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Post by Sidera on Sept 15, 2016 22:50:36 GMT
I was listening to episode 23 of the Podcast and learnt that their are ant creatures in the d&d world. My boyfriend is a massive ant nerd so I thought a antlike race would be an ideal option for his PC. I did some googling on the subject and found these two versions of the homebrew playable race 'Formacid': D&D Wiki HomebrewBehind the Screen RedditI however am new to all this so I don't know if these are any good, any thoughts? I know I am not keen on the Hive Mind part of the Wiki version as it would only come into play if other Formacids were around, but I do like the increase in carry weight suggested on the reddit one, even though that doesn't really come into play that often, because it fits with the persona of an ant. I also was thinking it might be fair to give them the ability to have a bite attack of sorts because of their mandibles? But as I said I don't really know what I'm doing so any thoughts or suggestions for this would be really helpful! |
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Post by lasersniper on Sept 16, 2016 7:47:48 GMT
The one from the Wiki seems pretty fleshed out and solid. The one thing I do not see addressed is climbing. If your boyfriend is really an ant nerd, then that is sure to come up in play I guarantee it. What I would do is trade out "Ant Mass" for some bonus or innate climbing ability. Perhaps he can move his full speed while climbing or he has advantage on climb checks. Both would be a little OP, and a giant ant falling is very different than a small ant falling in my opinion. As for carry weight, I don't know if you plan on having them keep track of gear weights, but if you don't I wouldn't bother to much about the specifics. Just remember he is an ant and give him some leeway narrative. If you need an idea how much he could carry in pounds though, keep in mind the official rules say a character can carry 15x and lift 30x his STR SCORE (Not modifier) in pounds. For ant man, I would just double that to 30x carry and 60x lift.
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Post by blakeryan on Sept 16, 2016 12:41:33 GMT
i'd swap darkvision for scent 60ft, if I recall correctly ants are largely scent based
also burrow 20 and climb 20
if you want to make them a race for your world they're great, they are literally builders.
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Post by Sidera on Sept 16, 2016 14:49:37 GMT
i'd swap darkvision for scent 60ft, if I recall correctly ants are largely scent based Ants use both scent and mainly work in the dark. They can't see red light so my boyfriend covers the nests he keeps in red plastic so he can see them and they think its pitch black ^_^ Also how much is burrowing and climbing used in 5E campaigns? its not something I've really seen in the videos I've watched and I'm pretty new to this. What I would do is trade out "Ant Mass" for some bonus or innate climbing ability. Perhaps he can move his full speed while climbing or he has advantage on climb checks. Yeh I really like the sound of this! As for carry weight, I don't know if you plan on having them keep track of gear weights, but if you don't I wouldn't bother to much about the specifics. Just remember he is an ant and give him some leeway narrative. If you need an idea how much he could carry in pounds though, keep in mind the official rules say a character can carry 15x and lift 30x his STR SCORE (Not modifier) in pounds. For ant man, I would just double that to 30x carry and 60x lift. I was planning to keep track of the weight of stuff people were carrying for the Out of The Abyss campaign I'm running as its very survival based but it doesn't look like it will come in to play much with carry weight in general being so high. I suppose the class strength increase would end up working similarly regardless as as you've said its based off the characters strength score. |
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Post by dmnate on Sept 21, 2016 1:37:08 GMT
You could make your group start out in an ant city. That way you could do a who story with your boyfriends ant pc and how the hive mind effects him and every ant around him. maybe your group needs to protect the god queen or maybe the god queen is evil? Another good one is somehow something or someone is controlling the god queen making all of his fellow ants slaves. Monsters like aboleths and mind flares are perfect for this. Especially since I would imagine these ants would dwell mostly in the Underdark. could have a lot of fun with this!
Thanks for this! Now I wanna use these guys in my world!
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Post by Sidera on Sept 22, 2016 20:47:35 GMT
You could make your group start out in an ant city. That way you could do a who story with your boyfriends ant pc and how the hive mind effects him and every ant around him. Although a really cool idea personally I feel like the more interesting option would be for him to have lost his colony if I were to have him as an ant in a future campaign. Ants usually die if the colony dies, the colony is their life and the meaning to their existence. What would happen if that meaning was lost? could they continue and find a life outside their previous boundaries and rigid view on the world aka protect the queen at all costs, you have a job and will stick to it until you die. How would that effect their mental state having no colony to maintain and having failed to protect the queen? From a roleplaying standpoint I recon that could be something someone could sink their teeth into and the character could have a really interesting ark. At a point in the adventuring groups journey another colony could see potential in this new independent ant with a wider skill set and knowledge of the outside world and offer them a place serving a new queen, do they take it? or have they found value in their life outside the colony now? If they do take it do the other ants get inspired by them to then leave the colony to start an adventure themselves destroying their way of life? So many interesting directions! Let me know if and how you use these guys in any campaigns you do and how they are received it would be great to hear! p.s. cubone forever. |
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