How does your race differ from others in these areas? As with the physical description section, add a header to sum-up your race’s attitudes and philosophies. Provide at least a paragraph about the typical attitudes, philosophies, religions, and reasons for adventuring that your race has. These headers are valuable both as a quick summary for the reader but also as a focus for you as you design your new race. For instance, the physical description for elves has the header “Slender and Graceful,” which sums up elf physiology quite well. Start this section with a short heading that let’s players reading the description prepare for what’s ahead and get reminded of the race’s appearance when they come back to it. Include body types and shape, color options for hair, skin, and eyes, fashion sensibilities, and anything else that sets your race apart from the rest.
Provide at least a paragraph of physical description for your race. Give enough information for a general overview of your race before diving into the details. Some of these opening descriptions, like the one for the dwarf, are no longer than a sentence, while others, like the genasi, go on for several paragraphs. The introduction of your race should give an overview of what the people of the race are like, where they come from, and where they live. The story of your race should be broken down into at least four sections, each of which should be at least one paragraph.
These humanoids are influenced by the Far Realm. All races have the following components you need to design:įor this article, I created a new race called farfolk. I’ll expand on what’s provided and vary the steps in the process to give a more in-depth look. The Dungeon Master’s Guide provides guidelines for creating a new race (and subrace), which are great. If the race you’re considering designing doesn’t already exist and can’t be built by tweaking an existing one, it’s time to design your own. Can I reskin or tweak another creation to suit my needs?.Does my creation already exist as official D&D content?.
D&D 5E PLAYABLE RACES HOW TO
Before You Start, Ask the Important Questionsīefore you begin to design any new element of the game, don’t forget to ask these three questions, the importance of which are discussed in the How to Make a D&D Background post : Like previous Design Workshop articles, I’m going to go through the process of creating a race step-by-step. Getting the balance right might seem daunting, but don’t let that stop you. You’re adding a big piece of to the game! Unlike a spell, feat, monster, or magic item that your players might ignore most of the time, an original race sets your game apart from all others. The same reasons to be careful while designing a race are also what make building a new one so fun and rewarding. The story and mechanics of a player character’s race come up multiple times during every session of play. When it comes to designing new elements of D&D, there are few pieces of the game as important to get right as new races. If you want advice on how to build a background specifically in D&D Beyond, check out that version of the article. I’ve stripped most of the references to the D&D Beyond to keep the advice here more universal and streamlined. This article first appeared on D&D Beyond. Hey guess what? You can preorder my level 1 – 20 fifth edition adventure right now! Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rich Hershey / Fat Goblin Games