Minotaur
by Prince Phantom
Of all the big burly races that aim to empower strength based martials, I think this might accomplish that goal the best. We get a suite of features that generally boost and synergize with what those characters are wanting to do, and that’s not something I can say about other martial focused races. Let’s dig in.
Minotaur Features
Horns: This is the standard d6 unarmed strike that a lot of races get, and we can use it while our hands are full, which is actually pretty relevant considering our next feature.
Hammering Horns: This is the big build around that this race provides. A 10ft push every round for a bonus action is pretty hard to replicate, and it doesn’t take much to get a lot out of this. The obvious benefits of pushing aside, building around this is as easy as just taking the Crusher feat. With it, we can knock a creature 5ft into the air, and then immediately (which is important, as if there was a delay the creature would prematurely fall) push them 10ft diagonally away from us. No matter how you do your math, that puts them more than 10ft up in the air, causing them to fall and take 1d6 damage and land prone. This is a great combo as it leaves the enemy away from us, meaning we can retreat, swap targets, or move for any other reason and not provoke an opportunity attack. I love this feature and it makes Minotaurs play like no other build in the game.
Goring Rush: I see this as a consolation if you had to spend the turn dashing to reach your target. I’ll definitely be happy doing some damage rather than none on those turns, but hopefully this doesn’t come up very often. Also, javelins exist and do basically the same thing as this, and can hit flying targets.
Labyrinthine Recall: This is a ribbon feature, but it’s one of the better ribbon features, at least in some campaigns. Always knowing where north is is not difficult to do normally, but advantage on Survival checks to navigate or track could be very helpful in hexcrawl campaigns like Tomb of Annihilation.
The Minotaur has one trick, but it does that trick really well. Being able to knock something into the air is a pretty rare ability in 5e, and for good reason. I highly recommend you try a build that takes advantage of Hammering Horns at least once, but it would probably only be fun for one campaign. Still, one hit wonders have their place, and I think this race is pretty wonderful.
Final Rating: 4/5
Minotaur (Legacy)
The old Minotaur is nearly identical to the revision, with the sole exception being the whole “ability scores being set unless you use the Tasha’s rule”, and swapping Labyrinthine Recall for one skill proficiency of either Persuasion or Intimidation. I don’t really see that as worth it personally, but the difference between these is extremely negligible.
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