrupted dwarves, replaced half-orcs entirely with the Orc/Dwarf Dworgs.

The idea interests me, and I'm always up to expand my homebrewing skills through practice, so I thought I'd give them a shot...


Tel-Amhothlan - Half-Orc/Half-Elf
Ability Score Modifiers: +1 Dexterity, +1 Strength
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
Relentless Endurance: When you are reduced to 0 hit points, but not killed outright, you can instead choose to be reduced to 1 hit point instead. After using this trait, you cannot use it again until you complete a long rest.
Fey Ancestry: You have Advantage on saving throws against being Charmed and are Immune to Magical Sleep effects.
Keen Senses: You have Proficiency in the Perception skill.
Muddied Heritage: Tel-Amhothlans are chaotic breed and can favor either orcish or elvish aspects of their lineage. Choose the Orcish Brutality, Elvish Grace or Fae Magic subrace options.

Orcish Brutality:
Ability Score Modifier: +1 Constitution
Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you increase the damage inflicted by +1 dice.

Elvish Grace:
Ability Score Modifier: +1 Dexterity
Fleet-Footed: Your base walking speed increases to 35 feet.
Natural Athlete: You have Proficiency in the Athletics skill.

Fae Magic:
Ability Score Modifier: +1 Charisma
Mystic Talent: You can cast Prestidigitation and one other Wizard cantrip of your choice. Charisma is your casting ability score when casting the cantrips provided by this trait. At the DM's permission, at character creation, you can trade this racial feature for Drow Magic (PHB pg24) or Mul Daya Magic (Plane Shift: Zendikar pg19); this choice cannot be undone later.


Dworg - Half-Orc/Half-Dwarf
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Constitution, +2 Strength
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 feet
Vision: Darkvision 60 feet
Relentless Endurance: When you are reduced to 0 hit points, but not killed outright, you can instead choose to be reduced to 1 hit point instead. After using this trait, you cannot use it again until you complete a long rest.
Martial Heritage: You have Proficiency with the Handaxe, Batleaxe and Greataxe.
Sturdy Frame: Your movement speed is not reduced by wearing heavy armor.
Savage Attacks: When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you increase the damage inflicted by +1 dice.