touc
No rule is inviolate
I'm taking the scattered 5th edition conversions of Dark Sun out there and working up a conversion that fits the original theme without running afoul of balance issues. This has led to the Half-Elf. Dark Sun races need to be drastically different from their generic D&D counterparts, and they largely are, except the half-elf. In 2nd Edition, the half-elf simply got a minor animal pet because they're outcasts and loners (yeah, what a surprise, half-elves are split between two worlds) and animals don't say no on cold nights. In 3rd and 4th, they're generic, no pets. In 5th, I've seen it all over the board. When you have cannibal halflings, obsessive hairless dwarves who become banshees if they die with a task incomplete, and marathon-running con-men elves, generic doesn't work.
So, thoughts on whether the following works, given game balance relative to anything in the Player's Handbook:
Half-Elf Traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 2, and two other ability scores of your choice increase by 1.
Age. Half-elves mature as humans, reaching adulthood around 20, and some live to 130 years.
Alignment. Lawful and neutral half-elves labor for acceptance from a parent race while chaotic ones have given up, rejecting a society that has rejected them.
Size. Medium. A typical half-elf stands close to 6 ½ feet tall and weighs 140 pounds.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
There's no Darkvision for elves and it makes no sense in a desert world. If elves had it long ago, it's bred out.
Nomadic Life. You have proficiency in the Survival and Animal Handling skills.
Animal Link. As an innate psionic ability, you can use an Action to create an effect identical to the spell Speak with Animals. You cannot use this trait again until you complete a short or long rest.
As an innate psionic ability, you can use an Action to create an effect identical to the spell Animal Friendship. The saving throw is 8 + proficiency bonus + Wisdom modifier. You cannot use this trait again until you complete a long rest.
Because these are psionic abilities, they require no verbal, somatic, or material components, cannot be utilized at higher levels, and cannot be utilized as a ritual. In Dark Sun, spells drain energy from plants and this will get you killed, but psionics is innate and there were animal control effects originally. The AD&D half-elf developed some unnatural affinity for animals, and most people assume it is because they're shunned from both worlds, but hell, maybe it's something more when you combine elf and human blood. I took this largely from the gnome racial feat Critter Friend.
Languages. You can speak Common and Elvish.
So, thoughts on whether the following works, given game balance relative to anything in the Player's Handbook:
Half-Elf Traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 2, and two other ability scores of your choice increase by 1.
Age. Half-elves mature as humans, reaching adulthood around 20, and some live to 130 years.
Alignment. Lawful and neutral half-elves labor for acceptance from a parent race while chaotic ones have given up, rejecting a society that has rejected them.
Size. Medium. A typical half-elf stands close to 6 ½ feet tall and weighs 140 pounds.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
There's no Darkvision for elves and it makes no sense in a desert world. If elves had it long ago, it's bred out.
Nomadic Life. You have proficiency in the Survival and Animal Handling skills.
Animal Link. As an innate psionic ability, you can use an Action to create an effect identical to the spell Speak with Animals. You cannot use this trait again until you complete a short or long rest.
As an innate psionic ability, you can use an Action to create an effect identical to the spell Animal Friendship. The saving throw is 8 + proficiency bonus + Wisdom modifier. You cannot use this trait again until you complete a long rest.
Because these are psionic abilities, they require no verbal, somatic, or material components, cannot be utilized at higher levels, and cannot be utilized as a ritual. In Dark Sun, spells drain energy from plants and this will get you killed, but psionics is innate and there were animal control effects originally. The AD&D half-elf developed some unnatural affinity for animals, and most people assume it is because they're shunned from both worlds, but hell, maybe it's something more when you combine elf and human blood. I took this largely from the gnome racial feat Critter Friend.
Languages. You can speak Common and Elvish.
