New Race (Visare)

nerk · May 24, 2015

These guys have a particular place and function in my homebrew world, but can serve as a mystical/fey race in almost any setting. Looking for any input, particularly on balance. https://ineleschild.wordpress.com/2015/05/24/the-visare/

transcendantviewer · May 25, 2015

Well, I skimmed through this and I'm not exactly sure what to say. They're strange and a few of their abilities are strangely worded. They seem like they're intended more for the roleplaying flair than they are anything else.

nerk · May 25, 2015

Thanks for the look. I'll review the wording.
And yes, they are intended for roleplaying flair, but I'm not sure that's a point against them.

transcendantviewer · May 25, 2015

Well, it's not; I just meant that they don't give players much incentive to use them, other than to say "I'm a fey that's born from your dreams.". In my opinion, a flair character like these should have a few good mechanical incentives to give them a means to survive as an adventurer. A player took the time to make a character with this race; they'd be devastated if their character died in the first encounter of the adventure. That's something to keep in mind when designing them.

Kobold Stew · May 26, 2015

It's not overpowered, but it's not a weak race by any means.

A few small thoughts:
* I would tighten up the wording for illusions ("advantage on Intelligence (Investigation) checks to discern illusions", perhaps?).
* I would also question whether you need to add another language; why not just have them speak common, since no one else will know Visare in any case?)

transcendantviewer · May 26, 2015

Hmm... After reading them slower and taking everything into account, they seem pretty well off, balance wise. They'd make good casters, due to the free cantrips and extra spells.

nerk · Jun 21, 2015

Apparently, I'm an idiot. I did not successfully set ENworld to notify me when posts are added.
Thanks for the looks and thanks for the thoughts.
And transcendantviewer, thanks for the revised opinion. After your first posts, I looked the race over and thought they actually seemed pretty solid, but I also recognize that I'm often the very worst person to evaluate my own creations. Letting me know you're on board, so to speak, means a lot less wondering if I'm in a blind spot.

transcendantviewer · Jun 22, 2015

The only thing that really gets to be difficult about creating new races is when they gain features that aren't quantifiable. My homebrew races in particular have unique features that can't be tallied. They have things like advantage on Death Saves, split HP pools, special attacks. They're weird. Yours don't have many of those, but some racial spells can be just as confusing, so bear that in mind in the future. Good luck with your other prospects and let me know if there's ever anything I can do to help you further understand the new system.