D&D 5E Leonin Races and subraces

[AureliousRX]

So heres the ideas:
Leonin- This race of beast men is as diverse as the large cats they come from. Most Leonin, regardless of the subrace, are a prideful race, and are usually acting as an ambassador to the non-feline races(IE they set the tone for how others view their race). The tallest, the Full Manes average about 6 1/2 feet to 7 1/2 feet tall weighing on average 300 lbs, with the Panther Blooded being about 5-6ft tall weighing about 130 lbs. The Leonin have many different cultures as well. Base Race- +2 Constitution, Perception skill, advantage on perceptions based on smell, darkvision 60ft
Full Manes- This subrace of Leonin is lionlike in appearance, often being shades of white through gold with a long flowing mane. These tribal people are the lords of the prairie, with very few permanent settlements. Even then, these few settlements are more education centers and traders markets than true homes. +1 STR, insight skill proficiency, proficiency with herbalism kit OR navigation tools, Powerful Presence- once a short rest, gain advantage on a single intimidate skill check
Jaguar Kin- This race of Leonin is much more jaguar like in appearnce, not having any manes but black spots on their body. They have an Aztec like culture. +1 Wis, Proficiency with medium Armor, proficient with longswords and warhammers, and Intimidation as a proficiency.
Panther Blooded- These Leonin are very dark in appearance. They have no true ancestral home, often living on the fringes of society. +1 dex, proficient with shortswords, long and short bows, advantage on stealth checks in dim light, resistance to poison



Any thoughts?

 

[rjfTrebor]

you mention them having multiple cultures, but 'aztec' is all that's ever really mentioned. also, maybe it's just me, but i don't see much appeal in a furry race.

 

[steeldragons]

Do female Full Manes have manes? And is that sexist if they do? Or sexist if they don't? I don't know anymore.

 

[AureliousRX]

Well, I would assume female full manes could go with or without manes. Yet again, one of my players is asking, and I am attempting to make something awesome

 

[steeldragons]

Well, as a race for 5e they sounds good enough, I guess. I have my own felinoids/Thundercats race in my homebrew setting already.

Personally, I would make the racial ability bonus: +2 Dex.
Then "subrace":
Lions: +1 Wis. (that whole "lion king", "king of the jungle" business. They have that whole "regal" leader thing going on) or +1 Con. (if you want to play them up as the bigger/stronger cats)
Jaguars: +1 Str. (since they sound like they are flavored as the more "Warrior" geared)
Panthers: +1 Cha. (cuz they're just sleek n' cool)

 

[steeldragons]

If I might ask...and obviously, feel free not to answer, but the question just keeps bothering me...

Why are you doing this?

I've seen two threads from you today. One is creating a new race...One is creating a new class.

5e only a few months old/finished...with 9 races (with 19 options counting subraces) and 12 classes, with 40 options counting subclasses.

Why are your players asking for races and classes that aren't in the book?

And why are you accommodating them? I mean, it's nice of you, sure.

But how could your player's not possibly find something in the all of those options they want to play?

 

[AureliousRX]

The reason I accommodate is simple- players askAsking for an optional race is not a bad thing, given that the player is willing to be on a balanced playing field with others. I consider the same thing with classes from previous editions. As DM, I feel as if a player has a reasonable idea that it is my duty to at the very least consider it. So, that being said, a player of mine wanted to play a leonin in Forgotten Realms. Well, after some research into the matter, I felt like I could easily make a complementary race. If this is a bad thing, I'm not going to stop doing it. My players enjoy it.

 

[steeldragons]

I'm not implying it is "bad thing." It just doesn't make sense to me that some-/anyone given a book with, literally, 100's of options (560 if my math's correct) and say, "Yeah, I want something else that requires you to make from scratch just for me."

But,like you said, they enjoy it (probably because you keep agreeing to give it to them) and you feel it is a "duty" that you don't mind...so have fun with it.

I mean, making stuff up to put into a D&D game/world is great, and tradition. We've all done it and 5e certainly makes it simple to do, from what I can tell.

I'm just baffled by the need to even ask for something like this so close to the game's release.

 

[steeldragons]

For the realms, you could also look around to see if anyone has already run up stats for a Rakasta or Tabaxi. Give your player one of them to use.

Steel -"ya seen one cat people race, ya seen 'em all"- Dragons

 

[metalman42]

Awesome! I was just thinking about how the Leonin from M:tG would make a great additional race for D&D. Though there aren't any big cats in real world japan, I was inspired by the Samurai-looking Hobgoblin in the Lost Mines of Phandelver to include a feudal-Japan style culture of cat people in my campaign.

As to creating content when there's already lots: Sometimes, there are stories you want to tell about a world or a culture, and you don't want to use the already existing races and classes. It can make a campaign interesting to include or exclude options and creates a unique feel. On the flipside, I think the options need to be limited so that each campaign doesn't end up being the same kitchen sink fantasy. Once you get a couple years in and there are too many PC races and Classes for the DM to know what you've created, it gets weird.