The release of Wizards Of The Coast's latest book 'Spelljammer: Adventures In Space' was a few weeks back now, and honestly I've never had any real desire to play a D&D game in a Space-themed setting. I've always preferred High Fantasy over Sci-Fi. That being said, some elements of this book did still really appeal to me - I loved the imagination that went into the different types of vessels; the idea of creating a Wildspace system was VERY fun to me and certainly something to toy with for a future blog post; and 'Boo's Astral Menagerie' was a richly diverse collection of new creature stat blocks, ranging from the slightly ridiculous to the very epic. This book made me want to maybe play a campaign or adventure in space. Especially if there's going to be Giant Space Hamsters, Vampirates, Murder Comets, and Solar or Lunar Dragons involved.
One creature stat block that immediately caught my eye however was that of the Reigar. Something about the gorgeous art and the brief initial description made me immediately say 'I want to play that', and so imagine my disappointment when I realised it was not a playable race! They have an interesting culture based around art and warfare to draw from, are exceptionally clever and charismatic, and are basically D&Ds answer to SPACE + CEPHALOPODS + MERMAIDS. Which, as a concept, sounds FANTASTIC. I also really love a lot of the abilities and features of the creature stat block and think it would be fun to try to translate those into a playable character variant that feels balanced but fun to play! I've never actually made a Homebrew race before either so this should be fun!
I'm starting with the description given to this monster stat block in the book, as I think it sums up well the physical description, core abilities, and general culture of this particular species. To begin with at least, I have taken the physical/biological traits of the Reigar and turned them into a playable race, while trying to avoid anything that references culture or learnt behaviours.
'Reigar are androgynous folk who evolved into a humanoid shape from a species of cephalopods similar to octopi. They have bioluminescent freckles and the ability to change the coloration of their skin. A glory (or halo) surrounds each of them. This magical display is a cloud of twinkling, glittering motes that changes color randomly and repels attacks.
Reigar don’t trust one another, which has been the case ever since they destroyed their home world in a war that ended with a cataclysmic event called the Master Stroke. The planet’s destruction was the culmination of a plot to create the most beautiful display of carnage the multiverse had ever seen. Reigar exist solely to make art and wage war. They consider warfare to be the highest form of artistic endeavour, and every act of violence they commit is done with the intent of creating something beautiful.'
Reigar Traits:
You have the following racial traits.
Creature Type. You are a Celestial.
Size. You are Medium.
Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a swimming speed equal to your walking speed.
Hold Breath. You can hold your breath for up to 1 hour while you're not incapacitated.
Battle Glory. Your Armour Class includes your Charisma modifier, increasing it by a minimum of 1.
Glimmering Halo. You know the light and dancing lights cantrips. Starting at 3rd level, you can cast the color spray spell with this trait, without requiring a material component. Once you cast that spell with this trait, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast it using any spell slots you have of 2nd level or higher. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these (choose when you select this race).
When creating this I did have a really good think about the Battle Glory feature especially - the creature stat block gives them an additional boost thanks to their Charisma score as this one does. I did however consider some other options too, such as a limited use of the shield spell (as it is a set of glimmering motes that are physically repelling the attacks), and if you want something that doesn't rely on a good stat then this could be the way to go.
There was also the matter of two very specific Reigar related considerations. First up was the easy one to ditch - the Esthetic. This organic ship is a symbiotic creation of the Reigar and definitely a potential reward for a Reigar PC at a higher level, but does not need to be involved at character creation stage. I had a harder time making a decision about the legendary magical item that each Reigar uniquely creates, the talarith. It felt a little more personal and intrinsic to the race, but was still something 'created'. You COULD give some kind of proficiency with Jeweller's Tools and/or allow them to craft one at a higher level. I suggest this purely because it increased weapon attack damage by 1d6 while worn and gives the attuned wearer the ability to summon a golem with a Reigar stat block (it would be CR 8 with potentially better abilities than the PC themselves).
I'm interested to hear your thoughts on this? I'm quite shocked that there wasn't the ability to play this awesome race already available (especially as they DID decide to include the Hadozee which...well...yikes). Do you want to play as a Reigar now? Let me know!
I really like this idea that you came up with!
Although I think the only thing I would modify if I allow myself or my players to play this is setting a limit to the Battle Glory feature. I can see PCs wearing armor and using shields and starting with high DEX & CHA modifiers in the first levels (min-maxers style of play, which is not bad if everyone in the table are O.K. with it) which is tantamount to high AC—maybe denying the feature if they use any shield or armor? Or halving the AC benefit from the CHA modifier? Or simply stating that it must not be more than 18 or 20 of AC, except if using a…