It seems like the goal is to play D&D though, not switch systems. So there's that...
D&D 5E What new linages do you want?
Vince_Snetterton
Explorer
At what point is it no longer D&D?
When you're playing HERO system? It wasn't a trick question.
Vince_Snetterton
Explorer
Say I want to play a flying octopus that can breathe air, and has the ability to manifest all physical attacks psionically, and its species came from outer space, so naturally, said octopus has a space ship to whisk the players to other planets, and also, use lasers on the ship to fight space battles. Is that still D&D?
TwoSix
Dirty, realism-hating munchkin powergamer
5e is such an overwhelming presence in the TTRPG space that's it's often easier to mod 5e into the form you want, as long as the game is fantasy-adjacent.
And honestly, 5e is easy to mod. It's only loosely balanced, anyway. My last couple characters have actually been classes or subclasses I've built from scratch.
Are you playing D&D isn't a question we need to unpack. You either are or you aren't. Moving on...
Paul Smart
Explorer
Bear people would be great. I love bears; they are one of my favourite types of animals.
I think having an option to make your linage undead is a great idea. You want an undead human, slap the undead template on. A cat person who is also undead. Undead template.
Thinking about this further, there are a variety of templates that could be added.
- Undead - you do not age, breath, no requirement to eat or drink. You do not sleep.
- Fae - some fae magic.
- Giant - one size larger than normal. Great carrying capacity.
- Tiny - one size smaller than normal.
- Infernal / Abasyal / Celestial
jmartkdr2
Hero
First: 4e-style genasi. Those were cool.
Second: generic, make-your-own beastfolk rules. Because:
1. There's a nearly infinite number of beast to folk,
2. So you'll never get them all, or even a significant minority, handling them one by one,
3. People who are fans of a certain animal will have very specific things they want represented,
4. And different fans will want very different things,
5. But if everyone just gets to pick three options off a list you only need to watch out for players making intentionally ridiculous choices because they aren't taking it seriously, which is a general rpg issue.
And plant people, because that absolutely feels like a gap.
Second: generic, make-your-own beastfolk rules. Because:
1. There's a nearly infinite number of beast to folk,
2. So you'll never get them all, or even a significant minority, handling them one by one,
3. People who are fans of a certain animal will have very specific things they want represented,
4. And different fans will want very different things,
5. But if everyone just gets to pick three options off a list you only need to watch out for players making intentionally ridiculous choices because they aren't taking it seriously, which is a general rpg issue.
And plant people, because that absolutely feels like a gap.
Vince_Snetterton
Explorer
I played in a campaign where the DM killed the entire party within the first 20 minutes of the first session, and we all "awoke" as Undead. None of us knew he was doing this. He was a really nice guy, very earnest to make a campaign work. Just not that bright. I was playing a Life Cleric. He stopped dead when I showed him the Cure Wounds spell does not work on Undead.
It was also not exactly funny when I used Turn Undead and I ran screaming from myself. And a Grave Cleric will automatically kill himself. You want to mess with all the various labels you want to "slap" on a char...you might want to have a real close look at the game mechanics before you do so.
