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<blockquote data-quote="QuietBrowser" data-source="post: 6900636" data-attributes="member: 6855057"><p>This race has a particular history which I need to elaborate upon first. The Caliban is a creation of White Wolf's rendition of the Ravenloft campaign setting for 3e, which used the stats of the half-orc but reskinned them as a race of gothic mutants; unfortunates deformed in the womb by lingering magical or alchemical taint, twisted experiments, curses, or the sins of their parents. Flavorful, but really not very interesting. On the Fraternity of Shadows website, a fansite dedicated to Ravenloft material, in their yearly netbook "Quoth the Raven", the 8th issue contained an article called "Brutes and Banshees" by one Uri "Shadowking" Geller, which altered the Caliban by creating five specific, commonly seen sub-types of Caliban and creating an extensive list of deformities that gave both benefits and drawbacks. I deeply loved this update to the race, and the below is my attempt to update Shadowking's work to the edition I see as superior to 3rd edition.</p><p></p><p>I'd honestly like to try and do a more "in spirit" update and create a list of optional racial traits, so you can more effectively "build your own" caliban as Brutes & Banshees supported, but I'd need a lot of help with that.</p><p></p><p>[h=1]<span style="color: #434343"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Caliban</span></span>[/h]<span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Human offspring tainted in the womb by dark forces or eldritch taint may be born as unearthly mutants, collectively known as “calibans”. Though many unique mutations or subspecies exist, five particular strains are especially endemic; the eerily lovely Banshees, the manimals known simply as Beasts, hulking orc or ogre-like Brutes, the crypt-crawling rapacious horrors called Cannibals, and the aptly named Witchbreed, with their innate affinity for dark magic. Calibans are most ubiquitous to the Demiplane of Dread.</span></span></p><p></p><p>[h=2]<span style="color: #666666"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Caliban Racial Core:</span></span>[/h]<span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Size:</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> Medium</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Speed:</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> 30 feet</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Darkvision </span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">60 feet</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Freakish Horror:</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> A Caliban automatically has Proficiency in Charisma (Intimidation) checks.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Unnatural Blood:</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> A Caliban belongs to one of the five subraces; Banshee, Bestial, Brute, Cannibal or Witchspawn. Acquire the additional abilities determined by one subrace.</span></span></p><p></p><p>[h=3]<span style="color: #666666"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Banshee Subrace: </span></span>[/h]<span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Ability Score Modifiers:</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> +2 Charisma, +1 Wisdom</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Cold Blooded:</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> Existing with the chill in the grave racing through their blood, Banshees are hardly touched by mundane cold. A Banshee Caliban has Resistance to Cold.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Deathly Pallor.</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> You have disadvantage on saving throws to resist diseases.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Ghostly Keening.</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> As an action, you can cause each creature in a 10-foot radius sphere originating from you to make a Wisdom saving throw. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Charisma modifier + your proficiency bonus. A creature takes 1d6 psychic damage and 1d6 thunder damage on a failed save and are frightened by you until the end of your next turn. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and is not frightened. The psychic and thunder damage increases to 2d6 at 6th level, 3d6 at 11th level, and 4d6 at 16th level. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.</span></span></p><p></p><p>[h=3]<span style="color: #666666"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Bestial Subrace: </span></span>[/h]<span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Ability Score Modifiers:</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> +2 Wisdom, +1 Constitution</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Loping Fiend.</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> Your base walking speed increases to 35 feet.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Natural Weapon Affinity.</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> Choose either the piercing or slashing damage type. This choice determines the damage type associated with your Feral Armaments and Thick Hide.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Feral Armaments.</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> When you make an unarmed strike, you may choose to deal either bludgeoning damage or your Natural Weapon Affinity damage type.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Thick Hide.</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> You have resistance to your Natural Weapon Affinity damage type from nonmagical weapon attacks.</span></span></p><p></p><p>[h=3]<span style="color: #666666"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Brute Subrace:</span></span>[/h]<span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Ability Score Modifiers:</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> +2 Strength, +1 Constitution</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Hulking Monster.</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift. You count your Strength as +2 higher for dealing damage with Unarmed Strikes.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Savage Grapple.</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> When you successfully grapple an opponent, you can deal damage as though you had made an unarmed strike. Additionally, if you begin your turn grappling an opponent, you have advantage on rolls to attack your grappled opponent with an unarmed strike.</span></span></p><p></p><p>[h=3]<span style="color: #666666"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Cannibal Subrace:</span></span>[/h]<span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Ability Score Modifiers:</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> +2 Dexterity, +1 Constitution</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Eater of Vile Things:</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> Cannibals possess Resistance (Poison) and are immune to non-magical diseases.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">It Will Not Die:</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> A Cannibal passes Death Saving Throws on a 5 or higher, instead of a 10 or higher. It also has Advantage on saving throws made to avoid being rendered Unconscious.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Graveworm:</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> Cannibals possess a Climb speed of 20 feet, can Squeeze through spaces sized for a creature two size categories smaller than they are, suffer no penalties for squeezing through a space sized for a creature one size category smaller than they are, and may crawl at their normal speed.</span></span></p><p></p><p>[h=3]<span style="color: #666666"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Witchspawn Subrace:</span></span>[/h]<span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Ability Score Modifiers:</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> +2 Intelligence, +1 Wisdom</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Hexcrafter:</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> A Witchspawn knows three spells of its choice taken from the Warlock spell list. A cantrip at first level, a 1st level spell at third level, and a 2nd level spell at fifth level. A Witchspawn's racial spells use Intelligence as a casting trait and cast at their default level. A witchspawn's racial cantrip may be used at will. Its racial 1st and 2nd level spells may each be cast once per long rest.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Blood Magic:</span></span><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> A Witchspawn may sacrifice hit dice when casting a spell through its Hexcrafter trait to increase its effectiveness as if the witchspawn had increased the spell's slot. Each hit dice sacrificed increases the effective spell slot of the Hexcrafter spell by 1 level.</span></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="QuietBrowser, post: 6900636, member: 6855057"] This race has a particular history which I need to elaborate upon first. The Caliban is a creation of White Wolf's rendition of the Ravenloft campaign setting for 3e, which used the stats of the half-orc but reskinned them as a race of gothic mutants; unfortunates deformed in the womb by lingering magical or alchemical taint, twisted experiments, curses, or the sins of their parents. Flavorful, but really not very interesting. On the Fraternity of Shadows website, a fansite dedicated to Ravenloft material, in their yearly netbook "Quoth the Raven", the 8th issue contained an article called "Brutes and Banshees" by one Uri "Shadowking" Geller, which altered the Caliban by creating five specific, commonly seen sub-types of Caliban and creating an extensive list of deformities that gave both benefits and drawbacks. I deeply loved this update to the race, and the below is my attempt to update Shadowking's work to the edition I see as superior to 3rd edition. I'd honestly like to try and do a more "in spirit" update and create a list of optional racial traits, so you can more effectively "build your own" caliban as Brutes & Banshees supported, but I'd need a lot of help with that. [h=1][COLOR=#434343][FONT=Arial]Caliban[/FONT][/COLOR][/h][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Human offspring tainted in the womb by dark forces or eldritch taint may be born as unearthly mutants, collectively known as “calibans”. Though many unique mutations or subspecies exist, five particular strains are especially endemic; the eerily lovely Banshees, the manimals known simply as Beasts, hulking orc or ogre-like Brutes, the crypt-crawling rapacious horrors called Cannibals, and the aptly named Witchbreed, with their innate affinity for dark magic. Calibans are most ubiquitous to the Demiplane of Dread.[/FONT][/COLOR] [h=2][COLOR=#666666][FONT=Arial]Caliban Racial Core:[/FONT][/COLOR][/h][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Size:[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] Medium[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Speed:[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] 30 feet[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Darkvision [/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]60 feet[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Freakish Horror:[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] A Caliban automatically has Proficiency in Charisma (Intimidation) checks.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Unnatural Blood:[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] A Caliban belongs to one of the five subraces; Banshee, Bestial, Brute, Cannibal or Witchspawn. Acquire the additional abilities determined by one subrace.[/FONT][/COLOR] [h=3][COLOR=#666666][FONT=Arial]Banshee Subrace: [/FONT][/COLOR][/h][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Ability Score Modifiers:[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] +2 Charisma, +1 Wisdom[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Cold Blooded:[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] Existing with the chill in the grave racing through their blood, Banshees are hardly touched by mundane cold. A Banshee Caliban has Resistance to Cold.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Deathly Pallor.[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] You have disadvantage on saving throws to resist diseases.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Ghostly Keening.[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] As an action, you can cause each creature in a 10-foot radius sphere originating from you to make a Wisdom saving throw. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Charisma modifier + your proficiency bonus. A creature takes 1d6 psychic damage and 1d6 thunder damage on a failed save and are frightened by you until the end of your next turn. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and is not frightened. The psychic and thunder damage increases to 2d6 at 6th level, 3d6 at 11th level, and 4d6 at 16th level. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.[/FONT][/COLOR] [h=3][COLOR=#666666][FONT=Arial]Bestial Subrace: [/FONT][/COLOR][/h][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Ability Score Modifiers:[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] +2 Wisdom, +1 Constitution[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Loping Fiend.[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] Your base walking speed increases to 35 feet.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Natural Weapon Affinity.[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] Choose either the piercing or slashing damage type. This choice determines the damage type associated with your Feral Armaments and Thick Hide.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Feral Armaments.[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] When you make an unarmed strike, you may choose to deal either bludgeoning damage or your Natural Weapon Affinity damage type.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Thick Hide.[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] You have resistance to your Natural Weapon Affinity damage type from nonmagical weapon attacks.[/FONT][/COLOR] [h=3][COLOR=#666666][FONT=Arial]Brute Subrace:[/FONT][/COLOR][/h][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Ability Score Modifiers:[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] +2 Strength, +1 Constitution[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Hulking Monster.[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift. You count your Strength as +2 higher for dealing damage with Unarmed Strikes.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Savage Grapple.[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] When you successfully grapple an opponent, you can deal damage as though you had made an unarmed strike. Additionally, if you begin your turn grappling an opponent, you have advantage on rolls to attack your grappled opponent with an unarmed strike.[/FONT][/COLOR] [h=3][COLOR=#666666][FONT=Arial]Cannibal Subrace:[/FONT][/COLOR][/h][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Ability Score Modifiers:[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] +2 Dexterity, +1 Constitution[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Eater of Vile Things:[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] Cannibals possess Resistance (Poison) and are immune to non-magical diseases.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]It Will Not Die:[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] A Cannibal passes Death Saving Throws on a 5 or higher, instead of a 10 or higher. It also has Advantage on saving throws made to avoid being rendered Unconscious.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Graveworm:[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] Cannibals possess a Climb speed of 20 feet, can Squeeze through spaces sized for a creature two size categories smaller than they are, suffer no penalties for squeezing through a space sized for a creature one size category smaller than they are, and may crawl at their normal speed.[/FONT][/COLOR] [h=3][COLOR=#666666][FONT=Arial]Witchspawn Subrace:[/FONT][/COLOR][/h][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Ability Score Modifiers:[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] +2 Intelligence, +1 Wisdom[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Hexcrafter:[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] A Witchspawn knows three spells of its choice taken from the Warlock spell list. A cantrip at first level, a 1st level spell at third level, and a 2nd level spell at fifth level. A Witchspawn's racial spells use Intelligence as a casting trait and cast at their default level. A witchspawn's racial cantrip may be used at will. Its racial 1st and 2nd level spells may each be cast once per long rest.[/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial]Blood Magic:[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial] A Witchspawn may sacrifice hit dice when casting a spell through its Hexcrafter trait to increase its effectiveness as if the witchspawn had increased the spell's slot. Each hit dice sacrificed increases the effective spell slot of the Hexcrafter spell by 1 level.[/FONT][/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
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