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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 6557318" data-attributes="member: 7635">So having had 24 hours to digest the new races, I got thinking.Two of the four races were in the Monster Manual as Monsters. How much did the two races (as PC races) differ from the Monsters stats in the MM?Turns out; Enough. Lets start by looking at aarakroca. Here are the major differences between the MM monster and PC race* the monster has 3d8 HD. This is not accounted for in the PC race at all. * the monster have a land move of 20 ft, the PC race 25 ft.* its hard to judge ability scores (since monsters use no default array) but it looks like dex and wis are their high scores, with Dex higher than Wis, so they appear to match the PC adjustments.* the monster makes no mention of the limitation on armor and flight, but to the monster also is wearing no armor (its AC is derived from its +2 dex mod)* the monster only speaks auran. PC aarakroca get common as well. * The aarakroca has a +5 in Perception. Seeing it only has a +1 Wis mod, that means it has a +4 to perception checks (equivalent to expertise in the perception skill). The PC race gives no bonus to perception whatsoever. * The monster has a dive attack, granting it extra damage. The PC race lacks this.* There is a sidebar about five aarakroca summoning an air elemental. This is also not discussed in the PC race. Meanwhile, lets look at the Deep Gnome. * The monster has 3d6 HD, again the PC race does not take this into account.* The monster has a movement of 20, the PC race 25.* Ability score mods are VERY hard to track on these guys: they have high Str, Dex, Con and Int (and Int is the lowest of the three high mods). However, to make them fit with gnomes, they have a +2 to Int and +1 Dex. * Same darkvision and languages. * The monster is trained in three skills: investigation, perception, and stealth. These are not accounted for in the PC race.* They both get stone camouflage. The text of both abilities are word-for-word. * the MM gets several spell-like abilities: at-will nondetection, blindness/deafness, blur, and disguise self 1/day. the PC race lacks these abilities, but can get them as a feat at 4th level (at the earliest). ConclusionsWhen converting a monster to a PC race, it appears the following are true.* HD don't matter. They are only there inflate the monsters HP to make it an appropriate challenge. Unlike 3e, you do not need to account for higher than 1 HD when converting a race.* Ability modifiers should be thematic, rather than slavish. * Even if the monster moves slower than 25 feet, PCs races never move slower than that.* Skills don't matter; unless its something absolutely intrinsic to the race. Even super-high (expertise-level) mods don't need to be accounted for. * Don't feel its needed to give a race EVERY ability. Especially ones that are more tactical/combat maneuvers (dive, pounce, sneak attack, etc). * Don't be afraid to make some abilities feats; if its too powerful for low level PCs. * Most Importantly: You don't need to account for every last thing in the MM. Monsters can have more HP, better stats, even special abilities their PC brethren don't. Include the iconic ones, but don't feel you need to include everything. PCs are PCs; they get their own special toys.I hope that helps homebrewers and converters some. Now, get working on that minotaur or rogue modron race you were thinking about! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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