Changeling
by Prince Phantom
The fantasy and flavor of the Changeling is incredibly strong, and a quick read of this race will doubtless give most players a ton of cool character ideas. The question then is if the mechanics are as strong as the flavor.
Changeling Features
Creature Type: Fey: Being a Fey actually has a few mechanical benefits and detriments. You are immune to spells like Charm Person and Hold Person, along with many other miscellaneous monster abilities that only target humanoids. However, there are also certain spells that you can’t benefit from like Protection from Evil and Good, and you are susceptible to similar spells. Also, if you write in your backstory that you are native to the Feywild, watch out for Banishment. I’d say this is more of a good thing than a bad thing, but just be careful when selecting and casting buff spells.
Size: Small or Medium: Being able to choose our size is pretty nice, as if you aren’t planning on grappling or using heavy weapons, small races are almost strictly better as they can mount medium size mounts.
Changeling Instincts: We get two skills from a list of five, and our options here are pretty good, especially if you are a Charisma based character.
Shapechanger: This is the big one. How exactly you rate this is really tough, as there’s not really anything like it in the game. The closest comparison is Disguise Self, but that’s an illusion where this is very real. It also lets us change our voice, but doesn’t change our clothing. This means you’ll probably want to keep a few outfits for your different personas. Exactly how useful this is is very dependent on the person playing, and definitely requires some prep work to get the most out of it. A Bag of Holding full of outfits and props will serve you very well. This also lets you kill an NPC, steal their clothes, and make a flawless impersonation of them. The potential for this ability in roleplay and utility is extraordinary, but it requires a good pilot to reach its maximum potential.
Final Rating: 3/5
Eberron Changeling (Legacy)
This is a legacy race and may not be available at all tables. Check with your DM before selecting this option.
The only differences between this and the revised Changeling is that it is locked to being medium sized, and Changeling Instincts does not offer Performance as an option for skills you can select. This is strictly worse than the revised Changeling, so don’t ever worry about playing it.
Final Rating: 3/5
Changelings excel in roleplay heavy campaigns filled with interesting and fleshed-out NPCs, but will struggle to find use for its abilities in more combat focused campaigns. Basically, if you’re playing a game similar in style to Critical Role, this will be amazing, and if you’re doing a dungeon crawl, this race will feel like a few skill proficiencies and not much else.
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