A Complete Collection of Half-Races, fixed Yuan-Ti, and a new race, Turtlefolk

[ro]

Note: This is my first attempt at Homebrew.
Note: This post is also located at GiantITP. It is posted here to gain feedback from different people.

Herein lies a half-race for every official 5e race in the PHB, EE companion, SCAG, and Volo's. Most features of these races are given only by name. You will have to look them up in official source material to learn the details.

Scoring:
These races are scored roughly according to the Musicus scale with insight from the Detect Balance scale. My goal was to balance them against a 6.5-point average. The average official race is closer to 6, but the lower-strength races get somewhat less play because of this, and so creating new races would most likely gain interest and not be overpowered at around 6.5 Musicus points, which is approximately 26 Detect Balance points. Each half-race is 3 points, or 3.5 points if they have Darkvision or other features that are hard to split/decrease in value.

Yuan-Ti:
I have presented a full Yuan-Ti replacement that is balanced at 7.5; the original would score an 11.5, which is way beyond reasonable.

Turtlefolk:
Also included is my new Turtlefolk race, a Half-Turtle race, and a racial feat. I would love feedback on these in particular.

Rules for Ability Score Improvements (ASIs):
No character may gain more than a +2 ASI to any ability score from racial benefits. If a character chooses an option that would result in a +3, his bonus is nonetheless limited to +2. There should be no circumstance under the following guidelines to create such a problem: any time such an issue could occur, a player always has an alternate choice that he could choose instead.

Balancing Existing Races:
Several of the standard player races are noticeably weaker than others. In order to bring some the weaker ones closer to the 6.5 target, I’ve made a few adjustments:

Dragonborn:
- Your breath weapon uses your Str or Con modifier, your choice.
- Powerful Breath. Your breath weapon ignores damage resistance.
- Menacing. You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill.
Gnome:
- Forest Gnome. You gain proficiency in the Nature or Animal Handling skill.
- Rock Gnome. You gain proficiency in the History skill.
- Deep Gnome. You gain proficiency in the Arcana skill.
Half-Orc: You gain proficiency in the Athletics skill.
Halfling: Your subrace ASI is +2 rather than +1.
Human: 2 skill or tool proficiencies and a 30 ft. climbing or swimming speed
Tiefling: You gain proficiency in the Deception skill.
Genasi:
- Elemental Expertise. When you make an Intelligence ability check related to your elemental affinity, you can add twice your proficiency bonus, instead of any proficiency bonus you normally apply.
- Air Genasi: You gain resistance to lightning damage.
- Earth Genasi. You gain resistance to poison damage.
Goliath: You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill.
Kobold: Stealth proficiency, Superior Darkvision (120 ft.)
Orc: Athletics proficiency, Superior Darkvision (120 ft.)

Half-Human:
The Half-Human half-race looks suspiciously like the Variant Human that is viewed as so overpowered. Here I have removed the skill proficiency and limited the feat options to a list of those generally weakly regarded. Are there feats in this list that you would remove, or others that you would add?

Selecting Half-races:
Choose one subrace for each half-race. Your Size and base walking speed match those of the smaller race, but your character height and weight are yours to choose as you please befitting such a race combination. If you gain Darkvision from multiple sources, you gain the best version, but the benefits do not stack.

Darkvision Variant:
https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDBehindT..._i_hate_it_its_no_fun_and_it_can_die/cv13uj6/
I read this alternate take on Darkvision by transmogrify on Reddit. I think it would make the game more interesting to require more light management and less, “Everybody has darkvision except the human, so we’ll just ignore darkness this campaign.”
Darkvision. You have superior vision in dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light.
Superior Darkvision. Within the range of your darkvision, you can see in darkness as if the darkness were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. If a source of bright light is within the range of your darkvision, you cannot use this ability.

3.5 Half-Human
2 Ability Score Increase. Two of your ability scores increase by 1.
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
0 Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one extra language of your choice.
1.5 Feat. You may choose one feat from the following list: Actor, Athlete, Charger, Durable, Elemental Adept, Healer, Heavily Armored, Keen Mind, Lightly Armored, Linguist, Mage Slayer, Magic Initiate, Martial Adept, Moderately Armored, Observant, Skilled, Tavern Brawler, Weapon Master.

7 Full Human
You may choose the Half-Human half-race as both halves of your race, making you a full Human. However, you choice of ability scores and feats may result in only one ability score gaining a +2, and none exceeding +2.

3.5 Half-Dwarf
1 Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet. Your speed is not reduced by wearing heavy armor.
.5 Darkvision. 60 feet.
0 Languages. Common and Dwarvish.
2 Hill Dwarf. +1 Wis, Dwarven Toughness.
2 Mountain Dwarf. +1 Str, Dwarven Armor Training.

3.5 Half-Elf
1 Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1.
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
.5 Darkvision. 60 feet.
.5 Skill. Perception.
0 Languages. Common and Elvish.
1.5 High Elf. +1 Int, Cantrip.
1.5 Wood Elf. +1 Wis, +5 speed.
1.5 Drow Elf. +1 Cha, Faerie Fire.

3 Half-Halfing
1 Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1.
-.5 Size. Small.
-.5 Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
.5 Lucky.
.5 Halfling Nimbleness.
0 Languages. Common and Halfling.
2 Lightfoot Halfling. +1 Cha, Naturally Stealthy.
2 Stout Halfling. +1 Con, Stout Resilience.
2 Ghostwise Halfling. +1 Wis, Silent Speech.

3.5 Half-Dragonborn
1 Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
0 Draconic Ancestry.
0 Languages. Common and Draconic.
1.5 Breath Weapon.
1 Damage Resistance.

3.5 Half-Gnome
1 Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
-.5 Size. Small.
-.5 Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
.5 Darkvision. 60 feet.
1.5 Gnome Gunning. Adv on Int, Wis, Cha.
0 Languages. Common and Gnomish.
1.5 Rock Gnome. +1 Con, Tinker.
1.5 Forest Gnome. +1 Wis, Speak with Small Beasts.
1.5 Deep Gnome. +1 Dex, Stone Camouflage or Superior Darkvision.

3.5 Half-Orc
1 Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
.5 Darkvision. 60 feet.
0 Languages. Common and Orc.
1 Relentless Endurance.
1 Savage Attacks.

3.5 Half-Tiefling
1 Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma or Intelligence score increases by 1.
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
0 Languages. Common and Infernal.
1.5 Infernal Legacy. Cantrip and two spells.
1 Hellish Resistance. Fire resistance.

3.5 Half-Aarokocra
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
3.5 Flight. 50 feet, no Medium or Heavy armor.
0 Languages. Common, Aarokocra, and Auran.

3 Half-Genasi
1 Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
0 Languages. Common and Primordial.
2 Air Genasi. +1 Dex, Mingle with the Wind.
2 Earth Genasi. +1 Str, Merge with Stone.
2 Fire Genasi. +1 Int, Fire Resistance.
2 Water Genasi. +1 Wis, Amphibious, Swim, One of Acid Resistance, Shape Water, or Create or Destroy Water.

3 Half-Goliath
1 Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
0 Languages. Common and Giant.
1.5 Stone’s Endurance.
.5 Powerful Build. or Mountainborn.

3.5 Half-Assimar
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
.5 Darkvision. 60 feet.
0 Languages. Common and Celestial.
2 Protector Assimar. +1 Wis, Radiant Soul.
2 Scourge Assimar. +1 Con, Radiant Consumption.
2 Fallen Assimar. +1 Str, Necrotic Shroud.

3.5 Half-Firebolg
1 Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
0 Languages. Common, Elvish, and Giant.
1 Firebolg Magic.
1.5 Hidden Step.

3 Half-Kenku
2 Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity and Wisdom scores increase by 1.
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
0 Languages. Common and Auran.
.5 Expert Forgery.
.5 Mimicry.

3 Half-Lizardfolk
1 Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
.5 Swimming Speed and Hold Breath. You have a swimming speed of 30 feet, and you can hold your breath for 15 minutes.
0 Languages. Common and Draconic.
.5 Cunning Artisan.
1 Natural Armor or both Bite and Hungry Jaws.

3.5 Half-Tabaxi
1 Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1.
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
.5 Darkvision. 60 feet.
0 Languages. Common and one other language of your choice.
.5 Feline Agility.
1 Cat’s Claws.
.5 Cat’s Talent. Choose one skill.

3 Half-Triton
1 Ability Score Increase. Your Strength, Constitution, or Charisma score increases by 1.
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
.5 Swimming Speed and Amphibious. You have a swimming speed of 30 feet. You can breathe underwater.
0 Languages. Common and Primordial.
.5 Control Air and Water. Only Wall of Water.
1 Guardians of the Depths.

3.5 Half-Bugbear
1 Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
0 Languages. Common and Goblin.
1.5 Long-Limbed. Reach.
1 Surprise Attack.

3.5 Half-Goblin
1 Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1.
-.5 Size. Small.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
.5 Darkvision. 60 feet.
0 Languages. Common and Goblin.
1 Fury of the Small.
1.5 Nimble Escape.

3.5 Half-Hobgoblin
1 Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
.5 Darkvision. 60 feet.
1 Martial Training. Two weapons and light armor.
0 Languages. Common and Goblin.
1 Saving Face. Reach.

3.5 Half-Kobold
0 Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1, and your Strength score is reduced by 2.
-.5 Size. Small.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
.5 Darkvision. 60 feet.
0 Languages. Common and Goblin.
1 Grovel, Cower, and Beg.
2.5 Pack Tactics.

7.5 Yuan-Ti
3 Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2, and your Intelligence score increases by 1.
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
.5 Darkvision. 60 feet.
0 Languages. Common, Abyssal, and Draconic.
2 Poison Immunity.
2 Innate Spellcasting.

3.5 Half-Yuan-Ti
1 Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
0 Size. Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
.5 Darkvision. 60 feet.
0 Languages. Common, Abyssal, and Draconic.
1 Poison Resistance. You are resistant to poison damage and have advantage on saving throws against the poisoned condition.
1 Innate Spellcasting. Pick one spell feature.

7 Turtlefolk
3 Ability Score Increase.
0 Size. Your size is Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
0 Language. You can speak, read, and write Common, Terran, and Aquan.
.5 Darkvision. 60 feet.
1 Skill Proficiencies.
0 Camouflage Shell and Inconvenient Shell.
.5 At Home in the Sea.
1.5 Natural Defense.
.5 Turtle Form.

3 Half-Turtle
1 Ability Score Increase. One of your ability scores increases by 1.
0 Size. Your size is Medium.
0 Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
0 Language. You can speak, read, and write Common, Terran, and Aquan.
0 Camouflage Shell and Inconvenient Shell.
.5 At Home in the Sea or Turtle Form.
1.5 Natural Defense.

7 Turtlefolk

Appearance. You look like the turtle version of a human. You have a shell on your back like a turtle. Your shell is approximately the same depth as your torso at its deepest point. Your skin and shell are colored appropriately to the terrain of the area where you were born.
Age. Turtlefolk reach adulthood in their late teens. They can live 150 to almost 250 years.
Alignment. Turtlefolk are most often good.
3 Ability Score Increase. Add +2 to one ability score and +1 to another, or +1 to three.
Size. The same as humans plus a shell, your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
.5 At Home in the Sea. Your tie to the deep sea grants you the ability to do everything as easily underwater as you can on land. You can breathe underwater, your senses are not obscured by water, and you have a swimming speed equal to your walking speed.
Language. You can speak, read, and write Common, Terran, and Aquan.
.5 Darkvision. You have stellar eyesight and can see 60 feet in darkness as if it were dim light and dim light as if it were bright light.
1 Skill Proficiencies. You are proficient in two of the following skills: Acrobatics, Nature, and Perception.
.5 Camouflage Shell. Your shell’s natural coloring has two predominant colors. Choose from Blue, Brown, Gray, and Green. You have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to hide in surroundings largely of one of your chosen colors.
-.5 Inconvenient Shell. Normal armor does not fit you. It costs 1.5 times the normal price to buy armor tailored to fit. If you have the appropriate tools and tool proficiency, you can modify armor yourself for 4 hours of work and 10gp per +1 AC bonus it grants above 10. Tailored armor is half the weight of regular armor.
1.5 Natural Defense. Your plate-armor-like shell gives you comfort in similar armor and natural defensive abilities:
+1 • Your shell’s +2 AC bonus gives you an unarmored AC of 12 + your Dexterity modifier and +1 AC when wearing Light or Medium Armor. Wearing plate or half-plate armor does not impose disadvantage on your Dexterity (Stealth) checks.
+.5 • If you aren’t incapacitated, you can add your shell’s AC bonus to any Dexterity saving throw you make against a spell or other harmful effect.
.5 Turtle Form. As an action, or a reaction after taking damage, you can turn into a turtle. Anything you are carrying transforms with you. You can be already hiding in your shell when you transform.
• Choose your length and weight:

Length:	3 in.	4 in.	6 in.	8 in.	1 ft.	2 ft.	3 ft.	4 ft.	5 ft.	6 ft.	7 ft.
Weight:	1 oz.	2.5 oz.	9 oz.	1.3 lbs.	4 lbs.	35 lbs.	120 lbs.	280 lbs.	550 lbs.	950 lbs.	1500 lbs.

• You cannot attack or cast spells.
• Your AC is 13 + your length in feet.
• Your Dexterity modifier is 5 minus your length in feet.
• You can carry up to your weight.
• You can speak only Terran and Aquan and cannot write.
• You have a walking speed of 10 feet and a swimming speed of 45 feet.
• Action: (Un)Hide In Shell: While hidden you can see only forward and can’t move but have total cover (three quarters cover from below), resistance to damage, and advantage on saving throws against harmful effects.
• You may use your turn to transform back to your normal state.

Feat: Dragon’s Defense:
Prerequisite: Turtlefolk or Half-Turtle
Once per rest as an action, you can magically assume the form of a Dragon Turtle adapted to your level, as if Shapechanged. In this form you cannot cast spells. At 1st level, you can transform into a Dragon Turtle of size Small or Medium. You can become Large starting at 5th level, Huge at 9th, and Gargantuan at 13th. Here are your starting statistics:
HP: 45 | (Level + 5) * (dX + Con)
AC: (natural armor) 16 | 7 + Prof + Str Mod

	Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
Ability Scores:	21	10	16	10	12	12
Modifiers:	+5		+3		+1	+1
Saving Throws:	+5	+2	+5		+3	+1

Proficiency Bonus: +2 | Matches your PC as you level
Saving Throw Proficiencies: Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom
Attack Modifier: +7 | Prof + Str Mod
Damage Resistances: Fire
Senses: Darkvision, 120 ft.
Passive Perception: 11
Languages: Aquan, Draconic
Amphibious: A dragon turtle can breathe air and water.
Speed: 20 ft., swim 40 ft.
Tail Attack Str DC: 14 | 7 + Prof + Str
Steam Breath Con DC: 12 | 7 + Prof + Con

Ability Score Increases. Your Str and Con ability scores each increase by 1 at levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 19.

Your dice sizes (dX), Range, and Reach depend on your character size:

Size:	Gargantuan	Huge	Large	Medium	Small
HP/Hit Dice:	d20	d12	d10	d8	d6
Bite & Tail Damage Dice/Reach:	d12/15	d10/15	d8/10	d6/5	d4/5
Claw Damage Dice/Reach:	d10/15	d8/10	d6/5	d4/5	d2/5
Steam Breath Range:	60	45	30	15	15

Using dX according to your size:
HP: (Level + 5) * (dX + Con)
Bite/Tail Damage: AdX + Bd12; A = 1 at 1st, 2 at 10th, 3 at 20th; B = 0 at 1st, 2 at 5th, 2 at 15^th:
Claw Damage: 1dX + Bd6; B = 0 at 1st, 1 at 5th, 2 at 10th, 3 at 15th, 4 at 20th
Steam Breath Damage: (Level - 2) * d6

Actions
These actions are calculated for a Dragon Turtle at 1st Level. Use the guidelines above to determine the reach, range, damage, and saving throw DCs for these attack for levels beyond 1st.

Multiattack. A dragon turtle makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws. It can make one tail attack in place of its two claw attacks.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d6) piercing damage.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2 (1d4) slashing damage

Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone and pushed a number of feet 5 less than the tail’s reach.

Steam Breath. A dragon turtle exhales scalding steam in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw, taking 0 (0d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Being underwater doesn't grant resistance against this damage.

 

[clutchbone]

The Musicus scale is handy, I use it too, but I really wouldn't stress about bringing a race up to 6.5. People choose races for theme as much as mechanics, depending on the player, and adding features willy nilly dilutes the flavour distinction between them. For instance, I would throw out all of those unassigned skill proficiencies, extra languages, and especially those extra unassigned ASI's. Those are features that should only be assigned to races like human or half-elf where "variability" is part of their racial theme.

The official versions of the gnome, halfling, tiefling, kenku, Genasi (Fire), and Genasi (Water) are 100% fine as-is. I'd say that the half-orc and goliath are fine as well, but I have heard others disagree. Nevertheless, adding a skill beyond their existing intimidation/athletics doesn't make sense to their theme.

I heavily dislike the lizardfolk and all of the monstrous races in Volo's; I'd completely rebuild them rather than adding skill or languages that don't fit their themes.

The changes I would make are below:
[sblock=Homebrew Player Race Errata]
Dragonborn:2 skill or tool proficiencies and 1 language The real fix a dragonborn needs is to it's breath weapon. It should scale like a cantrip, and trigger off of strength or charisma.
Half-Orc:1 skill proficiency If you must change them, just make Relentless Endurance once/short rest at level 10 or 15.
Human: 1 skill or tool proficiency is enough.
Genasi (Air): Lightning Resistance and 30 ft. flying speed (must land at the end of each turn). They already have levitation.
Genasi (Earth): Poison Resistance and 30 ft. burrowing speed. Burrowing is too powerful. If you can fly, enemies can still shoot at you. If you burrow, you're protected, and dungeon walls mean nothing. That's why fly is a 3rd level spell and passwall is 5th (meld into stone, while also 3rd, doesn't let you travel).
Goliath: 1 skill proficiency and 1 language. Besides Athletics, Goliaths aren't known for being especially skillful or worldly. If you must change them, start Stone's Endurance at 1d4 or 1d6 and have it increase by another die at levels 5, 11, and 17.
Hobgoblin: Personally, I rebuild them as the anti-half elf, with +2 con, +1, +1, darkvision, weapon training (javelins, spears, longswords, and pikes), adv. vs frightened, and 1 tool. +2 Con is better than +2 cha, so no 2nd extra skill/tool and no extra language. [/sblock]


Turtlefolk This is both overpowered (At Home in the Sea, Natural Defense, and Turtle Form could each easily have a +1 added to their score rating) and also overly complicated. Eyeball the official races and see how much text their entries contain. Anything you make shouldn't be more convoluted or wordy than what's already out there.
[sblock=Turtlefolk review]
3 Ability Score Increase. Throw out the untyped abilities. Give them +2 Con and +1 Wis, or whatever.
Speed. This should be worded as "Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a swimming speed of 30 feet." for consistency, but I'd slow down their walking speed, like dwarves, because they're turtles.
At Home in the Sea. Your tie to the deep sea grants you the ability to do everything as easily underwater as you can on land. You can breathe underwater, your senses are not obscured by water, and you have a swimming speed equal to your walking speed. Move swim speed to speed, throw out senses bit, move water breathing to separate entry called Amphibious.
Language. You can speak, read, and write Common, Terran, and Aquan. Choose one or the other, or make tortoise and turtle subraces and give the appropriate language to each.
.5 Darkvision. You have stellar eyesight and can see 60 feet in darkness as if it were dim light and dim light as if it were bright light.
Skill Proficiencies. You are proficient in two of the following skills: Acrobatics, Nature, and Perception. Why would a turtle be good at "acrobatic stunts, including dives, rolls, somersaults, and flips"? Or be preternaturally good at academics? Perception makes sense, turtles are supposed to have good eyesight.
.5 Camouflage Shell. Your shell’s natural coloring has two predominant colors. Choose from Blue, Brown, Gray, and Green. You have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to hide in surroundings largely of one of your chosen colors. I'd take this out. Turtles aren't stealthy or agile creatures, they're big & bulky. If you must have something like this, use a marine version of the deep gnomes stone camouflage
-.5 Inconvenient Shell. Normal armor does not fit you. It costs 1.5 times the normal price to buy armor tailored to fit. If you have the appropriate tools and tool proficiency, you can modify armor yourself for 4 hours of work and 10gp per +1 AC bonus it grants above 10. Tailored armor is half the weight of regular armor. this is overly complicated, and you've already said that the shell is roughly the same size as your torso, so no need to penalize the player.
1.5 Natural Defense. Your plate-armor-like shell gives you comfort in similar armor and natural defensive abilities:
+1 • Your shell’s +2 AC bonus gives you an unarmored AC of 12 + your Dexterity modifier and +1 AC when wearing Light or Medium Armor. Wearing plate or half-plate armor does not impose disadvantage on your Dexterity (Stealth) checks.
+.5 • If you aren’t incapacitated, you can add your shell’s AC bonus to any Dexterity saving throw you make against a spell or other harmful effect. This is way too powerful, even with the inconvenient shell thing. Honestly, tinkering with AC is one of the most contentious things about race design. You're better off just giving them a flat +1 AC and calling it a day, or have the shell represented by a renamed version of the Goliath's Stone's Endurance or the dwarfs Dwarven Endurance.
Turtle Form. This is way too complicated, and races should not have a shapechange ability.
Feat: Dragon’s Defense: This is way too complicated, and anyways should probably be called Dragon Turtle's Defense. [/sblock]

Revised Turtlefolk. This version is a lot more user friendly, fairly balanced (around a 6.5 on the Musicus scale), and keeps that "I'm a turtle" feel.
[sblock=Revised Turtlefolk]
+3, Ability Score Increase. +2 Con and +1 Wis.
+1, Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet, and you have a swimming speed of 30 feet.
+0.5, Amphibious. You can breathe air and water.
Language. You can speak, read, and write Common and Aquan.
+0.5, Darkvision. You have stellar eyesight and can see 60 feet in darkness as if it were dim light and dim light as if it were bright light.
+0.5, Slow and Steady. You have advantage on Constitution ability checks.
+1, Impose Shell. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to roll a d4. Add your Constitution modifier to the number rolled, and reduce the damage by that total. After you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest. The number of dice increases by 1d4 when you reach 5th level (2d4), 11th level (3d4), and 17th level (4d4)



Alternate abilities that I changed or cut out for balance are:
+1, Hardened Shell. If you are not incapacitated, you have +1 AC.
+0.5, Aquatic Camouflage. You have advantage on Dexterity (stealth) checks to hide in marine environments.
+0.5, Keen Senses. You have proficiency in the Perception skill.
[/sblock]

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

When I did a homebrew anthropomorphic alligator snapping turtle race for 3.5Ed, I based them on dwarves, so they were slow, but powerful. To make them more "turtley", I switched dwarves stonecunning with an innate ability to navigate and toughened them with good natural armor. Their swim speed was equal to their land speed, but could hold their breath MUCH longer than most terrestrial creatures.

Because I based them on the largest of snapping turtles, they had a powerful bite.

 

[ro]

When I did a homebrew anthropomorphic alligator snapping turtle race for 3.5Ed, I based them on dwarves, so they were slow, but powerful. To make them more "turtley", I switched dwarves stonecunning with an innate ability to navigate and toughened them with good natural armor. Their swim speed was equal to their land speed, but could hold their breath MUCH longer than most terrestrial creatures.

Because I based them on the largest of snapping turtles, they had a powerful bite.

Cool! Thanks for your feedback! I'll consider it as I continue modifying.

 

[ro]

The Musicus scale is handy, I use it too, but I really wouldn't stress about bringing a race up to 6.5. People choose races for theme as much as mechanics, depending on the player, and adding features willy nilly dilutes the flavour distinction between them. For instance, I would throw out all of those unassigned skill proficiencies, extra languages, and especially those extra unassigned ASI's. Those are features that should only be assigned to races like human or half-elf where "variability" is part of their racial theme.

The official versions of the gnome, halfling, tiefling, kenku, Genasi (Fire), and Genasi (Water) are 100% fine as-is. I'd say that the half-orc and goliath are fine as well, but I have heard others disagree. Nevertheless, adding a skill beyond their existing intimidation/athletics doesn't make sense to their theme.

I heavily dislike the lizardfolk and all of the monstrous races in Volo's; I'd completely rebuild them rather than adding skill or languages that don't fit their themes.

The changes I would make are below:
[sblock=Homebrew Player Race Errata]
Dragonborn:2 skill or tool proficiencies and 1 language The real fix a dragonborn needs is to it's breath weapon. It should scale like a cantrip, and trigger off of strength or charisma.
Half-Orc:1 skill proficiency If you must change them, just make Relentless Endurance once/short rest at level 10 or 15.
Human: 1 skill or tool proficiency is enough.
Genasi (Air): Lightning Resistance and 30 ft. flying speed (must land at the end of each turn). They already have levitation.
Genasi (Earth): Poison Resistance and 30 ft. burrowing speed. Burrowing is too powerful. If you can fly, enemies can still shoot at you. If you burrow, you're protected, and dungeon walls mean nothing. That's why fly is a 3rd level spell and passwall is 5th (meld into stone, while also 3rd, doesn't let you travel).
Goliath: 1 skill proficiency and 1 language. Besides Athletics, Goliaths aren't known for being especially skillful or worldly. If you must change them, start Stone's Endurance at 1d4 or 1d6 and have it increase by another die at levels 5, 11, and 17.
Hobgoblin: Personally, I rebuild them as the anti-half elf, with +2 con, +1, +1, darkvision, weapon training (javelins, spears, longswords, and pikes), adv. vs frightened, and 1 tool. +2 Con is better than +2 cha, so no 2nd extra skill/tool and no extra language. [/sblock]

I see where you are coming from. I have made some modifications to try to keep things more thematic and limit the extra ASIs on the monstrous races. Also, I've removed most of the language bonuses and made the skills specific.

For the Dragonborn breath weapon, I added an overcoming damage resistance bonus and allowed the choice of Str or Con. Con should be useful for most players, and Str fits with the racial bonuses and some melee types. Charisma synergizes directly with certain spellcasting classes at the expense of others, so that is why I left it out; all of these are likely to have Con anyway.

What do you think of these changes?

Balancing Existing Races:
Several of the standard player races are noticeably weaker than others. In order to bring some the weaker ones closer to the 6.5 target, I’ve made a few adjustments:

Dragonborn:
- Your breath weapon uses your Str or Con modifier, your choice.
- Powerful Breath. Your breath weapon ignores damage resistance.
- Menacing. You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill.
Gnome:
- Forest Gnome. You gain proficiency in the Nature or Animal Handling skill.
- Rock Gnome. You gain proficiency in the History skill.
- Deep Gnome. You gain proficiency in the Arcana skill.
Half-Orc: You gain proficiency in the Athletics skill.
Halfling: Your subrace ASI is +2 rather than +1.
Human: 2 skill or tool proficiencies and a 30 ft. climbing or swimming speed
Tiefling: You gain proficiency in the Deception skill.
Genasi:
- Elemental Expertise. When you make an Intelligence ability check related to your elemental affinity, you can add twice your proficiency bonus, instead of any proficiency bonus you normally apply.
- Air Genasi: You gain resistance to lightning damage.
- Earth Genasi. You gain resistance to poison damage.
Goliath: You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill.
Kobold: Stealth proficiency, Superior Darkvision (120 ft.)
Orc: Athletics proficiency, Superior Darkvision (120 ft.)

 

[mflayermonk]

But...what about the Slugmen?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

BTW, ro, your initial post uses black text. That often happens when you cut & paste from certain other sites, apps or programs. It's a problem because a lot of people- myself included- use the "Legacy" setting for their sitewide visual environment, which has a black background for white text.

You might want to change that post's color setting.

 

[clutchbone]

When assigning a feature or skill, it should fit the theme of the entire race. Every member gets this as a baseline, either because of their culture or their genetics.

Take half-orcs and goliaths; sure they are both stronger than humans, but they come from different places. Half-orcs share blood with the traditional enemies of the "civilized" races, and constantly feel the shame and fear of those around them, and they struggle to control their Gruumsh-given rage. This theme makes sense for why every half-orc would have the intimidation skill, because they are constantly put in hostile social situations. But nothing is mentioned about half-orcs being athletes, It's more than just being "ugly". Likewise, being athletic is more than just being "strong". I know plenty of strong guys who aren't athletic in any sense; they could throw me across a room, but they can't climb a fence or jump to save their lives. Goliaths, on the other hand, are mountain dwellers who are constantly climbing and jumping, and their entire culture revolves around competition and physical fitness, so it that is why every Goliath character comes with Athletics, and why every Goliath is not proficient with intimidation.

Maybe this is overthinking it for just an extra skill, but in terms of d&d design, it's as much about crafting a "flavour" as it is about balancing numbers. Its gotta make sense.

Dragonborn:- Menacing. You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill. Sure they may look ugly to us, but they aren't an overly aggressive race. In the PHB, the dragonborn flavour text describes them as community oriented with a continual drive for self improvement. "A dragonborn holds mastery of a particular skill as a lifetime goal." In this case, an extra floating untyped skill or tool, or alternatively double proficiency on one skill they are already proficient in, might make sense.
Gnome:
- Forest Gnome. You gain proficiency in the Nature or Animal Handling skill. Gnomes are honestly fine and don't need anything. Small size isn't that bad; what gnome would ever want to wield a greataxe anyways? For the Forest gnome, the Nature skill is booklearning, and just because they are smart it doesn't mean every forest gnome has been educated about the genus and phyla of a common sparrow, or whatever. Most have never even left their own forest. And they have Speak with Beasts so they don't need Animal Handling. No reason why they need to be good at horseriding or calming down spooked cattle as well as talking with tiny forest animals.
- Rock Gnome. My problem with rock gnomes is that Tinker is lame. I'd straight replace it with the prestidigitation cantrip.
- Deep Gnome. You gain proficiency in the Arcana skill. Arcana is booklearning, and there's nothing in the theme that says all deep gnomes learn about magical theory and lore along with reading and writing.
Halflings - Musicus overrates the impact of small size, and underrates Lucky. They should be -.5 and +1 (or even 1.5 - it's always on, never needs to recharge), respectively.
Half-Orc: You gain proficiency in the Athletics skill. Not thematic.
Human: 2 skill or tool proficiencies and a 30 ft. climbing or swimming speed Why the climb or swim speed? Humans aren't tritons. Most humans aren't even athletic, let alone as good as swimming as a triton or as good a climber as an ape.
Tiefling: You gain proficiency in the Deception skill. This fits.
Genasi - Elemental Expertise. When you make an Intelligence ability check related to your elemental affinity, you can add twice your proficiency bonus, instead of any proficiency bonus you normally apply. This is makes sense.
Goliath: You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill. Not thematic.

 

[ro]

BTW, ro, your initial post uses black text. That often happens when you cut & paste from certain other sites, apps or programs. It's a problem because a lot of people- myself included- use the "Legacy" setting for their sitewide visual environment, which has a black background for white text.

You might want to change that post's color setting.

Thank you! I didn't know. I fixed it and will watch out for that in the future.

 

[ro]

When assigning a feature or skill, it should fit the theme of the entire race. Every member gets this as a baseline, either because of their culture or their genetics.

Take half-orcs and goliaths; sure they are both stronger than humans, but they come from different places. Half-orcs share blood with the traditional enemies of the "civilized" races, and constantly feel the shame and fear of those around them, and they struggle to control their Gruumsh-given rage. This theme makes sense for why every half-orc would have the intimidation skill, because they are constantly put in hostile social situations. But nothing is mentioned about half-orcs being athletes, It's more than just being "ugly". Likewise, being athletic is more than just being "strong". I know plenty of strong guys who aren't athletic in any sense; they could throw me across a room, but they can't climb a fence or jump to save their lives. Goliaths, on the other hand, are mountain dwellers who are constantly climbing and jumping, and their entire culture revolves around competition and physical fitness, so it that is why every Goliath character comes with Athletics, and why every Goliath is not proficient with intimidation.

Maybe this is overthinking it for just an extra skill, but in terms of d&d design, it's as much about crafting a "flavour" as it is about balancing numbers. Its gotta make sense.

Dragonborn:- Menacing. You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill. Sure they may look ugly to us, but they aren't an overly aggressive race. In the PHB, the dragonborn flavour text describes them as community oriented with a continual drive for self improvement. "A dragonborn holds mastery of a particular skill as a lifetime goal." In this case, an extra floating untyped skill or tool, or alternatively double proficiency on one skill they are already proficient in, might make sense.
Gnome:
- Forest Gnome. You gain proficiency in the Nature or Animal Handling skill. Gnomes are honestly fine and don't need anything. Small size isn't that bad; what gnome would ever want to wield a greataxe anyways? For the Forest gnome, the Nature skill is booklearning, and just because they are smart it doesn't mean every forest gnome has been educated about the genus and phyla of a common sparrow, or whatever. Most have never even left their own forest. And they have Speak with Beasts so they don't need Animal Handling. No reason why they need to be good at horseriding or calming down spooked cattle as well as talking with tiny forest animals.
- Rock Gnome. My problem with rock gnomes is that Tinker is lame. I'd straight replace it with the prestidigitation cantrip.
- Deep Gnome. You gain proficiency in the Arcana skill. Arcana is booklearning, and there's nothing in the theme that says all deep gnomes learn about magical theory and lore along with reading and writing.
Halflings - Musicus overrates the impact of small size, and underrates Lucky. They should be -.5 and +1 (or even 1.5 - it's always on, never needs to recharge), respectively.
Half-Orc: You gain proficiency in the Athletics skill. Not thematic.
Human: 2 skill or tool proficiencies and a 30 ft. climbing or swimming speed Why the climb or swim speed? Humans aren't tritons. Most humans aren't even athletic, let alone as good as swimming as a triton or as good a climber as an ape.
Tiefling: You gain proficiency in the Deception skill. This fits.
Genasi - Elemental Expertise. When you make an Intelligence ability check related to your elemental affinity, you can add twice your proficiency bonus, instead of any proficiency bonus you normally apply. This is makes sense.
Goliath: You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill. Not thematic.

Do intelligence skills have to line up with booklearning, or can they be knowledge gained form experience?

Also, I see that some skills are not thematic enough. Would giving expertise on more thematic skills be too much?

For humans, I was mostly trying to come up with something else other than another skill that would be useful. Maybe they would get 2 skills, one tool proficiency, and one language.

Gnomes could be given Stealth, or Investigation (good at discerning illusions), or Persuasion (perhaps advantage on ability checks to make others feel good).

Dragonbonr: Survival (strive to be self-sufficient) or Athletics.

For Half-Orc, I think Athletics does fit. The description talks about wrestling, physical might, and endurance.

Survival could also go well with Goliaths.