HeroSpirit
2018-11-23, 10:02 PM
So I really want to play a tiny race in DnD5e, and have been trying to convince my DM to let me run a homebrew race of one of my favorite creatures in the game, the Sprites. He told me to draw up a scheme of their racial traits and he'll either say yay or nay (his decision being final). I found this race on the DnD wiki (can't post the link because forum rules) and decided to make an adaptation of it, but I want to show it here so I can get it perfect and then get the thumbs up from our benevolent god in robes. I want the racial features to be cool, to make sense for a faerie character, and to diversify the subraces so I have some options in terms of class. Lemme know what needs to be changed, and what needs to be phased out entirely.
Please remember the content here is an adaptation of a pre-existing homebrew race of the same name on DnD Wiki.
Faerie Folk Traits
Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Age: Faerie folk are born of the Feywild, and do not age as normal races do, and after reaching maturity they do not visibly age and only die from either wound or disease. The average lifespan of a Faerie Folk is 250 years.
Size: Faerie folk are usually between 6 inches to 1 foot in height. Your size is Tiny.
Speed: 30 feet.
Faerie Mobility: As a faerie, you rarely use your legs and are more akin to using your wings to move. So long as you are able to use your wings, your walking and flying speeds are synonymous, and can be treated interchangeably for the purpose of spells and abilities which affect movement speed. You can hover without effort if you are no more than 10 feet off the ground. If you are more than 10 feet off the ground when you end your turn, you will be forced to descend until you are within 10 feet of the ground. If you are in a situation where you cannot use your wings, or cannot fly, you lose all these benefits and your speed is reduced to 5 feet.
Frail: Faerie folk have tiny bodies and are not made for manual labor. You have disadvantage on all Strength checks, as well as disadvantage on Strength and Constitution saving throws. You cannot become proficient in Athletics or in Strength or Constitution saving throws. You can lift no more than 10 pounds.
Nimble: You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours and may end your turn in another creature of a size larger than your own. Your melee attacks have a reach of 0 feet.
Tiny Stuff: The gear granted to you by your class and background are assumed to have come from your faerie community and be crafted to suit your size. Any gear you wear must either be of a size you can properly handle, or be affected by the “Faerie Dust” trait. Any weapons you start with all have the “light” property if they are one handed, and lose the “heavy” property if they have it.
Fey Ancestry: You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep.
Natures Child: Children of the Feywild have a native gift for the natural world. You are proficient in the Nature skill.
Faerie and Folk: Your creature type is considered to be both humanoid and fey.
Language: You can read, write, and speak both Common and Sylvan.
---Subrace---
As a faerie folk you must choose from one of three subraces: sprite, pixie, or sylph.
--Sprites--
You have two sets of wings which are see-through, and you have a sheen that shows in a single color; the patterns your wings carry are often entrancing. When you fly, your wings make a noticable, faint hum detectable by normal ears.
Ability Score Increase: Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Hardy Halfpint: You no longer have disadvantage on strength checks, strength savings throws, or constitution saving throws, but you cannot gain advantage in them. Your body can lift up to 20 pounds, despite your size. When wielding a weapon of your size, you follow the same rules that Small creatures do.
Sprite Savvy: Your people are exceptional at innately figuring out the intricacies of tools and how to use them, even without formal training. You are proficient in any single weapon of your choice, as well as any single artisan tool, musical instrument, or gaming set.
--Pixies--
Your wings resemble that of a butterfly or moth, and produce a fine loose powder that trails behind you in a color to match your wings; wings can range in many different shades and colors. Many patterns carry multiple colors while some only carry a single color in varying shades; your wings may also come in many designs that are both elegant and subtle. The dust that your wings naturally produce leaves a mostly-unnoticeable trail, and the dust is traceable using anything that detects magic.
Ability Score Increase: Your Charisma score increases by 1.
Weave of the Wild: Your people are renowned for being able to commune with nature as a means of performing miracles. You are proficient in the herbalism kit. You may use any ordinary plants as spellcasting focuses (such as twigs, leaves, flowers, etc), regardless of your class.
Fairy Dust: Your body constantly emits a special dust with magical properties. Whenever you encounter an object that is too big for you to carry or move, you can use an action to sprinkle it with fairy dust and shrink it to a size more befitting for you. Your dust doesn’t affect living things or magical objects, and the object in question must be able to fit in a 5x5 cube, This change lasts for as long as the object is near you or on your person, or it will gradually return to normal size over the course of 10 minutes. Once you’ve used this trait, you cannot use it again until after you’ve finished a long rest. Weapons you apply your dust to have their damage rolls reduced by 1 dice size. For the duration, any one-handed weapon gains the “light” property if it doesn’t have it already, and any weapons which have the ‘heavy” property lose that property.
--Sylph--
You possess a set of four wings all in highly-intricate, ornate shapes. Your wings shine brightly with a glossy sheen in sunlight, but grow dull and dark during the night. When you fly, your wings gently wiggle rather than flutter or buzz in a way that theoretically shouldn’t allow you to fly, but allows you to nonetheless.
Ability Score Increase: Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Effortless Flight: Your people seemingly float more so than they do fly. As a result, staying aloft is a seemingly effortless task for you. You may remain flying even when your speed drops to 0 (though you can only hover in place). Being knocked prone still causes you to fall to the ground, but you expend only 5 feet of movement to stand up and regain loft. You may also fall asleep while flying, but fall if you’re forcibly knocked unconscious.
Sylph Magic: Your people are known for their strong emphasis on magical study and practicality. Choose one of the following:
Innate Sylph Study: You know 1 cantrip from the druid spell list besides Shillelagh. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it.
Sylvian Step: If you haven't expended any movement this turn, you can use an action to temporarily commune with the Feywild, and teleport 5 feet in any direction. You must be able to see the destination. When you use this trait as an action, you may also use a bonus action to teleport an additional 5 feet with a consecutive teleport. When you use your Sylvian Step, it’s minorly exhausting, and you can only move half your speed until the start of your next turn. Your teleport produces an faint, audible sound detectable within 10 feet of both your starting point and your destination.
Please remember the content here is an adaptation of a pre-existing homebrew race of the same name on DnD Wiki.
Faerie Folk Traits
Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Age: Faerie folk are born of the Feywild, and do not age as normal races do, and after reaching maturity they do not visibly age and only die from either wound or disease. The average lifespan of a Faerie Folk is 250 years.
Size: Faerie folk are usually between 6 inches to 1 foot in height. Your size is Tiny.
Speed: 30 feet.
Faerie Mobility: As a faerie, you rarely use your legs and are more akin to using your wings to move. So long as you are able to use your wings, your walking and flying speeds are synonymous, and can be treated interchangeably for the purpose of spells and abilities which affect movement speed. You can hover without effort if you are no more than 10 feet off the ground. If you are more than 10 feet off the ground when you end your turn, you will be forced to descend until you are within 10 feet of the ground. If you are in a situation where you cannot use your wings, or cannot fly, you lose all these benefits and your speed is reduced to 5 feet.
Frail: Faerie folk have tiny bodies and are not made for manual labor. You have disadvantage on all Strength checks, as well as disadvantage on Strength and Constitution saving throws. You cannot become proficient in Athletics or in Strength or Constitution saving throws. You can lift no more than 10 pounds.
Nimble: You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours and may end your turn in another creature of a size larger than your own. Your melee attacks have a reach of 0 feet.
Tiny Stuff: The gear granted to you by your class and background are assumed to have come from your faerie community and be crafted to suit your size. Any gear you wear must either be of a size you can properly handle, or be affected by the “Faerie Dust” trait. Any weapons you start with all have the “light” property if they are one handed, and lose the “heavy” property if they have it.
Fey Ancestry: You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep.
Natures Child: Children of the Feywild have a native gift for the natural world. You are proficient in the Nature skill.
Faerie and Folk: Your creature type is considered to be both humanoid and fey.
Language: You can read, write, and speak both Common and Sylvan.
---Subrace---
As a faerie folk you must choose from one of three subraces: sprite, pixie, or sylph.
--Sprites--
You have two sets of wings which are see-through, and you have a sheen that shows in a single color; the patterns your wings carry are often entrancing. When you fly, your wings make a noticable, faint hum detectable by normal ears.
Ability Score Increase: Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Hardy Halfpint: You no longer have disadvantage on strength checks, strength savings throws, or constitution saving throws, but you cannot gain advantage in them. Your body can lift up to 20 pounds, despite your size. When wielding a weapon of your size, you follow the same rules that Small creatures do.
Sprite Savvy: Your people are exceptional at innately figuring out the intricacies of tools and how to use them, even without formal training. You are proficient in any single weapon of your choice, as well as any single artisan tool, musical instrument, or gaming set.
--Pixies--
Your wings resemble that of a butterfly or moth, and produce a fine loose powder that trails behind you in a color to match your wings; wings can range in many different shades and colors. Many patterns carry multiple colors while some only carry a single color in varying shades; your wings may also come in many designs that are both elegant and subtle. The dust that your wings naturally produce leaves a mostly-unnoticeable trail, and the dust is traceable using anything that detects magic.
Ability Score Increase: Your Charisma score increases by 1.
Weave of the Wild: Your people are renowned for being able to commune with nature as a means of performing miracles. You are proficient in the herbalism kit. You may use any ordinary plants as spellcasting focuses (such as twigs, leaves, flowers, etc), regardless of your class.
Fairy Dust: Your body constantly emits a special dust with magical properties. Whenever you encounter an object that is too big for you to carry or move, you can use an action to sprinkle it with fairy dust and shrink it to a size more befitting for you. Your dust doesn’t affect living things or magical objects, and the object in question must be able to fit in a 5x5 cube, This change lasts for as long as the object is near you or on your person, or it will gradually return to normal size over the course of 10 minutes. Once you’ve used this trait, you cannot use it again until after you’ve finished a long rest. Weapons you apply your dust to have their damage rolls reduced by 1 dice size. For the duration, any one-handed weapon gains the “light” property if it doesn’t have it already, and any weapons which have the ‘heavy” property lose that property.
--Sylph--
You possess a set of four wings all in highly-intricate, ornate shapes. Your wings shine brightly with a glossy sheen in sunlight, but grow dull and dark during the night. When you fly, your wings gently wiggle rather than flutter or buzz in a way that theoretically shouldn’t allow you to fly, but allows you to nonetheless.
Ability Score Increase: Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Effortless Flight: Your people seemingly float more so than they do fly. As a result, staying aloft is a seemingly effortless task for you. You may remain flying even when your speed drops to 0 (though you can only hover in place). Being knocked prone still causes you to fall to the ground, but you expend only 5 feet of movement to stand up and regain loft. You may also fall asleep while flying, but fall if you’re forcibly knocked unconscious.
Sylph Magic: Your people are known for their strong emphasis on magical study and practicality. Choose one of the following:
Innate Sylph Study: You know 1 cantrip from the druid spell list besides Shillelagh. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it.
Sylvian Step: If you haven't expended any movement this turn, you can use an action to temporarily commune with the Feywild, and teleport 5 feet in any direction. You must be able to see the destination. When you use this trait as an action, you may also use a bonus action to teleport an additional 5 feet with a consecutive teleport. When you use your Sylvian Step, it’s minorly exhausting, and you can only move half your speed until the start of your next turn. Your teleport produces an faint, audible sound detectable within 10 feet of both your starting point and your destination.