This chapter covers the major races of Planegea, albeit they are known as kinships instead of races. Most societies don’t treat species and cultures as being inherently linked, prioritizing banding together for survival. Many clans are made up of different peoples who are willing to work, and while there are cases of groups being primarily made up of the same kinship this is more due to common ethos as opposed to active exclusion. But the book does make exceptions to this generality with some of the races, like with the halflings and saurians.
All of the base races exist in Planegea, albeit many are different from their medieval counterparts in reflecting a more primordial nature closer to that of their creation myths. There’s a sidebar mentioning that other races have a place in the world, such as the tabaxi and tortles (not named as such due to the OGL), but it’s up to the DM to fill in the details.
The dwarves are still freshly hewn from stone and look like they literally sprung up from the ground. For example, their hair might contain gems and minerals, their skin may be covered in scale-like patterns of pebbles, or their entire form may be a prickly layer of rocky spines. They have an obsessive need to build, which they channel into creating various structures across the land. However, they do not inhabit such buildings once finished, instead moving on to the next project. This causes Planegea to be filled with quite a number of abandoned dwarven structures. Additionally, dwarves do not yet have an enmity with giants. On the contrary, the Giant Empires are eager to welcome them into their lands in order to take advantage of their artisanship. A little too eager, some fear. The hill dwarf subrace are Hewn Dwarves, the generation that has been born naturally and not carved from the land’s foundations.
The homeland of the Elves is in the dreamworld of Nod, and their minds and bodies reflect this. They are given to flights of fancy, contemplating things unseen by others, and they do not sleep nor dream for they are never truly away from Nod in spirit. The various elven subraces reflect the dreamlike environments from which they came forth, such as the sea for aquatic elves. The high elves were a clan exiled from Nod for a terrible crime or sin, with only the oldest of the exiles knowing why but such knowledge isn’t shared with others.
Halflings are quiet people who prize discretion in all things. Their small forms make them seem easy prey to all manner of creatures, so they learned the arts of camouflage, stealth, sign language, and other ways of overcoming dangers. Their clans are the most likely to be single-kinship in demographics, where much of the day is spent in close to complete silence. But in times of safety, where they know there is no danger close by, there are few who laugh louder and party harder, knowing how rare such times can be. Lightfoot halflings are known as Quietkin and are more or less the default, but other subraces are known as Walkaway Halflings who disagreed with their quiet lives and went to live among other kinships.
Humans have remarkable adaptability and the willingness to live in all kinds of lands as in other settings, but that’s not the only thing that they have going for them. They have a specific niche in Planegea in being the race best-skilled in domesticating beasts of all kinds. In fact, they have an optional racial trait where they have double proficiency to Animal Handling checks when interacting with undomesticated beasts. This is added to and doesn’t replace any human racial features.
Dragonborn originated in the Venom Abyss, coming up the skybound waterfalls into the Great Valley via bamboo rafts. Claiming to be descended from hatchlings of the Worldheart Dragon, they consider themselves kin to true dragons and act as emissaries of the Worldheart’s will to the rest of Planegea. Most don’t intend on returning to their ancestral homelands, instead forming new societies elsewhere or joining other kinships. Dragonborn work hard and play hard, placing great emphasis on hunts leading to celebratory feasts and constant games of one-upmanship. They are a new arrival to Planegea, as the first ones who came up from the Venom Abyss are just now dying of old age. As Planegea doesn’t have metal, the metallic dragonborn subraces aren’t present.
Tieflings in Planegea are known as Godmarked, and have a variety of origins but all of which involve the touch of the divine in some fashion. Their physical appearances vary widely due to this, but tie into the god who influenced their heritage in some way. Unlike in typical D&D settings, tieflings aren’t necessarily distrusted for being viewed as “devilkin.” Their features still set them apart from other kinships, and societies’ reaction to them can vary depending upon their relationship with particular gods. That being said, there is a stereotype that godmarked have an ear to the divine, and are often petitioned for or trained in ways on how to please or avoid angering the gods.
Gnomes are considered some of the most brave and innovative kinships in Planegea. Their consummate curiosity on the world and its mysteries means that most of them discovered various means of distracting predators and enemies, and found various ways to make camp in places others regard as impossible or impractical in which to live. Such as huts dangling from the branches of incredibly tall trees or within the caverns of an active volcano. More than a few gnomish communities have been unexpected safe havens for travelers, filled with wondrous inventions and art. Rock gnomes are called Startle Gnomes and have variant subrace abilities: their double proficiency bonus is added to knowledge about alchemical objects, magic items, and stars, they gain proficiency in one set of artisan’s tools rather than tinker’s tools, and their three devices are reflavored to be less clockwork such as a jar that plays a single song when opened. Other gnomish subraces reflect different groups who found their own means of surviving in Planegea.
Half-elves are children of both human and elven parents, and are usually called Twilight Children to reflect this. The features of both races combine in rather unusual ways, such as a commonality of blue skin tones despite the fact that this isn’t a universal color for humans and elves. Humans and elves can raise families together for all sorts of reasons, so half-elves aren’t necessarily raised solely among one kinship group although it can happen. Some half-elves can change their appearance to be entirely elf or human at will, and are known as Blood Dancers. This replaces a half-elf’s Skill Versatility with a more limited kind of shapechanging they can do as a bonus action. Not worth the trade-off, if you ask me.
Orcs in Planegea use half-orc stats, albeit literal half-orcs still exist as they can have children with humans. Like in standard D&D settings, orcs are known as martial people who have earned names for themselves as hunters and conquerors. They view survival as a glorious struggle, and poetry is a commonly taught skill as orcs are expected to recount their deeds to others in inspiring ways. While they honor various gods like most other cultures, within the last few generations a growing movement has questioned the need to pay heed to the gods. This has taken various forms: some orc clans merely choose not to honor the gods and instead prove themselves by their own deeds without the powers of shamans, some are irreligious yet open to accepting a god who proves themselves worthy of worship, and some take a more antagonistic role and view the gods as competitors who must be fought and vanquished. Orcs who use the orc stats from a sourcebook that can’t be named in the OGL are known as the Doomed. These orcs consumed foul beings who tainted them with murderous, violent urges, making them more and more like the orcs we all know and love to hate.
Thoughts: I like how Planegea gives unique spins on existing races while also drawing from their basic tropes. Like how elves don’t need to sleep due to the ties to their dream-homes, or the dwarf-giant enmity having not occurred but is heavily implied to be in the works, or the eventual corruption of orcs from eating fell creatures. I particularly like the idea of making humans have a knack for rearing animals, given that it’s a good explanation for one possible reason for their eventual prominence in most DnD settings. The use of animal labor has been a great boon to the formation of agricultural societies, and remained an important facet for most of human history since then.
But Planegea doesn’t just retread semi-familiar ground, for this setting has four new
Planegean Kinships! All of these kinships have a base walking speed of 30 feet and use the variant ability score assignments from Tasha’s: +2 to one ability and +1 to another, as well as assignment of bonus language of choice. Variant features are given in sidebars, being more restricted forms for gaming groups who prefer all of their elves to be at least a bit dextrous and their dwarves to be sturdy.
Dreas are people who were once trees that chose to leave the forests and used magic to take on more humanoid shapes. They look quite similar to dryads and other “tree people,” such as moss and leaves substituting for hair or green or bark-like skin, albeit various Dreas can differ widely on the “plant-to-humanoid” scale of things. They are still getting used to the ways of non-plant kinships, trying to prove themselves to various clans of their value but often finding themselves held at arm’s length due to a mixture of misunderstandings and general fear of the unknown. They still have ties to the trees, often acting as mediators between clans and the forests.
For mechanics they are Medium size, have 60 foot darkvision, are plant type instead of humanoid, cannot eat solid food and instead feed on 1 hour of sunlight per day to avoid starvation. They begin play knowing the Druidcraft cantrip and learn and can cast Speak with Plants and Charm Person once per day each at 3rd level. Once per long rest they can enter a living tree and spend 5 feet of movement to teleport and exit another tree within 500 feet.
Thoughts: Being plant instead of humanoid is a nice feature as it makes them immune to a few humanoid-specific spells and effects, and needing only to eat sunlight is good for DMs who place heavy emphasis on rations and wilderness survival by having one less PC to worry about feeding. Their bonus spells are rather situational, as is their tree teleportation. Due to this, they are an okay race; not exactly a surefire choice for any particular build, and whose attractiveness in mechanics is dependent on what terrain takes prominence in the campaign.
Half-Ooze are not born in the typical way, instead being what happens when an ooze enters the body of a humanoid. The original humanoid dies, and the ooze partially absorbs its personality and memories by inhabiting their body which becomes more elastic and noodly. Half-oozes are capable of speech and higher thought, but they universally have a feeling of perpetual hunger that drives them to live in the moment and do what they can to eat and survive. Due to this they aren’t a universally accepted people, often finding themselves joining groups of the desperate, the outcast, and the violent. The originating ooze is known as an ooze sire, and the host body is known as an ooze dam. They reproduce when a half-ooze dies, where 1d4 ooze sires emerge from the corpse to seek out hosts.
In terms of mechanics they are either Small or Medium depending on their host but can fit in spaces sized for Tiny creatures, need twice as much food as Medium humanoids, and suffer 1 level of exhaustion for each day they go without eating. As an action they can extend either their arms or limbs and retract them to default as a bonus action. Both effects reduce their AC by 1 but extended legs increase their walking speed by 10 feet and extended arms grant any melee weapons they have the reach property. They also have their choice of one skill proficiency, one weapon proficiency, or two tool proficiencies based on their host’s former life.
Finally, Half-oozes can choose from one of 3 subraces based on the species of ooze sire. Acidic lets them deal acid damage equal to their character level to attackers in melee as a reaction once per short or long rest, gain resistance to acid damage, and are immune to ingested poisons from food or drink; Magical grants one cantrip from the wizard class, using their Intelligence for casting it, and proficiency in Arcana; Sticky lets them climb without costing extra movement and grants proficiency in Sleight of Hand.
Thoughts:Half-oozes’ base features are going to make them attractive choices for builds relying on fast movement and reach-based attacks. Needing twice as much food to eat is going to be a penalty in a setting like Planegea unless someone has access to Goodberry. As for the subraces, Magical feels underwhelming, while Acidic and Sticky feel more useful for a variety of builds and situations.
Saurians are humanoids with dinosauric features. They are the oldest kinships and tend to have a rather arrogant view of the “soft-skinned, hairier” peoples who came into the world relatively recently. They have four distinct lineages who tend to keep to themselves and not mix among each other, and their more limited facial muscles means they primarily express emotions via changing the colors of their scales. Such colors differ depending on the lineage. All four lineages lay eggs, and eggs are kept in a communal nest who are raised collectively upon hatching by the community. Saurians have an innate ability to tap into the memories of their ancestors to a limited extent, summoning the spirits of the dead to impart their knowledge. Many saurians encourage individuals to wander the world so that they may learn as much of it as possible in order to add to this genealogical knowledge base. They don’t keep such findings to themselves, and more than a few saurian burial grounds have spirits who are willing to impart what they know to other families and kinships…provided that inquiring minds know how to contact them.
In terms of mechanics Saurians are Medium and their ancestral memory takes the form of spells. They begin play with the Sense Whispers cantrip detailed later in this book (detect the presence of friendly undead) and can cast Bless and Augury once per long rest each at 3rd and 5th level. They have four distinct subraces: leatherwings are descended from pterosaurs, gaining a fly speed of 45 feed that requires both arms but they can grapple targets of Medium size or smaller with their talons when flying, and count as one size category larger for carrying capacity while flying provided they have at least half the weight carried by their talons; Hammertails are descended from ankylosaurs and gain +1 AC and have a tail unarmed strike that has a 10 foot reach and deals 1d4 + Strength modifier bludgeoning damage; Sharpfangs are descended from carnosaurs and gain +10 speed and double their jumping distance when they Dash, and their unarmed strikes can include claws that deal 1d4 + Strength modifier in slashing damage; Webfeet are descended from various aquatic dinosaurs, gaining darkvision of 60 feet, swim speed of 30 feet, can breath air and water alike but need to breathe air at least once every 4 hours to avoid suffocating, and as an action they can make a trumpeting blast that can be heard from a mile away and counts as a musical instrument with which they are proficient.
Thoughts: Bless is a pretty good spell in general, with Augury and the cantrip being a lot more situational. As for the subraces, leatherwing wins out as a fly speed is good for just about anyone. Hammertails are quite nice as +1 AC goes a long way for just about any build, albeit the Sharpfangs are only really good for Monks and Rogues who don’t have to give up their main Action for a Dash. The Webfoot, like most aquatic races, is very situational on whether or not the campaign is located next to any large bodies of water.
Starlings are our final new race, being literal stars who fell to the earthbound realms from the night sky. This most commonly happens during the Dawn Duel, when they try to knock each other into the Sea of Stars with the one remaining aloft claiming the right to be tomorrow’s Day-Star. Most starlings fall into the Sea of Stars, but a rare few fall into the rest of Planegea. Most starlings view places such as the Great Valley as alien, frightening realms, and are too few in number to have distinct communities and cultures in these places. Many embarked on journeys to find ways of returning to the night sky, but not a single one has yet to succeed and all who tried have since given up hope. Starlings tend to either live lives of isolation, while others join clans to find safety in numbers. And a rare few are charlatans, using their beatific nature and origins to masquerade as gods and build their own religious followings.
In terms of mechanics they are Medium size, shed natural light in a single color chosen at character creation, add double proficiency to Performance checks for dancing, don’t need to sleep for 8 hours if they have a view of the night sky and remain aware of their surroundings, have advantage on their next Arcana or Nature check for checks related to weather and celestial bodies when spending a long rest in such a manner, can spend an action to try and blind a touched creature until the end of the starling’s next turn should they fail a Constitution save, and by spending 10 feet of movement and a bonus action can briefly become incorporeal and pass through creatures and objects, taking 1d10 force damage and forcefully pushed out if they end their movement in a solid object. The last 2 abilities can only be used once and require a short or long rest in order to use again.
Thoughts: The short-duration ability to phase through objects is incredibly useful for all manner of situations, albeit costing movement just to activate and being one-use prevents them from using it to scout ahead too much. As for the blinding attack ability, it imposes a powerful condition but really depends on what they’re giving up for their main Action and if other characters can immediately take advantage of it like a Rogue with Sneak Attack. The advantage on Arcana/Nature checks may sound situational, but due to the new rules for gaining blessings and knowledge from the stars using these very skills in the prior chapter, this makes starlings quite useful in gaining minor bonuses and GM Fiat-based general information. The former still doesn’t hold a candle to Guidance, however, although it can stack for when a starling absolutely has to get a passable roll.
Each of the core PHB classes have representation in Planegea, albeit all of them have setting-specific reflavoring to be more appropriate in a Prehistoric Fantasy era than a Medieval one.
Ascetics are renamed monks, representing those who willingly forgo sustenance so that the rest of their social group can partake of their share. They learn to channel this self-denial into a strength, gaining enhanced physical and spiritual conditioning by pressing themselves to the limit. Sometimes these self-imposed limitations can take other forms, such as wearing a blindfold for a year or finding ways to sleep while standing.
The Way of Abnegation is a new subclass representing those who deny themselves physically in multiple ways to attain new powers. At 3rd level they get Ward Blows which is basically Deflect Missiles but for melee weapon attacks and can make a melee counterattack by spending a ki point, and Abstention lets them subsist on half the normal amount of food and water and reduces their Exhaustion Level by an additional 1 whenever they complete a long rest. At 6th level they gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage until the end of their next turn whenever they take the Dodge action. At 11th level they gain more powerful uses of earlier class features, such as being able to spend a reaction to intercept an attack for an adjacent ally and use Deflect Missiles or Ward Blows as part of that same reaction, and make attack rolls from these counterattack abilities with advantage. At 17th level they can make the Dodge action for free whenever they spend a bonus action to make one or more unarmed strikes.
Thoughts: This subclass makes the Monk a lot tankier when they get up close and personal in combat by reducing the damage of melee and physical damage in general. Once again we see rules pointing to food/sustenance tracking, which is useful in Planegea but may be more situational in other campaigns. Or again, if the party has access to Goodberry. The subclass’ major weakness is that it doesn’t have a lot of out of combat or mobility options like the Way of Shadow, and it doesn’t have useful directly offensive abilities like Open Hand. When facing off against foes who primarily deal physical damage types or where the monk can occupy one foe’s attention, Way of Abnegation is a pretty good subclass. But outside of these circumstances they suffer a bit in comparison to more broader ones like Astral Self.
Barbarians are a common discipline in Planegea, of those who find a way to take into their inner rage to better survive in a dangerous world. There are a variety of ways in which such rages are channeled, such as sheer mental discipline or holding themselves to moral codes, and typically find prominent roles in clans as lead hunters or raiders due to their power.
The Path of the Farstriker is a new subclass focusing on thrown attacks, and this may come from a variety of sources such as giant heritage or growing up in a region where the boundaries between magic and the natural world are mutable. At 3rd level they can treat any melee weapon as having the Thrown property with a range of 20/60 feet, double the range if a weapon already has said property. They can draw and throw a weapon as part of the same action, add Rage Damage to ranged weapon attacks (not just thrown ones) and apply the Brutal Critical to ranged weapons as well as melee ones. Also at 3rd level while raging they can throw a creature no more than one size larger than themselves* up to 30 feet away once per turn instead of making a weapon attack. Unwilling creatures must succeed on a Strength save to avoid this, and take 1d6 + Strength modifier + Rage damage and also fall prone should they fail. Friendly creatures thrown take no damage, instead able to make a melee attack as a reaction. At 6th level they can Dash as a bonus action and double their jump distance whenever they throw a weapon or hurl a creature while raging. At 10th level they can choose for any weapon thrown to boomerang back into their hand, and at 14th level they can channel the power of the wind into a thrown weapon attack. This last feature is an AoE line attack that deals the thrown weapon damage to all caught in its path, and those who fail a Dexterity save by 5 or more suffer the effects of a Brutal Critical.
*2 sizes at 11th and any size at 17th.
Thoughts: One of the Barbarian class’ weaknesses is that they’re built first and foremost for melee, and if they can’t damage an opponent their rage ends early. Therefore, foes that can fly or are speedy enough can easily get out of reach of a Barbarian. The Farstriker solves this weakness by making them good with thrown weapons and grants a situational bonus action Dash, and gives them some battlefield control with a special hurling ability. The reaction-based melee attack for hurled allies is a good combo for certain builds, such as a Rogue whose Sneak Attack can trigger a second time per round if they’re attacking with advantage. Overall a pretty good subclass IMO.
Bards are known as Chanters in Planegea, those who use songs to shape the world around them with magical powers. It is said that chanters use the power of song to bring to mind possible realities and timelines, showing people possible futures through storytelling. Chanters are simultaneously loved and feared for this as they hold in their hands the destiny of their clans, so they have great pressure to use their powers for good. Those who stray from honorable paths find it all too easy to earn the enmity of former friends. Bardic Colleges are instead known as Traditions, reflections of how chanters exchange knowledge of techniques in bringing about new stories into the world.
One might think that
Druids would be a beloved class in Planegea, but this is not the case. Divine power is not an endless bountiful resource, as is evidenced by how many gods fight each other over their hallows and territory. While shamans gain divine power from gods as part of a willful pledge of service and paladins gain it in a similar manner, druids instead opt to steal such power from the gods. Some druids are simply opportunistic thieves who want the benefits of the divine without the sacrifice of service, while others view themselves as sort of magical Robin Hoods returning magic back to the natural world that the gods so greedily hoard. As so many clans make use of gods and shamans, druids are driven into exile if not slain outright, forced to band together and come up with their own secret language to communicate with each other. Druidic has no written form, instead being transmitted through irregularities in the natural world such as specific arrangements of leaves and stones or branches bent in certain ways. Orcs are the most likely of the kinships to accept druids in their society, given the growing trends of anti-theism and secularism among some orcish clans.
The
Fighter is a straightforward and universally-understood path in Planegea. They may take the forms of warriors who train themselves to fight enemies of the clan, or hunters who would much rather use their talents to fell beasts for sustenance. Many can find themselves fulfilling both roles based on the needs of the community.
Planegean
Paladins are known as Guardians, those who swear an oath with a god as a witness to uphold an ideal or accomplish a great goal. While their powers come from gods, unlike shamans their origin comes from commitments of such forceful will that the gods themselves have no choice but to grant them such power. Guardians commonly have prominent positions in clans, from outright leaders to advisors, bodyguards of shamans, or even travelers who venture into unknown territories as part of their oath’s fulfillment. Many clans seek to train those in the path of the Guardian from young ages, although many Guardians find their calling well into adulthood from all manner of circumstances.
Rangers are those who have an innate gift for magic tied to nature, which unlike the learned ways of druids subconsciously draws power from the gods rather than deliberately. As their powers usually aren’t as great in magnitude as druids, clans and gods alike have a more varied reaction to them: some treat them like druids and kill or exile them, while others allow them to exist if they can use their talents in serving the interest of god and clan.
Scavengers are reflavored Rogues, representing those who rely on stealth to take from others, often waiting for an individual or group to show weakness in order to swoop in and claim a prize or kill. While the need to survive is a universal concept in Planegea, they are vilified by clans for flouting social conventions and “honorable” behavior in order to gain any advantage. But there is an honor of sorts among thieves: an informal group known as the Scavengers’ Vow has crept its influence across the clans of Planegea, creating a secret language known as the Code whose non-verbal form is rudimentary enough to avoid the wrath of the Hounds of Blind Heaven yet still terrifies those for being close enough to the Black Taboo. The Scavengers’ Vow is said to have a leader known as the Rat King, who in exchange for being part of a greater community of outcasts demands a tithing of scavenged goods to be left at predesignated locations.
Shamans are the Clerics of Planegea, the middlemen between gods and mortals. While they can owe allegiance to more than one god, most have a single deity they pay the most attention and reverence, and it’s not uncommon for shamans of clans that migrate to have a revolving set of patron deities based on where they currently camp. Most clans place shamans in prominent leadership positions, often serving alongside or in place of a chieftain, and larger clans may have multiple shamans who have their own hierarchies.
Sorcerers are the most common type of arcane spellcasters in Planegea, their powers arising from primordial magic infusing mortals. As sorcerous powers are usually imbued rather than consciously attained, they often need to work hardest to prove themselves to their clans. Chanters, shamans, and spellskins are commonly apprenticed, while guardians represent a level of trust and respect from the gods. A sorcerer can arise from anyone, and so they are judged based on how they use their powers in the furtherance of their clan. Planegean sorcerers are allowed an optional class feature at 1st level, where they can use a free hand to cast material components as if they were holding an arcane focus. This represents the fact that their own bodies are effectively arcane foci given their inborn power.
Dream Sorcery is a new subclass representing sorcerers who draw on unconscious minds to bring dreams and nightmares into reality. Their bonus spells are strongly geared towards enchantment and illusion such as Calm Emotions, Major Image, and Confusion. Each time they end a long rest they can choose a number of allies they can see equal to their Charisma modifier to gain a random benefit from a d8 table representing a shared dream, such as adding double the sorcerer’s proficiency bonus to a damage roll. Such a benefit can be used one to three times per character based on the Sorcerer’s class level. At 6th level the Sorcerer can roll twice on the table and choose which applies (same number lets them choose from any on the table), and they can expend a sorcery point to grant a character another use of an expended dream benefit, and as part of a long rest the sorcerer can communicate with a creature on the same plane via Dream but cannot appear monstrous so they cannot damage creatures in such a way. At 14th level the sorcerer can teleport up to 30 feet to a place they can see once per turn, spending that same amount of movement from their movement speed. At 18th level they can spend an action to cast the Simulacrum spell, which only lasts for an hour, can only cast spells of up to 5th level, can use any metamagic known without spending sorcery points, and can take on any appearance but can’t be more than one size category larger than the sorcerer. This Simulacrum can only be used once per long rest unless 10 sorcery points are spent. The text also notes that a simulacrum dream sorcerer cannot use this class feature, which basically closes a loophole in the rules of simulacrums using spell slots to “clone” themselves.
Thoughts: A lot of the Dream Sorcery spells are Concentration, which prevents the Sorcerer from making full use of them at any one time. While random, the bonuses to rolls for party members from the shared dream are broad enough in usefulness to not feel like total waste, so you shouldn’t have cases where only narrow roles such as Rogues or arcane casters will appreciate some but not others. The long-range dream communication is more situational, and the at-will short-range teleportation and Simulacrum can be very powerful but kick in at levels most campaigns won’t see.
Spellskins are reflavored wizards who create artistics patterns from observation of stars and living creatures. Once they gain understanding of a creature’s shape and magic, they fasten a likeness onto their own body as a tattoo. As a body can only hold so many tattoos, spellskins rely on cave paintings in a secure place to scribe such designs that their own forms cannot physically hold. Spellskins by their nature tread close to violating the Black Taboo of writing, and there is many a tale of spellskins who courted the Hounds’ attention, leaving their magical caverns and canyons unattended and ripe for the taking…should their magical defenses and guardians be overcome. Spellskins are regarded by clans as a necessary evil at best, if not outright exiled. Most spellskin paintings are banned from being made within sight of the clanfire, causing most of them to spend much of their days in isolated sanctums and gatherings of the like-minded.
Instead of spellbooks, Spellskins require a 10 foot square of space per spell level on which to paint or carve. Mana tattoos are shorthands for such spells placed on their bodies by working as a memory aid, so in order to learn another spellskin’s magic one needs to find their full artwork. Spellskins who do this can copy one spell over 2 hours and suffer .5 levels of exhaustion (rounded up) per level of the spell upon completion.
Warlocks represent those who enter into pacts with entities other than gods whose powers and nature aren’t yet well known in Planegea. The only thing that warlocks have in common is that they are often socially adept given the force of will and cunning of the tongue to derive their powers from such entities. And also the fact that their magic comes from…elsewhere, be it an Archfey of Nod or some unknowable entity from beyond the stars. In a way, warlocks and shamans often understand each other, as fellow mere mortals who petitioned a higher power for magic. Pact of the Tome and Book of Ancient secrets are reflavored as patterned scarring.
The Dark Forest is a new patron subclass, representing some malevolent entity existing deep within a forest who is hostile to mortals but has decided on a temporary alliance with the warlock. While the Dark Forest is a broadly-named patron, in the context of the Planegea setting it is Duru, one of the major villains detailed later in this book. The expanded spells have a common plant theme such as Entangle, Barkskin, and Tree Stride. Their 1st level features include the ability to have moss grow over the wounds of a target struck by an attack roll for 1 minute a number of times equal to their proficiency bonus per long rest. As a bonus action the warlock can make the moss bloom, dealing 1d6 necrotic damage to the target and creatures within 10 feet if they fail Dexterity saves. The other 1st level feature lets them cover a slain foe in plant growth and the corpse transforms into a larger tree in one minute. The warlock can choose to bind a number of such trees up to their proficiency bonus: the trees are friendly to them and the warlock can speak telepathically and project their senses through such trees (which allow for free uses of detecting poison, disease, and magic) provided they’re on the same plane of existence. And since there’s technically only one plane of existence in Planegea, this last part isn’t much of a limitation! At 6th level a warlock effectively gains the AC bonus of barkskin permanently and has advantage on checks and saves vs movement-based conditions and effects. At 10th level their moss bloom attacks can also reduce a marked creature’s speed to 0, and at 14th level once per long rest they can cause a number of ghostly trees equal to their proficiency bonus to spring forth from the ground, dealing damage and causing forced movement on those above them when they erupt, and they also impose selective difficult terrain and concealment that don’t affect the warlock and designated allies.
Dark Forest warlocks gain 4 new Eldritch Invocations: Duru’s Gift lets them not have to subsist on food provided they are exposed to sunlight for at least an hour; Eldritch Lash grants them Thorn Whip as a cantrip, and they can add their Charisma bonus to damage and reduce the speed of a struck target by 10 feet; Entangling Rebuke lets them spend a reaction to deal bludgeoning damage and restrain a creature within 60 feet who just damaged the warlock once per short rest; and Form of the Forest lets them transform creatures into plants as well as beasts whenever they cast Polymorph.
Thoughts: This subclass’ expanded spell options are a useful variety of battlefield control. Entangle is one of the druid’s best low level spells, and granting it to a warlock who can recharge it on short rests is a very attractive option. The bonus action damaging bloom can stack nicely with Hex: the class feature can automatically apply on a successful attack roll with no action and Hex costs a bonus action, while activating the moss costs a bonus action and the Hex’s subsequent damage rolls apply automatically. Turning corpses into trees you can sense through and communicate with is very situational, but the 6th level AC boost is really nice as most warlocks won’t have 16 AC barring good Dexterity and studded leather. The 14th level’s selective difficult terrain and cover is downright amazing. With good features at just about every level, this is a great patron. Sadly the unique invocations aren’t so great: the sunlight sustenance doesn’t feel worth picking over invocations like False Life, and Eldritch Lash acts against type by bringing enemies closer in melee to warlocks with their squishy d6 Hit Die. And since it’s cast as an action, a Hexblade is giving up attacking with their pact weapon to cast it. The entangling counterattack is nice use of reaction, and makes it the best of the new invocations.
As for adding the plant type to Polymorph, there aren’t a lot of worthy options barring two really good ones. A shambling mound is slower and less damaging than a brontosaurus (both CR 5) although its ability to heal from lightning damage can make it a sturdy long-time form if someone has Shocking Grasp or Lightning Lure to heal it; a Tree Blight is much more fragile than a Giant Ape (both CR 7) in terms of hit points even if its AC is better and it doesn’t have a thrown rock attack; a Treant (CR 9) is less damaging than a T-Rex (CR 8) but its ability to animate trees may be a nice means of adding more allies to the battlefield. The Bodytaker Plant (CR 7) may seem initially useful in minion creatures it can see through, but the process to create podlings is too slow and the spell’s duration will run out by then. The yggdrasti (CR 7) strikes me as a great option, given its fly speed and ability to hold creatures in its cavities can be useful for letting allied archers and spellcasters have a flying mount to which they can take cover from enemy attacks. A character with Shocking Grasp or Lightning Lure can use it on the plant to use a longer-range and more damaging lightning blast attack. The other abusable option I can see with this is Polymorphing into a Corpse Flower (CR 8) and using its ability to quickly create zombies whose only limit is the amount of corpses to which the party has access.
Thoughts So Far: I love the flavor and reimaginings of common races and classes to better fit in the world of Planegea, sacrificing little other than some era-specific flavor to work in Prehistoric Fantasy. I am a bit iffy on making druids widely vilified; while they aren’t the most popular class, it sort of puts gaming groups in a dilemma in a manner similar to a token evil PC or a career criminal Rogue with a Lawful Good “tough on crime” Paladin in the same party. As for spellskins, the trading in of spellbooks for a stationary form makes them a less attractive option for more mobile parties vs ones who are mainly confined to one location. The new subclasses all seem strong but the Dark Forest Warlock is a clear winner. As for the new races, I feel that they aren’t as well-balanced: the Dreas could’ve used more broadly useful features, and the half-ooze and saurian subraces aren’t balanced among themselves.
Join us next time as we cover the rest of the Player’s Section with the Chapters for Backgrounds, Equipment & Trade, and Spells!
