Sage advice explained that a wildshaped dragonborn can still use its Breath Weapon, citing that the wording of the breath weapon trait does not call for any specific anatomy. By that logic, since Amorphous doesn't call for a specific anatomy (surprisingly it does not), you should be able to use it while wildshaped. Even more interestingly, you would also be able to use Shape Self while wildshaped, meaning you could give your shark form "one or two arms, one or two legs, and makeshift hands and feet". My greatsword-wielding land shark is coming for you!! You could also arm your bear with bear arms so you can bear arms.
"You have darkvision..." I swear, darkvision is no longer a racial ability. Humans, Halflings, and so forth have a racial ability called "Not-darkvision".
Agreed. I hate it and actually get rid of it in most lineages. I retained it on dwarves in my game, but with the Tremorsense ability in the OneDnD playtest I'd be okay with getting rid of it for dwarves as well.
Yeah I think that probably around 50-60% of the races that currently do have it, don't feel earned, unless the race lives underground or is an anthropomorphic form of a nocturnal hunting animal like cats/owls. It feels undeserved.
@@dragonhearthx8369 there was a very similar Ooze race in a Fantasy Flight book based on 3E which had Blindsight to 60 feet and NO other visual senses. It was fascinating! You can “see” literally everything within 60 feet of you, but are otherwise completely blind! You can see no colors or patterns, can’t read the written word, but you can detect textures brilliantly!
The “Molten Bronze Skin” magic item has an interesting interaction here, since it’s description says it doesn’t impede bodily functions. With that line of thought, you could adjust your shape with amorphous while maintaining your AC.
I would absolutely allow a Plasmoid to slide right into and out of their armor. It fits both the rules and the flavor. It's a neat trick allowing you to doff armor with little effort. Getting back into the armor and grabbing your shield, though, isn't as simple as oozing into place. You'd need to use an Action for Shape Self to resume a humanoid form capable of wearing armor and carrying a shield. The strength of this ability definitely lies in all the utility a clever player could squeeze from it. Plus, the player who likes playing unique characters can't get much more unique than an ooze.
I would say you could ooze right back in without an action, since the amorphous feature doesn't say that you have to change back into humanoid form after squeezing through something.
I remember someone saying when the ua version was released u could take the shape of a chair and use mask of many faces to look like a chair and hide in plain sight, does it still work?
I'm glad you said mouth. Almost had flashbacks to a certain 3.5e build revolving around the Escape Artist skill. Or that one theory about how Antman could defeat Thanos.
It should also be noted that Alter Self has an interesting interaction with Shape Self. Shape self gives you options with how many limbs you have in your "humanoid" form and Alter Self limits your changed appearance by creature size and number of limbs. This means a Plasmoid with Alter Self could disguise themself as more than just another humanoid. For example, you could give yourself two legs and no arms and disguise yourself as something like an emu. In your limbless blob form, the DM might even let you get away with turning into a boulder or crate.
One thing I saw come up often when the Plasmoid was released into UA was the interesting interaction with Disguise self. Disguise self lets you take on a form with the same arangement of limbs as yourself, which plasmoids have control over. This makes them able to use disguise self to turn into things like inanimate objects as long as it's roughly within their size rating. Toss in Pact of the blade to summon a weapon to you whenever you need it, Improved pact weapon to also make it a spellcasting focus, Armor of shadows for constant access to mage armor, and Mask of Many Faces to disguise yourself whenever you wish and Warlock is a really appealing option for a Plasmoid. Goo Goo-Lock is also just fun to say,
I homebrewed my own slime people race and had almost an identical feature to squeeze into small spaces. However I specifically added a clause that you can't end your turn in a small space to avoid the full cover issue.
Beast Barbs also get the ability to climb walls, and move across ceilings. Ooze across the ceiling, reaching down to yank enemies right off the floor, or just grab them and run 40 + feet up the wall.
I like the idea of the new UA Giant barb turn from a small blob maybe hiding in a cup or bucket into a Giant tidal wave of slime all for a bonus action!
Yep do love these guys, even if I still need to actually play one myself. Two main builds I'm wanting to try are 1. Path of the Giant Barbarian, just for the fantasy of it, just BOOM giant slime grapping and throwing everything around the battlefield Kaiju style. 2. Aberrant Mind, Amorphous is just works really well with Psionic sorcery due to bypassing the need of components.
A plasmoid battlesmith artificer who uses their attunement slots for tattoos! Make both your steel defender and homunculus shaped in such a way to be able to contain you and let you squeeze into them.
One thing I'm not sure on rules-wise is if the pseudopod can be used to equip a shield. The PHB states that shields are 6 lbs and "carried in one hand", which might mean that you need to carry them in one of the "hands" generated by shape self to count as being "wielded". However, there is artwork that suggests otherwise, namely the art with the plasmoid holding a shield, spear, and gun in each of its "hands". Personally, I would allow it, as I think it's cool that this allows for new equipment combinations like two-handing a weapon and using a shield at the same time that no other race (bar the thri-kreen for light weapons) can pull off. I'd love to hear your thoughts about it, though.
I'm playing a Plasmoid Shepherd Druid. The flavor has been wonderful. I didn't have a good solution to the AC problem to properly abuse Amorphous, but I've flavored all his spells as just being goo-versions of different beasts. Even his Goodberries are just little drops of goo made edible. This is one time where grossing out my party took priority over optimizing.
Monk was one of the first things I thought of when you started talking about amorphous. But, rather than Mercy, my first thought was actually Shadow. More things suddenly become available to being completely covered by darkness even in the middle of the day. Great example would be that battle map you showed earlier. Lots of opaque boxes in a market street. Ooze into one then shadow step to another one full on Scooby-Doo style.
Add on mask of many faces, disguise self doesn't state you need to be disguised as a creature, only that you need the same arrangement of limbs, an ooze has the same arrangement as a rock, and who would interrogate a rock?
Mercy monk is thematically appropriate I'd argue. Just blame the strange healing and poisoning on the goo. I've played at more than one table where shouting "I hit him with my goo!" wouldn't have been out of the ordinary.
The biggest challenge for a Plasmoid focusing on Amorphous is having access to their equipment when they need it. This includes weapons, magic items, spell components, gold, etc. Someone would have to be a team player and bear the burden of holding onto those things for the Plasmoid, figuratively and literally.
This! No focus/material components drastically reduces casting capabilities and if you're a barbarian then you shouldn't be cowering inside a box every round anyway. I don't see an issue with someone else carrying your mundane stuff but as the game goes on and you start getting magic items then this becomes a huge issue. You can't even be wearing a ring to use this ability.
This is why a monk, beast barbarian, and sorcerers appeal to me for an ooze. A sorcerer can be an aberrant mind and cast things without a focus if needed, though it's still limited
Or just find a clever way to have access to these items via free object interactions and bonus actions. The obvious one is to just fight near a pile of your gear you can pickup and drop every turn before retreating, but there may be find familiar, unseen servant, find greater steed, teleportation, extra dimensional space, pseudopod reach, mage hand shenanigans you could get into. You could even just live in a pokeball on somebodies belt and fish out of their backpack every turn, maybe
@@emwZEEK Hm, I see there being an issue once you consider that your enemies can ALSO interact with your stuff if you leave it out in the open. Also, spells and effects like Shatter and Fireball would be able to destroy your stuff, since they are no longer being "worn or carried". I still feel the safer bet is having a PC be your pack mule.
Sincerely thank you for pointing out that the players are still visibly oozes. I have seen so many people argue that they'd be indistinguishable, and even had a player bring a build to me citing how that works. Races sure are powerful when you ignore half the text!
Actually, the shape feature can be pretty strong in itself even without squeezing. You can just perfectly set up an ambush. What's that liquid-like stuff in the glass container over there? Surprise, it's the blob :)
A thought: Shape Self's description alludes to a humanoid form, but it doesn't necessarily restrict to one (assuming that mounts can have 2 arms and 2 legs, as opposed to just 4 legs). Is there anything stopping a Medium sized plasmoid shaping themselves into a mount for a small creature? Also, with the pseudopod, I find it interesting that it says that it can be up to 6 inches, but gives no minimum. I'd see a GM ruling that it can squeeze through spaces "as narrow as 1 inch" per Amorphous, but that gives you a lot reach through a small hole; one could easily reach through the door lock and open the door from the other side.
I think a danger with using the Amorphous ability is that eventually, you'll come across an intelligent enemy that's going to push over your chest so the keyhole is facing the floor, forcing you to use your action to try an either escape the chest or push the chest back over.
@@TreantmonksTemple I imagine pushing over a small sized chest would be easier than breaking it. Though that depends on the material of the chest and what the AC and hit points the chest has.
7:30 Me:playing plasmoid druid Player: no you can't wildshape into a bear and squeeze into 1 inch gaps, it's not RAW. Mae: I'm a gummy bear. No, it did not happen, but it will happen, stay certain of it.
I went Path of the Totem Warrior Barbarian with the Bear totem. His totem is a patch of bear fur stitched together. When he rages he changes into the shape of a bear, only he's never actually seen a real bear, but he has seen a gummy bear. So he ends up looking like a little Haribo gummy bear with a tupee. And a BONK stick. Plasmoids are fantastic.
The wording of the amorphous trait doesn't say that you have to wear nothing to have advantage on grapples. So for a grapple focused character you can still wear your stuff
I think it’s also worth noting that your inability to carry weapons will pose a problem. Things like Pact of the Blade or the Eldritch Knight’s ribbon ability to summon its weapon to its hand suddenly become pretty useful. Edit: spells that require material components will also be difficult. The Aberrant Mind sorcerer might be good.
I think Disguise Self has a lot of fun uses here. You can copy the appearance of anything with the same basic arrangement of limbs, so as a blob you could disguise as a mud mephit, which looks indistinguishable from an ordinary mound of mud.
A genie warlock would be particularly nice I think since the genies vessel (and spellcasting focus) could be a ring, which is presumably less than 1 inch tall/wide
@@archmagemc3561 have your 1 inch wide pusepod hold the ring and drop it on the other side of the 1 inch hole as a bonus action before moving through it your self.
Definitely considering a Plasmoid rogue. Fitting into one inch gaps means that there are multitudes of hiding spots to initiate a sneak attack. Soul knife seems like the best choice, so that your weapons are a part of you. Flavor wise, we could say that the blades form from your ooze like body. Maybe considering some kind of multiclass with an unarmored defense character like Barbarian or monk.
We allow some Unearthed Arcana in our group, and the Eldritch Armor invocation pairs well with oozing through keyholes and instantly donning the armor back onto yourself on the other side of the door. Considering there are usually teleportation options that accomplish a similar result, it isn't too powerful, but it is a good utility feature.
Shape Self says you can use it as an action to give yourself a head, one or two arms, one or two legs, and makeshift hands and feet, or revert to a limbless blob. It doesn't say that you lose those things if you use it again. Why can I not make myself more heads, arms, legs, hands, and feet? If ruled that it does this ability puts no limit on the number of hands and feet. Hands and feet don't require arms and legs attached to them for them to exist. Speaking of which it doesn't say the pseudopod disappears when you reuse it either. You can extrude one or reabsorb it as a bonus action. Extrude 4 please. The pseudopod itself cannot attack and has no sensory organs but it is definitely part of my body and Shape Self says I can reshape my body to grow parts. Why can I not grow a head or arms or hands on my pseudopod and use those to see, hear, and attack? Also, as stated before, there are no limits on the number of hands. Why can I not throw something with a hand on a pseudopod? A pseudopod with two arms on it holding polearm would give me a 20 foot reach. I am not using the pseudopod to attack; I am swinging my polearm with my actual arms. Nice area for attacks of opportunity. There are no limits on how the pseudopod can be moved and it remains until reabsorbed into the body. Can I look like a really long dog? Legs at one end, arms at the other, head basically anywhere? Would my long body take up 3 squares? Could my Shape Self move my unlimited hands with my weapon anywhere along that space? Why just one weapon? Why not a hand covered horror holding short swords in all of them to make a mass of blades like a giant bladed snake? Or just one blade and hand covered blob at the end of the pseudopod that I can swing around like a giant flail? What about existing entirely as a ball that is covered in hands holding blades that just rolls everywhere? Armor doesn't have to be in a human shape because I would not be a humanoid. Why not a big iron wiffleball? The holes are for all of my feet to stick out so I can roll around. Pseudopod can definitely hold a shield so what about a half sphere turtle shape armor piece with an shield that is the same thing? Close it up like a clamshell. Can I get total cover? Does it act like a tortles ability? Why not hold my shield in front of my ally 10 feet away? I don't think the wording on this race was adequately thought through.
I actually love it for exactly this reason. I can shape self + mask of many faces to mimic wildlife, or at least medium wildlife. You don't actually get the wolf features sure, but you can look like one if you want to.
One issue with plasmoid as a caster is you can't assume you bring a focus or component pouch with you. You may be able to harvest components as you go or bring a select few with you, but by and large you won't be able to cast Material component spells. For martials, not only do you need to provide armor, you need to provide weapons, leading monks (especially mercy and astral), beast barbarian, and UA Giant Barbarian as clear winners. Alternatively, summonable weapons via Eldritch Knight or Hex/Blade pact warlock or the wrist pocket Dunamancy spell are options. Finally, improvised weapons through Tavern Brawler is an option. There are some interesting uses for change shape as well. If you are using disguise self, you can fit to exactly the proportions, though the texture will likely be off.
I’ve been thinking about the best empty inventory plasmoid builds: I think Bladelock (with Armor of Shadows) is probably the best since they can use the weapon they conjure as a spell focus (which would also let them multiclass into Swords Bard) Beast Barb, Soulknife, and of course monks are other options.
Draconic sorcerer. You can just choose spells that don't need material components. Or argue that your focus is small enough to fit through the hole with you. (Unless there is a tattoo that can be a focus that I am unaware of)
1 lvl Dip Monk/19 Cleric and then max Wis, Dex, and then Con. Use an Amulet as your spellcasting focus and look for holes that are small enough your amulet can fit through and just go through those. I don’t think you can straight class Bard, Ranger, Paladin, or Artificer and get as much use of the Amphorous abilities.
RAW, a plasmoid cannot wear clothes or armor while in blob form - so I would argue that reverting to a blob allows a plasmoid to doff their armor in one action.
I have a character planned as a Soulknife Rogue/Genie Warlock multiclass. Armor of Shadows invocation means that you will never have to wear armor, Genie vessel means you have a safe place to store any items you come across on your adventures, and Psychic Blades means you'll never have to equip a weapon. Any time you need to scout ahead beyond an obstacle only you can fit through, just give your vessel to someone to hold on to.
I had the thought of an Artificer and oozing into one of the companion options - you can even pretend to BE the machine. But the immediate thought goes to Monk; the added movement allows for more ooze shenanigans, and the magical unarmed strikes help deal with things that are magic to hit. Too bad the monk in general is not the best.
Not what I am saying, but go ahead and imagine it is and your rebuttal was super devastating, and I am in awe with your mental prowess despite you missing the point entirely.
I’m thinking Soul Knife might be the best build to take advantage of the amorphous feature. Dex based so lack of armor isn’t a huge deal, and you have ranged attacks that don’t rely on weapons/focus/component pouches.
How did you get the spellcasting to meet the prereq for eldritch adapt? I’ve been playing with this build and I think grabbing a level of dragon if sorc is the play. 13+dex natural armor, a couple of spells like shield and silvery barbs, and some utility cantrips. Mold earth was a really interesting one to me since it have no material component and you could use it to manufacture a hiding place for yourself.
Plasmoid monk said “ be like water” and I thought easy for you to say. Hexblade with mask of many faces is the build I would run as a specialist in hunting those that hunt spellcasters.
I've already made a handful of plasmoids to use in the future, path of the beast barbarian, Astral self monk, rune knight fighter, hexblade warlock, and my personal favorite armorer artificer
The one inch gap is much, MUCH more powerful if your group/GM is sticking to medieval/Renaissance era construction. One inch gaps around doors were common. The extremely snug fit of modern days was less common (really only seen on doors made for nobility and rich merchant types). But I will say: a one inch gap for a key hole is... stretching it a bit. I mean, SOME key holes might be that big, but that's not going to be the norm.
Honestly, the gimme mage build for this race is warlock with pact of the blade and the improved pact blade invocation. You can summon that weapon given an action, and it counts as a spellcasting focus for you. Not great if you want to take full cover every turn, as you'd be limited to bonus action spells on any turn when you actually summon the weapon, but you only need to resummon it if someone steals it, so for every turn that they don't you can cast whatever you want.
Rules aside, there could be a few interesting scenarios to explain why a non-Spelljammer game features an Ooze character. Maybe the ooze dwelt beneath "Mage Street" or "Arcane Row", a part of town full of mages running their experiments. The arcane runoff, or invisible but omnipresent magical haze, eventually endowed the ooze with sapience. Alternatively, maybe the creation was more purposeful. In Eberron, House Vadalis is always designing new magebred creatures. Perhaps they created the Plasmoid to serve The Twelve (a union of the 12 powerful Dragonmarked Houses) in some capacity? An intelligent ooze could make a great assassin or spy. (Though either steps on the toes of existing Houses. I'm just brainstorming.) In the end, magic can achieve strange outcomes, both intentional and unintentional.
In the adventure Out of the Abyss, the party can meet an intelligent gelatinous cube who gained sentience from Juiblex's presence, so there's another possibility.
I played a UA plasmoid with the story that my character was a wizard's a semi-successful attempt at creating artificial life. There's definitely ways to fit them in.
To add on to barbarian, the classic barbarian rogue multiclass to get reckless attack advantage sneak attack only works with finese weapons, all of which can be weilded as a small sized character, also this gives easy expertise to athletics for grapples
I'm envisioning an AoA based Abjurer, where a low AC is part of the plan from the start. Careful selection of cantrips would ensure that you function fine in melee range and from afar. However you split between wiz and Warlock, just be careful to pick spells limited to verbal and somatic components, and you're rocking and rolling.
I think that a rogue could be really fun. Maybe not super optimal, but you become like the ultimate out of combat stealth assassin. Give yourself an insane stealth role, then use Hold Breath and Amorphous to do things like sneak up on someone and then slither into their throat. I think it would perfectly reasonable to consider that a Grapple check for the advantage on the roll. Boom now you are suffocating someone to death by just chillin in their lungs. I think with some good imagination you could pull off some crazy stuff with Amorphous
A Shadow Monk with Skill Expert to get Expertise in Stealth could be a really good way of "Optimizing" this idea and have still be able to do things in combat
The Beast Barbarian has particular synergy with the Plasmoid giving you a way to have armor class and magical weapons without any gear. the claw attacks in particular can bring you remarkably close to a GWM character as far as DPR is concerned.
The way we played I was able to slip out of my armor to go into keyholes and in slime mode but I would just have to leave the armor stacked wherever I shifted, then I could come back into it after.
A Path of the Beast Plasmoid is the first thing I thought od back when the UA Dropped. Could roleplay the claws Teeth and tail as pseudopod or mimic like Fangs. Especially since it is a great grappling chassis.
I think an interesting option for a spellcaster would be Warlock using pact of the blade. Not using the blade as a weapon but as a spellcasting focus to use spells with material components without a cost. This way you could truly be carrying nothing on you. Its a bit of a weird build still since it wouldn't be better than just having your magical equipment on you but otherwise it might be a good option.
I feel a bonus action ability to don armor would be fair. A situational benefit when the DM introduces a resting encounter, while still having a reasonable cost.
You could be really silly and be a sorcerer that lives in a giant jar. A tanky backliner (like a life cleric or ranged fighter) carries you around like a backpack. You use your turns to pop out, cast a spell, and pop back in. You only talk from inside of the jar (maybe with message or other telepathic means). The party begins to see you more like a magic item than a character.
Looking forward to seeing your thoughts on Thri-Kreen. About to do a one shot at lvl 6 with a Thri-Kreen using a heavy and a hand crossbow with both sharpshooter and crossbow expert
@@dragonboyjghyep :( oh so only bugbears then The touch of your shadow-wreathed hand can siphon life force from others to heal your wounds. Make a melee spell attack against a creature within your reach. On a hit, the target takes 3d6 necrotic damage, and you regain hit points equal to half the amount of necrotic damage dealt. Until the spell ends, you can make the attack again on each of your turns as an action.
The thought that keeps coming back to me with plasmoids is “can you cast a touch spell through the pseudopod”? Obviously, it can’t perform somatic components, but could you perform somatic components with your hands and poke your target with your pseudopod from 10 feet away?
Problem I noticed with the “backwards compatibility” with spelljammer and one dnd: plasmoids get grapple advantage but grapples aren’t going to be using checks anymore to engage them or escape them? Doesn’t seem very compatible to me.
Here's a fun thought. A Plasmoid armor who keeps their equipment inside of them. Their armor gloves would not be able to be operated buy humanoids after all A Plasmoid can have as many tiny little appendages squeezed into that piece of armor to be operating in ways no other creature could do. Also you could squeeze a part of you through a keyhole and Borescopes your self around the room. Could you take throwing Needles with you well squeezing through these tight little spaces? Go ninja slime.
I saw someone online suggest using the ability to change your shape with the mask of many faces invocation and basically play a mimic. Would definatly have to check with your DM but I think that would be really fun
What are your thoughts on the following concept: the player is a small plasmoid. Some levels on cavalier fighter(unarmed fighting style), some levels of barbarian(ancestral?), and mounted combatant feat. The plasmoid hops on the other friendly Frontliner... We are venom? The plasmoid is the armor and some extra attacks. Viable or way to crazy? Could hop to a friend needing protection.
"You can squeeze through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide, provided you are wearing and carrying nothing." Would this not include things like a spell casting focus? To me this sounds like you'd need to be completely naked. DM might rule differently depending on where you're trying to squeeze, but that's how it reads to me. By that read a Path of the Beast Barbarian would probably work out best. Form claws and you don't really need to wear anything. Maybe do the Soul Knife multiclass to get extra stealthy with it and be able to infiltrate in a carried box. Ultimately though, it sounds a bit gimmicky, if potentially fun and memorable. By the time you start getting attuned magic items are you really going to drop those to slide into a crack between boxes and let that gear fall to the floor? That's just a major temptation for the DM.
If a player started abusing this mechanic on every combat, things like spell focuses would be the first thing I'd look at. If the Plasmoid was a Monk and used this as a sneak attack I'd be super proud of the party, but if they started using it every combat by carrying stuff around to act as makeshift cover it'd rapidly lose it's charm.
You wouldn't be able to carry a focus while squeezing, but there's nothing stopping you from just slotting a wand through the same gap you're squeezing into before you do it.
In a Forgotten Realms game, I'd definitely want to play an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer Plasmoid and flavor them as an Oblex who no longer works for the Mindflayers. They're intelligent spellcasters and they absorb the memories of so many people, so I think it'd make sense for some to grow more independent.
The pseudopod can lift up to 10 lbs and there's no mention that it can't be used to wield a shield (like with Thri-kreen, Loxodon)so you can wield a two handed werapon and a shield.
I'd definitely allow them to ooze out of armor in an instant. It would just fall off of their blob. I'd also leaning toward them being able to don armor they'd oozed out of farly quickly. Maybe an action. If the armor straps are undone, then it should take the normal amount of time.
One idea I am toying with is a Plasmoid Armourer... especially if the DM agrees that a plasmoid artisan would focus on their race, your arcane armour can be reflavoured as a third form, allowing you to either be: ~A blob ~A human using the Feat Mask of Many Faces -or An amorphous suit of armour.
Would the Arcane Armor, on a plasmoid Artificer, “expands to cover your entire body” when you form a pseudopod? And furthermore, if it only “expands”, does retracting the pseudopod leave behind an artificial pseudopod, due to the armor replacing “any missing limbs, functioning identically to a body part it is replacing.”? And since as written, plasmoid physiology would allow them to breath, poop, and speak through their pseudopods, would the armor then be able to allow the plasmoid to engage in arcane powered chatting, breathing, and/or pooping? If such a plasmoid amorphously squeezes out of the eye holes in its helmet, does the armor maintain its shape (unless the armor has no eyeholes because the armor covers the entire body)? Also, does a plasmoid fill a bubble in its torso with air to make itself fat (I’m assuming that’s how it holds an hour of breath)? If so, then would it be able to distend the size of its torso while doning the arcane armor, so that it could comfortably relax in blob shape, with its limbs reabsorbed into the torso, while still perambulating about, via the arcane armor? Is there any reason that an Artificers Steel Defender, couldn’t have a cavity inside of it, for a small plasmoid to occupy?
Acid is super rare. I'd say its the rarest damage type since 'rare' damage types like Radiant/Force you have spells for, but nothing uses acid damage short of other ooze enemies. There just aren't many spells you can put on things that use acid. For Amorphous, its not unreasonable to ask your DM to change it a bit as the way it is now, not even unarmored PCs can use it as coins, rations, ext... count as items and RAW it says you have to have NOTHING. Only moon druids can get around this restriction without any setup. The way I ask DMs to change it is that "You can move through gaps as small as 1 inch without squeezing, provided MUNDANE items can fit through that space. Any items that can't fit are automatically dropped." This clears up the langauge better, and allows you to use it on all classes as the DM gets to choose when you get magic items, and you wont lose those magic items using this trait like you normally would which feels really bad. I've had about 6 DMs allow this and it hasn't been an issue.
Rogue: flow into a crate, move to another crate while no one can see you, Sneak Attack from there, then keep on steathly moving in Blod form, so you can Sneak Attack from a pot or anything like that.
Only real disagreement is with the party member carrying around a chest with a 1 inch keyhole. Just because you could pass through a keyhole doesn't mean you could fit inside a chest, even as a small creature unless the chest is quite large. Also, only looking out of keyhole would severely limit what a character could see, so I would imagine a DM would start imposing some sort of disadvantage if a player started abusing this mechanic because after the 3rd or 4th time in a row when the party drops that chest down and the Plasmoid jumps in it, it'd start getting annoying.
Plasmoid Draconic Sorcerer, you became sentient by living on the blood of a dead dragon and now you have have started showing traits of the Dragons blood you lived off. (or you were born to a parent who lived on the blood of a dragon)
I’m playing a Plasmoid Fathomless Warlock right now, reflavoring everything so I can be a water elemental. I am having a great time slapping people with eldritch blast (hydro cannon fists with knockback) and all the various ice spells warlocks have access to.
Potentially good for grappling monk, especially under the dnd one grappling rules? Advantage on checks to initiate grapple, being able to grapple as bonus action and as an attack of opportunity. Sure, enemy is likely to escape with your poor strength, but if it moves away, you just grapple it again as an attack of opportunity. And while you are grappling, your speed and potential bonus action dash allow you to drag your enemy further than many other classes. Adding a belt giant strength to give you enough lift capacity for dragging would be really helpful though. And then you can't really leverage the amorphous squeeze anymore...
Under the new rules to initiate a grapple u now make a unarmed strike attack roll, and to escape the target must make a strength or dexterity saving throw. It's now easier to initiate but also easier to escape, wish it still atleast required an action to escape. No more athletics expertise grapples.
@@JoshuaSmith-hl1xj I think it is much better for monks, because: - you can now use your dex to initiate grapple - enemy escapes (pretty much guaranteed) at the end of their turn, but for the duration of their turn, they are stuck. - if enemy moves out of your reach, monk can stop them by grappling as an attack of opportunity. With advantage on grapple checks, they are pretty much stuck with grappling you.
@@PiiskaJesusFreak definitely better for monks, it's just those races with advantage on grapple checks will no longer work if this new rule becomes official, that includes the plasmoid.
@@JoshuaSmith-hl1xj Most racial bonuses will no longer apply, because they are advantage to strength tests, but plasmoids provide advantage specifically to initiate or escape grapple. I don't see any reason why this would not apply. So, advantage on attack rolls to establish grapple and advantage on saving throws to escape grapple. Attack rolls and saving throws are ability tests too in one dnd.
Shape Self is pretty good. sure you cannot "disguise self" like a changeling, but you can hide where no one else can hide. Imagine a large featureless plain just grass that barely reach a halfling knees. Most DM will say that no one can o the hide action in such a scenario. But with shape self, I take the shape of a puddle on the ground, I can now hide under the cover of the grass. Even if an ennemie is flying over I would argue that I look like a puddle of water (according you have a reasonable plasmoid color Sure while doing that you cannot really have equipment, so you need a class that do no uses gear...? a soul knife rogue? a grappler like a barbarian or a monk unarmored defense Hiding in plain sight, similar to the druid who wild shape into a rat to hide amount the sewer rats or into a cat to enter random houses in the village
When I first heard about this race of shape changing ooze I thought of changelings like Odo from DS9 so when I found out it was just a giant amoeba I was very disappointed. Still it's pretty cool rules.
I would allow a plasmoid moon druid to be a "ooze" beast. I'm usually a stickler for the rules, but it's just too cool and the rule of cool supersedes most rules. I would also allow an autognome moon druid to be like a transformer, it's just too cool.
I think there needs to be size clarifications for slipping through holes and the gear you have on you. Like dropping your dagger to fit through a 1ft by 6in space doesn’t make sense. The dagger would fit.
Another area that isn't very clear but would make an interesting question to debate with the DM is whether they would allow spells/auras etc that operate in a radius around you to extend from your pseudopod. I would imagine most DMs would not allow it but if they do then paladins and clerics would get a great boost from being a plasmoid.
They certainly would. I agree, I don't think most DM's would go for that, but if they let a bugbear increase their area due to long arms, then that's a good sign.
@@TreantmonksTemple I think there would be a much better argument for the plasmoid as the pseudopod can remain sticking out as long as you want until you use your bonus action to reabsorb it. This feature just introduces so many questions. You are going along in heavy armour and carrying a shield but also have a psuedopod holding a torch out 10' in front of you. Presumably a creature can attack the psuedopod - so what would its AC be? Can it be severed? Do we limit how much damage you can take from having your psuedopod attacked?
I first looked at Van Richten’s when the UA for the Fairy came out, and it immediately made me want to use Fey Passage to reflavor a character as a Clayface style mud/ooze monster man. They got rid of that feature but now it’s finally back 😂
Someone is pretending to be Treantmonk saying I've won a PC ffs 🙄
This is a scammer.
@@TreantmonksTemple you know you've made it big when scammers are trying to impersonate you
Sage advice explained that a wildshaped dragonborn can still use its Breath Weapon, citing that the wording of the breath weapon trait does not call for any specific anatomy. By that logic, since Amorphous doesn't call for a specific anatomy (surprisingly it does not), you should be able to use it while wildshaped. Even more interestingly, you would also be able to use Shape Self while wildshaped, meaning you could give your shark form "one or two arms, one or two legs, and makeshift hands and feet". My greatsword-wielding land shark is coming for you!! You could also arm your bear with bear arms so you can bear arms.
so what you're saying is that plasmoids are second amendment absolutists?
Land shark!
I love this. DMs will 100% not allow it, but I love the idea lol
Death by suffocation incoming
And that land shark can hold its breath for up to an hour out of water.
FINALLY! I can play a plasmoid bard and call him "Blob Marley". My life is complete
"You have darkvision..."
I swear, darkvision is no longer a racial ability. Humans, Halflings, and so forth have a racial ability called "Not-darkvision".
Hah! You're right about that.
Agreed. I hate it and actually get rid of it in most lineages. I retained it on dwarves in my game, but with the Tremorsense ability in the OneDnD playtest I'd be okay with getting rid of it for dwarves as well.
Honestly plasmoids should have gotten a 10ft blind sight. (Or 5 ft) instead of darkvision.
Yeah I think that probably around 50-60% of the races that currently do have it, don't feel earned, unless the race lives underground or is an anthropomorphic form of a nocturnal hunting animal like cats/owls. It feels undeserved.
@@dragonhearthx8369 there was a very similar Ooze race in a Fantasy Flight book based on 3E which had Blindsight to 60 feet and NO other visual senses. It was fascinating! You can “see” literally everything within 60 feet of you, but are otherwise completely blind! You can see no colors or patterns, can’t read the written word, but you can detect textures brilliantly!
The “Molten Bronze Skin” magic item has an interesting interaction here, since it’s description says it doesn’t impede bodily functions. With that line of thought, you could adjust your shape with amorphous while maintaining your AC.
That seems pretty cool
And it gives you fire resistant... That's really really cool
Ah, well, God crafted items do allow for some neat things.
I would absolutely allow a Plasmoid to slide right into and out of their armor. It fits both the rules and the flavor. It's a neat trick allowing you to doff armor with little effort.
Getting back into the armor and grabbing your shield, though, isn't as simple as oozing into place. You'd need to use an Action for Shape Self to resume a humanoid form capable of wearing armor and carrying a shield.
The strength of this ability definitely lies in all the utility a clever player could squeeze from it. Plus, the player who likes playing unique characters can't get much more unique than an ooze.
And just like I'm making an armorer plasmoid,thanks dude!
Donning and doffing armor quickly... clearly this means it's time for a Tenser's Transformation user!
I would say you could ooze right back in without an action, since the amorphous feature doesn't say that you have to change back into humanoid form after squeezing through something.
@@Bew7 nice, since they can donn armor as an action!
@@kikagezumi True.
If you get eldritch adept and snag mask of many faces, you could definitely pull off the Martian Manhunter vibe of shapeshifting to whomever you want.
I like your style.
I remember someone saying when the ua version was released u could take the shape of a chair and use mask of many faces to look like a chair and hide in plain sight, does it still work?
Or ditto
@@JoshuaSmith-hl1xj I think so as long as the chair has 1 or 2 legs, not 4
I like the idea of an eco fighter plasmoid making a goo clone of itself and being able to change which is the main body.
I know somebody is going to ask their DM if they can use amorphous to squeeze themselves into the enemy's mouth and suffocate them
I had one do that to npc in front of my players
I'm glad you said mouth. Almost had flashbacks to a certain 3.5e build revolving around the Escape Artist skill. Or that one theory about how Antman could defeat Thanos.
@@deltavictor8369 Well they did say that a dragon's weakness of scales is a particular opening... 😉
Or corpse to puppet inside of
What a perv
It should also be noted that Alter Self has an interesting interaction with Shape Self. Shape self gives you options with how many limbs you have in your "humanoid" form and Alter Self limits your changed appearance by creature size and number of limbs. This means a Plasmoid with Alter Self could disguise themself as more than just another humanoid. For example, you could give yourself two legs and no arms and disguise yourself as something like an emu. In your limbless blob form, the DM might even let you get away with turning into a boulder or crate.
One thing I saw come up often when the Plasmoid was released into UA was the interesting interaction with Disguise self.
Disguise self lets you take on a form with the same arangement of limbs as yourself, which plasmoids have control over. This makes them able to use disguise self to turn into things like inanimate objects as long as it's roughly within their size rating. Toss in Pact of the blade to summon a weapon to you whenever you need it, Improved pact weapon to also make it a spellcasting focus, Armor of shadows for constant access to mage armor, and Mask of Many Faces to disguise yourself whenever you wish and Warlock is a really appealing option for a Plasmoid. Goo Goo-Lock is also just fun to say,
I homebrewed my own slime people race and had almost an identical feature to squeeze into small spaces. However I specifically added a clause that you can't end your turn in a small space to avoid the full cover issue.
That seems like a good idea. Probably reasonable for DM's to rule the same here.
Definitely want to play a small beast barbarian plasmoid. Just be a whirling blender of spikes rolling everywhere and screeching inhuman screams.
Beast Barbs also get the ability to climb walls, and move across ceilings. Ooze across the ceiling, reaching down to yank enemies right off the floor, or just grab them and run 40 + feet up the wall.
I like the idea of the new UA Giant barb turn from a small blob maybe hiding in a cup or bucket into a Giant tidal wave of slime all for a bonus action!
Yep do love these guys, even if I still need to actually play one myself. Two main builds I'm wanting to try are
1. Path of the Giant Barbarian, just for the fantasy of it, just BOOM giant slime grapping and throwing everything around the battlefield Kaiju style.
2. Aberrant Mind, Amorphous is just works really well with Psionic sorcery due to bypassing the need of components.
KAIJU SLIME SOUNDS GREAT
A plasmoid battlesmith artificer who uses their attunement slots for tattoos! Make both your steel defender and homunculus shaped in such a way to be able to contain you and let you squeeze into them.
One thing I'm not sure on rules-wise is if the pseudopod can be used to equip a shield. The PHB states that shields are 6 lbs and "carried in one hand", which might mean that you need to carry them in one of the "hands" generated by shape self to count as being "wielded". However, there is artwork that suggests otherwise, namely the art with the plasmoid holding a shield, spear, and gun in each of its "hands".
Personally, I would allow it, as I think it's cool that this allows for new equipment combinations like two-handing a weapon and using a shield at the same time that no other race (bar the thri-kreen for light weapons) can pull off. I'd love to hear your thoughts about it, though.
I'm playing a Plasmoid Shepherd Druid. The flavor has been wonderful. I didn't have a good solution to the AC problem to properly abuse Amorphous, but I've flavored all his spells as just being goo-versions of different beasts. Even his Goodberries are just little drops of goo made edible. This is one time where grossing out my party took priority over optimizing.
Gooberries
Monk was one of the first things I thought of when you started talking about amorphous. But, rather than Mercy, my first thought was actually Shadow. More things suddenly become available to being completely covered by darkness even in the middle of the day. Great example would be that battle map you showed earlier. Lots of opaque boxes in a market street. Ooze into one then shadow step to another one full on Scooby-Doo style.
Mine was alchemist Artificer. Whose potions are the same shade of green as my body. And (as homebrew) my homunculus is a bucket I sleep in.
That is a nice idea.
Pact of the blade warlock? Means you dont need to get rid of your weapon. + armour of shadows invocation.
I’m playing in a game with another player who is a hexblade/bard Plasmoid named Slymon Blooze, and this comes up often
I think you'd still need to get rid of your weapon, because it takes an action to summon, and while you're holding it it's a normal weapon.
And in the new oneDnD UA you can also choose charisma shillelagh with your background.
Add on mask of many faces, disguise self doesn't state you need to be disguised as a creature, only that you need the same arrangement of limbs, an ooze has the same arrangement as a rock, and who would interrogate a rock?
@@mattgopack7395 yeah, but i still think it would come in handy. Like you slide under a door in to a locked room and still have access to your weapon.
Mercy monk is thematically appropriate I'd argue. Just blame the strange healing and poisoning on the goo. I've played at more than one table where shouting "I hit him with my goo!" wouldn't have been out of the ordinary.
I'd go acendant dragon monk so I can deal acid damage, like a jelatinous cube.
The biggest challenge for a Plasmoid focusing on Amorphous is having access to their equipment when they need it. This includes weapons, magic items, spell components, gold, etc. Someone would have to be a team player and bear the burden of holding onto those things for the Plasmoid, figuratively and literally.
This! No focus/material components drastically reduces casting capabilities and if you're a barbarian then you shouldn't be cowering inside a box every round anyway. I don't see an issue with someone else carrying your mundane stuff but as the game goes on and you start getting magic items then this becomes a huge issue. You can't even be wearing a ring to use this ability.
This is why a monk, beast barbarian, and sorcerers appeal to me for an ooze. A sorcerer can be an aberrant mind and cast things without a focus if needed, though it's still limited
Or just find a clever way to have access to these items via free object interactions and bonus actions. The obvious one is to just fight near a pile of your gear you can pickup and drop every turn before retreating, but there may be find familiar, unseen servant, find greater steed, teleportation, extra dimensional space, pseudopod reach, mage hand shenanigans you could get into. You could even just live in a pokeball on somebodies belt and fish out of their backpack every turn, maybe
@@emwZEEK Hm, I see there being an issue once you consider that your enemies can ALSO interact with your stuff if you leave it out in the open. Also, spells and effects like Shatter and Fireball would be able to destroy your stuff, since they are no longer being "worn or carried". I still feel the safer bet is having a PC be your pack mule.
If your familiar has hands they can hold onto a magic focus or pouch when you are being a slime.
Sincerely thank you for pointing out that the players are still visibly oozes. I have seen so many people argue that they'd be indistinguishable, and even had a player bring a build to me citing how that works.
Races sure are powerful when you ignore half the text!
Actually, the shape feature can be pretty strong in itself even without squeezing. You can just perfectly set up an ambush. What's that liquid-like stuff in the glass container over there? Surprise, it's the blob :)
Named Bob
@@dragonhearthx8369 😄
A thought: Shape Self's description alludes to a humanoid form, but it doesn't necessarily restrict to one (assuming that mounts can have 2 arms and 2 legs, as opposed to just 4 legs). Is there anything stopping a Medium sized plasmoid shaping themselves into a mount for a small creature?
Also, with the pseudopod, I find it interesting that it says that it can be up to 6 inches, but gives no minimum. I'd see a GM ruling that it can squeeze through spaces "as narrow as 1 inch" per Amorphous, but that gives you a lot reach through a small hole; one could easily reach through the door lock and open the door from the other side.
I think a danger with using the Amorphous ability is that eventually, you'll come across an intelligent enemy that's going to push over your chest so the keyhole is facing the floor, forcing you to use your action to try an either escape the chest or push the chest back over.
Or destroy the chest.
@@TreantmonksTemple I imagine pushing over a small sized chest would be easier than breaking it. Though that depends on the material of the chest and what the AC and hit points the chest has.
7:30
Me:playing plasmoid druid
Player: no you can't wildshape into a bear and squeeze into 1 inch gaps, it's not RAW.
Mae: I'm a gummy bear.
No, it did not happen, but it will happen, stay certain of it.
Me playing plasmoid rogue "what do you mean I can't take out all the dragon hoard trough that crack in the wall?"
@@IrisDImtv Now a plasmoid rogue with a portable hole might be able to.
GM: okay you can do that, but you have to sing and dance the gummy bear song first.
I went Path of the Totem Warrior Barbarian with the Bear totem. His totem is a patch of bear fur stitched together. When he rages he changes into the shape of a bear, only he's never actually seen a real bear, but he has seen a gummy bear. So he ends up looking like a little Haribo gummy bear with a tupee. And a BONK stick.
Plasmoids are fantastic.
"Plasmoid Beast Barbarian = Venom"
- Todd Kenreck
You should play a plasmoid just to make your spellcasting focus a pair of large pearls painted like eyeballs, and floating around in your goop.
The wording of the amorphous trait doesn't say that you have to wear nothing to have advantage on grapples. So for a grapple focused character you can still wear your stuff
I think it’s also worth noting that your inability to carry weapons will pose a problem. Things like Pact of the Blade or the Eldritch Knight’s ribbon ability to summon its weapon to its hand suddenly become pretty useful.
Edit: spells that require material components will also be difficult. The Aberrant Mind sorcerer might be good.
I think Disguise Self has a lot of fun uses here. You can copy the appearance of anything with the same basic arrangement of limbs, so as a blob you could disguise as a mud mephit, which looks indistinguishable from an ordinary mound of mud.
A genie warlock would be particularly nice I think since the genies vessel (and spellcasting focus) could be a ring, which is presumably less than 1 inch tall/wide
Sadly need to ask your DM about this because RAW you can't do this as you are still carrying something.
@@archmagemc3561 Alternatively you could take pact of the blade and improved pact weapon so that you can summon it as your spellcasting focus
@@archmagemc3561 have your 1 inch wide pusepod hold the ring and drop it on the other side of the 1 inch hole as a bonus action before moving through it your self.
@@theeye8276 Don'tchya think that is so stupid though? It should just be part of the amorphous ability baseline.
Definitely considering a Plasmoid rogue. Fitting into one inch gaps means that there are multitudes of hiding spots to initiate a sneak attack. Soul knife seems like the best choice, so that your weapons are a part of you. Flavor wise, we could say that the blades form from your ooze like body. Maybe considering some kind of multiclass with an unarmored defense character like Barbarian or monk.
Warlock with invocation of mage armor and disguise self.
We allow some Unearthed Arcana in our group, and the Eldritch Armor invocation pairs well with oozing through keyholes and instantly donning the armor back onto yourself on the other side of the door. Considering there are usually teleportation options that accomplish a similar result, it isn't too powerful, but it is a good utility feature.
Shape Self says you can use it as an action to give yourself a head, one or two arms, one or two legs, and makeshift hands and feet, or revert to a limbless blob. It doesn't say that you lose those things if you use it again. Why can I not make myself more heads, arms, legs, hands, and feet? If ruled that it does this ability puts no limit on the number of hands and feet. Hands and feet don't require arms and legs attached to them for them to exist. Speaking of which it doesn't say the pseudopod disappears when you reuse it either. You can extrude one or reabsorb it as a bonus action. Extrude 4 please.
The pseudopod itself cannot attack and has no sensory organs but it is definitely part of my body and Shape Self says I can reshape my body to grow parts. Why can I not grow a head or arms or hands on my pseudopod and use those to see, hear, and attack? Also, as stated before, there are no limits on the number of hands. Why can I not throw something with a hand on a pseudopod? A pseudopod with two arms on it holding polearm would give me a 20 foot reach. I am not using the pseudopod to attack; I am swinging my polearm with my actual arms. Nice area for attacks of opportunity.
There are no limits on how the pseudopod can be moved and it remains until reabsorbed into the body. Can I look like a really long dog? Legs at one end, arms at the other, head basically anywhere? Would my long body take up 3 squares? Could my Shape Self move my unlimited hands with my weapon anywhere along that space? Why just one weapon? Why not a hand covered horror holding short swords in all of them to make a mass of blades like a giant bladed snake? Or just one blade and hand covered blob at the end of the pseudopod that I can swing around like a giant flail? What about existing entirely as a ball that is covered in hands holding blades that just rolls everywhere?
Armor doesn't have to be in a human shape because I would not be a humanoid. Why not a big iron wiffleball? The holes are for all of my feet to stick out so I can roll around. Pseudopod can definitely hold a shield so what about a half sphere turtle shape armor piece with an shield that is the same thing? Close it up like a clamshell. Can I get total cover? Does it act like a tortles ability? Why not hold my shield in front of my ally 10 feet away?
I don't think the wording on this race was adequately thought through.
I actually love it for exactly this reason. I can shape self + mask of many faces to mimic wildlife, or at least medium wildlife. You don't actually get the wolf features sure, but you can look like one if you want to.
One issue with plasmoid as a caster is you can't assume you bring a focus or component pouch with you. You may be able to harvest components as you go or bring a select few with you, but by and large you won't be able to cast Material component spells. For martials, not only do you need to provide armor, you need to provide weapons, leading monks (especially mercy and astral), beast barbarian, and UA Giant Barbarian as clear winners. Alternatively, summonable weapons via Eldritch Knight or Hex/Blade pact warlock or the wrist pocket Dunamancy spell are options. Finally, improvised weapons through Tavern Brawler is an option.
There are some interesting uses for change shape as well. If you are using disguise self, you can fit to exactly the proportions, though the texture will likely be off.
I’ve been thinking about the best empty inventory plasmoid builds: I think Bladelock (with Armor of Shadows) is probably the best since they can use the weapon they conjure as a spell focus (which would also let them multiclass into Swords Bard) Beast Barb, Soulknife, and of course monks are other options.
Eldritch knight would be good too. Can bond with 2 weapons and conjure 1 with a bonus action
Draconic sorcerer. You can just choose spells that don't need material components. Or argue that your focus is small enough to fit through the hole with you.
(Unless there is a tattoo that can be a focus that I am unaware of)
Aberrant Mind Sorcerer’s also have many good options. And Treantmonk’s favorite 9th level spell is verbal too!
Would Order of Scribes also work? Have your book go around like a drone while you hide in a small place?
1 lvl Dip Monk/19 Cleric and then max Wis, Dex, and then Con. Use an Amulet as your spellcasting focus and look for holes that are small enough your amulet can fit through and just go through those.
I don’t think you can straight class Bard, Ranger, Paladin, or Artificer and get as much use of the Amphorous abilities.
RAW, a plasmoid cannot wear clothes or armor while in blob form - so I would argue that reverting to a blob allows a plasmoid to doff their armor in one action.
I have a character planned as a Soulknife Rogue/Genie Warlock multiclass. Armor of Shadows invocation means that you will never have to wear armor, Genie vessel means you have a safe place to store any items you come across on your adventures, and Psychic Blades means you'll never have to equip a weapon. Any time you need to scout ahead beyond an obstacle only you can fit through, just give your vessel to someone to hold on to.
I had the thought of an Artificer and oozing into one of the companion options - you can even pretend to BE the machine. But the immediate thought goes to Monk; the added movement allows for more ooze shenanigans, and the magical unarmed strikes help deal with things that are magic to hit. Too bad the monk in general is not the best.
There are 13 classes in DnD, that means 12 of them are not "the best".
Not what I am saying, but go ahead and imagine it is and your rebuttal was super devastating, and I am in awe with your mental prowess despite you missing the point entirely.
I’m thinking Soul Knife might be the best build to take advantage of the amorphous feature. Dex based so lack of armor isn’t a huge deal, and you have ranged attacks that don’t rely on weapons/focus/component pouches.
My thoughts exactly
Get you a barrier tattoo 😉
When I went soul knife, I got the eldritch adept feat for armor of shadows. Full AC and damage with no inventory
Yeah, the only thing I would honestly want is for an Ally to care Thieves Tools on them for me.
How did you get the spellcasting to meet the prereq for eldritch adapt?
I’ve been playing with this build and I think grabbing a level of dragon if sorc is the play. 13+dex natural armor, a couple of spells like shield and silvery barbs, and some utility cantrips. Mold earth was a really interesting one to me since it have no material component and you could use it to manufacture a hiding place for yourself.
Plasmoid monk said “ be like water” and I thought easy for you to say.
Hexblade with mask of many faces is the build I would run as a specialist in hunting those that hunt spellcasters.
I've already made a handful of plasmoids to use in the future, path of the beast barbarian, Astral self monk, rune knight fighter, hexblade warlock, and my personal favorite armorer artificer
Interesting this to point out, Shape self doesn't have a restriction on how many pseudopods you can have. So you can hold many things at once.
Yazirians and Dralasites both! Gotta wonder when the vrusk will show up. I guess Thri-Kreen won out over Vrusk though.
Even tough the pseudopod doesn't have any cencory organs, you can still use it to hold a small mirror to peek around cornerers or under doors.
a plasmoid Wizard called 'the wizard of ooze'
I'm off to sneeze out a wizard, a wonderful wizard of Ooze.
The one inch gap is much, MUCH more powerful if your group/GM is sticking to medieval/Renaissance era construction. One inch gaps around doors were common. The extremely snug fit of modern days was less common (really only seen on doors made for nobility and rich merchant types).
But I will say: a one inch gap for a key hole is... stretching it a bit. I mean, SOME key holes might be that big, but that's not going to be the norm.
Honestly, the gimme mage build for this race is warlock with pact of the blade and the improved pact blade invocation. You can summon that weapon given an action, and it counts as a spellcasting focus for you. Not great if you want to take full cover every turn, as you'd be limited to bonus action spells on any turn when you actually summon the weapon, but you only need to resummon it if someone steals it, so for every turn that they don't you can cast whatever you want.
Here's a question... Can a Plasmoid with mounted combatant feat cover an ally and essentially be a symbiote armour for the ally?
Rules aside, there could be a few interesting scenarios to explain why a non-Spelljammer game features an Ooze character.
Maybe the ooze dwelt beneath "Mage Street" or "Arcane Row", a part of town full of mages running their experiments. The arcane runoff, or invisible but omnipresent magical haze, eventually endowed the ooze with sapience.
Alternatively, maybe the creation was more purposeful. In Eberron, House Vadalis is always designing new magebred creatures. Perhaps they created the Plasmoid to serve The Twelve (a union of the 12 powerful Dragonmarked Houses) in some capacity? An intelligent ooze could make a great assassin or spy. (Though either steps on the toes of existing Houses. I'm just brainstorming.)
In the end, magic can achieve strange outcomes, both intentional and unintentional.
In the adventure Out of the Abyss, the party can meet an intelligent gelatinous cube who gained sentience from Juiblex's presence, so there's another possibility.
@@Thalgarik ha! I can here to mention this :)
I played a UA plasmoid with the story that my character was a wizard's a semi-successful attempt at creating artificial life. There's definitely ways to fit them in.
To add on to barbarian, the classic barbarian rogue multiclass to get reckless attack advantage sneak attack only works with finese weapons, all of which can be weilded as a small sized character, also this gives easy expertise to athletics for grapples
Also remember if the type is Ooze, then you aren't humanoid, so you get the natural resistance to Charm/Hold Person, nice little buff at low levels.
I had a player in the preview chapters use their sudo-pod to pick pocket and it was remarkably effective
I'm envisioning an AoA based Abjurer, where a low AC is part of the plan from the start. Careful selection of cantrips would ensure that you function fine in melee range and from afar. However you split between wiz and Warlock, just be careful to pick spells limited to verbal and somatic components, and you're rocking and rolling.
I think that a rogue could be really fun. Maybe not super optimal, but you become like the ultimate out of combat stealth assassin. Give yourself an insane stealth role, then use Hold Breath and Amorphous to do things like sneak up on someone and then slither into their throat. I think it would perfectly reasonable to consider that a Grapple check for the advantage on the roll. Boom now you are suffocating someone to death by just chillin in their lungs. I think with some good imagination you could pull off some crazy stuff with Amorphous
A Shadow Monk with Skill Expert to get Expertise in Stealth could be a really good way of "Optimizing" this idea and have still be able to do things in combat
The Beast Barbarian has particular synergy with the Plasmoid giving you a way to have armor class and magical weapons without any gear. the claw attacks in particular can bring you remarkably close to a GWM character as far as DPR is concerned.
The way we played I was able to slip out of my armor to go into keyholes and in slime mode but I would just have to leave the armor stacked wherever I shifted, then I could come back into it after.
A Path of the Beast Plasmoid is the first thing I thought od back when the UA Dropped. Could roleplay the claws Teeth and tail as pseudopod or mimic like Fangs. Especially since it is a great grappling chassis.
I think an interesting option for a spellcaster would be Warlock using pact of the blade. Not using the blade as a weapon but as a spellcasting focus to use spells with material components without a cost. This way you could truly be carrying nothing on you. Its a bit of a weird build still since it wouldn't be better than just having your magical equipment on you but otherwise it might be a good option.
could take the armor of shadows invocation for the unarmored ac too
I feel a bonus action ability to don armor would be fair. A situational benefit when the DM introduces a resting encounter, while still having a reasonable cost.
You could be really silly and be a sorcerer that lives in a giant jar. A tanky backliner (like a life cleric or ranged fighter) carries you around like a backpack. You use your turns to pop out, cast a spell, and pop back in. You only talk from inside of the jar (maybe with message or other telepathic means). The party begins to see you more like a magic item than a character.
Looking forward to seeing your thoughts on Thri-Kreen. About to do a one shot at lvl 6 with a Thri-Kreen using a heavy and a hand crossbow with both sharpshooter and crossbow expert
Mercy is great with the 10ft reach. Pseudopod can't attack but it CAN deliver touch effects.
Vampiric touch *slurpy ooze noises*
@@rayclawicefire2503 vampiric touch is a spell attack I'm afraid. But Touch of Long Death, Bestow Curse, and Cure Wounds aren't.
@@dragonboyjghyep :( oh so only bugbears then
The touch of your shadow-wreathed hand can siphon life force from others to heal your wounds. Make a melee spell attack against a creature within your reach. On a hit, the target takes 3d6 necrotic damage, and you regain hit points equal to half the amount of necrotic damage dealt. Until the spell ends, you can make the attack again on each of your turns as an action.
The thought that keeps coming back to me with plasmoids is “can you cast a touch spell through the pseudopod”? Obviously, it can’t perform somatic components, but could you perform somatic components with your hands and poke your target with your pseudopod from 10 feet away?
Problem I noticed with the “backwards compatibility” with spelljammer and one dnd: plasmoids get grapple advantage but grapples aren’t going to be using checks anymore to engage them or escape them? Doesn’t seem very compatible to me.
Agreed and that’s why we play test and give feedback like fizban buffed Dragonborn Onednd/UA unbuffed
I dislike all the grapple changes proposed in the UA anyway, so I'm hoping they just end up discarding those.
with a little planning, you could become Odo from DS9 😀 Background Detective. That would be a nice build to think off
Here's a fun thought. A Plasmoid armor who keeps their equipment inside of them. Their armor gloves would not be able to be operated buy humanoids after all A Plasmoid can have as many tiny little appendages squeezed into that piece of armor to be operating in ways no other creature could do. Also you could squeeze a part of you through a keyhole and Borescopes your self around the room. Could you take throwing Needles with you well squeezing through these tight little spaces? Go ninja slime.
I saw someone online suggest using the ability to change your shape with the mask of many faces invocation and basically play a mimic. Would definatly have to check with your DM but I think that would be really fun
What are your thoughts on the following concept: the player is a small plasmoid. Some levels on cavalier fighter(unarmed fighting style), some levels of barbarian(ancestral?), and mounted combatant feat. The plasmoid hops on the other friendly Frontliner... We are venom? The plasmoid is the armor and some extra attacks. Viable or way to crazy? Could hop to a friend needing protection.
"You can squeeze through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide, provided you are wearing and carrying nothing."
Would this not include things like a spell casting focus? To me this sounds like you'd need to be completely naked. DM might rule differently depending on where you're trying to squeeze, but that's how it reads to me. By that read a Path of the Beast Barbarian would probably work out best. Form claws and you don't really need to wear anything. Maybe do the Soul Knife multiclass to get extra stealthy with it and be able to infiltrate in a carried box.
Ultimately though, it sounds a bit gimmicky, if potentially fun and memorable. By the time you start getting attuned magic items are you really going to drop those to slide into a crack between boxes and let that gear fall to the floor? That's just a major temptation for the DM.
If a player started abusing this mechanic on every combat, things like spell focuses would be the first thing I'd look at. If the Plasmoid was a Monk and used this as a sneak attack I'd be super proud of the party, but if they started using it every combat by carrying stuff around to act as makeshift cover it'd rapidly lose it's charm.
You wouldn't be able to carry a focus while squeezing, but there's nothing stopping you from just slotting a wand through the same gap you're squeezing into before you do it.
In a Forgotten Realms game, I'd definitely want to play an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer Plasmoid and flavor them as an Oblex who no longer works for the Mindflayers. They're intelligent spellcasters and they absorb the memories of so many people, so I think it'd make sense for some to grow more independent.
I REALLY want to play a plasmoid druid. I think the flavour would be so cool
The pseudopod can lift up to 10 lbs and there's no mention that it can't be used to wield a shield (like with Thri-kreen, Loxodon)so you can wield a two handed werapon and a shield.
I'd definitely allow them to ooze out of armor in an instant. It would just fall off of their blob.
I'd also leaning toward them being able to don armor they'd oozed out of farly quickly. Maybe an action. If the armor straps are undone, then it should take the normal amount of time.
Disarming combat maneuvers + 10' bonus action picking up an item. Sneaky good combo
The most powerful feature of this race would be that it is not a humanoid therefore is immune to many spells that only target humanoids.
I would love to play a Plasmoid Way of the Astral Self Monk and flavour the spectral arms as additional pseudopods.
You could be an artificer too and have a steel defender or something that’s just a chest
One idea I am toying with is a Plasmoid Armourer... especially if the DM agrees that a plasmoid artisan would focus on their race, your arcane armour can be reflavoured as a third form, allowing you to either be:
~A blob
~A human using the Feat Mask of Many Faces
-or An amorphous suit of armour.
Would the Arcane Armor, on a plasmoid Artificer, “expands to cover your entire body” when you form a pseudopod? And furthermore, if it only “expands”, does retracting the pseudopod leave behind an artificial pseudopod, due to the armor replacing “any missing limbs, functioning identically to a body part it is replacing.”?
And since as written, plasmoid physiology would allow them to breath, poop, and speak through their pseudopods, would the armor then be able to allow the plasmoid to engage in arcane powered chatting, breathing, and/or pooping? If such a plasmoid amorphously squeezes out of the eye holes in its helmet, does the armor maintain its shape (unless the armor has no eyeholes because the armor covers the entire body)?
Also, does a plasmoid fill a bubble in its torso with air to make itself fat (I’m assuming that’s how it holds an hour of breath)? If so, then would it be able to distend the size of its torso while doning the arcane armor, so that it could comfortably relax in blob shape, with its limbs reabsorbed into the torso, while still perambulating about, via the arcane armor?
Is there any reason that an Artificers Steel Defender, couldn’t have a cavity inside of it, for a small plasmoid to occupy?
Go from Flubber to Zac (League) or a mostly any shape in between.
Acid is super rare. I'd say its the rarest damage type since 'rare' damage types like Radiant/Force you have spells for, but nothing uses acid damage short of other ooze enemies. There just aren't many spells you can put on things that use acid.
For Amorphous, its not unreasonable to ask your DM to change it a bit as the way it is now, not even unarmored PCs can use it as coins, rations, ext... count as items and RAW it says you have to have NOTHING. Only moon druids can get around this restriction without any setup. The way I ask DMs to change it is that "You can move through gaps as small as 1 inch without squeezing, provided MUNDANE items can fit through that space. Any items that can't fit are automatically dropped."
This clears up the langauge better, and allows you to use it on all classes as the DM gets to choose when you get magic items, and you wont lose those magic items using this trait like you normally would which feels really bad. I've had about 6 DMs allow this and it hasn't been an issue.
Black Dragons? Acid Arrow? Acid Splash? Others I’m certainly forgetting?
@@highlorddarkstar Thats about it, and black dragons are the only ones of note. And a single monster isnt' really all that big.
If nothing else, I’m glad they published a new race that wasn’t just another animal person.
Rogue:
flow into a crate, move to another crate while no one can see you, Sneak Attack from there, then keep on steathly moving in Blod form, so you can Sneak Attack from a pot or anything like that.
U do need hands to wield a weapon so while as blob u can only attack with unarmed strikes, sneak attack requires a finesse weapon.
@@JoshuaSmith-hl1xj You can still slide and squish tho. You don't need to be a blob
Only real disagreement is with the party member carrying around a chest with a 1 inch keyhole. Just because you could pass through a keyhole doesn't mean you could fit inside a chest, even as a small creature unless the chest is quite large. Also, only looking out of keyhole would severely limit what a character could see, so I would imagine a DM would start imposing some sort of disadvantage if a player started abusing this mechanic because after the 3rd or 4th time in a row when the party drops that chest down and the Plasmoid jumps in it, it'd start getting annoying.
Plasmoid Draconic Sorcerer, you became sentient by living on the blood of a dead dragon and now you have have started showing traits of the Dragons blood you lived off. (or you were born to a parent who lived on the blood of a dragon)
Plasmoid barbarian path of the beast. Never need armor or weapons. You are the armor and weapons.
Most importantly:
Disguise self + small plasmoid form = look like a walking talking mimic!!
The Psy rogue world work nicely with the no weapon idea.
I’m playing a Plasmoid Fathomless Warlock right now, reflavoring everything so I can be a water elemental. I am having a great time slapping people with eldritch blast (hydro cannon fists with knockback) and all the various ice spells warlocks have access to.
Potentially good for grappling monk, especially under the dnd one grappling rules? Advantage on checks to initiate grapple, being able to grapple as bonus action and as an attack of opportunity. Sure, enemy is likely to escape with your poor strength, but if it moves away, you just grapple it again as an attack of opportunity. And while you are grappling, your speed and potential bonus action dash allow you to drag your enemy further than many other classes.
Adding a belt giant strength to give you enough lift capacity for dragging would be really helpful though. And then you can't really leverage the amorphous squeeze anymore...
Under the new rules to initiate a grapple u now make a unarmed strike attack roll, and to escape the target must make a strength or dexterity saving throw. It's now easier to initiate but also easier to escape, wish it still atleast required an action to escape. No more athletics expertise grapples.
@@JoshuaSmith-hl1xj I think it is much better for monks, because:
- you can now use your dex to initiate grapple
- enemy escapes (pretty much guaranteed) at the end of their turn, but for the duration of their turn, they are stuck.
- if enemy moves out of your reach, monk can stop them by grappling as an attack of opportunity. With advantage on grapple checks, they are pretty much stuck with grappling you.
@@PiiskaJesusFreak definitely better for monks, it's just those races with advantage on grapple checks will no longer work if this new rule becomes official, that includes the plasmoid.
@@JoshuaSmith-hl1xj Most racial bonuses will no longer apply, because they are advantage to strength tests, but plasmoids provide advantage specifically to initiate or escape grapple. I don't see any reason why this would not apply. So, advantage on attack rolls to establish grapple and advantage on saving throws to escape grapple. Attack rolls and saving throws are ability tests too in one dnd.
Shape Self is pretty good. sure you cannot "disguise self" like a changeling, but you can hide where no one else can hide.
Imagine a large featureless plain just grass that barely reach a halfling knees.
Most DM will say that no one can o the hide action in such a scenario.
But with shape self, I take the shape of a puddle on the ground, I can now hide under the cover of the grass. Even if an ennemie is flying over I would argue that I look like a puddle of water (according you have a reasonable plasmoid color
Sure while doing that you cannot really have equipment, so you need a class that do no uses gear...? a soul knife rogue? a grappler like a barbarian or a monk unarmored defense
Hiding in plain sight, similar to the druid who wild shape into a rat to hide amount the sewer rats or into a cat to enter random houses in the village
When I first heard about this race of shape changing ooze I thought of changelings like Odo from DS9 so when I found out it was just a giant amoeba I was very disappointed. Still it's pretty cool rules.
I would allow a plasmoid moon druid to be a "ooze" beast. I'm usually a stickler for the rules, but it's just too cool and the rule of cool supersedes most rules. I would also allow an autognome moon druid to be like a transformer, it's just too cool.
Already did a beast wars inspired warforged when it came out, then multiclassed into barbarian for the animal instinct rage take over.
I think there needs to be size clarifications for slipping through holes and the gear you have on you. Like dropping your dagger to fit through a 1ft by 6in space doesn’t make sense. The dagger would fit.
Currently running a path of the beast bladesinger multiclass plasmoid
Another area that isn't very clear but would make an interesting question to debate with the DM is whether they would allow spells/auras etc that operate in a radius around you to extend from your pseudopod. I would imagine most DMs would not allow it but if they do then paladins and clerics would get a great boost from being a plasmoid.
They certainly would. I agree, I don't think most DM's would go for that, but if they let a bugbear increase their area due to long arms, then that's a good sign.
@@TreantmonksTemple I think there would be a much better argument for the plasmoid as the pseudopod can remain sticking out as long as you want until you use your bonus action to reabsorb it.
This feature just introduces so many questions. You are going along in heavy armour and carrying a shield but also have a psuedopod holding a torch out 10' in front of you. Presumably a creature can attack the psuedopod - so what would its AC be? Can it be severed? Do we limit how much damage you can take from having your psuedopod attacked?
I first looked at Van Richten’s when the UA for the Fairy came out, and it immediately made me want to use Fey Passage to reflavor a character as a Clayface style mud/ooze monster man. They got rid of that feature but now it’s finally back 😂
idk man Thri-Kreen might be the most INTERESTING one but this one is whack for sure. Great video!