LoneStarNorth
2017-05-21, 01:25 PM
After running a high-lethality campaign based in an underground mushroom jungle, one of my players mentioned off-hand that he wished his next character could be one of the friendly myconids they've encountered. I took him up on that and gave myconids the Volo's Guide treatment. Then since I felt like I was on a roll I did ettercaps too. Here they both are. I'd love to get some feedback and critique before I let them loose in my campaign.
Mycnoid Traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increase by 1 and your Wisdom score increases by 2.
Age. Myconids grow from spores to ambulatory mushrooms over the course of about six weeks. Afterwards they continue to grow for another three to four months begore reaching their adult size.
Alignment. Mycnoids have a natural instinct to work together in an organized caste system. They tend towards lawful alignments.
Size. Grown myconids stand between 5 and 6 feet tall and average about 180 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Plant. Myconids are plant creatures rather than humanoids. You absorb water and nutrients passively from your environment rather than stopping to eat or drink, and you do not need to sleep.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern colour in darkness, only shades of grey.
Sunlight Sensitivity. You have disadvantage on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight.
Poisonous Touch. Your unarmed attacks deal an extra 1d4 poison damage.
Distress Spores. When you take damage, all others myconids within 240 feet can sense your pain.
Rapport Spores. You can eject a 20-foot radius of spores. These spores can go around corners and affect only creatures with an Intelligence score of 2 or higher that aren't undead, constructs, or elementals. Affected creatures can communicate telepathically with one another while they are within 30 feet of each other. The effect lasts for 1 hour.
Pacifying Spores. You can eject spores at one creature you can see within 5 feet of you The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be stunned for 1 minute. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the ffect on a success. After you use pacifying spores, you can't use them again until you complete a short or long rest.
Meld. Myconids don't need to sleep, but they do benefit from periods of rest. They spend this time in a self-induced hallucinogenic trance which they call melding. Melding for 4 hours grants a myconid the same benefit that a human gains from 8 hours of sleep. If another myconid melds at the same time within 5 feet of you, you gain temporary hit points equal to your level once you finish melding.
Languages. You can understand, read, and write Common, but you cannot speak aloud. You rely on your rapport spores for communication.
I think these guys work pretty well as a player race. With a Wisdom bonus and Poisonous Touch they'd make pretty solid monks. The one aspect I'm not really sure about is their rapport spores. Is party-wide telepathy too much, even when limited to short range?
If so, could it be fixed by adding more conditions, like they have to specifically be within range of the myconid, not just each other? Or possibly by making it a once-per-rest ability?
Ettercap Traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength increases by 1, your Dexterity increases by 2, and your Intelligence is reduced by 2.
Age. Ettercaps reach adulthood by age 12 and can live up to 60 years.
Alignment. As ettercaps are typically concerned only with their own well-being, they tend towards neutral evil.
Size. Ettercaps stand between 6 and 7 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a climbing speed of 30 feet.
Monstrosity. Ettercaps are monstrosities rather than humanoids.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern colour in darkness, only shades of grey.
Spiderwalk. You can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check. Additionally, you ignore any movement restrictions caused by webbing, and you know the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.
Bite. You have a a venomous bite which you can use to make an unarmed attack. If you hit with it, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. Additionally, any creature you hit with your bite must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. The DC for this saving throw is equal to 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success.
Web. You can make a ranged weapon attack with a range of 30/60 feet against a Large or smaller creature. If you hit the creature, it is restrained by webbing. As an action, the restrained creature can make a Strength check to escape from the webbing. The DC for this saving throw is equal to 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. The effect also ends if the webbing is destroyed. The webbing has AC 10, 5 hit points, vulnerability to fire damage, and immunity to bludgeoning, poison, and psychic damage. Once you make a web attack, you cannot make another one until you complete a short or long rest.
Webcraft. As part of a short rest, you can craft one of the following items out of your own webbing: a net, a garrote (see below), or 50 feet of rope. Alternatively, you can create a web trap that covers a 10-foot area; any creature that steps in it is affected as though by your web attack. You can make a Wisdom (Survival) check to conceal the web trap, with another creature needing to beat your check result with their Wisdom (Perception) check in order to spot it. Any item or trap you create out of webbing lasts only 4 hours before melting away.
Arachnid Diplomacy. An ettercap's monstrous visage and demeanor is highly offputting to most creatures. You have disadvantage on Persuasion checks made to influence non-ettercaps, but advantage on Animal Handling checks to influence spiders or spider-like beasts.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common.
Garrote. Martial melee weapon, two-handed property. You can only make a garrote attack against a Medium or Small creature against which you have advantage on the attack roll. If your attack hits, the target takes damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier and is grappled by you. Until this grapple ends, the target can't breathe.
As monsters, ettercaps have a lot of minor superpowers, and I wanted to include as many as I could in the player race. I also took a cue from the Volo lizardfolk and added a craft ability, because I think it's a cool idea. I felt like the climb speed and poisonous bite were very strong, though, so I added a couple of negative abilities, specifically penalties to Int and to Persuasion checks. Also, I noted that they're monstrosities rather than humanoids, but I think the only effect that has in 5e is for specific spells/abilities, like hold person. Would it be better to just leave them as humanoids for simplicity's sake?
Mycnoid Traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increase by 1 and your Wisdom score increases by 2.
Age. Myconids grow from spores to ambulatory mushrooms over the course of about six weeks. Afterwards they continue to grow for another three to four months begore reaching their adult size.
Alignment. Mycnoids have a natural instinct to work together in an organized caste system. They tend towards lawful alignments.
Size. Grown myconids stand between 5 and 6 feet tall and average about 180 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Plant. Myconids are plant creatures rather than humanoids. You absorb water and nutrients passively from your environment rather than stopping to eat or drink, and you do not need to sleep.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern colour in darkness, only shades of grey.
Sunlight Sensitivity. You have disadvantage on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight.
Poisonous Touch. Your unarmed attacks deal an extra 1d4 poison damage.
Distress Spores. When you take damage, all others myconids within 240 feet can sense your pain.
Rapport Spores. You can eject a 20-foot radius of spores. These spores can go around corners and affect only creatures with an Intelligence score of 2 or higher that aren't undead, constructs, or elementals. Affected creatures can communicate telepathically with one another while they are within 30 feet of each other. The effect lasts for 1 hour.
Pacifying Spores. You can eject spores at one creature you can see within 5 feet of you The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be stunned for 1 minute. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the ffect on a success. After you use pacifying spores, you can't use them again until you complete a short or long rest.
Meld. Myconids don't need to sleep, but they do benefit from periods of rest. They spend this time in a self-induced hallucinogenic trance which they call melding. Melding for 4 hours grants a myconid the same benefit that a human gains from 8 hours of sleep. If another myconid melds at the same time within 5 feet of you, you gain temporary hit points equal to your level once you finish melding.
Languages. You can understand, read, and write Common, but you cannot speak aloud. You rely on your rapport spores for communication.
I think these guys work pretty well as a player race. With a Wisdom bonus and Poisonous Touch they'd make pretty solid monks. The one aspect I'm not really sure about is their rapport spores. Is party-wide telepathy too much, even when limited to short range?
If so, could it be fixed by adding more conditions, like they have to specifically be within range of the myconid, not just each other? Or possibly by making it a once-per-rest ability?
Ettercap Traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength increases by 1, your Dexterity increases by 2, and your Intelligence is reduced by 2.
Age. Ettercaps reach adulthood by age 12 and can live up to 60 years.
Alignment. As ettercaps are typically concerned only with their own well-being, they tend towards neutral evil.
Size. Ettercaps stand between 6 and 7 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a climbing speed of 30 feet.
Monstrosity. Ettercaps are monstrosities rather than humanoids.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern colour in darkness, only shades of grey.
Spiderwalk. You can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check. Additionally, you ignore any movement restrictions caused by webbing, and you know the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.
Bite. You have a a venomous bite which you can use to make an unarmed attack. If you hit with it, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. Additionally, any creature you hit with your bite must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. The DC for this saving throw is equal to 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success.
Web. You can make a ranged weapon attack with a range of 30/60 feet against a Large or smaller creature. If you hit the creature, it is restrained by webbing. As an action, the restrained creature can make a Strength check to escape from the webbing. The DC for this saving throw is equal to 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. The effect also ends if the webbing is destroyed. The webbing has AC 10, 5 hit points, vulnerability to fire damage, and immunity to bludgeoning, poison, and psychic damage. Once you make a web attack, you cannot make another one until you complete a short or long rest.
Webcraft. As part of a short rest, you can craft one of the following items out of your own webbing: a net, a garrote (see below), or 50 feet of rope. Alternatively, you can create a web trap that covers a 10-foot area; any creature that steps in it is affected as though by your web attack. You can make a Wisdom (Survival) check to conceal the web trap, with another creature needing to beat your check result with their Wisdom (Perception) check in order to spot it. Any item or trap you create out of webbing lasts only 4 hours before melting away.
Arachnid Diplomacy. An ettercap's monstrous visage and demeanor is highly offputting to most creatures. You have disadvantage on Persuasion checks made to influence non-ettercaps, but advantage on Animal Handling checks to influence spiders or spider-like beasts.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common.
Garrote. Martial melee weapon, two-handed property. You can only make a garrote attack against a Medium or Small creature against which you have advantage on the attack roll. If your attack hits, the target takes damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier and is grappled by you. Until this grapple ends, the target can't breathe.
As monsters, ettercaps have a lot of minor superpowers, and I wanted to include as many as I could in the player race. I also took a cue from the Volo lizardfolk and added a craft ability, because I think it's a cool idea. I felt like the climb speed and poisonous bite were very strong, though, so I added a couple of negative abilities, specifically penalties to Int and to Persuasion checks. Also, I noted that they're monstrosities rather than humanoids, but I think the only effect that has in 5e is for specific spells/abilities, like hold person. Would it be better to just leave them as humanoids for simplicity's sake?