D&D 5E Preview Witchlight's New Rabbit People

You can take a look at the harengons, a rabbit-themed race in the upcoming Wild Beyond the Witchlight, over at D&D Beyond.

Harengons are medium or small humanoids with a bonus to initiative, Dexterity saving throws, and a 'rabbit hop' which lets them jump up to five times their proficiency bonus without provoking opportunity attacks.

Creature Type. You are a Humanoid.

Size. You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race.

Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.

Hare-Trigger. You can add your proficiency bonus to your initiative rolls.

Leporine Senses. You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Lucky Footwork. When you fail a Dexterity saving throw, you can use your reaction to roll a d4 and add it to the save, potentially turning the failure into a success. You can’t use this reaction if you’re prone or your speed is 0.

Rabbit Hop. As a bonus action, you can jump a number of feet equal to five times your proficiency bonus, without provoking opportunity attacks. You can use this trait only if your speed is greater than 0. You can use it a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

When you create a harengon or fairy using the rules from The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, you can choose to increase one ability score by 2 and another by 1, or choose to increase three different scores by 1. Further, you know Common and will choose one other language to learn.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Anybody who doesn’t share my aesthetic preferences in a make-believe game about elves and dragons is obviously just a kid who is overly influenced by video games.

Amirite?

 

[Faolyn]

As someone who loves edgydark elements, let me tell you this: if someone uses them to play out creepy fantasies, it's not the darkedgy elements.... it's the person who is the problem.

And if the company realizes that they have something that can be used by people to play out creepy fantasies, then they have to ask themselves these: Is this something that the majority of people will use in a safe way where only a few weirdos will misuse? Or is this something that poses too great a risk of being harmful? And if it's the latter, is it something that actually matters to the game, or can it be exchanged for something else? There's nothing so important about sex slavery in a game that it can't be replaced with something less gross and still keep the dark elements.

I run horror games. My players have frequently complimented me on my ability to be scary. I have never once included sexual horrors in my games. And yet they're still just as scary.

And, heck, I bet that same person would be able to make a creepy fantasy out of the bunnypeople too. I'm a strong defender of not censoring content. Dark and edgy elements are like a knife: technically you can use them to stab someone, yes, and they're inherently dangerous..... but most people actually use knifes to cut slices of cake and bread and cheese. You don't stop maniacs by not allowing cooks to use knives.

I too hate censorship. This isn't censorship. Nobody is going through the manuscript with a sharpie redacting naughty words. This is writing to the audience--and the majority of people don't want to see women reduced to sex slave status so some guys can pretend to be heroes and save them.

I'm sure there's plenty of RPGs out there that would embrace such "edgy" material and are built to cater to the folks who enjoy it. But don't try to force it on the rest of us.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Anybody who doesn’t share my aesthetic preferences in a make-believe game about elves and dragons is obviously just a kid who is overly influenced by video games.

Amirite?

The weird hatred for anime and videogames is one of the dumbest things in this fandom. It's pretty clear they're seen as competition of some sort, which drives the anger and posturing, but it's only one way. You never see someone raging that Record of Lodoss War or Slayers is RUINING ANIME because it's getting D&D in their precious medium or WoW players using D&D as a petty insult for mechanics they don't like. "They nerfed Paladins? That's So D&D!"

Seriously, folks. Do better.

 

[Weiley31]

Technically, Record of Lodoss War was pretty much a DND campaign. Like, I actually think it was the creator's homebrewed DND campaign with his buds and like one day he was like "Oh HEY!!!!!!!!! writes it all down.

 

[Azzy]

Technically, Record of Lodoss War was pretty much a DND campaign. Like, I actually think it was the creator's homebrewed DND campaign with his buds and like one day he was like "Oh HEY!!!!!!!!! writes it all down.

It was based on the author and friends B/X or BECMI D&D campaign and serialized as a "replay" in a magazine to gather interest in the game. The story got more popular than the game, though.

 

[Bird Of Play]

I hope Dannyalcatraz doesn't mind me butting in for a sec.

You wrote "You think FFXIV does worldbuilding right? Of all games?? I meeeean, that explains why you'd like the bunnypeople. Again this proves my point, a mmorpg fan who likes a game with catboys/catgirls and stuff will of course like the bunnypeople. "

Your insult is where you said that you don't like games with these elements, and I think that they are objectively wrong (when you indicate that FF does worldbuilding wrong), therefore, anyone who likes those games is also objectively wrong.

You are fully allowed to dislike any race you like for any reason. But (A) it's incredibly rude to tell other people they're wrong for liking that race (which you've been doing), (B) it's also pretty naive of you to expect that other people aren't going to say "hey, I like this race and think it's cool for lots of reasons."

I think I understand, I guess.
Again, however, I just don't like games with these elements - that's no insult, it's just a fact.

In my opinion, there's a difference between "I don't like this stuff and I think it's poo!" and "YOU are not allowed to like this stuff because it's poo!".

But I understand your point: you said it may have seemed I was saying option B. I actually intended option A. And thinking back to my post, it can certainly be interpreted the wrong way. I'm sorry, what I intended to do what a playful jab, like "ahahah bro!".

Hey, I've got some unusual tastes, I know how it's like when others go "you like THAT stuff?". I know it's not nice to do that. XP

 

[Bird Of Play]

And if the company realizes that they have something that can be used by people to play out creepy fantasies, then they have to ask themselves these: Is this something that the majority of people will use in a safe way where only a few weirdos will misuse? Or is this something that poses too great a risk of being harmful? And if it's the latter, is it something that actually matters to the game, or can it be exchanged for something else? There's nothing so important about sex slavery in a game that it can't be replaced with something less gross and still keep the dark elements.

I run horror games. My players have frequently complimented me on my ability to be scary. I have never once included sexual horrors in my games. And yet they're still just as scary.


I too hate censorship. This isn't censorship. Nobody is going through the manuscript with a sharpie redacting naughty words. This is writing to the audience--and the majority of people don't want to see women reduced to sex slave status so some guys can pretend to be heroes and save them.

I'm sure there's plenty of RPGs out there that would embrace such "edgy" material and are built to cater to the folks who enjoy it. But don't try to force it on the rest of us.

Movies and books about horror often (but not always) make an association with a sexual element of some sort. No, actually, even horror folklore of times past made such association often enough.

Now, on the other hand, I think an awesome horror movie like The Thing is void of any sexual element whatsoever and it's still absolutely 100% horror, and a clever one too.
But then you have stuff like Alien which, too, had a lot of symbolic sexual symbolism. Some even argued the entire thing is an allegory of rape.

By the way, -my- duergar/derro (I fused them in one single race, the derro are simply duergar that lost their mind entirely) clan doesn't do sex slaves, at all.
They just stab the brains of their prisoners to link them to some battlemachines (yep, you got it: the Penitent Engine).
Which, frankly, I think is about as horrific if not MORE than if I made the prisoners into sex slaves.

 

[Scribe]

Movies and books about horror often (but not always) make an association with a sexual element of some sort. No, actually, even horror folklore of times past made such association often enough.

Now, on the other hand, I think an awesome horror movie like The Thing is void of any sexual element whatsoever and it's still absolutely 100% horror, and a clever one too.
But then you have stuff like Alien which, too, had a lot of symbolic sexual symbolism. Some even argued the entire thing is an allegory of rape.

By the way, -my- duergar/derro (I fused them in one single race, the derro are simply duergar that lost their mind entirely) clan doesn't do sex slaves, at all.
They just stab the brains of their prisoners to link them to some battlemachines (yep, you got it: the Penitent Engine).
Which, frankly, I think is about as horrific if not MORE than if I made the prisoners into sex slaves.

While that may or may not be the case, it does not mean its fundamental to the nature of horror, or needs be included either in your games, settings, or race description.

I dont have that as part of my derro, at all. I dont touch on that stuff in my games, at all.

Its not about censorship, its about exposure to things that I find do not add anything of value to the experience.

 

[Bird Of Play]

While that may or may not be the case, it does not mean its fundamental to the nature of horror, or needs be included either in your games, settings, or race description.

I dont have that as part of my derro, at all. I dont touch on that stuff in my games, at all.

Its not about censorship, its about exposure to things that I find do not add anything of value to the experience.

I hope it's ok if I continue this off-topic just a little. It's such an interesting conversation!

So.... if I were to write a novel, I'd be ok to write rape and other horrible stuff into that, as long as it makes sense and has a reason to be there.

A tabletop rpg is obviously a very different matter. I'd gleefully write down how a prisoner gets stabbed into the brain and turned into a screaming warmachine, in a book. But I ain't gonna describe something like that to the players in a tabletop campaign.

What I do is implying it. The duergars talk about it. They might want to capture the players for that reason. The players might destroy a battlemachine and then find out there was a poor brain-stabbed human inside.

You still get the horrific Penitent Engine torture, but you don't get to describe disgusting stuff to players, as it should be.

Same goes for the rape. I think I mentioned before there's a half-orc npc in my campaign who's very likely to be the result of a raped human. But that never got explicitly mentioned, it's just an implied element that the players can easily guess.

 

[Scribe]

So.... if I were to write a novel, I'd be ok to write rape and other horrible stuff into that, as long as it makes sense and has a reason to be there.

You could, I dont think thats up for debate. I'm not here to tell you what is 'ok'. Its not ok to me, but I'm not you.

What I do is implying it. The duergars talk about it. They might want to capture the players for that reason. The players might destroy a battlemachine and then find out there was a poor brain-stabbed human inside.

Fine.

Same goes for the rape. I think I mentioned before there's a half-orc npc in my campaign who's very likely to be the result of a raped human. But that never got explicitly mentioned, it's just an implied element that the players can easily guess.

Also fine. Implication is one thing. Belaboring the details of it, forcing it front and center, isnt something many in my experience care to engage with.

To me (personal, me) a lot of stuff that is of a sexual nature can take a leap. It doesnt need to be part of my games. Its not 'edgy', its simply unnecessary to the game I want to play, and the story I want to experience. I dont care about 'well it happens in war blah blah' justifications.

I dont want to engage with it, and I dont involve it in my stories, or bring it to the table.

Nobody I am aware of, has been wired into a Pain Engine to wreck havoc as a murder bot. Sexual Assault? Well thats a different matter all together now isnt it?