Lizardfolk
by Prince Phantom
Famous for their appetite for just about anything (even you) and their strange way of thinking that prioritizes logic and reason over emotion and takes everything literally, the simple Lizardfolk are actually one of the most alien races in 5e, and I love them for it. Sadly, their mechanics aren’t as standout, but they’re not completely useless at least.
Lizardfolk Features
Speed: 30ft walking speed, swim speed equal to it: Getting a swim speed is actually pretty tough to come by, but this is not really the race I’d be picking if I know my campaign is going to center around water, as there are better options for that scenario.
Hold Breath: 15 minutes is not even significantly longer than your average character can hold their breath. Any character can hold their breath for a number of minutes equal to their constitution modifier, which will typically be 2-3. 15 minutes may sound like a lot more than that, but in play it really isn’t. This is further shot down by the number of races who can either hold their breath for an hour or more or just breathe water period. Also Water Breathing is a 3rd level ritual spell, so by 5th level this will be a moot point for all characters.
Bite: This is the standard d6 unarmed strike that a lot of races get. Not much to note here, at least there wouldn’t be if not for…
Hungry Jaws: This lets us make a bonus action bite attack proficiency bonus times per day, and if it hits we gain a tiny amount of temporary HP. This is honestly just hard to use. Martial builds using strength would rather take Polearm Master for a bonus action attack every turn that can be used with Great Weapon Master, and builds that don’t have a good strength score can’t use this effectively. Monks could use Dexterity to make this attack, but they already get to make attacks with their bonus action. I guess maybe War Clerics might want this to get more bonus action attacks on top of their already existing ones, but that subclass would definitely be better served with a number of other races. I’m sure there are some niche builds that could use this, but I’m not convinced that this is the best racial option for any of them, since you could always just take Variant Human and get Polearm Master as your feat.
Nature’s Intuition: You’re definitely going with Stealth and Perception, as they are the best two skills in the game. Getting them from our race is definitely very nice.
Natural Armor: Again, this is tough to use if we plan on also using Hungry Jaws. This wants us to have a high Dexterity, and Hungry Jaws wants a high Strength. A character that really cares about both of those is pretty hard to come by, meaning this feature that’s normally pretty decent on most races just has a hard time being used to its fullest here.
The Lizardfolk doesn’t just feel underpowered to me, it feels lazily designed. It feels like the designers looked at the art for this race and just made abilities that would fit the physiology. This race is lacking in any big build around or powerful options that any classes are looking for. It feels lacking in flavor and like there’s a lot of untapped creative potential here.
Final Rating: 1/5
Lizardfolk (Legacy)
This is a legacy race and may not be available at all tables. Check with your DM before selecting this option.
Hey look, I found the untapped creative potential! You know, for all the buffs that the revisions that many races received, they also cut out a lot of the flavor, and I definitely think that for the Lizardfolk, it was to their detriment. The only major difference here is an additional feature called Cunning Artisan, which allows you to make various weapons and shields out of bones from slain creatures, which is just awesome any way you slice it. RAW, you can’t make a big variety of stuff with this, but if you’re looking to outfit an army of undead for example, this will save you a ton of gold. I personally would work with my DM to expand the options of what to create to potentially include other weapons and armor. Also, a sword made out of Dragon’s bones should definitely be better than a normal sword, and any DM that disagrees with that is no friend of mine. Even with this extra feature, this race is still a bit lacking, but this gives it a nice niche that sets it apart from all other options.
Final Rating: 3/5
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