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JMR
2018-06-30, 06:23 PM
Edited: Ok so i made a spreadsheet using the homebrew race balance sheet, the new features the class will have are on the sheet i created.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EWFedEfLJDMygblegGrG4vnquS6pb1Ez3BgUoWhKApA/edit#gid=0
The darkvision i put at 1.5 as it only works outdoors, not indoors. To me that limits its use by 1/2 it should be 3 for full dark vision.
The standard spell casting i put at a 4 instead of 6 because the spells i selected are situational. Mage hand, Identify, Detect Magic at will, but i imposed illusion and enchantment schools only for identify and detect magic. Also Locate Object i put the limitation of gold coins only. The locate object i could do without thats more of a fluff feature. I replaced lucky with a natural AC of 13.


https ://homebrewery.naturalcrit. com/share/ryKNe5NM7

Hey everyone, first time posting. Looking for some advice and critique for my new race design. My goal here is to make a character who's primary focus is on illusion and enchantment. The character is going to be a Leprechaun, a master of trickery and deception. The race itself is supposed to have innate protections against illusions and enchantment as well as being lucky. I tried to balance out it's features to that of a "real" leprechaun and how i perceive a "real" leprechaun would be able to function. But i also included flaws in most of it's features.

I also plan on following up with this race and creating a class and variant options for the class. The class is going to be based off of the sorcerer and have access to all the illusion spells up to its spell casting level as well as have access to all the sorcerer enchantment options up to its spell caster level. It will have the same spell slot progression as a sorcerer and the meta magic of the sorcerers class along with sorcery points which you could either trade out for more spell slots or use them to meta casting. The draw backs i put for the class are it has no access to any spells outside of enchantment and illusion. The class options will be one benefiting illusion and the other would benefit enchantment. I plan on using some of the features out of the wizards illusionist and enchantment schools and replace features the class would not benefit from appropriately.

The overall picture as i see it. The class will be powerful i'm sure but it has its glaring flaws. It lacks higher HD and has no armor proficiencies, it also lacks schools of magic that directly effect your armor class. It would be played as a battlefield controller, casting minor illusion to create cover to hide, and using meta casting to stay hidden while in combat. Out of combat it would be using its magic to match its design, playing tricks or using its spells for deception or as the parties face. It has a rouge esq feel with a very chaotic flair, causing problems without really meaning to and being able to get away when the heat comes on. The link for the race is at the top. I'm trying to figure out if this character seems balanced or not. I personally feel like it would be when played with the characters nature in mind and not just hording the races spell features to benefit combat. My DM likes the idea but he wanted me to get some advice from other players and DMs since we are sorta new to the D&D scene. We plan on doing a one-shot to see how the character plays out. I personally feel like i did a great job in expressing what a leprechaun should and should not be able to do bellow i'll break down the use i intend each feature to cover and the flaws i added to compensate for features.

Lucky - I pulled this straight from the halfling features, i didnt want to give it the feat lucky as that would be to powerful to add others.

Leprechaun Cunning - I pulled this from the gnomes set of features, without access to other spells its really the only form of protection it gets from magic since it also lacks in martial protection.

Leprechaun Nimbleness, You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours. - this is a flavorful feature, and its a small race, it needs a get away

Twilit Vision - Is darkvision but only works outdoors, dungeon delving you would need a separate source of light, this i feel makes him alot less useful in when not outside.

Keen Senses - You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Pot O' Gold - In my opinion very flavorful feature, the pot is only as good as what you put it in. It also opens up a lot of potential enemies with folklore of leprechauns pots of gold and people trying to capture them.

Languages - Common and Sylvan, it is a fey based creature.

Leprechaun Magic - This is the feature that to me has potential for being over powered but at the same time i feel as a necessity to complete the character. I gave it a broad range of non illusion and non enchantment utility spells mostly divination to compensate for its biggest flaw and. The spells i selected i also imposed limitations on, like identify (illusion and enchantment only) detect magic (illusion and enchantment only), speak with animals for flavor, alot of the illusion spells the feature gives you will be made unnecessary with the class i create. My DM just likes the idea of this race being usable by all classes and not over powering them. Giving this to a fighter lets say, in my opinion would not seriously boost his overall power as much as his overall utility at the expense of say human variant getting a free feat and +1 in str and con or dex. Or going with another race more suited for a fighter.

Biased Magic - this is a flaw feature which makes any spells cast outside of illusion or enchantment that includes magic items, to be cast with no proficiency modifier bonus to the spell save DC. Making this race a poor choice for most spell caster options.

The forum will not let me post a link until i make 10 posts, which really sucks since i just typed this all up. I hope i don't get in trouble for posting a chopped link that people could use in the meantime until i go input myself around the forum :P Thanks guys i appreciate any feedback.

https:// homebrewery.naturalcrit. com/share/ryKNe5NM7

JMR
2018-07-01, 10:00 AM
Leprechaun
"Sticks and stones may break your bones, But my words do to!" Chimed the high pitched scratchy voice. McMicky sat huddled behind an illusionary bush cracking up as the goblin reeled, cringing as if struck by a blow.

Leprechauns are a magical people of otherworldly splendor, living in the world but not entirely part of it. They live in places of ethereal beauty, in the midst of ancient forests or in rainbow colored flower fields glittering with faerie light, where soft music drifts through the air and gentle fragrances waft on the breeze. Leprechauns love nature and magic, gold and adventure.

Straight Out of the Ground
Averaging barely 3 feet tall, leprechauns resemble wizened old men with pale skin and hair of orange, silver or brown. Some have a green tinge to their skin, the better to blend in with their usual woodland habitat. A leprechaun will generally live well into his third century, his wizened appearance belying a love of mischief akin to a rambunctious child. Most leprechauns have strange habits and traditions, passed down from their parents. Most solitary leprechauns, for example, can be identified by their red coats, but those in villages or groups usually favor green. As a consequence of living so long, most leprechaun women have hardened facial features and wiry frames. Some of them even have small beards. This, coupled with the relative scarcity of leprechaun children, has led some people to believe leprechaun women __
don’t exist, and that leprechauns must magically snap into existence fully grown. Leprechauns love the mystique that these sorts of rumors create, and many actively encourage them.
Mischief and Luck
Leprechauns believe strongly in the power of luck, and adorn their clothes with various charms and good luck tokens that they have collected over the years. Perhaps as a result of this, they are oftentimes described as being almost supernaturally lucky. They put this luck to good use, and often push it to its limits, in the pursuit of mischief and practical jokes. Leprechauns have a great sense of fair play which often plays into their love of binding verbal contracts. However, much to the dismay of their victims, 'fair play' rarely manifests itself in ways that people of other races would expect. Leprechauns generally pay little regard to the




Continued...
consequences of their actions, acting on a whim and disappearing before the damage of their impulses can be assessed. They would just as soon sneak into your campsite at night to repair your shoes, as steal all of your supplies as a joke.

Solitary Wanderers
The chaotic nature of leprechauns does not lend itself well to society. As such, most leprechauns will live the majority of their lives on the road, settling down only briefly to raise families in villages deep in the forest. As they alternate between solitary travels and sylvan communities, leprechauns, by necessity, are very talented at crafting and repairing their own clothes and tools.

For all their courage when it comes to looking for trouble, when leprechauns actually feel threatened they quickly let their true colors shine. They are not above running, or even cutting deals, to get out of a bad situation. In the past, this has led to some people making deals with leprechauns to gain access to powerful sylvan magic, a magic that would almost always blow up in their smug faces.

Why an Adventurer?
Aside from spending most of their lives traveling far and wide in search of excitement, leprechauns also have a fatal weakness for treasure, especially gold. Just the sight of it is enough to drive some leprechauns mad. There have even been some instances of them jealously hoarding treasure like dragons. While some leprechauns may balk at the idea of working with others, as is necessary for most adventures, those who do tend to find the rewards far outweigh any reservations they may have.

Leprechaun Names
Leprechauns have little use for names in their day to day life, as they spend most of their lives far away from other leprechauns, and they generally avoid divulging such personal information to passing acquaintances. It is a leprechaun belief that names hold power. And to give your name to someone is to give away part of yourself. So they typically give out a number of false names they fancy.










Leprechauns
Believed to be a fourth subrace of gnomes. Leprechauns mainly are only found in the Fey, but they do happen to find their way to the material plane weather by mistakenly finding a portal, or actively seeking one. Either way leprechauns tend to make the best out of any given situation.


Male Names: Addergoole, Arthgallo, Bairrfhoinn, Cobblecrick, Kweequel, Naggeneen, Nidhoggen, Oren, Wildbean
Female Names: Aigneis, Amblaoibh, Ballynamora, Brendalynn, Ciatlllait, Conchobara, Preeminet, Wibblegong, Wimpladora
Although: Any of these names can be given to either gender.
Clans Names: Leinster, Ulster, Meath, Connaught, Munster
Nicknames: Micky, Dolly, Pauly, Benny, Freddy, Lenny




Tree Burrows
Leprechauns make their homes in dense wooded areas. They tend to live in hollowed out tree bases. Never will you find a leprechaun living underground. The thought of being underground is like living in a tomb to a leprechaun.
Their homes are well hidden by both clever construction and simple to grand illusions. Welcome visitors are quickly ushered into the bright, warm burrows, Those who are not welcome are unlikely to find the burrows in the first place.

Leprechaun Traits
Compulsive tricksters, leprechauns have a knack for getting themselves out of the hot water they all too often find themselves in.
Ability Score Increase, Your Charisma score increases by 2 and your dexterity score inceases by 1.
Age, Leprechauns mature at the same rate humans do, and most are expected to "settle" down into an adult life by around age 40. They can live 350 to almost 500 years.
Alignment, Leprechauns are a generally independent people, and love playing tricks on people. As such, they lean strongly towards chaotic alignments. They are also rarely good or evil.
Size, Leprechauns average at about 3 feet tall, and range from wiry to extremely stout averaging about 35 pounds. Your size is Small.
Speed, your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Lucky, When you roll a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll.





Fey Touched
Being from the Fey Wild, Leprechauns have an innate attunement to magic. Weather most leprechauns like it or not (they all do), magic for a leprechaun just happens. What they think and what they say all works in tandem with the Weave, nothing but their thoughts producing powerful illusions, and words spoken casually, charm and even harm the unsuspecting. Illusion and Enchantment magic is woven in their blood, because of this they are resistent to any magic that effects the mind or attempts to deceive.

Leprechaun Cunning, You have advantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against magic.
Leprechaun Nimbleness, You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours.
Leprechaun Magic, Leprechauns have an innate attunement to fey magic, as such you gain features based on your level.

Leprechaun Magic
Level Spells
1st Minor Illusion, Vicious Mockery, Friends, Dancing Lights, Mage Hand, Shillelagh, you can cast out of this list up to three times per short rest
3rd Disguise Self, Silent Illusion, Expeditious Retreat, Identify (Enchantment), Speak with Animals, you can cast out of this list up to three times per long rest
5th Locate Object, Detect Magic, Misty Step and See Invisibility, you can cast out of this list up to two times per long rest
11th True Sight, with a duration of one minute or You can affect an intelligent creature that is immune to the charmed status with an enchantment spell, that creature makes it's save with advantage, once per long rest.
Biased Spellcasting, Leprechauns innate magic indeed is powerful under the right cirumstances, but it does come with a disadvantage. When casting a spell or using an item with a magical effect, outside of the illusion or enchantment school you do not apply your proficiency modifier to the spell save dc. Because of this you rarely see
leprechauns practicing learned magic.

Twilit Vision, Accustomed to twilit
forests and the night sky, you have
superior vision in dark and dim
conditions while outside. 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..

Leprechaun Folklore
Amongst the small folk in the material plane, legend tells of the leprechaun's fabled pot o' gold. Many a farmer and adventurer have sought after it.








Keen Senses, You have proficiency in the Perception skill.
Pot O' Gold, A common tradition practiced in leprechaun society, when a leprechaun comes of age he is given a iron pot imbued with magic . Through rituals passed down in ancient times leprechauns mark this pot as their own. This pot is an interdimensional space that only they can access. Inside the pot is where they store their numerous treasures and an abundance of gold and gems. The Leprechaun always knows the location of his Pot o' gold and if a creature is within 100ft of it.

Languages, You can speak, read, and write Common and Sylvan. Sylvan is fluid, wilh subtle intonations
and intricate grammar. Sylvan literature
is rich and varied. You can also speak to
woodland animals through the use of
your leprechaun magic.

Rerem115
2018-07-01, 10:24 AM
ASI: 12
25 ft speed: -2
Darkvision: 3
Cunning: 7
Lucky: 5
Nimbleness: 2
Skill Proficiency: 2
Pot O' Gold: 5
Spellcasting: 12 (is more varied and higher level than normal)
Speak With Animals: 2

Total: 48
According to the newer version of Detect Balance your race is roughly twice as strong as any Gnome. Which makes sense, considering you took the best parts of both gnomes and halflings, then added extended spellcasting and a racial Detect Thoughts+Bag of Holding.

My advice? Pick one side. You can be a gnome or a halfling, but not both.

JMR
2018-07-01, 11:03 AM
Are flaws accounted for in anyway? Not being able to cast any spells outside of illusion and enchantment without losing your proficiency modifier to the spell save DC is pretty big in my opinion. Spell caster wise if you were to pick any options would make most damaging spells have a very low threshold to hit.

darkvision is limited to outdoors only

the pot of gold is a stationary feature, fluff. Basically a item that is placed somewhere and the leprechaun returns to to stash his treasure. Like the pot at the end of the rainbow, its not with the leprechaun its more fluff then anything because any creature can dig a hole and put his treasure there.

Also where do you see detect thoughts coming from?

What if the gnome cunning was replaced by resistant to enchantment and illusion?

JMR
2018-07-01, 11:18 AM
I appreciate your input though, i didn't know a sheet like that existed to help balance things out, and still brings up my question with what do drawbacks calculate as, and modified versions of the original ability like darkvision being outdoors only.

My main theme i'm trying to portray in this race is efficiency toward enchantment and illusion, the spells are mostly geared toward the defence vs illusions and enchantment while being able to use those low level effects. The lucky trait is well flavor, and if you are to be a trickster causing mayhem and survive you'd have to be lucky. The problem as i see it game wise is intelligence and charisma are both low save skills having a high intelligence protects against illusion while having a high charisma would be used as your spell casting save. Going by other homebrew guides it would make this character need proficiency in to many different abilities and not able to be proficient in 2.

what is the average score for a gnome and a halfling if there is a source could you please list it.

48 - 5 bag of holding - -1.5 for darkvision, only working outdoors takes 50% of its use away - i want to clarify the spells given to the race can only affect illusion and enchantment wherever they apply. so i don't know what to reduce from that since i don't know how you got that number, but its 3 cantrips 3 times per short rest lvl 1, 3 1st level per LR lvl 3, 2 2nd level per LR lvl 5, and lvl 11 allows you to bybass a charm resistant intelligent character with that character getting advantage, or true sight for one minute once per long rest. Again i want to clarify that he does have a big disadvantage for spell selection and spell use.


Anyway thanks again any advice i get helps me better work it. I'm all about fairness and i don't want to out shine everyone but i do want to find a way to make the theme fit.

Rerem115
2018-07-01, 11:19 AM
Oh, I missed that bit about the biased casting.
Regarding Detect Thoughts, Leprechauns know when a creature is within 100 feet of their pot. It's kind of cross between Alarm and Detect Thoughts; you can sense living things within a certain radius.

Thing is, even if the Biased Casting completely balanced out the racial casting (And I'm not sure it does; it just means that you're restricted to mind-magic and illusions....and spells that don't require a modifier, like Shield and Haste), you're still left with an overall score of 36, which is 50% stronger than even heavy hitters like Mountain Dwarves or Variant Humans.

Rerem115
2018-07-01, 11:21 AM
Here's the system I used

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vq1kz6PRAbw5LHy6amH-bNb4OuB8DBXL1RsZROt03Sc/edit#gid=0

JMR
2018-07-01, 11:29 AM
What is the base number for a mountain dwarf and variant human?

Rerem115
2018-07-01, 11:31 AM
For general balance purposes, here's a general score for Halflings and Gnomes

Halfling
ASI: 12 (2 Dex + subrace)
Speed: -2
Lucky: 5
Brave: 2
Nimbleness: 2
Subrace feature: 4-5

Total: 23-24

Gnome
ASI: 12 (2 Int + subrace)
Speed: -2
Darkvision: 3
Cunning: 7
Subrace feature(s): 3-4

Total: 23-24

My memory was wrong; Variant Humans are scored at 33 points. Even still, that means that your race is still about 50% stronger than Gnomes or Halflings, and technically better from a mechanical standpoint than Variant Humans.

Rerem115
2018-07-01, 11:34 AM
Mountain Dwarves are scored thusly:

ASI: 16
Speed: -2
Not slowed by armor: 2
Darkvision: 3
Poison resistance and advantage: 5
Weapon training: 2
Tool proficiency: 1
Very situational expertise: 1
Armor training: 4
Redundancy (Fighters and Clerics don't care about armor): -2

Total: 30

JMR
2018-07-01, 11:39 AM
Also take synergy into account, the bonus to charisma wouldn't be beneficial to fighter classes or other casting classes which would have access to shield and haste, other then sorcerer and at that point your still severely limited to illusion and enchantment. A rouge for example would benefit nicely from all these features, on the other hand halflings have their own versions of resistances against being frightened and poisons, while a leprechauns resistance would only be good vs magical frighten and charm effects. I could potentially take the lucky feature out as well and add it to a class feature.

JMR
2018-07-01, 11:45 AM
The spells this race is getting is more so to give it access to some form of divination to fill its role as enchantment/illusion master, under the assumption the class i'm making only has access to illusion and enchantment spells. the misty step is also a battlefield movement and escape feature i think the character would need to not be to squishy.

JMR
2018-07-01, 11:46 AM
Also removing the talking to animals is fine as well, but a leprechauns a lonely fellow who will be his friends :( lol

Rerem115
2018-07-01, 11:52 AM
Synergy? You get a bonus to Dex and Charisma and have a better selection of racial spells than some classes (I'm looking at you, Ranger and EK). Seriously, standard spell progression is a cantrip, level 1 spell at 3rd level, and a level 2 spell at 5th level, and you can cast these once per day each. What you've got blows everything else like it out of the water.

So what if you're only "limited" to certain schools? You're already a quarter-caster, and with your traits and ASIs, you'd do well as a sorcerer, warlock, paladin (healing spells may be evocation, but they don't need any proficiency) rogue, or bard. Especially bard.

Cunning + Lucky is just really, really, strong, and when backed up with decent ASIs and what amounts to a class's spell list, it's simply too much.

JMR
2018-07-01, 12:05 PM
That just made me rethink this, so if a leprechaun was say to become a fighter it would be doing so at the cost of forsaking it's innate spell casting by not embracing it. So with that said it can be left with minor illusion and vicious mockery or friends, all of which your spell casting modifier is charisma.

JMR
2018-07-01, 12:07 PM
All the others will be added in as a a class feature to compensate for the restrictive illusion/enchantment selection.

JMR
2018-07-01, 12:14 PM
Also did you take into account that the pot is in a fixed location. So the detect thoughts and bag of holding would be limited to where the leprechaun stashed his pot. It would not be taken with him on an adventure. It's a Iron pot, and a leprechaun is a small creature the only way i can see it coming with him would be if he had someone else carry it, but that could be a restriction where a leprechaun would never allow another creature to touch his pot. lol. As i said I intended the pot to be used as fluff not a adventuring feature. Something to allow the DM to create adventure with, like someone trying to steal me pot, or a group of farmers trying to capture me for the location of me pot. Edit: Or even as a variant option up to the discretion of the DM.

JMR
2018-07-01, 01:12 PM
Alright check this out, i made a spreadsheet of all features it will have and placed the values next to each. 30.5 is what i came out to, if i subtract the speak with animals i come out to 28.5. I subtracted 3 from the standard spell selection because they are very specific and modified spells.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EWFedEfLJDMygblegGrG4vnquS6pb1Ez3BgUoWhKApA/edit?usp=sharing

JNAProductions
2018-07-01, 01:50 PM
ASIs: 12
Size: 0
Speed: -2
Leprechaun Cunning: 7
Leprechaun Nimbleness: 2
Leprechaun Magic: You valued it at 6. But that's 1 Cantrip, 1 1st level spell at 3, and 1 2nd level spell at 5. You get:
6 Cantrips, although limited in use. Still, really valuable.
Three casts from a list of four 1st level spells at 3rd level.
Two casts from a list of four 2nd level spells at 5th.
True Sight at level 11 for one minute a day.

That's WAY MORE THAN STANDARD. By a country mile. I'd value it as LEAST twice as good, possibly more than twice as good.
So yeah, that's, minimum, 12.
Biased Spellcasting: -2 or maybe -3. It's easy to build around so you never need save DCs for the spells from other schools, and is outright nothing on someone who doesn't cast.
Darkvision: 3
Pot O' Gold: I'll value that at 1. You didn't even include it in your write-up, and while if it's immobile, it's not TERRIBLY useful, it can still be good.
Keen Senses: 2
Languages: 0

Total: At least 34. You have seriously undervalued some of your features.

JMR
2018-07-01, 01:55 PM
I redid the spell list and removed the true sight now its just 3 spells a cantrip, identify (illusion and enchantment only), and detect magic (illusion and enchantment only, and locate object (gold coins only) all at will and i removed the biased spell casting feature. I posted a link to a spreadsheet lists the point values i placed on all of those. Edit: Also the dark vision is outdoors only, so i feel it is half effective.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EWFedEfLJDMygblegGrG4vnquS6pb1Ez3BgUoWhKApA/edit?usp=sharing

BerzerkerUnit
2018-07-03, 10:48 PM
I'm always very wary granting at-will versions of non-cantrip spells, even with limited functionality. At-Will detect magic that affects illusion is nearly trueseeing when you consider how it would work.