Talk:Folicoatl (5e Race)

Hey there, race mechanical creator (not lore creator) here to debunk that 'needs balance' template

-"This gets a flat bonus to stealth, which isn't really used in 5e. Consider advantage instead."

I did strongly consider advantage, but the effective +5 bonus Advantage represents would be too much and make them too strong. A flat bonus may not be normal, but I think it's a lot better to step outside the bounds of normality if it keeps things balanced and easy to understand.

-"Portions of these traits are very strange, like a flat +3 HP bonus at 1st level, an assassin-like advantage to attacks against those who haven't acted yet, eg."

That flat bonus is another thing that I carefully selected where it might not be normal but it is definitely balanced. Specifically this is a trait that helps out a bit with the notoriously badly balanced first level of the game, in exchange for contributing a bit less at later levels. This is an intentional tradeoff that I would consider a healthy anti-frustration feature since level 1 PCs are just so prone to dropping dead.

As for the 'Ambusher' trait, if it aint broke... Well, 1d4 bonus damage for the first turn of combat against slow enemies certainly isn't going to topple gods, but it's extremely consistent with their lore and plays into the fantasy of being an ambush killer. The flavour is good and a trait being unusual does not mean it's unbalanced.

-"Prehensile tail sounds odd since it means you can use weapons with it, I think (it can throw a dagger)? So you can use it to wield a two-hand weapon?"

The 'use an item' interaction covers consumables, including damaging ones IIRC. As the tail is expressly not a hand, then it cannot contribute to using a 2H weapon. Dagger reference replaced with Holy Water to increase clarity.