Sterling Vermin presents the Beastfolk, a new race for all your animal people needs!

[sterling vermin]

A catch all for all kinds of animal / people hybrids, the Beastfolk are a race of outsiders whose connection to the natural world is not by choice. Whether born or cursed to their bestial shape, Beastfolk are a diverse lot representing the myriad forms of fauna on their world. With a toolkit approach to representing the broad spectrum of animal life, the Beastfolk were made to let you play any type of animal person you want!

Unleash your beast!

[Final Hyena]

The breed traits are a little uneven when compared to each other.

Also

Natural Talent. Gain proficiency in one skill related your animal breed.

I can see this being a source of arguments and frustrations, why not just give any skill? I mean it's not as strong as the one that gives you proficiency and expertise on handle animals.

[sterling vermin]

The breed traits are a little uneven when compared to each other.

Also

I can see this being a source of arguments and frustrations, why not just give any skill? I mean it's not as strong as the one that gives you proficiency and expertise on handle animals.

Yes, Breed Traits are somewhat uneven although all (or almost all?) are situational so their value will always vary campaign by campaign (or even adventure by adventure) anyway.

As for Natural Talent, I suppose I felt like I should clarify that it should be tied to your animal breed. I didn't really anticipate their would be any arguing at the table mostly because arguing about a skill proficiency seems like a waste of time at absolute best. Maybe it would be better to have some kind of fluffy sentence and then just a sentence that gives you a skill proficiency of your choice? Something like...

"Beasts of the earth, sky, and sea have talents as varied as their shapes. You gain proficiency in a skill of your choice."

[Lord Raziere]

A catch all for all kinds of animal / people hybrids, the Beastfolk are a race of outsiders whose connection to the natural world is not by choice. Whether born or cursed to their bestial shape, Beastfolk are a diverse lot representing the myriad forms of fauna on their world. With a toolkit approach to representing the broad spectrum of animal life, the Beastfolk were made to let you play any type of animal person you want!

Unleash your beast!

As a person who likes Beastfolk, I will see for my self if I like them:

Catfolk?:
Darkvision
Natural Weapon: slashing

Sharkfolk?:
Scalekin
Natural Weapon: piercing

Beefolk:
High Flyer
Natural Weapon: piercing

Octopusfolk?:
Scalekin
Natural Talent: Deceive/Bluff/Deception

Batfolk:
High Flyer
Echolocation

Frogfolk:
Jumper
Scalekin

Chameleonfolk:
Natural Talent: Deceive
Adept Climber

Antfolk:
Burrowing
Keen Sense: Smell

Tortoise-folk:
Natural Armor
Scalekin

Platypus-Folk:
Scalekin
Natural Weapon: poison

Lobster Folk:
Natural Armor
Scalekin


..............hm. its pretty good, I must say, it will probably capture most beastfolk, I'll give it that. whats missing is things for Chameleons and Octopuses, things like camouflage or extra limbs, while Lobsterfolk have the unfortunate problem of having good reason for Natural Armor, Scalekin AND Natural Weapon even though you only get two, however you did design a race that could successfully build the platypus, which is a good thing in my book because platypus's are not the first thing everyone thinks of when making a beastfolk.

I myself would add just a couple more options to clear up certain edge cases, but otherwise its good, and well designed.

[Final Hyena]

Yes, Breed Traits are somewhat uneven although all (or almost all?) are situational so their value will always vary campaign by campaign (or even adventure by adventure) anyway.

Gain a skill
Gain a skill and expertise
Gain a skill and 30 feet climb speed
Gain a skill and advantage on half the checks

Some of the features are just much better than the others.

The feature that gives you +2 ac against an attack a turn would be made simpler with just a flat +1.
Natural weapon feels a bit weak, a D6 would be more reasonable.
The burrow speed has me mixed up, I was trying to find a spell that gave it but can't find one, this makes it hard to compare, my gut reaction says it should be a bit less.

As for Natural Talent, I suppose I felt like I should clarify that it should be tied to your animal breed. I didn't really anticipate their would be any arguing at the table mostly because arguing about a skill proficiency seems like a waste of time at absolute best. Maybe it would be better to have some kind of fluffy sentence and then just a sentence that gives you a skill proficiency of your choice? Something like...

"Beasts of the earth, sky, and sea have talents as varied as their shapes. You gain proficiency in a skill of your choice."

A racial trait that gives you any skill as long as your DM agrees has inherent issues. It slows down character creation, and if your DM disagrees with your view of what skill an animal can get then your character may no longer be what was originally desired. I know it's something that is not going to happen a lot, but your new version is simpler.