Classic 5e

It is no secret that the most recent content released for 5e has significantly shifted in theory and execution. "Classic 5e" is my own personal take on some of the more recent 5e content, but reimagined with the original philosophy of 5th edition.

Travelers of the Multiverse

Originally released as Unearthed Arcana in October 2021

One of the most important choices you make when creating your hero is their race, sometimes referred to as their lineage. While the player races presented in the Player's Handbook are assumed to be in every campaign, some tables choose to add additional races.

Presented here are six additional player races that are often found when exploring the various planes of existence. They can be made available in addition to those from the Players Handbook: Astral Elf, Autognome, Giff, Hadozee, Plasmoid, and Thri-Keen.

Elf Subrace: Astral Elf

In ages long past, a group of elves left the Feywild to dwell on the Astral Plane. The luminous power of the Astral Plane has changed many aspects of these elves, imbuing them with wondrous radiant abilities not found in their brethren from elsewhere in the planes.

Astral Elf Traits

When you choose to play an Elf, you can choose the Astral Elf subrace in place of those presented in the Player's Handbook. All Astral Elves share the following traits:

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.

Creature Type. You are a Humanoid.

Age. Nothing ages in the Astral Plane, and some Astral Elves claim to have lived for thousands of years on the Astral Plane before setting out to lead lives of heroic adventure.

Alignment. Due to the sheer number of years they have lived on the Astral Plane, Astral Elves tend towards neutral alignments.

Astral Fire. You know one of the following cantrips of your choice: dancing lights, light, or sacred flame, and Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it.

Radiant Soul. When you succeed on a death saving throw, you can choose to immediately regain a number of hit points equal to your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier. Once you use this trait you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.

Alternate Rule: Ability Score Increase

In traditional fantasy settings, player races usually fit certain stereotypes: Dwarves are exceptionally hardy, Half-Orcs are exceptionally strong, and Halflings are exceptionally quick when compared to other creatures. These racial traits are represented by the ability score increases granted when you select a player race.

However, adventuring heroes are often exceptions when compared to their kin. If your table allows this optional rule, remove the Ability Score Increase you gain from your race, and instead increase one Ability Score by 2 and another Ability Score by 1, or you can increase three of your Ability Scores by 1 each.

Autognome

Constructed in the likeness of their gnomish creators, Autognomes are built to serve a specific purpose. Some are keenly aware of their intended function and will go to great lengths to accomplish their goal. Others never met their maker and spend their lives searching for the reason for their existence. Rarely, Autognomes will rebel against their purpose and strike out on an adventure.

Autognomes are as varied as the gnomes that create them, and can be built from any material. Some are clockwork creatures filled with gears, others are carved from living stone and crystal, and some are grown out of carefully composed roots and vines.

Autognome Traits

All Autognomes share the following traits in common:

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2, and your Intelligence score increases by 1.

Creature Type. You are a Construct

Age. Autognomes are fully functional at the moment of their creation and can remain in operation for up to 100 years without maintenance. Theoretically, an Autognome could live until it was destroyed if it could find a skilled tinkerer to maintain them.

Alignment. Created for a specific purpose, most Autognomes are rigidly Lawful in their alignment. Though, the Autognomes that reject their purpose can find themselves as any alignment.

Size. While not made of flesh and blood, Autognomes resemble mortal Gnomes in size, shape, and build. Your size is Small.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Gnomish, Common, and one other language of your choice. This additional language is often related to your original purpose as an Autognome.

Armored Casing. You are encased in thin metal or some other durable material. So long as you are not wearing any armor, your Armor Class is equal to 13 + your Dexterity modifier.

Mechanical Nature. You are resistant to poison damage, immune to disease, and you have advantage on saves against being paralyzed or poisoned. You don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe.

Sentry’s Rest. When you take a long rest, you must spend at least 6 hours in an inactive, motionless state, instead of sleeping.
In this state, you appear inert, but you aren’t unconscious.

Specialized Design. You gain proficiency with two tools of your choice. Whenever you make an ability check that uses either of these tools you can roll a d4 and add the result to your roll.

True Life. If the mending spell is cast on you, you can expend one of your Hit Dice, roll it, and immediately regain a number of hit points equal to the roll plus your Constitution modifier.

In addition, your creator designed you to benefit from common spells that preserve life but that normally cannot affect Constructs: cure wounds, healing word, and spare the dying.

Giff

One of the stranger folk that exist on foreign planes are the Giff. The exceptionally large and boisterous Hippo-folk can't help but stand out wherever they go. Most Giff embrace this attention and are often found regaling crowds of curious humanoids with tales of their exploits and adventures in strange and exotic lands.

Giff are explorers at heart, and almost every Giff spends at least a few years of their youth adventuring. Amongst the Giff, respect is earned by those with the best stories, even if they are exaggerated.

Hadozee

Hadozee are a race of siman people that long ago adapted to live among the tall trees of their home. They are natural climbers, with dexterous feet and hands; all four of which have opposable thumbs. Membranes of skin hang loosely from their arms and legs, and when stretched taut, they enable a Hadozee to glide.

Hadozee Traits

While Hodozee are varied, all Hadozee share the following traits:

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity Score increases by 2, and your Intelligence score increases by 1.

Creature Type. You are a Humanoid.

Age. Hadozee mature quickly, reaching adulthood at the age of 5. The eldest Hadozee have been known to live for over 120 years.

Alignment. Ancient Hadozee were hunted by predators and relied on a strong sense of community for survival. Even now, most Hadozee value friendship and their alignments is usually Good.

Size. Hadozee move about hunched over, using all four of their limbs to walk and climb. Standing upright, the largest Hadozee can be over four feet tall. Your size is Small.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

    Dexterous Feet. Your feet can manipulate objects as well as your hands. You gain proficiency in the Sleight of Hand skill, and so long as you have a free foot, you can use a bonus action to make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check, or an ability check that uses any tool that you are proficient with.

Glide. If you are not incapacitated, wearing heavy armor, or wielding a heavy weapon, you can extend your skin membranes to glide when you fall. While gliding, you can move up to 5 feet horizontally for every 1 foot you fall, and you can use a reaction to reduce any falling damage you would take to 0.

Natural Climber. Though you may not dwell in treetops, you are still an adept climber. You have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed. You are also proficient in Acrobatics, and you have advantage on any Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks you make to climb when you can use at least three of your limbs.

Plasmoid

Plasmoids are amorphous beings with no permanent shape. When dealing with non-Plasmoids, they will adopt a vaguely humanoid form, though they are clearly something strange and alien. Much like an amoeba, Plasmoids consume food through osmosis and excrete waste and breath through tiny pores on their body. When they form their body, their pseudopods are strong and dexterous enough to manipulate weapons and tools.

When they adopt a humanoid shape, Plasmoids can wear clothes and armor, wield weapons, and produce sounds that resemble language. When Plasmoids sleep they return to their amorphous form, spreading out in a globular puddle on the ground.

Plasmoid Traits

Though all Plasmoids can alter their shape at will, changing their appearance, all Plasmoids share the following traits in common:

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength and Constitution scores each increase by 2, and your Charisma score is reduced by 1.

Creature Type. You are an Ooze.

Age. When Plasmoids reach old age, often around 50 years, they die as an individual and divide into two new, fully adult Plasmoids.

Alignment. Plasmoids detest rigidity in any form and tend to be solitary creatures. They are almost always Chaotic in alignment.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Size. Plasmoids vary greatly in color, appearance, and size. You are either Medium or Small (choose when you select this race).

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one language of your choice. Plasmoids have no language of their own.

Amorphous. You can squeeze through gaps as narrow as 1 inch, so long as you are not wearing or carrying anything. You also have advantage on ability checks to initiate or escape being grappled.

Natural Resilience. You resist both acid and poison damage.

Shape Self. If you are not incapacitated, you can reshape your body into a vaguely humanoid form, though you are noticeably not a humanoid creature. You can give yourself a head, one or two arms, one or two legs, functional hands and feet at the end of each of your limbs, or you can revert to a blob (no action required).

As a bonus action, you can extrude a pseudopod up to 6 inches wide and 10 feet long, or reabsorb it into your body. It can perform simple tasks, but the pseudopod can’t attack, activate magic items, manipulate complex tools, or carry more than 10 pounds.

Thri-Kreen Traits

Thri-Kreen can vary greatly in appearance and color. Despite their superficial differences, all Thri-Kreen share the following traits:

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity and Constitution scores each increase by 2, and your Charisma score decreases by 1.

Creature Type. You are a Monstrosity.

Age. Thri-Kreen mature fast and have short lifespans when compared to other humanoid creatures. They reach full maturity
at the age of 1 and rarely live longer than 30 years.

Alignment. Thri-Kreen don't experience emotion as other creatures do, instead acting on instinct alone. Due to their reactive nature they are almost always Chaotic Neutral in alignment.

Size. The largest Thri-Kreen stand over seven feet tall when fully upright, towering over humanoids. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Chameleon Carapace. Your body is covered in a series of protective chitinous plates. While you aren't wearing armor, your Armor Class is equal to 13 + your Dexterity modifier.

In addition, you can use an action to change the color of your carapace to match the color and texture of your surroundings. When you do so, you have advantage on any Dexterity (Stealth) checks you make to hide in those surroundings.

Secondary Arms. You have a smaller secondary arm below each your primary arms. Your secondary arms function like your primary arms, but due to their diminutive size they can only wield light weapons, and they are not strong enough to hold a shield.

Sleepless Revitalization. You do not require sleep and can choose to remain conscious during a long rest, though you must still refrain from strenuous activity to gain the benefit of the rest.

Thri-kreen Telepathy. Thri-Kreen communicate with each other using their mandibles to produce a series of clicks. Due to their anatomy they cannot produce the sounds necessary to speak most humanoid languages. Instead, you can communicate mentally with willing creatures that you can see within 60 feet. A target creature need not share a language with you, but it must be able to understand at least one language. Your telepathy stops if you or the creature move more than 60 feet apart, if either is incapacitated, or if either mentally breaks the contact (no action required).

Height & Weight

You can decide your player character's height and weight on your own by using the information in the description of your player race, or you can determine your character's height and weight randomly by rolling on the Random Height & Weight table below. When you do either, consider how your character's ability scores will play into their appearance. An extremely strong and constitute character may be exceedingly large for their race, while a highly dexterous and intelligent character may be surprisingly thin for their folk.

If you roll randomly for your player character's height and weight, roll the dice indicated in the Height Modifier column and add the result to the base height for your character's race. To determine their weight, Roll the dice indicated in the Weight Modifier column and multiply the result by your Height Modifier roll. Add the resulting number to the Base Weight for your player character's weight to get their total weight.

Example: Sir Cromwell Cummerbund

Sir Cromwell Cummerbund is a Giff with a height of 6 feet 10 inches plus 2d12. His player rolls 2d12 and gets a total of 18. This puts Sir Cummerbund's height at a whopping 8 feet, 4 inches tall! Then the player uses the same roll of 18 and multiplies it by 2d6 pounds. His 2d6 roll is 6, so Sir Cummerbund weighs an extra 108 pounds (18 x 6), on top of the base 350 pounds for a Giff, for a stunning total of 458 pounds. That is one big adventuring hippo!