143
votes
Accepted
What are the playable D&D races in 5e, and where can I find them?
There are two different ways a race could be "official": it could be "official" in the sense of fully-tested and legal for sanctioned organized play campaigns, and it could be &...
- 101k
113
votes
Is it appropriate to address characters by their race in D&D?
A disruptive player should be asked to stop.
I’m going to sidestep your question here a little bit. I don’t think it matters if calling an elf an elf is racist within the fiction of the setting, ...
- 144k
76
votes
Accepted
Are Gundren Rockseeker and his brothers Mountain Dwarves or Hill Dwarves in the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure?
They are (arguably) Hill dwarves
There's nothing to go on in the module book.
You're right, it is never stated explicitly anywhere in the module what kind of dwarf the Rockseeker brothers are. ...
- 25k
75
votes
Is there a way to make an Invisible Stalker-like player character?
I told him no right off the bat...But he's extremely insistent about
it
Just tell the player "no," again; you are allowed to do that as DM
There are a number of reasons for this.
An invisible ...
- 142k
70
votes
Which Dragon Magazine issue did this unusual rat-like race appear in?
No rat-like race appears in any "Letters," "Forum," "D-Mail," or "Questions of the Month (Forum)" column appearing in Dragon #153 (January, 1990) through #266 (...
- 101k
58
votes
Accepted
Can a Tiefling be born from two human parents?
Yes, a tiefling can have two human parents
Borrowing from my question What's the difference between a Tiefling and a Cambion?
From Xanathar's Guide to Everything, we have this table on page 62:
...
- 78.6k
54
votes
Accepted
How unbalanced is this 3 Kobolds in a Trenchcoat Player Race?
Balance is the least of your issues
Without even reading what you wrote or considering balance, this is way too many racial traits. Four to five abilities (the stuff like darkvision and pack tactics, ...
- 72.8k
51
votes
Accepted
What's the point of a "once per combat" and a "on your first turn" clauses in the same feature?
It is not possible to have multiple "first turns in combat" in a single combat, but you could certainly hit with an attack multiple times during your first turn with the Extra Attack feature or ...
50
votes
Accepted
What are the mechanical and role-playing advantages of playing a human?
Humans aren't as bad as you think
Firstly, humans gets +1 to all stats, in the PHB (pg. 31):
Ability Score Increase. Your ability scores each increase by 1.
This means, as @SeriousBri pointed ...
- 78.6k
50
votes
How can I limit (but not outright ban) exotic races?
Optimize for pearls, not sand.
You are trying to optimize your approach for sand, when you should be optimizing your approach for pearls. Allow me to explain.
When an oyster gets some sand or grit ...
- 144k
48
votes
Accepted
Can carnivorous races survive on Goodberries?
It's magic
Goodberries are not really nutritious fruits, but the "delivery form" of a spell effect. As long as you are able to eat one (you are not made of inorganic material for example), you can ...
- 61.4k
47
votes
Is there a way to make an Invisible Stalker-like player character?
Ask the player "why?"
First step to solving these types of issues is asking why they want a thing. If the character wants to be invisible all the time just for the sake of that, just say no. ...
- 2,739
46
votes
Accepted
Are racial stat bonuses every level or just once at creation?
Racial ability score adjustments are only added once at character creation.
The Player's Handbook is explicit about how ability scores improve. The ability score improvement class feature says:
...
- 18.9k
45
votes
Accepted
What do a minotaur's rations consist of, and can a dragonborn eat them?
As far as I'm aware, there are no official rules regarding the diet of either of these two creatures. As such, it would depend on the DM, as usual. However:
If you insist on using real world logic, ...
- 7,778
45
votes
Accepted
How do I build a character with multiple races?
There aren’t rules for doing that: the rules offer “half-elves” (and “half-orcs”) as a race, but in both cases they aren’t mix-‘n’-match options, but static races that always offer (more or less) the ...
- 346k
43
votes
Would it hurt racial balance if every PC gets a bonus feat at level 1?
No, it's fine.
I used this house rule in all my 5e campaigns since the D&D Next playtest in 2013 and we never ran into any problems.
Yes, the players are slightly more powerful, but I only run ...
- 12.4k
42
votes
Accepted
Have oozes ever been a playable race?
There are only 3 options for actually, officially, having the “ooze” creature type in, at the very least, all of Wizards of the Coast D&D: the 5e plasmoid race, the 5e sidekick option, and the 3e ...
- 346k
39
votes
Accepted
Is this homebrew Eir race balanced?
This is not balanced with the other races in the PHB.
Assuming that these are two different sub races ...
You are starting with a feat.
You are starting at size large: no PHB race is large. (...
- 142k
39
votes
Accepted
Is this homebrew Mind Flayer race balanced?
So, taking these one at a time...
ASI, Speed, Size, and Darkvision
Normal, moving on
Magic Resistance
Equivalent to the Magic Resistance trait of the Yuan-ti from Volo's Guide. Even on the Yuan-ti,...
- 64.8k
39
votes
Accepted
Which centaur is more 'official'?
This is answered directly by the box text at the beginning of every single Unearthed Arcana article:
This Is Playtest Content
The material here is presented for playtesting and to spark your ...
- 72.8k
37
votes
Accepted
How could I play a Half-Dwarf Half-Elf?
Traditionally,1 humans (and dragons2) in D&D are just... amazingly, maybe magically, compatible with other races. Massive numbers of them. Any time a race is “half” something, the other half is ...
- 346k
37
votes
Accepted
What are the mechanical consequences of a Centaur's Fey trait?
Many small consequences, some with class features, others with spells.
Mechanically speaking, yes, the only consequence of them having the Fey trait is that they cannot be affected by spells and ...
- 46k
37
votes
Accepted
What is Detect Balance?
It is a fan-made points-based system for measuring 5e races.
Detect Balance: an Improved Scale for Measuring 5e Races is a fan-made spreadsheet used to try and produce well-balanced Dungeons & ...
- 78.9k
36
votes
Accepted
How do you pronounce Firbolg?
Fear-bolg
Dndbeyond.com has a pronunciation button next to the main title of the Firbolg page that gives you an audio clip.
They pronounce it as fear-bolg.
- 124k
35
votes
How can my campaign continue amicably despite an indestructible nymph PC?
Monsters-as-PCs causes this
Unfortunately, the rules for monsters-as-PCs don’t work. This is basically what you get when you use them.
Consider: a nymph is CR 7. She casts spells as a 7th-level druid. ...
- 346k
35
votes
Accepted
What would happen if a Centaur Oath of the Ancients Paladin used Turn the Faithless?
Unclear, but I'd say No, the Centaur cannot turn itself
The Oath of the Ancients paladin's class feature you are referring to is this one (PHB, pg. 87):
Turn the Faithless. You can use your Channel ...
- 78.6k
34
votes
Do the Zariel tiefling's subrace bonuses stack with the tiefling's regular racial bonuses?
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes introduces tiefling subraces which have a special link to one of the Lords of the Nine Hells, one of which is Zariel. Below the Subrace Traits heading (MToF, p. 21), it ...
- 61.4k
33
votes
How can a Hobgoblin Captain be used as a player character?
Update: A hobgoblin PC race was released in Volo's Guide to Monsters. Use that. If you can't, for some reason...
The easiest way to handle this is to simply reflavor. Pick whichever race has the ...
- 27.5k
33
votes
Accepted
What benefit would races with extra hands have?
The Thri-Kreen in the Monsters Manual (page 288) have four arms. The benefit they seem to gain from this is the ability to use a two-handed weapon while wielding another weapon.
Without houseruling ...
- 5,522
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