Yeah, lots of posts today. I'd say I should pace myself on Metroid Dread, but I think I'm already like 3/4 through the game at this point, so... that ship might have sailed. But writing on this blog is one way to keep me from playing, so...
Also, I hadn't really done a deep dive on the new UA, which is one of the most exciting things we've gotten vis D&D in a while.
In my earlier post, I talked about the diversity of creature types and the outlandish themes, but here I'm going to break things down trait-by-trait, and see how these races measure up.
Astral Elf:
Astral Elves are elves that live in the Astral Plane. As such, like the Githyanki, they don't age, meaning you could be profoundly old, which I think is a fun thing to be able to play.
Of all the races in the UA, this one is probably the least exciting, given that it's basically just another elf subrace. They're everywhere! Interestingly, this is presented as its own race, though I don't believe it's missing anything Elves get by default (actually, it is missing the free Perception proficiency.)
Sorting this out, we're going to extract the features that other elves don't get.
Astral Fire gives you a free cantrip: specifically you can get Dancing Lights, Light, or Sacred Flame. Sacred Flame is probably going to be the default choice here given that you have darkvision, though these spells can have other utilities. You get to pick Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma as your spellcasting ability for this (which should only matter for Sacred Flame.)
Radiant Soul allows you to, once per long rest, if you succeed on a death saving throw, you regain a number of hit points equal to your proficiency bonus plus your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma modifier (which you choose when you create the character.) This is a pretty cool little feature that can potentially get you back in the action without tying up the healer's turn.
Trance Proficiencies strikes me as something that might become part of the baseline elf in 2024's "5.5E" Player's Handbook. When you finish a long rest, you get two proficiencies, each one with a weapon or tool of your choice until your next long rest. Decent utility, and could improve some martial builds.
So, all in all, I'm not really blown away by this. It's kind of just more elves. It's fine, but nothing to write home about (and nothing next to the batshit stuff we get farther down.)
Autognome:
Autognomes are robot gnomes made by gnomes for various purposes - either as labor, or for friendship, or what have you. Materially, you might be made with something approximating flesh, o r you could be made of gears or stardust.
The biggest thing with Autognomes is that they're the Construct creature type. This actually has some major consequences that we'll cover later on.
Armored Casting gives you a base AC while not wearing armor of 13+Dex, given that you likely have a metallic or otherwise durable material encasing your body. So, you effectively get Mage Armor at all times. (I don't think this would stack with a Monk or Barbarian's Unarmored Defense, but I think we have precedence for that with other races like the Loxodon.)
Built For Success allows you to add a d4 to attack rolls, ability checks, or saving throws. You can do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus every long rest. A bit like Bardic Inspiration, you can choose to use this after you see your roll but before you know if you've succeeded or failed.
Mechanical Nature gives you resistance to poison damage and immunity to disease, as well as advantage on saving throws against being paralyzed or poisoned. (The paralyzed element is new compared to similar features.) You also don't have to eat, drink, or breathe.
Sentry's Rest allows you to remain conscious while taking a long rest. As long as you remain inactive and motionless for at least 6 hours, you gain the benefits of a long rest.
Specialized Design gives you two tool proficiencies of your choice.
True Life lets you expend a hit die the same way you would while taking a short rest if someone casts the Mending spell on you (which has a minute casting time.) Additionally, despite the fact that you're a construct, this allows Cure Wounds, Healing Word, and Spare the Dying to work on you.
Now, to begin our analysis, that last one's really the key. At lower levels, Cure Wounds and Healing Word are most of the healing spells that are used. But nearly all healing spells in the game have some restriction against using them on Constructs (and Undead, but that's not what we're dealing with.) Without access to Mass Healing Word, Mass Cure Wounds, Heal, Prayer of Healing, Heal, Mass Heal, and Power Word Heal, you're cutting off a lot of options for getting hit points back. The thing with Mending is cool, but with a minute casting time, it can't really happen in combat.
There's obviously some overlap here with Warforged, though enough new wrinkles to be worth considering on its own. I like the idea of playable constructs, but I think maybe the clauses on these healing spells are the real problem.
Giff:
As seen in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, Giff are giant hippo-people. In this description, it seems to emphasize their knack for telling stories and getting into fun bar fights. There's also apparently a major conflict within the Giff population over their pronunciation of the race's name - whether it uses a hard or soft G, which had me cackling when I read it.
Giff get a swimming speed equal to their walking speed.
Damage Dealer allows them to reroll a 1 on a melee attack once per turn.
Hippo Build gives you advantage on all Strength-based ability checks and Strength saving throws. You also count as one size larger for how much you can push, drag, or lift.
Mechanically, Giff don't have a ton going on, but the few things they have are decent. Having a swim speed will make you an overall much better combatant in water. And rerolling ones can be a pretty good boost. Permanent advantage on strength checks and saves is also pretty good. There's a clear focus on melee here, though notably it doesn't say that Damage Dealer only works on weapon attacks - your Inflict Wounds could be boosted by this. I'd like to see just a little bit more here (and maybe have something to play with their love of firearms and kegs of explosive powder as seen in Mordenkainen's.)
Hadozee:
The Hadozee are a kind of combination of ape and flying squirrel, but also are humanoid, and apparently are very community-oriented.
You get a climbing speed equal to your walking speed.
Dexterous Feet allows you to take the Use and Object action as a bonus action.
Glide allows you, if you're not wearing heavy armor and aren't incapacitated, to extend the skin membranes under your arms to glide. You can then do the following: each foot you descend, you can move up to 5 feet horizontally. And if you would take fall damage, you can use your reaction to reduce that to 0.
Honestly, Glide could, situationally, be really useful. You can fall from any height and survive, and you can get a significant degree of horizontal movement. Combine that with your climbing speed and you have some pretty fantastic mobility. But that's really the main thing.
Plasmoid:
Ok, reading through Starfinder's Alien Archive, I've seen player-race stats for some profoundly weird aliens. So kudos to WotC on seeing that bet and raising it. Plasmoids are humanoid-sized amoebas that are totally alien except that they can act like normal people, with the ability to talk, see, hear, think, etc.
Your creature type is ooze. Yes. We're agreed this is the best?
Amorphous lets you squeeze through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide if you're wearing and carrying nothing. You also have advantage on checks made to initiate or escape a grapple.
Darkvision: nothing special, standard 60 feet.
Hold Breath: You can hold your breath for one hour.
Natural Resilience gives you resistance to acid and poison damage, and you have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned. Acid resistance is quite nice - I think only copper and black dragonborn can get that as a racial resistance.
Shape Self allows you, when not incapacitated, to reshape your body to give yourself a head, one or two arms, one or two legs, and makeshift hands and feet - or you can revert to a limbless blob. No action required.
Additionally, as a bonus action, you can extrude a pseudopod that is up to six inches wide and ten feet long (or reabsorb it). You can use this to manipulate an object, open an unlocked door or container, stow or retrieve an item from an open container, or pour out the contents of a container. The pseudopod can't attack, activate magic items, or carry more than 10 pounds.
So, this one's nuts. The pseudopod from Shape Self is something like a limited mage hand, which is great (even if limited). Again, acid resistance is pretty useful, and while the inability to do so while wearing or carrying anything puts serious limits on amorphous, you could always play a Plasmoid Monk who can slip in anywhere. This is definitely the most off-the-wall race in the UA, and I'm a big fan.
Thri-Kreen:
These mantis/ant-like people are found in the Monster Manual, and I believe were a Dark Sun playable race. They're only overshadowed by the Plasmoid in terms of how weird they are - a chittering, telepathic bug person with extra arms.
First off, your creature type is monstrosity.
Chameleon Carapace gives you an AC of 13+Dex when you're not wearing armor. Additionally, you can shift the color of your carapace as an action to match your surroundings, giving you advantage on Stealth checks while hiding in that environment.
Standard Darkvision 60 feet.
Secondary Arms gives you a second set of smaller arms below your primary arms. They funciton the same way except that you can only wield light weapons in those arms, and you can't use a shield with them either.
Sleepless Revitalization allows you to remain conscious during a long rest, as long as you refrain from any strenuous activity.
Thri-kreen Telepathy allows you to communicate mentally with any number of willing creatures you can see within 120 feet. They don't need to share a language with you, but have to be able to understand at least one language. If they move more than 120 feet from you (or you from them) the link is broken, likewise if either of you is incapacitated or if either of you break it mentally (no action required.)
First off, let's talk about those arms.
Lest you think that this means getting a whole bunch of other attacks, remember that "off-hand" attacks with two-weapon fighting take up your bonus action (technically if you're dual-wielding and you have the Extra Attack feature, you can do one attack with one weapon and the second with the other as part of the same action). What you can do, though, is potentially dual-wield light weapons like scimitars or handaxes and then still use a shield in one of your primary hands. You can't attack with a non-light weapon using your main hands and then do an off-hand attack, though, as to do so both weapons need to be light. Also, you can't dual-wield shields (you only benefit from one shield at a time.)
Still, there's a lot to like here. A Thri-kreen that does both weapon-fighting and spellcasting could set aside their secondary hands for somatic components. Because my Eldritch Knight doesn't yet have Warcaster, he technically has to drop his weapon every time he casts Shield, but a Thri-kreen wouldn't need to. There are a lot of potential uses for a second set of limbs.
I think the Chameleon Carapace and Thri-kreen Telepathy features would both work really well for a Rogue or other scout-like role. Advantage on stealth as well as the ability to report back what you're seeing is pretty great.
And that concludes this look at the UA races. I think the more outlandish ones here wind up also being the most interesting, mechanically. Remember that this is playtest material and not finalized. If you can, test these out with a one-shot or something and then fill out the surveys to help WotC refine them!
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