Harengon Character Ideas?

[Yakmala]

So, with Wild Beyond the Witchlight about to hit the shelves and the D&D celebration coming up, I'm looking to play a Harengon (Rabbitfolk) in an upcoming game next week.

Here's some info about the new race: https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1074-new-d-d-race-get-a-sneak-peek-at-harengons-from

My initial thought was a Harengon War Wizard. Rabbits are naturally twitchy, so the combination of War Magic's Tactical Wit, the Harengon's Hare-Trigger and picking up the Alert feat at level 4 would give a Harengon War Wizard +13 to initiative at Level 4, which is great for getting off a vital control spell at the start of a battle.

What are your thoughts on fun and mechanically advantageous Harengon builds?

[Abracadangit]

So, with Wild Beyond the Witchlight about to hit the shelves and the D&D celebration coming up, I'm looking to play a Harengon (Rabbitfolk) in an upcoming game next week.

Here's some info about the new race: https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1074-new-d-d-race-get-a-sneak-peek-at-harengons-from

My initial thought was a Harengon War Wizard. Rabbits are naturally twitchy, so the combination of War Magic's Tactical Wit, the Harengon's Hare-Trigger and picking up the Alert feat at level 4 would give a Harengon War Wizard +13 to initiative at Level 4, which is great for getting off a vital control spell at the start of a battle.

What are your thoughts on fun and mechanically advantageous Harengon builds?

That's a fantastic idea!

Some quick ones off the top of my head:

--Rogue with 2-level Wizard (Divination) dip and Lucky + Crossbow Expert feats: a wisecracking, hand-crossbow-wielding thief with good-luck rabbit's-foot powers that allow them to make wild ricocheting shots and evade enemy attacks with magical luck

--Drunken Master Monk: an acrobatic jackrabbit brawler who fights primarily with kicks, and bounces from one opponent to the next

--Druid: Goodberry but with carrots, because c'mon

I'm not making great use of any of their racial abilities in these, but I'll workshop 'em.

[Nidgit]

Beast Barbarian for full Bunnicula bites. Advantage on Dex saves and initiative plus Pounce makes for a very bouncy bruiser.

[Unoriginal]

Harengon Monk. Movement & Rabbit Punch.

Harengon Beast Barbarian, for " Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog" feel.

[Amnestic]

Hare Trigger works with Reliable Talent for initiative on rogues.

There's a stupid gimmick assassin build (Rog 11/Gloomstalker 3-5/Fighter 4-6?) that makes use of that but it's only really worth it if you're likely to get a lot of Surprise in, like any assassin. Still, it's easier when you can guarantee your initiative is going to be a minimum of 19-21 (plus an extra +5 if you grab Alert). At some point there's diminishing returns on initiative stacking of course, but still...neat, I guess? I'd probably only look to play this in a silly solo campaign or one in which the rest of the party was also very sneaky-like.

But it does promise the ability to delete a priority target in the first round when it works, so that's neat.

[Naanomi]

Do things that enhance jump distance add to the movement? Tiger totem barbarian/thief rogue/champion/etc?

[Brookshw]

My initial thought was a Harengon War Wizard. Rabbits are naturally twitchy,

Nothing mechanical to add, but I'm getting a chuckle at the idea of a Harengon that's so tightly wound it immediately, and blindly, reacts to anything that surprises it with powerful evocations. Stress on the "anything", and not just monsters.

[nickl_2000]

Personally, I want to make a dex based Ranger or Fighter who is skilled with a Sabre and Longbow.

Eats excessive amounts of food when it is available, is a very skilled runner, and shouts Eulalia as he runs into battle.

[Willie the Duck]

Ilusionist or Arcane Trickster who picks up Invisibility and then Improved Invisibility at the first opportunity. Name him 'Harvey.'

Aberrant Mind Sorcerer focusing on Phantasmal Force, Hypnotic Pattern, etc. Name him 'Fiver.'

[Yakmala]

Great ideas! I particularly like Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog references!

I also read another player's idea on a different forum suggesting a Harengon Swarm Ranger, with the swarm being the Ranger's litter of baby bunnies, which might be the most adorable character idea I've ever heard.

[Nod_Hero]

I've had a lot of fun with a (UA) Rabbitfolk Echo Knight.
We reskinned all the Echo stuff as vibrational/superspeed abilities, as the twitchy rabbit just hops a phase out of itself...


Phase Knight
A mysterious and feared frontline warrior, the Phase Knight has mastered the art of using vibrational powers to project phase images of themselves to aid them in battle. Surrounded by these mostly intangible avatars, they charge into the fray as a cycling swarm of silhouettes and strikes.

➢ Phase Projection (3rd-level Phase Knight feature)
You can use a bonus action to magically manifest a phase of yourself in an unoccupied space you can see within 15 feet of you. This phase is a magical, translucent, gray image of you that lasts until it is destroyed, until you dismiss it as a bonus action, until you manifest another phase, or until you are incapacitated.
Your phase has AC 14 + your proficiency bonus, 1 hit point, and immunity to all conditions. If it must make a saving throw, it uses your saving throw bonus for the roll. It is the same size as you, and it occupies its space. On your turn, you can mentally command the phase to move up to 30 feet in any direction (no action required). If your phase is ever more than 30 feet from you at the end of your turn, it is destroyed.
You can use the phase in the following ways:
• As a bonus action, you can magically swap places with your phase at a cost of 15 feet of your movement, regardless of the distance between the two of you.
• When you take the Attack action on your turn, any attack you make with that action can originate from your space or the phase's space. You make this choice for each attack.
• When a creature that you can see within 5 feet of your phase moves at least 5 feet away from it, you can use your reaction to make an opportunity attack against that creature as if you were in the phase's space.

➢ Flash Density (3rd-level Phase Knight feature)
You can briefly heighten your phase's effectiveness. Whenever you take the Attack action, you can make one additional melee attack from the phase's position. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier (a minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

➢ Synchronization (7th-level Phase Knight feature)
You can temporarily transfer your consciousness to your phase. As an action, you can see through your phase's eyes and hear through its ears. During this time, you are deafened and blinded. You can sustain this effect for up to 10 minutes, and you can end it at any time (requires no action). While your phase is being used in this way, it can be up to 1,000 feet away from you without being destroyed.

➢ Oscillation Shift (10th-level Phase Knight feature)
You can make your phase throw itself in front of an attack directed at another creature that you can see. Before the attack roll is made, you can use your reaction to instantly move the phase to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the targeted creature. The attack roll that triggered the reaction is instead made against your phase. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

➢ Reverberation (15th-level Phase Knight feature)
You have learned to absorb the fleeting magic of your phase. When a phase of yours is destroyed by taking damage, you can gain a number of temporary hit points equal to 2d6 + your Constitution modifier, provided you don't already have temporary hit points. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier (a minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

➢ Concurrent Projection (18th-level Phase Knight feature)
You can use a bonus action to create two memories with your Phase Projection feature, and these memories can coexist. If you try to create a third phase, the previous two phases are destroyed. Anything you can do from one phase's position can be done from the others instead.
In addition, when you roll initiative and have no uses of your Flash Strike feature left, you regain one use of that feature.

[Unoriginal]

Personally, I want to make a dex based Ranger or Fighter who is skilled with a Sabre and Longbow.

Eats excessive amounts of food when it is available, is a very skilled runner, and shouts Eulalia as he runs into battle.

Redwall hare?

[solidork]

I want to play a Trickery cleric. Mobility is one of the cleric's biggest weaknesses, so the hop seems pretty cool for that. Enhancing initiative and dex saves also seems good.

It would also be fun to polymorph into rabbit versions of different animals, like a T-Rex with bunny ears.

[nickl_2000]

Redwall hare?

Yup, the Long Patrol member at Salamaderstron (sp?) from the Redwall books.

[Darthnazrael]

I think they make natural casters, for the reason you say, the initiative. But the other features can be very beneficial to casters as well.

• Many dex save spells are high-damage (Fireball, for example), meaning they're great Concentration-breakers. So succeeding on that dex save is a great way to avoid losing Concentration on a spell. I think Bards and Clerics are the most likely to get value out of this, as they have fewer good reaction spells to save their Reaction for, as opposed to the classes with access to Absorb Elements and Shield.
• The bonus action disengage is obviously nice as an escape for casters without Misty Step, especially those that have a bonus action to spare. Since there are no bonus action cantrips, and most casters are spending their action casting a spell, caster bonus actions tend to be more available than martial bonus actions.

[Saelethil]

From a mechanical standpoint I agree with those saying casters. I think they would make a really good Cleric. In a different direction, I have an image in my head of an albino rabbit who got stuck in the Underdark and adapted to survive. For that one I’d go Gloomstalker 3/ Shadow Monk x with the Blindfighting style.

[Zhorn]

Beast Barbarian for full Bunnicula bites. Advantage on Dex saves and initiative plus Pounce makes for a very bouncy bruiser.
Loving the idea of Rabbit Hop + the jump boost for Beastial Soul, a single jump zooms past all the mooks and minions to get up in the face of a priority target.

[Corey]

I don't have any mechanical ideas to add at the moment either, but I'd like to suggest character names Anya/Anyanka.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLMaSII_URU

[Zhorn]

I'd like to suggest character names Anya/Anyanka.
not Usagi Yojimbo Miyamoto? :smallbiggrin:

[Phhase]

Honestly, I'm a little confused over why the race exists. Was it being asked for? No judgement on the mechanics, but it seems a little...eh? Is this really the best use of design space? I'd rather see something weird, like an Ethergaunt perhaps.

As far as character ideas, how about you give him blue fur and build the Nice Cream vendor guy from Undertale? Give him the Healer and Chef feats, Shape Water, and start handing out icecream and mochi. Maybe even try the UA Tranquility Monk if you wanna commit to the Nice theme, otherwise pick something like Life Cleric or maybe Land (Arctic) druid. Heck, throw in some Storm Herald (Tundra) barbarian to do some tanking and have an ice buffing aura. Another interesting mix-in could be Giant Sorcerer (Frost) for really thick Armor of Agathys casts to turn yourself into an icecream.

(Full disclosure, the icecream part specifically was not my idea originally)

Edit: just read the OP again and saw "mechanically advantageous" oh well, too late. Head is full of icecream now.

[Dark.Revenant]

Honestly, I'm a little confused over why the race exists. Was it being asked for? No judgement on the mechanics, but it seems a little...eh? Is this really the best use of design space?

The rabbitfolk NPCs were very popular with the adventure testing teams, expressing internally to WotC that they wanted the race to be playable. WotC threw them into a UA to see what the public feedback would be. The feedback came back overwhelmingly positive. So, rabbitfolk (renamed Harengon) made the cut and were included as an official race.

[KyleG]

Gotta be a bard...Roger Rabbit. Ahooga@!!!

[Phhase]

The rabbitfolk NPCs were very popular with the adventure testing teams, expressing internally to WotC that they wanted the race to be playable. WotC threw them into a UA to see what the public feedback would be. The feedback came back overwhelmingly positive. So, rabbitfolk (renamed Harengon) made the cut and were included as an official race.

I guess that explains that. Point stands, though.

[BBQ Pork]

Bunny Pirate. Swashbuckler Rogue with Initiative of 1d20+Dex Mod+Cha Mod+Proficiency Bonus and multiple mobility options.

Dread Pirate Roberts? No, you misheard. It's the Dread Pirate RABBITS you got to worry about.

[Wizard_Lizard]

Hare Trigger works with Reliable Talent for initiative on rogues.

There's a stupid gimmick assassin build (Rog 11/Gloomstalker 3-5/Fighter 4-6?) that makes use of that but it's only really worth it if you're likely to get a lot of Surprise in, like any assassin. Still, it's easier when you can guarantee your initiative is going to be a minimum of 19-21 (plus an extra +5 if you grab Alert). At some point there's diminishing returns on initiative stacking of course, but still...neat, I guess? I'd probably only look to play this in a silly solo campaign or one in which the rest of the party was also very sneaky-like.

But it does promise the ability to delete a priority target in the first round when it works, so that's neat.

Use a crossbow, call them Hanregon and make them alwaysss shoot first!

[Bobthewizard]

I'm about to start a campaign with a Harengon chronurgy wizard with a stopwatch who is always "late. I'm late for a very important date."

[Merudo]

Harengon is pretty strong and probably a better alternative to the Goblin for spellcaster, at least at higher levels or in campaigns where lack of Darkvision is not an issue.

Rabbit Hop is a lifesaver, allowing you to disengage *and* move without spending movement, all as a bonus action. You can also jump straight up and reach high places. It's better than the Goblin's Nimble Escape for escape, although it is limited to proficiency mod times in a day day. As a Goblin I almost never had to disengage more than 3-4 times in an adventuring day, so at higher levels I don't think the limited usage would be much of an issue.

Hare-Trigger adds the proficiency mod to initiative. Eventually this becomes a +6 to initiative - more than the Alert feat gives you! Extremely useful, especially for spellcasters.

Lucky Footwork is great against traps and other out-of-combat hazard. In combat, it competes with better reactions such as Shield or Absorb Element. Still, rolling a free 1d4 is good, and can make the difference between getting restrained / knocked prone or resisting the effect.

You also get proficiency in Perception. Which is great, since every character probably wants that proficiency anyway.

[KorvinStarmast]

The most important thing on a Harengon is to get the name right.
"My name is Abbott, Peter Abbott." :smallwink:

[ChaosStar]

I've been thinking of a Psi Knight/Soulknife multiclass for a while now, and the Harengon has caused me to think about it some more. Does anybody know if Crawford has weighted in on whether Extra Attack works with Psychic Blades? Regardless I was thinking maybe an 8/12 split? Just think of it though, a Psychic Rabbit throwing knives of Psychic Energy around and hopping about the battlefield.

[Yakmala]

Another idea I've been kicking around is a Harengon Oath of the Watchers Paladin, a guardian of both the prime material plane and the feywild.

The combination of Hare-Trigger and Aura of the Sentinel gives the character Proficiency x2 to initiative. They'd likely be dexterity based as well, boosting this further. They'd be quick to engage (+10 to initiative at Level 7, +13 by level 9) and the rest of the party would be fast out of the starting gate as well thanks to the benefit of the aura.

Because the character prides themselves on being fleet of foot, a dip into Swashbuckler could take the concept further, enhancing their mobility and boosting initiative even higher.

[GtNasty]

I going to roll a Harengon Bladesinger for my group's next campaign. I feel as though all the traits will work really well for that class, and I love the picture in my head I have for my character :smallsmile:

[Sception]

My favorite subclass is Conquest Paladin, and I'm always looking for interesting new Conqueror options. Harengon may not be quite on par with the traditional top tier conqueror race options (Variant Human, Fallen Assimar, Half Elf), but they do actually bring a lot to the table, particularly when it comes to shoring up some typical Conqueror weaknesses. Locking down enemies with frighten effects is great, but there's a big difference between locking down enemies before they've had a chance to act on their own vs. after, and harengon's perception proficiency and initiative bonus really helps here.

Conquerors (like any paladin subclass without misty step as an oath spell) can have difficulty positioning optimally in crowded combat, and the bunny hop really helps with that, too, especially if your DM lets you apply some of that jump movement vertically to hop over enemies (the hop ability is pretty unclear, but personally I'd allow it).

The reaction bonus to dex saves is also nice, since paladins in general can leak hp from dexterity saves. Aura of protection puts strength-based paladins in a place where their dex saves are just low rather than abysmal, and based on my experiences with Bless that little +d4 bonus will often be enough to turn a failure into a success.

Now, granted, Conquest Paladin is a bit of an unlikely thematic fit for harengon, but there's a fantastic pop culture model to draw from in Watership Down's antagonist, General Woundwort. While definitely the villain of the book, Woundwort is still a compelling character with a martial pride and a commitment to fighting back against creatures that normally prey on the rabbits, and it doesn't take much of a twist to turn him into, well, maybe not an outright hero, but at least an anti-hero that could fit in with most adventuring parties.

Here's my own take: https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/Sception/characters/58802799

[Kurt Kurageous]

Honestly, I'm a little confused over why the race exists. Was it being asked for? No judgement on the mechanics, but it seems a little...eh? Is this really the best use of design space?

This is my reaction to everything playable that's coming out since Volos made monsters playable. Especially furry cute stuff.

Question, do Tabaxi, Dragonborn, and Lizardfolk make Rabbit-Folk nervous (ADV intimidation/persuasion)?


The rabbitfolk NPCs were very popular with the adventure testing teams, expressing internally to WotC that they wanted the race to be playable. WotC threw them into a UA to see what the public feedback would be. The feedback came back overwhelmingly positive. So, rabbitfolk (renamed Harengon) made the cut and were included as an official race.

Moms Forever said "Just because it's popular doesn't mean it's right."
As usual, WotC spent no time thinking about why they were popular, or what effect it would have on the game. Everybody likes advantages at no cost. It seems if you don't play one of these, you are not optimized. More bloat/splat/power creeping brings 5e is broken that much closer.

[Sception]

Just because it's popular doesn't make disliking it the superior opinion, either. I get not liking cute stuff, that's an aesthetic preference I can understand even if I don't share it, a perfectly valid reason to not play them yourself or not include them in your homebrew settings as a DM. But like they say, different strokes for different folks. ;-)

As for power creep, Harengon are solid, but I don't think they're outside the established power range for races. IMO they don't top the PHB's own variant human for overall best race in the game - at least if we're not counting 'custom lineage', which is more of an optional alternative to races altogether rather than a race option to be used alongside all the others.

...

Sage advice update answering some of the open questions on how the rabbit hop works:

https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/sage-advice/creature-evolutions

As usual this doesn't carry the weight of errata so you still might see some table variation, but this should consolidate interpretations towards the more favorable readings (the hop doesn't use your normal movement, isn't restricted to vertical or horizontal, the hop can be shorter if you want, the Jump spell can buff hop distance).

Good news all round for Harengon players.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Shadow Monk, with a dip in Rogue for Cunning Action and Stealth expertise.

So you can be hare today, gone tomorrow.




... I'll see myself out.

[Wasp]

A Harengon Clockwork Soul Sorcerer named Ms Ellis forced by the Feywild Inquisition to work for them because the Inquisition acquired an IOU from the the Snowfather where as a child she offered to follow the rules in the future if she would get presents even tough she was naughty over that year. She has to work together with a Tortle Echo Knight(?) bounty hunting escaped criminals.

[nickl_2000]

A Haregon and a Kenku who regularly argue over what season it currently is.

[chainer1216]

Berserker Barbarian named caerbannog.

[Sception]

Berserker Barbarian named caerbannog.

If only berserkers were any good, I would find this sorely tempting. :p

[rlc]

If only berserkers were any good, I would find this sorely tempting. :p

the best way i've roleplayed the exhaustion is by saying that the character was an old guy who just overextended himself in that last fight. it still isn't worth it.