Questions tagged [racial-traits]
For questions primarily about racial traits, the quantifiable capabilities or limitations specific to a race or species in tabletop RPGs, such as Dwarves, Orcs, Romulans, etc. (See also: the [races] tag.)
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What is the nature of a hexblood's "irremovable living crown"?
I have a question about the appearance of hexbloods in D&D 5E. In their description, it reads
Some who enter into bargains with hags gain their deepest wishes but eventually find themselves ...
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Does a hexblood have all of the stated physical properties that evidence a hag's influence?
I have a question about the appearance of hexbloods in D&D 5E. In their description, it reads:
Some who enter into bargains with hags gain their deepest wishes but eventually find themselves ...
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How to enchant my Dhampir's face
I'm thinking of playing a Dhampir player character (details in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft). I want to build around the Vampiric Bite feature, listed below:
Vampiric Bite
Your fanged bite is a ...
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Can a Dhampir echo knight's echo use vampiric bite to restore hit points to the echo knight?
The Vampiric Bite ability of the Dhampir race can be used as an attack, so RAW the Dhampir Echo Knight's Echo can bite. But would this be able to Empower the Echo Knight?
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Is the Lightfoot Halfling's natural stealth penalized by armors that normally confer a disadvantage to stealth?
Some armor types (scale, chain, splint, plate) confer a disadvantage to stealth actions in 5e. How does this interact with the Naturally Stealthy racial feature of Lightfoot Halflings? Does it ...
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Intercepting a grappled Bite Swallow attack in place of an ally with Vigilant Guardian: What happens?
Let's use a Giant Toad as an example:
Bite. The target is grappled, escape dc 13 Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the toad can't bite another target
Swallow. The toad makes one ...
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Does a Swords Bard's extra damage count as damage that the original attack inflicts for Vampiric Bite's HP gain and roll bonus?
I know that Slashing Flourish, and the rest of the options, deal extra damage to the original target, but I'm asking if the damage it deals to creatures of your choice within 5 feet of you counts as ...
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Does the Bugbear Surprise Attack require surprise according to current (2023) rules?
I have seen different written rules as well as interpretations regarding whether or not a bugbear's Surprise Attack requires surprise and would like to receive guidance based on the latest rules-as-...
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Does being a Fey creature type offer any advantages? [duplicate]
In the book Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse (MPMM), many creatures are classed as Fey, some that were not classed as fey now are, namely the Changeling.
However with things like ...
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Can a Thri-kreen character make a bonus action attack through two weapon fighting using their secondary arms?
Can a PC of the thri-kreen race make a bonus action attack through two weapon fighting? Example: A thri-kreen fighter holding a shield and scimitar in their main hands, and a dagger in their smaller ...
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Can a Thri-Kreen character use the Dual Wielder feat's first benefit with a shield?
The Thri-Kreen playable race from Unearthed Arcana 2021: Travelers of the Multiverse has the following property:
Secondary Arms. You have two slightly smaller secondary arms below your primary pair ...
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Does the rogue's Reliable Talent feature apply to a harengon's initiative checks (thanks to the Hare-Trigger trait)?
Rogues gain the Reliable Talent feature at level 11:
By 11th level, you have refined your chosen skills until they approach perfection. Whenever you make an ability check that lets you add your ...
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I need advice on the ability of my subrace of Zantan Elves
This is my second homebrew race ever and while I’ve watched a myriad of YouTube videos about it, all of them seem unhelpful in racial trait creation. I’m questioning about a certain racial trait I ...
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Can a Firbolg standing behind a wall see without being seen?
The Firbolg Magic trait says:
Firbolg Magic. You can cast detect magic and disguise self spells with
this trait. When you use this version of disguise self, you can seem
up to 3 feet shorter or ...
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How does the Harengon's Rabbit Hop racial trait interact with the Jump spell?
If my level 2 ranger casts the Jump spell on our harengon monk, does his jump distance from his Rabbit hop racial ability also tripled?
Rabbit Hop. As a bonus action, you can jump a number of feet ...
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How can a non-Dragonborn gain a breath weapon?
Is it possible, using official material only (i.e. not homebrew, although if Unearthed Arcana has something, I'd be interested in that, but ideally official material) for one to gain a recharging ...
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What do I do if my character has two spell-casting abilities?
I am playing a character with two spell-casting abilities: one is from their class, the other from their race.
The race is a fae dragon (created from the monster manual) and the class is Wizard. The ...
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Would a racial feature that lets you learn a low-level spell of your choice be balanced?
Many races give certain low-level spells on a once-per-day basis and there is the high elf who can learn any Wizard cantrip. Now consider the following racial feature:
Choose any first or second ...
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How far away is the Gnome's "Clockwork Toy" or "Music Box" audible?
Rock Gnomes possess the capability to produce small devices such as the "Clockwork Toy", "Fire Starter" and "Music Box". The book specifically states that they produce sound. My expectation on how I ...
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Can dim light be used to activate the wood elf's Mask of the Wild trait?
Because of a dispute with our DM, I'd like to confirm the following.
The wood elf's Mask of the Wild trait says:
You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain,...
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Does Trox Grappling Appendages stack damage?
I am in a campaign with a trox brawler and am wondering about clarification for the trox ability grabbing appendages. If the trox can maintain grapple and still make an attack roll, does that mean ...
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Would Advantage on Strength Checks and/or Strength Saving Throws as part of Powerful Build be in line with base races point-wise?
I'm trying to homebrew the goliath and orc because Powerful Build is really lackluster in its current iteration. I would like to make these large und muscly races feel more powerful than a gnome of ...
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How do the Wizard's racial bonuses affect the number of spells and cantrips known?
In Dungeon World, the "Spellbook" section of the Wizard's playbook explicitly says:
You start out with three first level spells in your spellbook
However, when creating a Wizard, one of ...
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Can a Harengon take a grappled creature with them when they use Rabbit Hop?
If a Harengon character grapples a target and then uses Rabbit Hop, can they drag/carry the target with them? If they can, is the distance of the hop halved like regular movement would be?
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Shifters: which natural weapon is the primary one?
Building a shifter character. Razorclaw, so they start with two claw attacks, both primary. Later, they take levels in Weretouched Master (wolverine) and get a bite attack as well. Is the bite also a ...
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What bard spells work well with the minotaur's racial traits?
I'm going to be playing a level 3 Minotaur Valor bard in a future campaign. I will be the 2nd front liner of the party and want to optimize usage of Minotaur traits in combat.
Are there any bard ...
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Does the Protector Aasimar's transformation work while Wild Shaped? [duplicate]
Does the Protector Aasimar's Radiant Soul feature work if they are a wildshaped druid?
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Is there a way for a human barbarian to acquire the cold-honed half-elf racial trait?
Question is as the title says, "Is there a way for a human barbarian to acquire the cold-honed half-elf racial trait?"
Maybe through feats or traits? Something adopted?
(The racial trait is ...
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Best methods for Handling the Dragonmark of Handling?
Mark of Handling
The Mark of Handling gives its bearer a primal connection to beasts and the natural world, granting the power to calm and coax. This extends beyond purely natural animals; the mark ...
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Can a gem dragonborn use the Psionic Mind trait to telepathically issue commands to an elemental spirit from the Summon Elemental spell?
Gem Dragonborn, from Fizban's Treasury of Dragons (p. 11), have the Psionic Mind trait:
You can send telepathic messages to any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You don’t need to share a ...
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Is a Plasmoid's Shape Self similar to a Changeling's Mask?
The Plasmoid's Shape Self states:
As an action, you can reshape your body to give yourself a head, one
or two arms, one or two legs, and makeshift hands and feet, or you can
revert to a limbless blob....
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Create the most broken race that is 'balanced' according to Detect Balance
Any discussion for a homebrew race will always have Detect Balance used to calculate how balanced the race is. I'm curious to see how much the tool can be abused.
Thus my challenge is to create a ...
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In Starfinder if I'm playing a Species with a vulnerability to an element what happens if I take a feat to overcome it?
If a player's species starts with a vulnerability to an elemental damage, or light blindness.
What happens if the character is able to overcome that detriment.
Do they "return the ability bought&...
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Do monster races and player races have separate functions for a reason?
I'm trying to understand if player races and monster races with the same abilities function differently. I had this issue arise with player regarding a monster race and a player race not having the ...
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Does the Yuan-Ti playable race have legs or a snake tail?
The Yuan-Ti excerpt in Monsters of the Multiverse states (p. 36; emphasis my own):
Blessed with resistance to magical and poisonous effects by the
rituals that created them, each of these yuan-ti ...
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If you're Githzerai or have the Telepathy feat, are spell components required for the spell-slot-powered castings?
The typical concept of innate telepathy is that you just have to "think at something" in a certain way and it happens. You're not casting a spell and using magic, so you don't expect the ...
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What would be a good way to allow Eladrins to change season once per long rest?
I enjoy the roleplay potential offered by the Eladrin's season mechanics, so I'm considering letting Eladrin characters change season once per long rest (instead of only when finishing the rest), so ...
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Is this Leshen homebrew race balanced?
The Leshen are a race of plant-like fey, born from places over flowing with druidic magic. It is said that when the elves came to the Material Plane from the Feywild, they planted a sacred grove for ...
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Polymorphing back to original race. Do I get my racial bonuses back?
My character started out as a dwarf cleric, but he died a couple of times. He was brought back to life each time via reincarnation which changed his race.
He was an Orc, then became a human, and is ...
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Is disadvantage resolved before or after the bonus is applied from the Reborn lineage's Knowledge from a Past Life trait?
The Reborn lineage in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft includes a racial trait called Knowledge from a Past Life that says, among other things:
When you make an ability check that uses a skill, you ...
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Can Minotaur player characters be targeted by Hold Person and other similar spells?
The description of the hold person spell specifies that it can only target humanoids:
Choose a humanoid that you can see within range. [...]
The Minotaur creature stat block from the Monster Manual ...
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Who/what can see in the dark?
This question is for the first edition since the site tags do not yet differentiate between the two.
I am running a game, and part of it will take place underground. I can only find one reference in ...
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Shifters and druids, how do they interact?
If a Longtooth shifter changed into a werewolf and then wild shaped into a bear, would it become a werebear or do I need to do it the other way around?
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Do creatures need to make a Saving Throw every turn they start in the range of the Aasimar's Necrotic Shroud, or only once?
In the Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, the Aasimar's Celestial Revelation ability lasts for 1 minute, but does that apply to the Frightened part of the Necrotic Shroud?
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Can autognomes be put to sleep by magic?
So far, playable races that don't sleep explicitly also can't be put to sleep by magic:
Warforged Constructed Resilience: "You don't need to sleep, and magic can't put you to sleep."
Elf ...
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What is "Hadozee wavedashing"?
When talking about the recently released Spelljammer supplement (Spelljammer: Adventures in Space), some people mention "Hadozee wavedashing". What is that?
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Does the plasmoid's Amorphous trait grant advantage on ability checks made to avoid being grappled?
The Plasmoid's Amorphous trait (from Ch. 1 of the Astral Adventurer's Guide in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space) says, in part:
[...] You have advantage on ability checks you make to initiate or ...
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Does the Feral Tiefling still use Charisma as its spellcasting ability for the Infernal Legacy trait?
I'm new in this world of D&D. I was reading through the Player's Handbook and decided to create a character following the process in Chapter 1 (Step-by-Step Characters).
The Tiefling caught my ...
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What spells and effects are covered by "advantage on saving throws against being charmed" from the Fey Ancestry trait?
Elves and Half-Elves have the Fey Ancestry trait, which states
You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed.
What spells and effects are covered by this? Only Charm Person? Enchantment ...
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Is granting Fey Ancestry to a fey creature unbalancing?
Elves and half-elves have the fey ancestry racial trait; however, I have noticed that the fey creatures do not have the same trait. It seems illogical that fey would not have the benefits of Fey ...
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