Optimizing Volo PC races

[Yunru]

There's only a narrow set of circumstances in which that's better than Mobile, and a broad range of circumstances under which it's worse.

If the enemy starts 10' away, the bugbear rapier rogue can stab him from 10' away and then move 30' and Hide. The Mobile human rogue can move 5' toward the enemy, stab him from 5' away, and then move 35' and Hide. Same result.

If the enemy starts 5' away, the bugbear rapier rogue is in trouble. He can stab him from 5' away, then Cunning Action: Disengage and move 30' away, but the enemy can just pursue him and attack again. The Mobile human can stab the enemy from 5' away and then move 40' away.

It's pretty hard to come up with a corner case where the Bugbear is better. (One example: three Tiny enemies in the same 5' square 10' away at the start of the turn. The Bugbear Rogue can attack and fall back without being attacked back; the Mobile human will get attacked even if he does an offhand attack. But that is an extreme corner case and relies on exact positioning at the start of the turn.)



What is the actual scenario where an extra 5' of reach is better than an extra 10' of movement, ability to ignore difficult terrain when Dashing, and immunity to opportunity attacks from creatures you've attacked? How do you leverage that 15' reach whip into a tactical advantage instead of just a capability?

Because Sentinel. That and you're a defender, you don't want to be moving. In a similar vein, Polearm Master + Sentinel is great on a Bugbear.

 

[Yunru]

Kobolian Moon Druids: Transform, get into position, Cower, grovel and beg. Next turn take advantage of Pack Tactics.

Seriously, Kobolds suck, but Moon druids remove all weaknesses from it.

... And now I want to play a Kobolian Moon Druid that spends all its time in Wild Shape.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Because Sentinel. That and you're a defender, you don't want to be moving. In a similar vein, Polearm Master + Sentinel is great on a Bugbear.

Bugbear doesn't benefit from Sentinel or Polearm Master reaction attack at all, except in the very specialized circumstance of an enemy having Readied to move on your turn.

"Long-limbed: when you make a melee attack on your turn, your reach for it is 5 feet greater than normal."

I think this is also what would prevent the "grapple at a distance" thing someone mentioned earlier from working--it doesn't increase the range at which you can maintain a grapple.

 

[shadowoflameth]

The monk specifies that unarmed strikes or monk weapons use the die given. In the beginning of a monks career that would only be a d4

 

[Yunru]

The monk specifies that unarmed strikes or monk weapons use the die given. In the beginning of a monks career that would only be a d4

It says the Monk may. You can always not use the martial arts die.

 

[shadowoflameth]

That's true. but the horns can use the die.

 

[RulesJD]

Until there is some faq/errata saying these don't work...

Lizardfolk Druids: All your wild shape forms gain a +3 bonus to AC or improve their "natural armor" to +3.

Lizardfolk Monks: You can leave wisdom at 12 or 14 and pump everything into Dex and Con. Better unarmed damage early on, and the ability to choose between bludgeoning, slashing or piercing.

Lizardfolk Monk/Rogue Multiclass: Beefy Dex striker with better than average AC and lots of attacks.

You'd be hard pressed to find a DM that will let you use the "Natural Armor" trait of Lizardfolk to apply while Wild Shaped into a creature with its own "Natural Armor" rating. Your skin is no longer as tough because your skin is literally no longer a Lizard. The standard Monk/Barbarian level drip for Druids for Wild Shaped AC applies because it is not based on a "Natural Armor".

 

[RCanine]

Are you referring to the reach advantage or something else?

Between reach, bonus damage and ability score increase, bugbears have perfect stat synergy with most martial melee classes, and no synergy with others. Compared to lizardfolk and hobgoblins, Bugbears feel overly specialized to excel in a certain role.

What I like about 5E is that rare races like drow, dragonborn and gnomes stay rare because they're not quite as easy to optimize mechanically as the common ones, so they only get played by someone truly in love with the race. Some of the Volo's races do that well, others look so good I'd expect everyone to play them.

 

[Vulf]

"You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source and can use them if the new form is physically capable of doing so. However, you can’t use any of your special senses, such as darkvision, unless your new form also has that sense."

How restrictive is wild shape, really?

Would unarmored defense work while shape changed into a bear? A bear's skin is not as tough as a lizard's but somehow it has retained the physiology of a monk or barbarian when it comes to increasing AC?

If the Lizard Folk racial doesn't work while shapeshifted, I do not see how anything does. A panther is not normally resistant to poison like a dwarf, a giant snake doesn't have the biology to resist fire damage like a tiefling. An elven druid in bear form doesn't have the physical ability to be immune to magical sleep.

The intent could be the only racial abilities restricted are the ones that allow you to cast spells.

If a Lizard Folk magically transforms into a bear, it is not outside the realm of reason to think that bear's skin could be denser than the average bear, his fur more coarse and almost scale like. A Dragonborn druid might retain a lustrous red coat of fur that resists fire.

 

[zaratan]

Would unarmored defense work while shape changed into a bear? A bear's skin is not as tough as a lizard's but somehow it has retained the physiology of a monk or barbarian when it comes to increasing AC?

You need to choose unarmored defense OR natural armor. All about that is a DM option, but even with a good DM, the lizardfolk will not add +3 to AC, you'll need to choose between the lizardfolk natural armor OR the beast one. So, if you change to a brown bear your AC will be 13 (13 + 0 dex) instead of 11, as direwolf will be 15 (13 + 2), not 17. As earth elemental you can pick his 17 natural armor or 12 (lizardfolk calculation).