Talk:Inkling, Variant 2 (5e Race)

The race page has the following things for fixing:

• Lore needs some beefing up. Maybe discuss how the lifestyles of the inklings actually somehow made subraces with physical and genetic differences? Their society could also benefit from some elaboration on these roles.
• Capitalization of names and things like vulnerability and size category is not used in 5e unless the race is from derivative content which does use that convention. See these conventions in the capitalizing section for help. Some new wording from WoTC can apply, like how creature types are now capitalized.
• The tentacle trait isn't too out of left field, save the ability to regrow it with simply an action AND being able to grow a maximum of 8 freaking extra arms. You might want to nix that, keep it to two extras, and also look at the new Thri-keen race in the 5e UA on how they use secondary appendages. It would be too powerful to use two shields and two two-handed weapons after all.
• Reformation conceptually is fine. I recommend the sleeker wording from something like the axostome on how it functions.
  

Berserker sub:

• The berserker's unarmed strike damage is INSANE. It makes monk's entirely pale in comparison. Unarmed strikes shouldn't scale over 1d6 for this reason.
• Races shouldn't grant expertise much, since that is more a class thing. There are limited niche instances where this can be used, but it has to be limited, like the dwarf's stonecunning.
• Earthquake is way too strong and doesn't have a limit on how many times it can be used. It deals more damage than a thunderwave, scales weird compared to a dragonborn's breath, and has a strange DC. Usually DCs are 8 + a stat modifier + your prof bonus.

• One interesting thing I also notice is it wants you to use all your tentacles. Do they have to be freed up? That might make the trait slightly more balanced. But it still can be used at-will, which is a no-no for a level 1 trait.
  

Assassin sub:

• Once again, insane unarmed strike damage. And expertise.
• Transforming into ink sounds interesting. But the increase of certain stats and the false balance of decreasing it makes it a little weird. Is the puddle an ooze? Is this a polymorph? You might want to look at the UA Plasmoid's amorphous trait instead, as it is much simpler and clear.
• Drown in Ink (the noye trait) isn't worded well. "Hidden from a creature" doesn't make a lot of wording sense. Do you just mean after you took the hide action? This trait really steps on the toes of the assassin subclass of rogue a bit, and granting increased critical is WAY overshooting the capabilities of a race into that of a class.
  

Archer sub:

• Once again, insane unarmed strike damage. And expertise.
• Healing strike has no limit and it's also weird to make an attack roll against someone to heal them. That actually is pretty cool, but the unlimited usage of it is making spells like cure wounds obsolete.
• The crystal rain trait is not terribly unbalanced, being like a slight fireball thing. But that you would be able to use it 5 times with a dexterity of 20 at level 5 is beyond how many times a caster can even use their 3rd spellslot. This should be made into a once-per long rest sort of trait.
  

Knight sub:

• Once again, insane unarmed strike damage. And expertise.
• Knight's armor is broken as heck. Warforged gets only a +1 and this one will get a grand +4 by 20th level. This risks breaking 5e's design with bound accuracy, especially since it stacks with a shield. At that point, you don't even need magic armor bonuses if you have mundane light or medium armor.
• A knight's oath round counts and doubles already ridiculous damage in exchange for weird hp reduction and exhaustion. It could be simplified to maybe damage reduction for allies or maybe a temporary hit point boost that lasts till the end of your next turn or even a minute.

Overall there is a lot to cull about this race, but there are some nice ideas. Just needs a lot more work in balance and lore.--Yanied (talk) 13:03, 24 October 2021 (MDT)

Secondary Look

• Lore is still a bit sparse. They're born of fey blood somehow? And they are knights for hire? And they use gemstones for housing? It sounds a little incohesive?
• Reformation gives quite a bit of heals. It should be more limited, like only by PB per long rest at most.
• Berserker, assassin, knight still has incredible unarmed strike damage...
• DCs are supposed to be 8 + abilitymod + prof bonus. Wording for rest recharge is also incorrect.
• 10th level additions for races is too much. At most, races get a 5th level additional boost trait.
• hidden in ink is really weird bc it allows you to change your very type, which affects how some spells and effects interact with you. It's also obviously a min-maxed form trait for stealthiness...
• healing strike doesn't have proper recharge wording and also is weird bc you can just waste all your heals missing unlike conventional healing abilities...
• Knight has an ability to basically resist BPS damage a few times...
• In general, racial trait usage is based on PB instead of ability mods. Those are more for classes. Otherwise, you can use these too often.

Still balance issues in terms of too many traits and the numbers for damage being too high... also some wording.--Yanied (talk) 20:23, 26 June 2023 (MDT)

Another Eval

• Only just noticed, but the page title should not be plural. It's probably the 2nd variant of this name.
• strange capitalization in the fluff of words that don't need it, like silk, stone, quartz, etc.

Onto the main traits...

• Do the tentacles retraction and bringing out require any action
• Vulnerability to fire damage is a bit of a false balancing here, where one big bad thing is supposed to go against all the goodies the race gets. 5e races nowadays have disadvantage against saves at most. Not the biggest issue though, so it can remain
• reformation is not as strong as some of the axolotl-based races bc it uses an Action. However, those other races also have very little in comparison to this race and its subs, which will be covered later below. But overall, this is a great resource that can use up a lot of a race budget
• Fey typing is not pure so it doesn't impart too much. Ancestry is fine

Onto the subs... First up is berserker

• • Wording for recharge on rest is still wrong. Should be "You must finish a X rest before using this trait again" eg.
  • DC for earthquake is incorrectly calculated.
  • Earthquake still has wording that implies you can grow more tentacles. The 3d8 damage is also worrisome (higher than burning hands, which is the highest damage level 1 spell).
  • High pulse I have no idea what this even looks like in game flavor. Aside from that, the damage potential remains high despite the nerf. You need to scale this down to what 1st level adventurers actually have. And most people would not have access to a spell that does a potential of 2d10+2d4 damage (with some FORCE, not to mention), that they can use up to 5 times from level 1 (assuming 20 str, which is possible from level 1).

Nightstalker:

• • Hidden in ink, what does it use to "shift" your skin?
  • WTF you can just knock someone unconscious without an attack roll?! This and the 4d8 damage is ridiculous. IDK what the "or roll a dex check" is even supposed to do when you can just not need to roll! This needs serious re-evaluation and I can't see it working as is. Also, this has absolutely zero flavor text so I needed translation to help me even understand it was to drown someone.

Fragmented:

• • So these guys get a free, ammo-less ranged weapon of 30/60 with 1d8 damage... that uses up a good amount of a race budget. This also, however, doesn't make a lot of sense. Why does shooting it deal a different damage than slashing with it? Why does it even use intelligence? Are they psychic crystals or something?
  • Healing strike is stronger than cure wounds and you can use this up to no less than 7 times at first level assuming an int of 20.
  • Crystal rain is stronger than dragonborn breath and with a better range. Its rest recharge needs to be fixed. By itself, it would not be an issue. But it is on top of a ton this race already gets.

Lastly, Defender:

• • Armored savior could use some wording cleanup. There is no need for words like "primarily." Just be clear that you can only use this against X damage type. However, this is a bit annoying to use bc you do not always know what damage type an enemy uses, thus you will be having your DM reveal it to you to see if you can even use this ability.
  • Oath uses a strange "twice per LR". How long does this THP last? It's also very, very unusual as it uses your STR score, not a mod or a dice roll.

Overall, this thing is still rife with intense issues in balance, wording, and then some.

Suggestions:

• This thing's concept is not well held together, whether by lore or mechanics.
  • Their appearances description doesn't do anything to explain these subs and their differences.
  • Why does fey + ink somehow make some of them into bulk berserkers or crystalline creatures?
  • This ink silk stuff sounds interesting and would at least fit better than some of the other extant traits. Could also be a nice ribbon.
  • They are apparently generous, rich, and elegant... and yet none of this translates into the subs of what are essentially:
    • Barbarians
    • Assassins
    • Shardmind clerics
    • Knightly soldiers
• It all feels like a certain aesthetic that was pushed to fit into something mechanically powerful than a cohesive race. I recommend thinking of this better conceptually and then culling all the extra stuff that was thrown in to up its power. As it is, the race is much too powerful.--Yanied (talk) 11:32, 18 August 2023 (MDT)