I have created a draft No. 4 of a Slimefolk race that I have created.
I will say this is my first homebrew. (The full homebrew also includes a number of racial feats, which I may ask about separately.)
What the race is supposed to do is to be a Slime humanoid race which can do most standard slime things, with variability between options.
My primary concern is for now the balance of all of the traits, which I'll list. For clarification, traits flagged for deletion are traits I'm debating on erasing.
The race's traits appear below:
Base Race
Ability Score Increase
Your Dexterity and Constitution score each increase by 1.
Age
Slimes take [insert a large-ish number here] years to mature fully,
after which they stop aging.Size
Slimes are about the same size as regular humans, though their height
and proportions tend to vary based on how they've shaped their bodies.
Your size is Medium.Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common.
Ooze Nature
Your creature type is both humanoid and ooze.
You also don't need to sleep, and don't suffer exhaustion from lack of
rest. Once per day, you can cast the alter self spell.Waterborn
Due to your species primarily being underground dwellers, you are more
vulnerable to inclement weather and severe climates, as described in
Chapter 5 (page 110) of the Dungeon Master's Guide.Corrosive Form (flagged for deletion)
Due to your naturally mildly acidic body, you have resistance to acid damage.
Ooze Body
You have the ability to shapeshift into an oozing, amorphous form as
an action.Your size stays the same while changed, although you drop all
equipment you are carrying or wearing by doing so. While you are in
this ooze form, you cannot be restrained, and you can move through
spaces as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.
Detect Balance Score, excluding traits flagged for deletion: 17
Subraces
Feral Slime subrace
Ability Score Increase
Your Strength score increases by 1.
Powerful Build (flagged for deletion)
You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity
and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.Simple State (flagged for deletion)
Due to your body naturally absorbing light plant life and small rocks,
you are not affected by non-magical difficult terrain.Grabber
Being a creature of gelatinous slime, you are naturally sticky. You
have advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks made to grapple a
target.
Detect Balance Score, excluding traits flagged for deletion: 26 total
Solid Slime subrace
Ability Score Increase
Your Charisma score increases by 1.
Imaginative Mind
When you cast alter self from your Ooze Nature trait, you can also
make yourself into the Small size category for the spell's duration,
as well as giving yourself a different basic shape.Additionally, you gain proficiency with disguise kits, and while using
it, you have an advantage on checks made to hide your identity.Shock-Proof Layer (flagged for deletion)
Due to the layer of slime covering your body, you have resistance to
lightning damage.
Detect Balance Score, excluding traits flagged for deletion: 25 total
Royal Jelly subrace
Ability Score Increase
Your Charisma score increases by 2, and your Constitution score is
reduced by 1.Royal Magic
You know the friends cantrip.
When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the charm person spell once
per long rest, and can also target an ooze when you cast the spell
using this trait.When you reach 5th level, you can also cast the unseen servant spell
at will; however, you can only have 1 instance of the spell active at a
time using this trait.Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Variant Rule
instead of being able to cast unseen servant at will, you might
instead choose to be able to cast conjure animals once per long rest,
with the change that you summon oozes instead of beasts.Royal's Resistance
As with any proper royal, you have some means of defense against the
foul enchantment school of magic. You have advantage on saves against
being charmed.
Detect Balance Score, excluding traits flagged for deletion: 29-30 total?
Slime Monstrosity subrace
Ability Score Increase
Your Constitution score increases by 1.
True Monster
Your creature type is both monstrosity and ooze, instead of humanoid
and ooze.Menacing
You have proficiency in the Intimidation skill.
Slashing Slimy Bits
You are able to form your hand into a slashing appendage, which is a
natural weapon that you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit
with it, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your attack modifier,
instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike, and
you use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack.Additionally, if you later gain the Acidicity feat, you add 1d4 acid
damage to this attack.
Detect Balance Score, excluding traits flagged for deletion: 23-24 total?
Mental Slime subrace
Ability Score Increase
Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Meek Psionic Blast
You can target one creature within 30 feet of you as an action, which
must then make an Intelligence saving throw with a DC equal to 8 + your
proficiency modifier + your Intelligence modifier. On a failed save,
the creature takes 1d8 psychic damage.This damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 5th level (2d8), 11th
level (3d8) and 17th level (4d8).Like an Open Book
At 3rd level, you can cast detect thoughts once per long rest, using
Intelligence as your spellcasting modifier.Brain Food
You can eat the memories of other people, either by enveloping them, or
during a spell or another effect that allows one to read the target's
mind, such as detect thoughts. When grappling a creature, or
using a some spell or effect to read their mind, you can use an action
to attempt to begin to eat their memories, forcing the target to roll
an Intelligence, Charisma, or Wisdom saving throw, depending on how they
attempt to resist you; the DC is equal to 8 + your proficiency
modifier + your Intelligence modifier.After you successfully manage to do this three times in a row, you
manage to eat away at the target's memories of the past 48 hours. For
24 hours, or until they take a long rest, it rolls a d4 and subtracts
the number rolled from all its attack rolls, ability checks, and
saving throws, as their mind is recollecting itself from the mental
assault. During that time, you can also perfectly recall information
about the memory you ate.Alternatively, a willing creature can share its memories, making it
automatically fail the saving throws against this ability. A willing
creature doesn't suffer the usual drawbacks when willingly letting you
into its mind, and there is no limit to how old the memory can be, as
long as the target remembers the memory itself to some degree.You can use this ability twice before needing to take a long rest.
Detect Balance Score, excluding traits flagged for deletion: 23-24 total?
Is this homebrew Slimefolk balanced as a playable race?
Best Answer
I believe this could be abused.
Suppose a Slimefolk Sorcerer/Warlock uses Flexible Casting to convert Warlock Spell Slots to Sorcerer Points then to Spell Slots. The Slimefolk can then short rest to gain more Warlock Spell Slots via Pact Magic, repeating this cycle.
Normally this can be contained because eventually a player either becomes exhausted or is forced to take a long rest. All other races sleep once a day to avoid exhaustion, except Elves who mediate for 4 hours and gain the effects of 8 hours of sleep.
A Slimefolk could stay up for days, weeks, months, years, accumulating god knows how many Spell Slots.
This may not seem like a big deal because you won't let your Slimefolk do this, but what are you going to do when the party wants to take a long rest? The Slimefolk will inevitably opt to take 8x short rests. Once the rest of the party has finished their long rest the a Slimefolk with Sorcerer 2/Warlock 1 would have 11 level 1 Spell Slots.
I suggest the Slimefolk needs an equivalent mechanic to the Elf's Trance, forcing them to take a Long Rest once per day. Here is my suggestion:
The wording could use some work, but I'm sure you see the intent.