Reskinning D&D Species

Trying Out Other Species in the OneD&D Playtest

Reskinning D&D Species

So you want to play a species that isn’t in the One D&D playtest¹. Okay.

Let’s check out the Fantastical Races chapter of Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse (MPMM). I’m using a kenku from that book to illustrate the re-skinning process. 

Important: these reskinning guidelines do not allow you to take a species that has flight. Flight is a very powerful boost for a 1st-level character. Ask your DM if flight is on the menu at your table.  

1: You’ll need a free D&D Beyond account to get the OneD&D playtest documents. If you have reasons for not going there, I understand.

–Scrashnow

Pick Species; Record (Some) Traits

I’m looking at the kenku from MPMM on D&D Beyond. I don’t have the physical book, so I can’t give you a page number. The color commentary that opens the description is yours to play with as you see fit. 

Here’s the catch: you can have the cosmetics for free, but you must pay for all the game effects listed under Traits. Well, you gotta pay for almost all of them. You get the Creature Type, Size and Speed for free.

I want to reskin my new character as a ne’er-do-well given another life in Ysgard as a raven servitor to Odin. My character is an anthropomorphic raven who can talk. I get that cosmetic stuff for free. 

In game terms, my new reskinned character is a Medium Humanoid (kenku). I could have chosen Small if I wanted that for my character. My walking Speed is 30 feet. 

Choose Human

Now, go to the first playtest document from Wizards of the Coast, and on page 3, you’ll find Human Traits. You’re going to use those traits to make your reskin come to life. You’ve already got your Creature Type, Size, and Speed, presumably Lifespan as well. You need the special traits coming up next.

I’m still a Medium Humanoid (kenku). Speed 30. I’m using the choices that Humans get to reskin the species as kenu in a way that is more or less fair and balanced. 

Resourceful or Limited Use trait?

Take a look at the traits for your target species. If the species has a limited use trait, take that instead of resourceful. You’re looking for traits that use “regain all expended uses on a long rest,” or similar language in their description. 

• If a species has more than one limited use trait, pick the one you want. You may decline your species’s limited use trait and keep resourceful instead
• If your species doesn’t have a limited use trait, you keep resourceful
• Reskinned traits cannot stack with their originals or with other traits reskinned from their original
• Your DM may demand changes to the limited use trait

Kenku have Kenku Recall, which regains all uses on a long rest. That’s a limited use ability. It’s also pretty cool. I re-name it Flickers of Memory, and write it down on my character sheet. I got the trait while chasing down the thoughts and memories of literally everything in the multiverse on behalf of my bosses, the Ravens of Thought and Memory. 

Flickers of Memory works exactly like Kenku Recall, and cannot stack with Kenku Recall. My DM might quibble about the two free skill proficiencies I get, or some other aspect of the limited use trait. For now, I leave those undecided.  

Skillful to Taste

Use Skillful to help round out your vision for your character. Remember, you can build a custom Background in that phase of character creation to detail more of who your character is, and why they do the dangerous, fool-hardy, and occasionally rewarding things they do. 

 I’m seeing my reskinned kenku as being put to work for the Ravens of Thought and Memory, doing scutwork out in forgotten corners of the multiverse. I use Skillful to gain proficiency in Investigation.

Oh, and I thought of a name. Since this is trending toward ravens as viewed in fantasy Nordic cultures, I go with something that evokes that flavor: Hlugrim, Herald of Thought and Memory. It’s not my original name–the one my body was buried under on a Prime world somewhere. Hlugrim is the name I carry in  my life after, out on the Great Wheel. 

My DM said I could take the two skill proficiencies granted by my reskinned version of Kenku Recall. I’m still not sure what to take, but I know that I can flesh out my idea of being a Herald of Thought and Memory in the Background phase of character creation. 

Versatile or Constant Trait

Take another look at the traits for your target species. Find a constant trait, something that is always on. Resistances are constant, for example, but boring. Darkvision is constant, but boring.

I cannot decide between Expert Duplication and Mimicry. I’m leaning toward Mimicry not because of game benefits, but because I’m seeing Hlugrim dredging up memories of other people and delivering the memories in their voices. Expert Duplication has appeal as a scouting tool or information retrieval tool, though. Agony! If I cannot decide, I then get to keep Versatile, which means making choices from a long list of feats. More agony!

Finalize Choices and Move On

Finish up any selections, record them on your character sheet and move on to developing your character’s background. If you are using the One D&D playtest, you can create a custom background.

I settled on Arcana and History for my skill proficiencies that I get from Whispers of Memory, my renamed kenku trait. I see Hlugrim as somehow keeping hold of the memories he pursues around the Great Wheel. He has proficiencies not because of training, but because his mind is just drawn to shiny tidbits. 

For Hlugrim’s background, I’m thinking of playing up the Herald part of my made-up title. How can I make that more real to me by using the background rules? 

Try It!

What do you think? Does this create a character that feels distinct? I think so, Hlugrim is really coming to life for me, and once I finish up making him, I’ll post his character sheet.

I’ve thought about adopting this as my way of doing all PC species, not just the stuff not found in the playtest. All species, including the basic ones, like dwarf, elf, and halfling.