Talk:Half-Dryad (5e Race)

Race too feature heavy?

i'm seeing a lot of a features here, many of which are imbalanced or don't make sense. the one that stands out to me the most is the unarmored defense. Unarmored defense is a class feature, and having it as a racial feature may detract from the uniqueness of monks and barbarians. Multiply this by the fact that it's absurdly powerful (easy to obtain ACs of 20+ at level 1) and lack of thematic reasoning make it a poorly implemented feature, at best. Perhaps a natural armor of 11+dex or removing the feature all together might be potential improvements. The "Speak with Beasts and Plants" is actually a pretty interesting feature, and could lead to fun RP. "Mask of the Wild" makes little sense- just living in a forest doesn't transform you into a wood elf. Finally, "Tree Magic" sounds cool, like a fey version of the tiefling feature, but could use a less derpy name- perhaps "One with nature"? --Rarelyfly (talk) 00:54, 6 October 2016 (MDT)

Well the natural armor is new to me, and wasn't part of the original race. I think the speak with beasts and plants fits pretty well and isn't too imbalanced because unless they're awakened, beasts and plants aren't going to have all that much to say and can only convey simple concepts. The mask of the wild feature I think fits because, like the wood elves, they're already predisposed to blending in to the scenery with their leafy hair and natural skin tones. Lemiel14n3 (talk) 17:32, 9 October 2016 (MDT)

Even by saying "like the wood elves, they're already predisposed to blending in to the scenery with their leafy hair and natural skin tones." that still doesn't mean anything. when you create a race, your primary thoughts should be "what makes this class usable?" In this case, why would a race that gets bonuses to charisma and wisdom need a thing to help them hide? Wood-elves get MotW not just because they live in the forests, work in the forests, and hunt in the forests, but also because they're the race most likely to be picked if one chooses to play a ranger- thus, they get +2 to dex, +1 to wisdom, and MotW to help them move stealthily through wilderness. Additionally, using an other race's integral feature with the flimsy justification of "they look like trees, therefor deal with it" makes both races look less unique. I think we can do better without having to Pilfer another race's Shtick. i propose:

• 1. Removing mask of the wild- you don't need it, and it doesn't make sense
• 2.Removing the ridiculous unarmored defense- it's broken, and wasn't part of the original race
• 3. Switching the Bonus from charisma into a stat more useful, like constitution
• 4. make "speak with beasts and plants" more powerful- perhaps make it telepathic, with a range of, say, 60 feet? --Rarelyfly (talk) 09:40, 10 October 2016 (MDT)

I actually think mask of the wild suits these creatures better than it does wood elves! --Kydo (talk) 11:31, 10 October 2016 (MDT)

I also like the ASIs, as they make this a good choice for paladins, sorcerers, and monks. That's a good range of diversity from just ASIs. Having mask of the wild makes them good rogues, rangers and druids, and also benefits a more ninja-like monk. The only thing that seems really out of place is the unarmored defense. --Kydo (talk) 13:10, 10 October 2016 (MDT)

A note though, while speak with animals is a 1st level spell, speak with plants is a 3rd level spell. This race has a trait which allows a character to do both without restriction from first level. Perhaps replace barkskin with "speak with plants". You might also consider merging speak with animals into tree magic at 2nd level or something? That removes a trait and spreads out its power over more levels, granting access to animal speech late and plant speech early. That provides the correct effects while still being useful to druids. It also gets rid of a pretty combat-focused trait spell which, in addition to improved stealth, is too much. --Kydo (talk) 14:22, 10 October 2016 (MDT)