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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Desert, Jungle, & Sea Dwarves.



sandmote
2019-12-30, 10:27 PM
This page on the homebrewery (https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/SJ3xaVO1I)

Desert Dwarves
Desert dwarves live in rocky desert and compacted river valleys, setting up corridors of trade across otherwise barren lands. As such a dwarf, you are used to keeping an eye out for bandits and brigands, as well as quickly passing through expanses of open sand.

ASI
Your Intelligence score increases by 1.

Sand Step
Desert Dwarves have a wide step, adjusted for the desert dunes. You can move across difficult terrain made of unstable particles like sand or dust without expending extra movement.

Night Travelers
Desert Dwarves spend the broiling day indoors, to avoid the extreme heat, going out as dusk and working till dawn. You’re naturally adapted to cold climates, as described in chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide.

Perpetual Lookout
Desert Dwarves are keen to spot treachery and find a good deal. You have proficiency in the Insight skill.

Internal Compass
Desert Dwarves live in regions with few recognizable landmarks, and have developed a superior ability to orient themselves using the sun, sky, and stars above. You add double your proficiency bonus to checks made to determine your direction or general location.

This replaces the stonecunning trait.

Tool Proficiency
You gain proficiency with the artisan’s tools of your choice: brewer’s supplies, glassblower's tools, or potter's tools.

This replaces the tool proficiency of the default dwarf race.

Jungle Dwarves
As a jungle dwarf, you are accustomed to using less equipment than other dwarves, given the difficulty of large scale mining beneath the dense and waterlogged canopy. To compensate for this, jungle dwarves train to more effectively dodge attacks.

ASI
Your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Evasive
Jungle Dwarves have abandoned most types of armor in their humid, warm environment, and instead train to more effectively dodge attacks. Your Dexterity modifier gains a +1 bonus for the purposes of determining your AC. You lose this bonus while wearing armor.

Woodcunning
Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of wooden items, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.

This replaces the stonecunning trait.

Tool Proficiency
You gain proficiency with the artisan’s tools of your choice: brewer’s supplies, leatherworker's tools, or woodcarver's tools.

This replaces the tool proficiency of the default dwarf race.

Sea Dwarves
As a sea dwarf, you were likely raised on the edge of the waves, learning to adjust to sudden storms on the coast or aboard ships. You are also likely more familiar with bronze than iron, as seawater quickly rust iron away. This dependency on a metal alloy has developed a trading culture among the sea dwarves.

ASI
Your Charisma score increases by 1.

Strong Swimmers
As a seagoing people, Sea Dwarves spend plenty of time in the water. You have a 20 foot swim speed.

Rapid Protection
Sea Dwarves regularly train to respond to threats quickly and efficiently. You can don and doff armor at an increased speed as shown on the table below.



Category
Don
Doff


Light Armor
3 rounds
3 rounds


Medium Armor
1 minute
3 rounds


Heavy Armor
5 minutes
1 minute


Shield
1 action or bonus action
1 action or bonus action




Sea Legs
Sea Dwarves are perfectly at home on the decks of ships, even in rolling waves. You have proficiency in the Acrobatics skill.

Woodcunning
Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of wooden items, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.

This replaces the stonecunning trait.

Tool Proficiency
You gain proficiency with the artisan’s tools of your choice: brewer’s supplies, navigator's tools, or woodcarver's tools.

This replaces the tool proficiency of the default dwarf race.


desert dwarves had advantage against the frighted condition.

Weapon Familiarity
Jungle Dwarves use everyday weapons other races use as specialized weapons. For you, flails, nets, scimitars, and shortswords count as simple weapons for the purposes of class weapon proficiencies and the class abilities based on them.

Thunder resistance for the sea dwarves.

Grognerd
2019-12-30, 11:16 PM
All three of these seem grossly overpowered. The two subraces in the PHB have a +1 or +2 attribute modifier and one additional racial feature. All three of these have the +1, and also multiple features that collectively seem to balance higher than the single features of the PHB subraces.

For the desert dwarves, the exchanges are useful and help balance things, but a free skill proficiency, advantage on some of the most common Wisdom saves, and the ability to ignore difficult terrain provide a lot of extra ability.

Sea dwarves with both damage resistance and a free skill? Yeah... that's just a nope.

The jungle dwarves are the most balanced, especially since the Evasive feature is lost when wearing armor.

sandmote
2019-12-31, 12:05 PM
All three of these seem grossly overpowered. The two subraces in the PHB have a +1 or +2 attribute modifier and one additional racial feature. All three of these have the +1, and also multiple features that collectively seem to balance higher than the single features of the PHB subraces.

For the desert dwarves, the exchanges are useful and help balance things, but a free skill proficiency, advantage on some of the most common Wisdom saves, and the ability to ignore difficult terrain provide a lot of extra ability.

Sea dwarves with both damage resistance and a free skill? Yeah... that's just a nope.

The jungle dwarves are the most balanced, especially since the Evasive feature is lost when wearing armor. I'm interested in what your calculations are, as I counted the Jungle dwarves to be the strongest of the three.

From Detect Balance:

+1 ASI = +4
1 skill proficiency = +2
Advantage against being frightened = +2
Lighting resistance = +3
Ignoring a rare type of rough terrain = +1

So the Desert and Sea dwarves both add up to +9, same as the Hill Dwarves. Meanwhile, I estimated Evasive at +5, making Jungle Dwarves one point stronger, and equal to the Mountain Dwarves.

JNAProductions
2019-12-31, 01:26 PM
I don't think they're nearly as OP as Grognerd said, but I do agree they're a bit overtuned. Nothing that'd beak the game, but you could pare back the abilities a little.

saucerhead
2019-12-31, 07:03 PM
While I can get the intended feel for both the jungle and desert dwarves, I must admit the sea-dwarves are a bit lost on me. I don't see them as clearly defined from what normal hill or mountain dwarves are. There would be clans of hill dwarves that live on the coast and are nautical in tradition for generations. How exactly are these dwarves so distinct? Is it just that they don't dig underground or mine? I get the lightning resistance idea is kind of tempest themed, but I feel it would be better left to a tempest cleric class. Sea dwarves could have twice or three times the length of ability to hold their breath, or a rooted stance so they couldn't be shoved overboard instead. I could even see them as the best race at whale hunting if you gave them cold resistance rather than lightning.

All in all, I don't see any of them as really over-powered and should work just fine.

Grognerd
2020-01-01, 05:29 PM
I'm interested in what your calculations are, as I counted the Jungle dwarves to be the strongest of the three.


Well, I definitely disagree with Detect Balance (at least if you are using the same resource that I've seen with that title) and think that the evaluations in that document are horrible. BUT... if you think that it's a valid document, then I'll withdraw my concern.

As for my calculations: nothing formal. More of a comparison of your subrace abilities with the listed PH abilities and comparison of relative power levels based on considerable experience.

sandmote
2020-01-01, 09:48 PM
To be open about it, I'm a bit concerned the responses I'm getting are biased by the relative number of characters between my homebrew subraces verses the ones in the PH.


I don't think they're nearly as OP as Grognerd said, but I do agree they're a bit overtuned. Nothing that'd beak the game, but you could pare back the abilities a little.
For the desert dwarves I'd rather keep Sand Step. Should I simply drop Brave, or is there room to replace it with something weaker?

I guess Weapon Familiarity is really all I can drop for the Jungle Dwarves.


While I can get the intended feel for both the jungle and desert dwarves, I must admit the sea-dwarves are a bit lost on me. I don't see them as clearly defined from what normal hill or mountain dwarves are. There would be clans of hill dwarves that live on the coast and are nautical in tradition for generations. How exactly are these dwarves so distinct? Is it just that they don't dig underground or mine? I get the lightning resistance idea is kind of tempest themed, but I feel it would be better left to a tempest cleric class. Sea dwarves could have twice or three times the length of ability to hold their breath, or a rooted stance so they couldn't be shoved overboard instead. I could even see them as the best race at whale hunting if you gave them cold resistance rather than lightning.

Yep; I intend the sea dwarves to live on the surface, both of the ocean and the coast. As a replacement for storm resistance, would it fit to have a 20 foot swim speed and being able to don/doff armor faster?


Well, I definitely disagree with Detect Balance (at least if you are using the same resource that I've seen with that title) and think that the evaluations in that document are horrible. BUT... if you think that it's a valid document, then I'll withdraw my concern.

As for my calculations: nothing formal. More of a comparison of your subrace abilities with the listed PH abilities and comparison of relative power levels based on considerable experience. I'm not going to claim detect balance is great. Notably, not all +3 ASIs are actually equal and it doesn't give bonus points for positive synergy. However, my goal is to have 2-3 weaker abilities, as opposed to the PH subrace's 1-2 stronger ones (including neither the first +1 nor stonecunning/tool proficiency replacements in those totals).

sandmote
2020-01-04, 03:25 PM
I've added a bit of fluff to the three subraces.

sandmote
2020-01-26, 04:15 PM
Welp, I've got a replacement for brave that's weaker, so I've updated the subraces