D&D General [Let's Read] Playable Monster Sourcebooks

[Libertad]

DM's Guild Store Page.

Back in 2021, a group of gamers got together under the moniker of Giant Space Hamster Press to write an in-depth 5th Edition update to the Al-Qadim setting. As it was technically set within the Forgotten Realms, the product was permissible under WotC's fan content policy for publishing on the Dungeon Master's Guild. But beyond just a straightforward conversion, this new guide also sought to avoid the more insensitive trappings of its AD&D predecessor, and as part of that process hired Arab cultural consultants to help write and proofread the book.

But this would not be Giant Space Hamster's only foray into Zakhara. They would go on to release smaller supplements for the setting, such as a mini-supplement focused on seafaring adventures. People of Zakhara: Ogres, is one such supplement we'll be focusing on in this post.

One of Al-Qadim's more innovative features for its time was the partial decoupling of many monsters from their roles as traditional antagonists. The Lands of Fate are home to a religion known as the Law of the Loregiver, serving as a common unifying cultural element that unites people of many lands and species. Those who accepted the Law are known as Enlightened, and include many monstrous people as adherents. Ogres are one of the more well-known monstrous races in Zakhara, and thus a major factor for making them a playable species.

Part One of this book focuses on rules for ogre and half-ogre PCs, along with common cultural details. Generally speaking, their natural size and strength makes them ideal for trades where this is an advantage, but Al-Hadhar (city-dwelling) ogres often find wider opportunities in other occupations such as merchants, performers, and scholars. Ogres bear a fascination for intricate patterns and shapes, which draw them to gems and works of art. This leads to a stereotype of them being gluttonous…but wouldn't greedy be a better stereotype?

Half-ogres occur not just from human-ogre pairings, but with other humanoids as well. The terms "ogrillon" and "orog" denote one whose ogre parent was either the father or mother respectively, although such terms are regarded as demeaning in modern times and are only used among a minority of half-ogres.

In terms of game stats, ogres are optimized for strong martial builds, gaining +2 Strength, +1 Constitution, a size of Large, and the Giant instead of Humanoid type. They also have 60 feet darkvision, a base walking speed of 40 feet, and gain 1 extra hit point every level. Half-ogres have +1 Strength and Constitution, a +1 to any ability score of their choice, are Humanoid and Medium size, and have the +1 extra hit point of their ogre parent. But reflecting their Versatile Ancestry, they gain one trait of their choice from their non-ogre parent.

Thoughts: Ogres are on the higher end of the power scale for playable races. A non-humanoid type renders immune to a variety of spells and effects, Large size lets them be in contact with more squares for melee attacks and let them emanate larger personal AoEs like a paladin's aura, and their walking speed ranks among the fastest ancestry in being on par with the centaur. However, the other classic "martial" species still have some advantages over them: for instance, goliaths, half-orcs, and orcs have good defensive traits such as Stone's Endurance and Relentless Endurance, as well as a bonus skill proficiency. Goliaths are still Medium, but get the positive traits of Large size in regards to carrying capacity.

As for half-ogres, their playable option varies widely depending on what trait is picked from their non-ogre parent. In games with Variant humans they can end up overpowered if a player chooses the bonus feat option, while something like a Tiefling Bloodline can be several features in one via the granting of bonus spells. To say nothing of ancestries with wings granting a fly speed! Thus, a DM should take care that the ancestral trait is one that won't be too unbalanced to take with the base half-ogre lineage.

Part Two provides us with five NPCs to populate one's campaign with ogres and half-ogres. The entries come with general descriptions, suggested uses in a campaign, and a stat block, and all divert from the "big dumb brute" stereotype. They include Ahmed al-Ghwl, an optimistic proselytizer of the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods who preaches a doctrine of universal equality, and whose adventure hook involves him wishing to prevent an assassination attempt on an efreeti noble in the City of Brass; Bezoar R'maga, a traveling porter with six siblings who is searching for her missing brother, and has befriended a gen (elemental familiar) by the name of Shaeila; Dodi al-Nekkach, a weaponsmith who became famous for the quality of his work, specializing in customers larger than human size, and is assisted by a sprite friend named Latif al-Jazil; Hakim Sayad, a tailor who has a wide network of connections among various social classes; and Zainab al-Dīn, a builder of clockwork constructs who conducted research expeditions into the Ruined Kingdoms and thus can be a useful resource for PCs seeking to visit that region.

Thoughts: I don't have any strong feelings on the sample NPCs. The entries are individually too brief to provide much in the way of encounters or adventures, being more akin to a springboard for the DM to build off of or recurring NPCs for PCs looking to buy and sell goods and services. None of the NPCs are part of villainous organizations or up to anything shady, so it's unlikely that PCs will fight them in combat in most campaigns. Their primary use will most likely be as allies.

All of the NPCs are low-Tier, with Challenge Ratings being 2 on average. Bezoar is the exception at 4, and has some Battlemaster-esque fighting abilities along with a wide array of spells. Quite a few of these spells are pretty high-level, too, such as Feeblemind, Contact Other Plane, and Scrying. Due to this, her CR feels a bit low to me given her capabilities and 120 hit points.

Overall Thoughts: People of Zakhara: Ogres is a fine sourcebook for 5e groups seeking a playable ogre ancestry that is mechanically distinct and not a reflavored version of an existing lineage. I'd allow both the ogre and half-ogre as playable options, but with the aforementioned discretion in regards to the latter's Versatile Ancestry.

 

[Libertad]

Glorious Legends of Sorcery & Sword: Kobold Class for Dungeon Crawl Classics​

Drive-Thru RPG Store Page.

Itchio Store Page.

Class available as a free article on the official site.

At first a creator of third party 5th Edition products for the al-Qadim setting, Miniature Giant Space Hamster Press recently branched out into making material for Dungeon Crawl Classics. Glorious Legends of Sorcery & Sword is a mini-series providing new and reskinned character options, and their latest work focuses on designing a Kobold character class. For those wondering, the only additions the paid-for PDF has is that it integrates the more in-depth descriptions of Thief skills from the DCC core rulebook into the class' text. Thus, it doesn't really add anything new, so a purchase here is more to support the creators.

As a distinct character class, the Kobold is closest to the Thief in reliance upon stealth and skullduggery over spells and straightforward combat. Like Halflings, they are of Small size and thus can fit more easily into tight areas. Kobolds have a d4 Hit Die, which makes them very fragile, and their weapon proficiencies are closest to that of Thieves. They can also use a small suite of Thief skills, notably Backstab, Sneak, Hide in Shadows, and Find and Disable Trap. Uniquely, Kobolds are able to hide and build traps, using the same modifier for finding and disabling them respectively. We have no trap-building guidelines, unfortunately, so I presume that this is a case of DM Fiat.

Oddly, they do get some Warrior abilities like adding their level to initiative and Mighty Deeds of Arms. They also not only get Infravision, their value is far greater than the demi-human classes in the core rules at 100 feet. But they have -1 to attack rolls when fighting in bright light, which can be a hindrance when fighting alongside PCs who require light sources to see.

Thoughts: Personally speaking, the Kobold doesn't have enough truly unique features to make it stand out from the core classes. I would've liked to see more robust rules for building traps, given that this is perhaps the monster's coolest trait. While a Warrior's class bonus to initiative is easy enough to justify for their nimbleness, Mighty Deeds of Arms feel like they were stapled onto the class to give them something to distinguish them from standard variety Thieves. I can only recommend this class for people who want playable Kobolds but want something deeper than a reskinned Halfling. Otherwise, I'd give it a pass.

 

[Libertad]

Roll For Combat Store Page.

Foundry VTT Store Page (5e).

Foundry VTT Store Page (Pf2e).

Roll for Combat is a third party publisher that makes products for 5th Edition D&D and Pathfinder 2nd Edition. Mark Seifter, one of the writers, was one of the co-designers for the latter game, meaning that many among the fandom regard the publisher as being "2nd party." Roll for Combat's most popular line is Battlezoo, focusing on all things monstrous. Battlezoo Bestiaries provide new monsters and adversaries, World of Battlezoo details the publication's homebrew campaign setting, and Battlezoo Ancestries has PC-friendly conversions of iconic fantasy creatures. It is this last line that will be the focus of this thread, and we'll start with Classic Creatures. This tome contains write-ups of 12 new ancestries, plus 4 versatile species/heritages representing a monstrous ancestor in another race's family tree. The product is available for both 5e and Pf2e, and I'll be reviewing both. I'll note that I'm much more experienced with the former game, but after being a player in a Pathfinder campaign for a month and a half and having read the Player, GM, and Monster Remastered Core books, I have a better grasp on the system's underlying foundations.

Classic Creatures, as well as the other Battlezoo Ancestries products, are partially written from the in-character perspective of Aitheria Nyx. They're a scholar of various species and cultures who seeks to provide a more understanding outlook on beings often judged as dangerous by wider humanoid society. Each major section in this book consists of a playable monster option, either a broad category of related beings like demons and slimes, or more "specific" creatures like minotaurs and oni. The book strikes a balance between fluff and crunch, providing new mechanics as well as discussion on societal organization, cultural practices, relations with others, and common types of adventurers for said monsters.

When it comes to mechanics, the most weighty entries are new feats specific to the monstrous ancestries, and it's here that we see the differences in design philosophy between the two systems. For those unfamiliar with Pathfinder 2nd Edition, feats are a core part of character progression and are split into several types: general feats, skill feats, class feats, and ancestry feats. Each feat type grants new and/or improved uses of special abilities, and they all have different progressions as one levels up. For example, class feats are gained at every 2nd level, while ancestry feats are gained at 1st, 5th, and every 4 levels thereafter. Due to this, a PC doesn't really have to worry about being starved of options or having to weigh between being a "better elf" or a "better wizard" or the like.

But in 5e, a feat is a feat, and thus competes with every other feat. Battlezoo Ancestries takes a similar approach to Pathfinder in level-gating certain monstrous feats, with a progression of 1st, 4th, and every 4 level thereafter which more or less map up to the 1/5/9/etc model. But even so, 5e feats take up the same resources for character limitations. Due to this, such feats can be harder picks to justify for builds unless they are very, very good. We can see how one line of feats suffered in the transition: Lore feats, which are from official Pathfinder material and take the name of the ancestry in question. In Pathfinder, [Ancestry] Lore feats grant proficiency in 2 skills and a Lore skill pertaining to their people. In 5th Edition, that same feat grants proficiency in 2 skills, and the Lore skill equivalent applies to rolls on any checks made to know things about their own ancestry's culture and society. With this feat, the monstrous PC always treat such checks as a 10 if the roll is lower than a 10. Not only is this competing with the Skilled feat that can grant 3 skills, the "10 or lower" can be very situational if the PC's ancestry isn't a major player in the campaign.

Other design differences which are relevant to discuss for this review:

1. Darkvision is much rarer in pf2e, which has low-light vision and is more generous with other sensory types such as imprecise scent. Ancestries which have low-light vision in pf2e have darkvision in 5e.
2. Default movement speed is slightly slower in pf2e, with 25 foot speed being the default vs 5e's 30. The "slow" movement speed is 20 feet rather than 25.
3. While permanent flight is rare in 5e, there are 3 ancestries which have it. In pf2e, ancestries which are known for having wings or flight usually get short-term flight as an ancestry feat at later levels rather than beginning with it, and permanent flight as an ancestry feat in the double digit levels. The ancestries in this book tend to get short-term flight at 8th or 9th level, and permanent flight at 13th level in Pathfinder or 16th level in D&D.
4. Special abilities which have a refresh rate in 5e are typically divided between short rests (1 hour) and long rests (8 hours, can only have one such rest per day). Pf2e is more granular, with cooldown rates listing explicit time frames such as once per minute, once per 10 minutes, or even once every few days for more extreme cases. Abilities which would refresh on a short rest in the 5e version of this book typically refresh once per 10 minutes or once per hour in pf2e, while long rest abilities usually refresh once per day.
5. Damage resistance in 5e is a flat halving of all damage of a particular type, while in pf2e damage resistances have a specific numerical value indicating the amount of damage which is reduced. Same principle applies to vulnerabilities. In pf2e, special abilities which grant resistance tend to be half your level for ones gained for free at 1st level, while 13th and higher level feats often grant 5 or 10 resistance to particular damage types either permanently or for a limited duration. In 5e, it is common for 4th level feats involving natural attacks to treat them as magical for overcoming damage resistance and immunity. Resistance to physical damage types in Pathfinder comes in at 12th level and higher feats.
6. In Pathfinder, ancestries, feats, items, spells, etc are grouped into Common, Uncommon, and Rare categories. Common represent options available by default, Uncommon represent options difficult to access or usually found in certain regions, while Rare represent options allowable only by explicit GM permission. All ancestries in this book are Rare. For 5e, allowance of non-core material relies entirely on DM Fiat and doesn't have granular scales of "rarity."
7. The fluff text includes common philosophies and societal structures, usually 3-7, which in 5th Edition have mechanics as new backgrounds. Not all societies give a background, with the 3 deemed the most "adventurer-friendly" or willing to interact with outsiders gaining the benefits of new backgrounds.
8. Ancestries in both systems range from Small to Large size, with Medium being the most common. There are some feats which allow a character to shrink down to Tiny or up to Huge, albeit in this book Huge size is only temporary rather than permanent and available at 16th/17th level.
9. Several monsters, particularly of the extraplanar or fey variety, get 16th/17th level feats that grant them a casting of Plane Shift, but only between their home/associated plane and the Material Plane. They don't need the tuning fork attuned to the plane as a material component. This is rather weak for a feat given that it replicates a single spell and with a narrower use.

Thoughts: It's clear that the authors put a lot of thought into making sure the monsters' abilities were accurately emulated in the systems in which they're in. This is good, as a lot of "straight numbers" translations are a problem I've heard of in the "5e to Pathfinder" conversions of indie publishers. But despite surface-level similarities in genre and playstyle, 5th Edition and Pathfinder have very different design principles which can impact the attractiveness of choices, even if in both versions they more or less do the same thing. We'll be focusing on how well or poorly this book does this for the playable monster options going forward, as well as reviewing the contents themselves.

Demons are our first ancestry, an umbrella category for extraplanar beings of Chaos and Evil who are the literal exemplifications of particular types of sin. The book presumes that playable demons managed to gain a capacity for free will, whether on their own or via some outside source. Such demons are known as "renegades," and while this title includes those who rejected their nature in favor of higher moral callings, it just as easily includes demons who still succumb to the fundamental sins at war within their soul. And those who are better able to pursue evil, now that their all-consuming sins don't weigh down their capacity for rational decision-making.

Demons can come in all shapes, sizes, sins for every occasion, but the ones in this book cover eight common iconic demons such as marilith, succubi, and vrocks. What causes a demon to become a renegade is a personal event that can take all manner of paths, and due to this a renegade demon may gain a slightly altered form to reflect their new nature or still look mostly the same or even identical to their brethren. Befitting their chaotic and highly individual origins, renegade demons don't tend to organize into like-minded groups, but there are five broad philosophies known as "hosts" which reflect common paths renegades take. Free spirits represent the ultimate seizing of one's destiny, who view being tied to one's sins as another form of constricting law and defy what is expected of their kind. Redeemed are the stereotypical "risen demon" who came to regret their wickedness and strive to uphold the Good in the world. They usually extol the virtues of compassion, open-mindedness, and serving as a guiding light in knowing that even the lowest fiends can be redeemed. Regulators are those who view their former nature as an eternal struggle, and fight their urges by creating intricate codes of rules and self-denial in order to pursue their best selves. Renegade Sinners are our first "NPC host," representing demons who still choose to do evil but view their free will as an improvement to their formerly limited nature. The other NPC group are reversers, who believe that to reject their sinful nature involves acting in a way that is opposite of the sin, and thus can take all manner of forms.

Thoughts: I like the idea of making PC demons be "freed" ones. As Chaotic Evil is all too often portrayed as Stupid Evil even in canon sources, a demonic PC in particular will be a whole other level of problematic on top of the typical pitfalls of evil-aligned PCs. I like the idea of making the renegade nature be a personal philosophical-style journey, and the various examples of how demons and demonic subspecies approach this is helpful in providing players an idea of a compelling character beyond that of a remorseful fiend.

The base ancestry/race of the Demon is a "blank slate," in that it has a series of generic traits that don't particularly fit any one role or class. Their ability score increases can be either Strength or Charisma plus one other score of their choice, they have the fiend type/trait, an average movement speed, and in both rulesets they have darkvision. The 5e version grants them advantage on saves and resistance vs the poisoned condition and poison damage, while the Pathfinder version gets +1 hit point per level but they have a Weakness to damage sources of good and evil alignment (holy/unholy in Remastered) equal to half their level.

A demon's subrace/heritage is where they get abilities closer in line to particular archetypes and sins, and which also determines their size category. We also have detailed entries of common personality traits for renegades of each type. For example, brimoraks are arsonist demons who are consumed by a passion for fire, and renegades of their kind often channel this passion into healthier outlets. Or how dretches are lazy cowards, and renegade ones often become so after finding a cause or purpose that moves them strongly enough to overcome their sin of sloth. Hezrou specialize in corruption of mortal behavior and institutions, so many renegades seek to perform altruistic and charitable activities for societal improvement.

Babaus are sadistic killers obsessed with pain and torture and gain a reaction-based acidic slime attack. Brimoraks can see through smoke in both systems, but get fire resistance only in 5e for some reason. Dretches are the weak and lazy hordes of the demonic realm, and gain a Cower ability which makes them tougher to hit. Hezrou are our sole Large size demon, and their automatic features differ by system: in 5th Edition they can emanate a stench-based aura that can poison targets, while in Pathfinder (and as a feat in 5e) they are amphibious and get a swim speed. Mariliths are prideful warriors who are loath to yield to others, which grants them bonuses against forced movement in both systems, and in 5th Edition also gives them the Acrobatics skill. Omox are sludgelike demons who prefer corruption of a more physical kind than hezrous, manifesting in being amphibious and having resistance to acid damage. Succubi are the iconic lustful temptresses who gain free training/proficiency in Deception and Diplomacy/Persuasion skills. Finally, vrocks are vulture-like demons of wrath, and have resistance to lightning damage and take less falling damage.

Thoughts: The Brimorak's lack of fire resistance in Pathfinder feels a bit odd, while a vrock's resistances are going to be more situational in comparison to the other subspecies. A succubus' talents are very good for all manner of campaigns that feature social interactions, while hezrou starting at Large size can be good for grapple/shove builds in being able to target bigger enemies along with touching more squares in reach and auras. I feel that dretches aren't going to be a popular choice, due to their "weak" perception in lore and having a defensive/reactive feature rather than an active one.

We get a lot of new demon-only feats: 39 in D&D and 43 in Pathfinder, to be specific. Most feats can be taken by demons of any kind, but some are restricted to particular subraces/heritages due to having abilities in line with their innate nature and features.

The feats vary widely quite a bit in broad use and balance, which is exacerbated in 5th Edition for the reasons outlined earlier in this post. On the weaker side we have Demonic Strike, which grants a bonus natural unarmed attack depending on the demon's subspecies that has either a 1d4 or 1d6 base damage die. Same for Abyssal Servitor, where the demon has a buddy who also went renegade and is represented via the Find Familiar spell, but is of the fiend type and gains a bonus energy damage resistance. The vrock has an 8th/9th level feat specific to them, Dance of Ruin, where they can summon a strike of lightning down upon an area. The size and damage of the lightning can increase the more rounds they dance and the more vrocks who join in, albeit the damage is capped based on a maximum number of rounds or vrocks. While it's a nifty and iconic ability, it's the kind of thing that is going to be highly situational, given that pulling it off in battle involves giving up valuable actions over a few rounds. And to say nothing of how difficult or costly it is to find or summon other vrocks, unless multiple players pick the same subspecies.

One more example highlighting systemic differences is Vicious Criticals, an 8th/9th level feat that deals a persistent damage type to a target if the demon gets a critical hit on them. In 5th Edition, critical hits can only occur on a natural 20 on the die roll. In Pathfinder 2nd Edition, a critical hit on an attack roll occurs if the result exceeds the target's Armor Class by at least 10. It's thus easier to get critical hits in this system, particularly when you and your fellow party members impose AC-reducing debuffs on a target. And there's an interesting inversion of the availability of unlimited flight, where the Perpetual Wings feat for demons which grants this is available at 13th level in Pathfinder, but 16th level in D&D.

Thoughts: From what I've seen of Pathfinder 2e, the 1st level feats look to be okay options, but in 5th Edition D&D they are hardly worth picking over an Ability Score Increase, Magic Initiate (which can grant Find Familiar plus 2 cantrips), or Sharpshooter or Great Weapon Mastery (which have a much bigger damage boost than what amount to daggers and shortswords).

Some feats which are notable for packing a bit of a punch include Stubborn Renegade (bonuses or advantage on saves vs emotion-manipulating effects) Brimorak Breath (4/5th level, brimorak only, breath weapon that also makes ground in AoE slippery), Fume (8/9th level, brimorak only, breathes a small AoE cloud of smoke that conceals those within and sickens or poisons those who fail a Fortitude/Constitution save, depending on system), Indomitable Renegade (4/5th level, while under an emotion or mind control-style effect, can make an additional save vs an effect that would make them act against their will to be paralyzed instead), Succubus' Embrace (4/5th level, succubus only, can substitute Diplomacy/Persuasion instead of Athletics for grapple checks), and Stunning Screech (12/13th level, vrock only, can emit an AoE scream that can stun non-demons who fail a Constitution/Fortitude save).

Thoughts: Succubus' Embrace is particularly good for Grappler Bard builds when combined with Expertise and the College of Eloquence. Fume is good in that there's not many foes that can see through smoke in either system to my knowledge. And since the brimorak can see through it by default, this can be very useful for tactics like foiling enemy line of sight.

Some of the feats differ quite a bit in both level prerequisite and function based on system. For example, Abyssal Escape lets the demon cast Dimension Door once per day/long rest, and in 5e it's an 8th level feat while in Pathfinder it's 13th level. Renegade Heroics does the same but for a self-only version of the Heroism spell, which in 5e is a 1st-level feat that can refresh once per short or long rest or with spell slots, while in Pf2e is a 9th level feat that can only be used once per day. As to why this is, the Pathfinder version upcasts Dimension Door as a 5th level spell, granting the demon the ability to teleport up to 1 mile away. As for Heroism, it's a 3rd level spell in Pathfinder and thus would be a tad overpowered to be able to cast once every 10 minutes or so.

Additionally, the 12/13th level Unseen Sight feat is very different depending on the system: in 5e it grants a once per long rest or spell slot casting of True Seeing, while in Pf2e it is an always-active effect of being able to perceive invisible things. The Pathfinder version is narrower in implementation but doesn't have to worry about limited use, while D&D is more broadly encompassing but as a limited resource. The Telepathy feat is not level-gated, and in 5e lets the demon mentally communicate with nearby creatures along with a long rest-refresh use of Detect Thoughts. But in Pathfinder, the telepathy is touch-range and requires both parties to speak the same language to understand each other, which feels a lot less useful and a lot more situational.

The Pathfinder-exclusive feats include Demonic Tail (5th level, get a prehensile tail), Purge Corruption (9th level, no longer have weakness to evil and good damage), Collapse Into Sludge (13th level, omox only, gain greater resistance to acid damage as well as resistance to precision damage and critical hits for 1 minute), Liquid Leap (17th level, omox-only, can teleport between liquid surfaces up to 120 feet away), and Wrath of the Abyss (17th level, AoE explosion that deals acid damage and bonus evil damage to celestials along with the sickened condition). Looks like the Omox got shafted a bit in the transition to 5th Edition!

You might have counted 5 feats up above. Well, it turns out 5th Edition has an exclusive demon feat of its own: Amphibious Toad! It can (theoretically) be taken at 1st level by a hezrou, granting swim speed and amphibiousness.

There's a 16th/17th level feat representing a limited-duration "ultimate form" that a demon can take. It's basically a buff that increases the demon to large size, temporary hit points, and a variety of other goodies. I noticed a bit of an oopsie in the Pathfinder version which grants darkvision in this form, even though the base demon ancestry already has it.

Thoughts: The higher-level feats start to be more broadly useful and worth taking, particularly Unseen Sight. Dimension Door is a pretty useful thing to have for a character to get out of sticky situations, but may be less useful for PCs like warrior types who want to be in the thick of things. I do feel bad for the Omox losing out on some good high-level abilities. Add to the fact that only a few kinds of gamers would be eager to play a toxic sludge monster, things aren't looking too good for the poor demon!

Our section on demons ends with the Demonic Marauder, representing renegade demons who practice a style of martial arts making use of their particular biology. In both systems it has a base feat requiring demonic ancestry (is an Archetype Dedication in Pf2e), with further feats gated behind this and other feats as prerequisites. The base feat grants them either the Demonic Strike feat (and allowing for retraining if already possessed) or the Maraud ability, which lets them deal bonus damage with an unarmed natural weapon of their demonic ancestry when moving up to their speed. Every demonic subspecies has a feat that bestows a fighting style in accordance with their nature: for example, a Dretch can Deny Sloth and rolls a d4 whose result might either supernaturally slow or hasten them, while a Marilith gains Focused Assault where their two-weapon fighting takes greater ferocity and can still deal damage even if they miss both times.

The species-neutral feats are all geared towards a bulky and/or mobile melee warrior type, such as Hulking Marauder that increases their size to Large if not already and grants a reach of 10 feet, or Grievous Wound at 12th (pf2e) or 16th level (5e) which applies the persistent damage of the Vicious Criticals feat to regular hits rather than just critical hits (5e), or deals more dice worth of persistent damage based on level (pf2e). We even have one utility feat that can work for noncombat stuff! It's the Succubus' Profane Gift, where they can buff an ally for an hour that allows for telepathic communication between and gives the ally a +1 bonus to attacks, saves, and skill checks.

Thoughts: Demonic Marauder feat tree doesn't grant ability score increases in 5th Edition, which hurts it a bit, but there are some feats worth looking into for builds. Gaining reach is very good for melee characters in general, albeit the large size may not be to the liking of nimbler Dexterity-based types. The Succubus' Profane Gift is really good in 5e due to Bounded Accuracy, so I can see it being a popular choice, and it can still be good in Pathfinder. The Dretch's Deny Sloth is on the less appealing side on account that it can either be a buff or debuff, where the other subspecies' feats are overall good.

Thoughts So Far: Battlezoo Ancestries is off to a strong start, giving us a generous helping of game mechanics and roleplay/worldbuilding-focused details on playable demons. I like how the combination of subspecies and feats makes for a very versatile monstrous ancestry, and there's a few golden gems here for a variety of builds. My biggest criticism is that the designer's differing level of system experience is evident in the Pathfinder options being overall more balanced for that game, while the D&D options struggle against the feat system and thus make many of them overall less attractive than ASI or core options.

Join us next time as we take a look at Doppelgangers, everyone's favorite shapechangers!

 

[Voadam]

I remember that PF2e remastered dropped a bunch of D&Disms like alignment and chromatic and metallic dragons along with the OGL, were demons such as mariliths in that dropped group as well?

 

[Voadam]

Also these 5e battlezoo feats are based on and compared with 14 5e feats and not the 24 origin and other type feat categories and baseline of 24 5e?

 

[Libertad]

I remember that PF2e remastered dropped a bunch of D&Disms like alignment and chromatic and metallic dragons along with the OGL, were demons such as mariliths in that dropped group as well?

Several of the Battlezoo books were published a few years before Remastered and 5.5 D&D, so they do make mention of legacy mechanics here and there.

Also these 5e battlezoo feats are based on and compared with 14 5e feats and not the 24 origin and other type feat categories and baseline of 24 5e?

The only Battlezoo Ancestries book that is being made with 5.5 mechanics is the Year of Titans series, given that its KickStarter was released around that time. The others are older and thus won't use mechanics that don't exist yet.

I suppose I should put a disclaimer for my 5e reviews from now on, but the books I have lined up in my queue were published before the 5.5 overhaul. But as for this book, I still think my analysis holds on point, as feats in 5.5 are still a valuable limited resource you only get every couple of levels and generally don't have "feat tree" or tier-equivalents like in Pathfinder 2e.

 

[Libertad]

While rare in terms of numbers, doppelgangers are incredibly spread out and can be found in almost every humanoid society. Their vaunted shape-changing ability lets them seamlessly blend in with the majority population, which gives them a reputation as untrustworthy manipulators. While such types exist and use their powers for these purposes, doppelgangers have a variety of outlooks, codes of conduct, and life goals. Due to their small numbers and lack of doppelganger-only settlements, these monsters don’t have as much of a unifying cultural element as others in this book. In fact, most doppelgangers often never know of or meet other doppelgangers besides their own parents.

However, what is common is that doppelgangers tend to not necessarily call themselves as such, given that the default name for their species implies that their existence is self-deceiving. A more popular term gaining ground is “prismsoul.” Like a prism reflecting light in many colors, so too does a doppelganger reflect many forms and perceptions while still remaining the same being. This term originated among the Prismsoul Exemplars, a movement of doppelgangers who wished not to be defined as “being someone’s double.” The exemplars believe that their kind help act as a mirror to greater society, and fight against stereotypes. They are one of the PC-friendly factions of doppelgangers, the two others being Conspiracists (seek to arrange their kind into a hierarchical structured society), and Usurpers (seek to learn as much about a person and “replace” them). These 3 have backgrounds in 5th Edition.

The 4 backgroundless ones are Faceless (seek to live a live detached from social connections or any position of notability), Personas (don’t identify as doppelgangers, but as the species of their preferred form, usually due to having a non-doppelganger parent), Unchanging (those who refuse to ever change form, usually due to a vow of some kind), and Voluptuaries (hedonists who wish to use their powers to indulge in material pleasures). While many of these philosophies can use nefarious and practical means as justification, they can still be used for less selfish goals. For example, a Usurper might choose to take on the shape of a deceased loved one to spare their family and friends emotional turmoil, or kill a tyrannical figure and take the reins of society to institute fairer reforms. A Faceless, meanwhile, might choose to eschew social connections when doing good deeds to avoid their altruism being tainted by reward and praise.

Thoughts: As quite a few names for monsters carry the connotation of an outsider’s perspective, I do like the name “prismsoul” catching on among doppelgangers in viewing their state of being as but a different state of truth rather than inherently deceptive. I also find the diversity of groups and philosophies to be refreshing, as it helps reinforce the statement of doppelgangers not being a monolith while giving them a variety of justifications and reasons to make use of their powers. But it does lead into the question of how such outlooks spread, given their race’s isolation; it’s hard to form an organization when the only ones of your kind that you know of are yourself and your parents!

In terms of mechanics, the base ancestry grants a bonus to Charisma and one other score, has an average movement speed, low-light vision in Pathfinder 2e, and both systems grant the ability to transform their body into a Small or Medium Humanoid over the course of 1 minute. At character creation they can mimic a single humanoid form, known as their “preferred form,” which they can transform into via an action instead. In 5th Edition doppelgangers are proficient in disguise kits but don’t need the tool to disguise themselves, while in Pathfinder 2e this ability doesn’t have the polymorph trait because “that would make it difficult to use other polymorph effects.”

Doppelgangers have 4 subspecies/heritages representing enhanced facets of disguise. Bladeclaws can change one or both hands into unarmed claw attacks, Darkshifts gain darkvision, Mindtaps have better empathetic abilities which manifest as additional skill proficiencies in 5e or gaining the Read the Air cantrip in pf2e, and Thricefolds have three preferred forms at character creation instead of one.

Doppelgangers have 22 feats in D&D and 27 feats in Pathfinder. Most of their feats center around expanded uses of their shapeshifting ability along with being better able to blend into a variety of social situations. The 1st level feats consist of situational but nifty traits, such as Tiny Shift letting them take the form of a Tiny-sized humanoid, Shift Claw granting a variety of alternate traits for a Bladeclaw’s unarmed attacks like increased reach, Aquatic Disguise granting a swim speed (5th level in Pathfinder), Darksight Disguise granting darkvision (5e version is 60 feet, doubles to 120 if part of the Darkshift subspecies), Olfactory Disguise granting the ability to better discern by smell (5th level in Pathfinder), and Shifter’s Tongue granting three additional languages (5e grants advantage on checks to impersonate other voices, pf2e grants a bonus language every time Multilingual feat is taken). Some feats are gained at different levels due to system expectations: for example, Ascending Disguise is a 4th level feat that lets a doppelganger gain a climb speed as part of an additional preferred form in D&D, while in Pathfinder it’s a 9th level feat that works with assuming the form of any humanoid that normally has a climb speed. In the latter system, it’s common for 9th level Ancestry feats to grant climbing speeds.

I should note that in the 5th Edition version, several of the feats explicitly grant bonus traits while shapechanging, but restrict their use to an additional preferred form. There is no such text for Pathfinder, where the text instead specifies that the benefit is gained when the doppelganger transforms into a humanoid that would ordinarily have such traits. What this means is that 5th Edition doppelganger PCs who take such feats gain a new form they can take on as an action, While their Pathfinder counterparts do not, but can more easily take on a wider variety of humanoid disguises with that trait.

The iconic Change Shape which the doppelganger monster is best known for is a 4th/5th level feat, letting them spend an action to take on non-preffered forms and bonuses on checks to keep up the ruse, while Mind Reader grants Detect Thoughts/Mind Reading as a once per long rest/day spell. There are differences between systems for both feats: Change Shape in 5th Edition only lets the doppelganger quick-change into non-preferred forms once per short rest, but in Pathfinder it’s an at-will ability. The Mind Reader feat is 4th level in 5th Edition and grants at-will telepathy, while in Pathfinder it’s 9th level and doesn’t grant telepathy.

The 8th and 9th level feats see a marked increase in broader-purpose utility. Rejuvenating Shapeshifting lets the doppelganger automatically heal hit points every hour in 5th Edition or while resting for 10 minutes in Pathfinder, and Soaring Flight grants a fly speed for 5 minutes once per day (or 10 minutes once per long rest in 5e). Additional Changes is a 5e-exclusive feat that removes the short rest refresh rate for the Change Shape feat.

At 12th to 13th level we see some broadly-appealing choices such as Adaptive Disguise (prior feats that specify working only in a preferred form work with all forms), Internal Shapeshifting (increased resistance/ability to reduce or negate the damage of critical hits or precision attacks depending on system), and “This Isn’t Even…” (changes into a “final form” upon reaching 0 hit points, regains hit points and has either +1 or advantage on attack rolls, saving throws, and AC or ability checks depending on system).

The 16th and 17th level feats include Giant Shift, which grants an indefinite Large size form or a limited-duration Huge form, with increased damage for both and reach for Huge; and Undetectable Form, which grants immunity to magic that reads thoughts, detects lies, and similar methods that might detect the doppelganger’s true form. In Pathfinder, magic of 10th level or higher can see through this last feat. Adaptive Flight requires Soaring Disguise and grants an indefinite fly speed, and in Pathfinder it’s 13th level instead of 16th.

The Pathfinder-exclusive feats include Preferred Weapon Familiarity (gain level 1 Weapon Familiarity ancestry feat associated with their preferred form), Adaptive Ancestry (5th level, gain Adopted Ancestry feat for preferred form’s ancestry and a 1st-level ancestry feat pertaining to that choice), Doppelganger’s Fashion (5th level, once per day can alter one’s outfit as part of the shapeshifting process), Perfected Change Shape (9th level, overcome Perception DCs and a bonus on Deception DC when disguising themselves as non-preferred forms), Greater Darksight Disguise (9th level, gains greater darkvision while impersonating a humanoid with darkvision), and Flurry of Fashion (13th level, no limit on Doppelganger’s Fashion but each use reverts the previous change),

Thoughts: Unlike the entry on demons, doppelgangers are a much more tightly-themed ancestry, with the bulk of new mechanics revolving around shapeshifting and subterfuge. There’s still a good variety of choices for roles outside of the roguish sort, particularly for martial characters. That being said, I do feel that several options are going to be much more appealing in most campaigns. In worlds with a large number of non-human and darkness-dwelling races, a doppelganger hoping to infiltrate such communities pretty much needs Darksight Disguise or the Darkshift heritage unless they plan to rely on magic for this. And Soaring Disguise is going to be much more appealing than Ascending Disguise even if the latter’s climb speed is indefinite. Furthermore, the Pathfinder-exclusive Doppelganger’s Fashion is not only situational, a character can easily buy a Hat of Disguise/Masquerade Scarf to achieve a similar effect, which would make using a feat slot on it a lot less compelling.

Doppelborn are non-doppelganger species with limited shapeshifting abilities. They have strong connections to doppelgangers in some way, with the most common being known as “child doppelborns.” This represent doppelborn who have a doppelganger parent or ancestor. Their “true form” is usually the same as their non-doppelganger parent race, but many often have common physical features of doppelgangers such as smooth skin, and many look like younger identical twins of their non-doppelganger parent. Their knowledge and acceptance of their doppelborn nature can vary, particularly depending on whether or not their doppelganger family member sticks around or is truthful about their heritage. The ability to shapeshift is an innate talent, but requires learning and practice, so a child doppelborn’s capability to master it can be anywhere from the time they’re toddlers with a doppelganger teacher, to adolescence if unknowing or self-taught. In the latter case, a doppelborn’s “first change” is usually an involuntary one brought about during a particular “trigger” that differs from individual to individual.

The other most common doppelborn type are clones of someone else, usually part of an alchemical or magical process that may not even involve doppelgangers at all. Such clones usually gain a distinct personality and free will due to a malfunction in the cloning process, or if left unused for too long. They are formed in adolescence or fully-grown with some basic knowledge but no memories of their original copy’s life. Cloned doppelborn usually possess a naive view of the world due to a lack of lived experiences. Unlike doppelborn who are born to a parent, clones are instinctually capable of shapeshifting upon creation.

In both systems, a doppelborn can belong to any species that is not a doppelganger. In 5th Edition, a Doppelborn PC is represented by a feat* which grants +1 to Charisma, they count as a doppelganger for the purposes of feats and magic item attunements, gain proficiency with disguise kits, and can take the form of another Small or Medium humanoid via a 1 minute process and can return to their default form via an action (or fall unconscious, but only in 5th Edition). In Pathfinder 2nd Edition, it is a heritage (subspecies) that grants the aforementioned shape-changing ability, but not any ability score bonuses or proficiencies, which is in line with how heritages work in the system. We also get a feat, Doppelborn’s Disguise, that grants them a preferred form in both systems. In 5th Edition it grants the benefits of a doppelganger subspecies, and in Pathfinder it grants a 1st-level doppelganger ancestry feat. In Pathfinder 2e, Doppelborn also gain access to most Ancestry feats of doppelgangers.

*with the book suggesting granting it for free at 1st level for PCs who want to start play as one.

Thoughts So Far: I like this book’s take on doppelgangers for both systems, and in regards to 5e it feels more “balanced” than the prior chapter’s demons which varied quite a bit in appeal and function. While magic and magic items can still fill the role of a shapeshifting infiltrator, the doppelganger’s ability to do so at will and with more lenient refresh rates than spellcasters helps solidify their role for PCs who invest in the feats.

Join us next time as we cover living Dungeons!

 

[Alzrius]

I remember that PF2e remastered dropped a bunch of D&Disms like alignment and chromatic and metallic dragons along with the OGL, were demons such as mariliths in that dropped group as well?

I believe so; I looked up PF2 mariliths on the Archives of Nethys website recently, and all it had was the "legacy" (i.e. pre-Remaster) version of them; there didn't seem to be a post-Remaster iteration.

 

[Libertad]

Dungeons are typically thought of as places and things, lairs containing a dizzying amount of creatures, traps, and environments. Nothing is out of the question when venturing into such eldritch areas. But sometimes they get even stranger, and awaken to a state of self-awareness with a distinct soul. Various aspects of the dungeon's foundation serve as its vital organs: a treasure trove might be its heart, ley lines its bloodstream, and the cavernous stone its skin.

Awakened dungeons typically lack mobility to move around their greater environment, so they learn to create a smaller extension of itself known as an avatar. Almost always humanoid in size and shape, they appear like another ancestry yet are formed from the dungeon's physical features. The avatar and dungeon are one and the same, the former being akin to a sensory organ extending out into the wider world. The avatar can also bring others with it into the awakened dungeon via an extraplanar process.

It should go without saying that this ancestry is a bit more whimsical than the others. While the text is overall mechanical and serious-minded, this chapter's sidebars, titles, and ancestry features are filled with references to a wide variety of fantasy media, like Is It Wrong To Pick Up Gold In a Dungeon? for a sidebar talking about the ethical quandaries of looting treasure found in an awakened dungeon. Or The Lazy Dungeon Gamemaster sidebar, which explains that the GM doesn't have to create a new dungeon wholesale to represent the PC if they don't have the time or energy to do so or would otherwise be disruptive to the campaign. These references are apparent but not omnipresent, so personally speaking they don't wear out their welcome for me.

Like the demon, the dungeon base ancestry is rather open in not adhering closely to any role, with an ability boost to Constitution and another score of choice (in 5e it has a net +4 bonus, with +2 to Constitution and +1 to 2 other scores), Small or Medium size, average movement speed, and low-light vision or darkvision depending on the system. All awakened dungeons have an avatar connected to its life force, meaning that if one dies or is destroyed then the other is as well. Additionally, an avatar can transport itself and its allies into the awakened dungeon's extradimensional environs over the course of an hour, provided that they are all holding hands or otherwise in physical contact during that time.

All awakened dungeons are arranged in a series of "floors" which must be completed in order, and their terrain and inhabitants are reflections of the dungeon's history and themes. Floors are filled with monsters, dangers, and other obstacles, and the inhabitants of a dungeon have no inherent fondness or loyalty to the avatar. An avatar can exit a dungeon the same way it enters, although the book suggests that clearing a floor allows the party to leave. A party is also forced to leave if they fail to clear a floor in an hour, representing a "forced retreat."

Self-aware dungeons are rare to the point that they don't gather into groups or societies of the traditional sort. However, there are common mindsets and ideologies among awakened dungeons known as categories. Three of the categories that get 5e backgrounds are enthusiasts (thrill-seekers eager to test themselves and others against their own challenges), museums (collect all manner of objects and treasures to populate itself), and overlords (seek to "clean out" the floors of themselves and regain control, viewing inhabitants as squatters or invaders). The four other categories are fragments (they are pieces of some other entity and completing floors helps piece their origin and memories together), psyches (existence arose due to significant emotional events, and the floors contain inner dilemmas and conflicts), soul prisons (made up of souls of the fallen whose history and death are tied to the dungeon's), and quandaries (a "none of the above" option for dungeons that defy categorization).

A dungeon's subspecies/heritage is reflective of what kind of dungeon it is. Archipelago is a chain of islands which grant a swim speed and the amphibious trait; cavern grants darkvision, or in 5th Edition improved darkvision plus a climb speed that only functions in caverns, and adds double their proficiency bonus for identifying crystals and gems; labyrinth grants bonuses on checks related to navigational direction and proficiency in Survival (pf2e) or History plus the Minor Illusion cantrip (5e); leviathan means that the dungeon is actually a titanic extradimensional creature, and grants one choice from a list of unarmed natural weapons in both systems, plus proficiency in the Acrobatics or Athletics skill in 5e; mausoleums gain a bonus divine/cleric cantrip in both systems, and 5e grants resistance to necrotic damage and the Religion skill; towers are full of magical lore, granting a bonus arcane/wizard cantrip, while in 5e it also grants proficiency in one of the 4 Intelligence-based knowledge skills and once per long rest can summon a book from the dungeon's library to gain advantage on a relevant check pertaining to the tome's topic; and trees are enormous arboreal life forms, capable of communicating with plants and have better social influence over them in both systems. This last ancestry grants +2 on Perception checks and saving throws against plants in Pathfinder, while D&D grants them the Nature skill and +1 hit point per level.

Two the 5e-exclusive subspecies features were converted into exclusive feats in the Pathfinder book. The book-summoning ability of the tower is a 5th level ancestry feat, as is the cavern's climb speed but also functions in non-cavernous environments.

Thoughts: The awakened dungeon is definitely an odd choice conceptually. One might think that it would have darkvision even in Pathfinder 2e, given how dark most dungeons are in fantasy games. But I suppose that saving that for the cavern heritage helps make it stand out. While it takes too long to happen in a frantic life-or-death situation, being able to physically transport allies into an extradimensional dungeon at will feels a tad powerful to give out for free right off the bat. One could argue that the extradimensional dungeon isn't a safe space given that the GM is encouraged to populate it with dangers. But any adventuring party worth their salt is going to start clearing it out and using it as a mobile home base. The subspecies are all creative, although I do feel that the Pathfinder 2e version could've been given a bit more goodies like their 5e counterparts.

We have 22 feats for D&D and 33 feats for Pathfinder, and they tend to be broad in use rolewise rather than adhering to tighter themes. The allotment of feats differ widely between systems. For example, we have Dungeon Familiar for Pathfinder (1st level, gain a familiar sharing physical/theme traits with the dungeon) and Dungeon Stocker for D&D (1st level, cast Find Familiar and Unseen Servant as rituals, can summon a tiny beast and cast Animal Messenger at 5th level), Dungeon Loot for Pathfinder (1st level, trained in Athletics and gain Hefty Hauler feat) and Dungeon Robber for D&D (+1 Dexterity, proficiency in thieves' tools and choice of 2 rogue-esque skills), Labyrinth of Magic for Pathfinder (5th level, labyrinth only, cast Illusory Object once per day) and Labyrinth of Secrets for D&D (4th level, cast Invisibility and See Invisibility once per long rest each), and finally Dark Dungeon for Pathfinder (1st level, gain darkvision).

The Dungeon Armor feat appears in both systems, but its level-based prerequisite varies widely. For D&D it's a 1st level feat, where the avatar forms a physical shell to gain temporary hit points equal to "twice your dungeon level"* for 10 minutes once per short or long rest. In Pathfinder, it's a 13th level feat activated once per day, granting resistance 10 against all physical damage that isn't adamantine. Every time this resistance is applied, the value decreases by 1.

*As an awakened dungeon is not a class, I presume they meant character level.

The higher-level features continue to focus heavily on general-purpose utility vs direct combat applications. We have Disinter for the mausoleum (5th level in Pf2e, 9th level in 5e, can cast choice of animate dead or fear spell once per long rest or day, 5e version doesn't require a corpse), Leviathan's Prowess for the subspecies of the same name (4/5th level, D&D increases damage dice of natural weapon and treats as magical, Pathfinder grants critical specialization and the shove/grapple/trip traits to natural weapon), and Dungeon Dweomers (8/9th level, can learn two low-level spells that can be cast once per day/long rest each).

The middle-levels are also rather summoner-friendly, with D&D getting Dungeon Caller (8th level, grants a new Conjure X spell at 8th and every 4 levels thereafter with each capable of being cast once per long rest), while Pathfinder has the absurdly long-named Dungeon? No, I'm Just a Passing Beast Master (9th level, grants the Beastmaster dedication feat and animal companions come from and can be stored in the extradimensional dungeon).

Furthermore, Pathfinder gets not one, but three 9th-level feats that involve summoning features from the dungeon into the physical world. Call Forth Items grants Prescient Planner and Presciient Consumable feats, but the former's requirement changes to not being used since the last time the avatar entered the inner dungeon. Call Forth Room casts use of the Cozy Cabin spell once per day, but it's shaped like a room from the dungeon. Call Forth Traps grants the Snarecrafter dedication feat, and the quick deployment feature from the snarecrafter archetype is reflavored to being a trap summoned from the dungeon rather than being physically built. This last feat has a similar but functionally distinct feat in D&D called Trap Magic, that grants the Find Traps and Knock spell that can be cast once per long rest, and three times per long rest the avatar can use an action to create a magical trap that lasts until triggered for 24 hours, doing single-target physical damage that increases with level.

The feats that grant the equivalent of a dedication feat can be taken even if the PC has already met their maximum amount of dedication feats for their level.

The 12/13th and higher levels see some pretty potent AoE and terrain-changing effects, such as Dungeon World (12/13th level, radiates an aura that warps space and hinders movement), Wall Master (13th level, Pathfinder only, once per day can cast Wall of Stone), the Unwanted Undead Tempest (12th level in D&D, 17th level in Pathfinder calls forth a howling storm of undead spirits that deal necrotic damage and the frightened condition in 5e, casts Tempest of Shades in pf2e), Into the Dungeon/Into the Maze (16th/17th level, casts Maze in 5e, causes a target to vanish into an extradimensional space until they escape via an action or series of Survival/Perception checks depending on degree of failure in pf2e), Form of the Leviathan (16/17th level, Leviathan only, casts a buffed version of Monstrosity Form in pf2e, polymorphs avatar into a purple worm or roc in 5e), and Overlord (16/17th level, casts Magnificent Mansion in 5e, has a similar effect in pf2e where avatar can create a gateway into a safe portion of the dungeon whose size and features they can change and manipulate).

Thoughts: The dungeon feats range from the average to the broadly useful, and there's a good amount of choices for just about any character concept here, Dungeon Armor and the Levithan feats are good for physical attackers, but as those require a specific subspecies they tend not to be as broad as the ones that can be taken by any heritage. 5e's Dungeon Stocker and Trap Magic feats are very good options for dungeon crawling campaigns, while the former 5e feat and pf2e's Call Forth Traps are both good for planning ambushes and battlefield control. Disinter's ability to not need a corpse in 5e makes it a very attractive option for necromancer builds, and the 8/9th level feats granting summoning spells or animal companions are attractive options for hordemaster types. Particularly 5e, given that summoning spells are particularly potent force multipliers in the action economy.

Thoughts So Far: The Dungeon is the most offbeat and original idea in this book, so much so that it doesn't really feel like a "classic creature." However, it has an awful lot of attractive options for all manner of character builds, albeit the DM may need to keep an eye on some of the more exploitable abilities. Additionally, the ancestry's rather silly nature may make it an acquired taste suitable only for a small variety of campaigns.

Join us next time as we cover Gremlins and learn how to break things!

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I love the concept of "genius loci" like a PC specie. This could the source of inspiration for new stories. For example a young dragon leaves the nest, becomes independient and start to save threasures for her lair. She is killed by members of an evil linnord cult. Then she reincarnates in a different way. She becomes the "genius loci" of her lair. She "adopts" a kobold tribe to keep building her lair, and gets ready for her future revenge against that evil linnord cult.

Or a variant where the PC is the bastion of an adventures' guild.