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GuesssWho
2017-08-27, 07:18 AM
A more elaborate version of the race. Adapted from the vampire concept seen here (https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Vampire_(5e_Race)), which several of my friends have used. Made for a very silly campaign. Do not expect balance or sanity.

Abilities: +2 Con, +2 Wis
Size: Medium
Speed: Fly 30 (A wendigo cannot walk, due to a lack of feet; it cannot wear shoes [no foot items] and finds it uncomfortable to be in tight spaces.)
Senses: Darkvision 120
Icy Nature: Healed by cold damage, healing bite and natural healing only. Vulnerable to fire and radiant damage. Can cast either Frostbite or Ray of Frost, directed at enemies only. Takes 6d4 radiant damage from direct summer sunlight (light clouds count as direct, any clothing thick enough to deflect it is thick enough to cause heatstroke because summer) and 3d12 acid damage when immersed in warm water.
Healing Bite: Make a melee Dex attack on a humanoid target with your fangs (add proficiency). On a hit, the target takes 1d6+Dex mod piercing damage. This damage is increased by 1d6 when you reach 5th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6), and 17th level (4d6). If the target is an organic humanoid and paralyzed, charmed, incapacitated, restrained, or grappled, you may use your bonus action to feed, dealing 1d8+Con mod of cold damage, This damage is increased by 1d8 when you reach 5th level (2d8), 11th level (3d8), and 17th level (4d8). This is equal to consuming a ration, and heals for half the damage done. A wendigo gains no sustenance from food that doesn't come from a sapient creature, and takes one level of exhaustion per week of fasting. After six weeks the wendigo falls comatose until humanoid flesh is put into their mouth.
Snowy Recurrence: A wendigo that is killed through any means aside from the summer sun or warm water turns into snow, reforming in the nearest cold terrain (tundra, taiga, high mountain, etc.) They are stabilized automatically, but have five levels of exhaustion and must heal 'normally' from there.

JNAProductions
2017-08-27, 08:27 AM
Icy Nature, combined with a free cold-damage cantrip, means you have unlimited out of combat healing.

GuesssWho
2017-08-27, 09:41 PM
True, although the drawbacks would be somewhat debilitating.

Edited to only work on enemies.

GuesssWho
2017-08-30, 09:28 AM
Actually, since Wendigo can't use health potions or positive healing spells, I might change that back . . .

JNAProductions
2017-08-30, 10:39 AM
Actually, since Wendigo can't use health potions or positive healing spells, I might change that back . . .

No, but they go into literally every fight at full HP, since they have unlimited cantrip-based healing.

Edit: Also, if you have two Wendigos or a Wendigo and someone with a cold cantrip, you can have incredibly easy and powerful in combat healing.

AvatarVecna
2017-08-30, 11:12 AM
Two +2 stat bonuses from race is a bit more than the vast majority of races get. This isn't a huge balanced issue - Mountain Dwarves get 2 +2s - but with everything else, it's just another thing making this a bit more powerful in this category than most races are.

"Unable to walk normally" is not nearly the drawback you think it is. Ignoring that a fly speed allows you to move freely in three dimensions rather than just two (a thing that's significant enough that you really shouldn't ignore it, but whatever), a Fly speed instead of a Land speed makes difficult terrain pointless and makes lots of BFC matter a lot less.

Superior Darkvision, sure why not? This race is so underpowered after all, it deserves that little extra bump. Like the stat boosts, this isn't unheard of in a race - drow get 120 ft as well - but it's one more thing that's better than normal, when the rest of the race isn't nearly under-average enough to justify the bump.

Vulnerability to fire and radiant damage, and non-leveling damage from two very specific sources, is a nice attempt at placating the benefits of the rest of the race, but ultimately don't make up for it, particularly when they come attached to 1) a free cold cantrip, and 2) the ability to heal when dealt cold damage. You just gave them access to infinite out-of-combat self-healing. And let's talk about those methods of dealing damage: taking 30 damage in direct summer sunlight is definitely a weakness, but it's a weakness that, if you spent a year standing still on top of a mountain, would only take effect 12.5% of the time, since that's the percentage of the year that it is both Summer and Daytime. But wait, it gets worse: not only does this particular weakness do absolutely nothing the vast majority of the time, you can do a wide variety of things to prevent it the few parts of the game where it's an actual factor, such as carrying a parasol, wearing a bodysuit, or just adventuring indoors (say, perhaps in a dungeon complex or something). You also take 19.5 damage any time you're completely submerged in warm water; partial submersion in warm water or full submersion in non-warm water won't cut it, so at the worst you've got to worry about mastering the ancient skill of treading water. And hey, you could cast your infinite-healing cantrip while you're submerged to mitigate the damage, if you absolutely have no choice; this should keep you losing far less HP than normal, particularly when your cantrip healing improves where the damage doesn't, and particularly if you can get a source of acid resistance temporarily.

A built-in finesse weapon where the damage gets better with levels, like a cantrip. Despite working like a cantrip, it is in fact a weapon and can be used with Extra Attack and the like, which is why weapons don't work like cantrips, and why no other 1st party race with natural weapons does this nonsense. Oh, and of course it also has a leveling extra-damage rider that you use to eat, because this attack wasn't already gonna be ridiculous enough at high levels.

A built-in resurrection ability requiring no action on your part to use, of course, of course.

I will leave this post here with one final note in regards to race design: a race can be built to be faithful to the power level of the creature you're trying to create, but not always while remaining within the power levels a 5e race is supposed to stick to. Literally the only line of this that doesn't warrant complaining about is the size category (in fact, I'll also complain that you didn't make them undead). There is a reason actual dragons aren't a PC race, that Vampires are not a PC race, that Balors are not a PC race: because while the idea may be cool, making a race that is both balanced and faithful to such powerful creatures is not feasible.

I would recommend making Wendigo its own class, rather than a base race, for what it's worth.

JNAProductions
2017-08-30, 11:15 AM
There's actually a neat Balor monster class on the forums somewhere. Here it is! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?413419-Balor-Monster-Class)

But yeah-thanks for pointing that out, AV-I didn't notice they had a scaling natural weapon. Or, more accurately, I did notice, but assumed it was a once per rest ability, and therefore not insanely OP.

GuesssWho
2017-09-02, 05:48 AM
Okay, can't aim the cantrip at itself. I took out the 'fully' immersed, since I only meant that wading for a short time wouldn't kill it. Clarified that fly speed only meant no boot slot items.

The resurrection ability is designed to be something of a hassle, actually. Unless you're already in the arctic, you might end up a few hundred miles of your group. I added that it gives you five levels of exhaustion, if that helps.

JNAProductions
2017-09-02, 10:21 AM
And if an ally has a cold cantrip?

Plus, your natural attack still scales. 1d6+Dex is fine, 2d6+Dex is not, and 3d6+Dex or 4d6+Dex is just bonkers.

Not having a boots slot available means basically nothing-attunement is a far bigger limit than that.

This race is still blatantly overpowered.

GuesssWho
2017-09-02, 11:17 AM
I made the bite humanoid target only, because wendigo.

JNAProductions
2017-09-02, 11:27 AM
I made the bite humanoid target only, because wendigo.

It's now grossly overpowered against humanoids and only somewhat overpowered against everything else.

It's still broken.

GuesssWho
2017-09-02, 12:10 PM
Eh, I honestly don't care at this point. I'm using it for a game that's full of ridiculous **** anyway.

JNAProductions
2017-09-02, 12:12 PM
Eh, I honestly don't care at this point. I'm using it for a game that's full of ridiculous **** anyway.

That's okay-but do understand this is horribly imbalanced for use at a REGULAR table. I would either balance it (gonna be tough) or just slap a bolded note on the first post saying "This is incredibly high-powered. Do not use at a regular table."

GuesssWho
2017-09-02, 01:36 PM
At least one of my friends has a character who dies about five times a session, due to using the vampire race I toned this down from. It is a remarkably silly campaign.