Talk:Manas (5e Race)

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Originally a variant of the mana creature race created by Blobby383b can be found at: https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Mana_Creature_(5e_Race)

Deleted most of the text from before the rewrite as it was no longer relevant to the race and was rather large.--Shiiru (talk) 10:30, 16 December 2018 (MST)

After much consideration I've decided to turn the ideas I had for this variant into its own race. I'd like to ask for this page to be deleted and I'll create the race at a later time after I do more research and flesh out the lore and traits for it.--Shiiru (talk) 11:17, 12 December 2018 (MST)

Ah, ok. You can just move this page to the place you want, under the new name you want, deletion isn't necessary. If you need any help just ask. —ConcealedLightChatmod.png (talk) 10:27, 15 December 2018 (MST)

I believe the rewrite to be finished, except for a formatting issue I have between the last bullet of the mimicry trait and the languages/subrace lines. If the line i have between them is removed the bottom two lines will indent as if they were another bullet. Another problem is when a subrace does not add an ability score increase, an extra line is required between the description and the first trait, otherwise the trait will continue as part of the description.

Powerwise, I believe the race would fall within the 4.5-5.5 area of the Muscius guideline. As was said from when this was just a variant, that might not be an appropriate measurement of the race. Rather than giving +1 stats, which I find rather boring and dull, the subraces each have traits giving them a sense of individuality while still keeping the magical theme from the base traits.

I reworked the aberrant subrace to captialize on the telepathy trait, instead of the arcana skill they get psionic sensitivity. The echo subrace gain arcana instead of their miscellaneous proficiency, as the wide variety of that trait seemed fitting lorewise but clunky.--Shiiru (talk) 10:30, 16 December 2018 (MST)


Aight this is looking much better(less than 24 hours till episode 12). There are a few more issues that make the race problematic.

  • Size. I'd recommend using the standard PC sizes as the race has enough extra rules that come with it already. Small and Medium instead of Tiny and Small.
  • Living Magic. I'd remove the damage here and make it a save or fall unconscious for a minute.
    • Instead of specifying spells, specify effects. For example, instead of saying "When observed through another creature’s detect magic spell or effect you appear magical and the outline of your true form is visible to the observer if you are in a humanoid form." say, "You are considered a magical creature."
    • Counterspell is used as a reaction to seeing a creature take the cast a spell action. If a manas were to cast a spell and have it counterspell'ed at 3rd level they would take 3d4 necrotic damage. If the intent is to be able to do damage to manas when you counterspell a spell they cast then it kinda works but it should be removed.
  • Creature Type. I'd avoid all these dual creature types and stick with humanoids as being a dragon or celestial isn't their main "component" if that makes sense. Think of the dragonborn or aasimar.
  • Page needs a design disclaimer. See the help portal.

In general, most of the traits are very wordy/overly complex and should be reworded/worked. Those are my issues atm but good progress. —ConcealedLightChatmod.png (talk) 11:45, 16 December 2018 (MST)

Finished doing a couple sweeps of the race taking your suggestions into mind:

  • Set the size to always be small.
  • Reworked the vulnerability, spells are now listed as examples. The con save essentially puts the character into a sleeping state. I've always found the "fail one save and you're out of an entire encounter" mechanics to be boring and poorly designed.
    • I'm concerned about the "vs the caster's spell save DC" as not all effects would be from a spellcaster. The intent is for the DM to set the DC in these situations, but rules lawyers be damned.
  • After looking it over, I believe each subrace shouldn't belong to their own individual types, however I do believe keeping all of them as elemental makes sense. They are essentially living energy, similar to an air or fire elemental.
  • Cleaned and simplified a lot of the traits. I put most of the fluff into the description sections instead of directly in the traits.--Shiiru (talk) 11:34, 17 December 2018 (MST)

I think you should change out the base races cantrip option for something else as the subraces already get a similar option. Maybe something like the halflings nimble trait since slime-chan can move through people like butter I imagine. —ConcealedLightChatmod.png (talk) 10:22, 7 March 2019 (MST)

Moved around some final stuff and I think its pretty much done, unless someone else can suggest more improvements.--Shiiru (talk) 09:38, 8 March 2019 (MST)


Could there be a racial feat, that lets the race preform the predator skill that he has, but far weaker. I was think that "If you have the materials stored inside you. You may gain 1 hour of work per 8 hours of activity, 4 hours of light activity and as normal 8 hours of down time. "--Lord Survival (talk) 14:26, 18 June 2019 (MDT)

A totally faithful representation of Rimuru as a D&D character would be wildly overpowered, so concessions would need to be made for the sake of game balance. Perhaps a composite character (ie race+class rolled into one) would be the best thing here, using the druid's wild shape as a reference point for the mimicry ability. — Geodude Chatmod.png (talk | contribs | email)‎‎ . . 14:36, 18 June 2019 (MDT)
I understand I was just looking for a feat that would allow you too mimic his ability to make items. I would say you balance this in some way. Its one of his abilities that I thought was really cool.--2600:387:A:7:0:0:0:B5 15:52, 18 June 2019 (MDT)
Essentially what Geodude said for the majority of Rimuru's abilities. While not immediately game breaking, I won't be making a feat for the race that allows constant passive crafting. As for an existing crafting feat, the Speed Crafter feat halves crafting time. Talk with the DM/Player to theme it as being partially made inside the character during the day. If crafting is a big part of the character possibly look into an Artificer class as well. --Shiiru (talk) 07:58, 19 June 2019 (MDT)

The second half of the Variant: Stabilized section talks about additional traits a DM may offer if a player were to accomplish stabilizing their character during the campaign. Besides the constitution +1 bonus, these are all traits from the various manas sub-races. Is this implying that the unstable version of the sub-race didn't start out with that trait (i.e. an unstable aberrant manas doesn't start with Esoteric Mind and will only gain it after stabilizing), or that the manas can gain a trait from a sub-race they do not belong to as a benefit of stabilization (i.e. an echo manas got help stabilizing from a dragon and thus gained the Draconic Progeny trait)? --NevrNosBest (talk) 14:12, 22 July 2020 (MST)


Variant: Stabilized includes an update to Fluid Form that states "Fluid Form only allows movement through another creature's space that is of a larger size." Does this mean that this is the only way Fluid Form can be used with a stabilized manas? Is a stabilized manas still able to pass through small openings? --NevrNosBest (talk) 13:08, 22 July 2020 (MST)

The only way Fluid Form can be used with a stabilized manas, similar to the Halfling's Nimble trait. The idea is they're more solid than their jelly-like counterpart. --Shiiru (talk) 16:02, 22 July 2020 (MDT)
That makes sense. They basically can still shift between forms but, now that they're stabilized, they can't just collapse into a puddle anymore. Could you also clarify the previous question? I was confused about your intention with the DM granted bonus trait. Thanks! -- NevrNosBest (talk) 16:36, 22 July 2020 (MST)
They start with the trait of sub-race chosen at character creation. You more or less have the right of it, its a general idea that a DM and player can use to accomplish becoming a stabilized manas. For a lot of stuff I make and play with in my games, what you start with is just that and the character evolves during a campaign. So, taking your example, maybe the character's goal is to hunt down a particular dragon from their backstory. If, after killing it, drain its magic or eat it, or instead of killing it they help it and are rewarded with a draconic ritual that empowers them, the DM might justify giving the other sub-race trait if they decide they want to become a stabilized variant. Not all rewards have to be exp and magic items.
Thanks! That's very helpful. And thanks for putting in the effort to make this page. It's definitely the most well-thought-out race that I've found based on the source material and leaves a lot of freedom to expand well beyond it's inspiration. -- NevrNosBest (talk) 19:43, 22 July 2020 (MST)