Turning the Legend of Zelda into playable Dungeons and Dragons races. · 9:51pm Nov 7th, 2022
I think a good number have played a game based on The Legend of Zelda series. From the top down view to the 3D games, and from the spinoffs including Hyrule Warriors and whatever the Tingle games were. The point is that this is a huge franchise from Nintendo that's very recognizable, with a world that's seemingly the same, yet different.
Besides some of the spinoffs, practically every game is single player. Not saying this is terrible, far from it, but have you ever just thought "I wish someone could join in"? And not just that, but "I played Hyrule Warriors: Calamity of Ganon, and I want to be in a group similar to the team ingame". Some of you may not think of this until now, but if you are now, then you may want to continue reading as I've done a few homebrewing and turned the various races of Legend of Zelda into playable D&D races. So if you're unfamiliar with D&D, and/or have a DM that's cool with it, here's the races I've selected, and will give the stats in order. And yes, most of this was made thanks to me playing Hyrule Warriors, and though that's over the top, a game with friends makes lasting memories.
-Hylian
-Sheikah
-Goron
-Rito
-Zora
-Gerudo
-Kokiri
-Twili
Hylian
Ability Scores: +2 Charisma; Choose 1 (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, intelligence)
Size: Medium (5 to 6 feet tall)
Speed: 30 feet
Age: Up to 125
Alignment: Hylians tend to have a strong belief in their goddess, Hylia; goddess of light, and creator of Hyrule. Because of this, they generally lay in the good or neutral alignment, with very little choosing to be evil.
Skill versatility: You gain proficiency in 2 skills of your choice.
Languages: You speak Hylian and 2 languages of your choice
Hylians are the general population of Hyrule. They're like us humans, especially in D&D; everywhere, with the highest population. The only difference is that they have pointy ears, and, depending on the setting, can live quite long. So, I decided to base Hylians and Sheikah (we'll get to them later) off of Half-Elves from D&D. They may not have a lot of flair, but at the same time, you don't need special racial abilities to become an interesting character.
Sheikah
Ability Scores: +2 to Charisma and +1 to Dexterity
Size: Medium (5 to 6 feet tall)
Speed: 35 feet
Age: Up to 150
Alignment: With connections to the Hyrule royal family, Sheikah may fall into between good to neutral and lawful to chaotic. However, those involved with the Yiga Clan tend to be evil.
Ninja: You gain proficiency in Stealth, Perception, and Deception.
Smoke bombs: As a bonus action in combat, you can drop a smoke bomb to temporarily blind a creature your battling against. In the blind, you can choose to dash or hide with advantage. You can use this equal to your dexterity bonus.
Mask of the wild: You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.
Languages: You speak Hylian, Sheikahn, and another language of your choice.
Sheikah are a weird sister race with Hylians, safe for their darker skin, white hair, and red eyes. But they are ninjas with a close connection to the Hyrule Royal Family. So you could be someone from Hyrule, maybe a villager among Hylians, or a/n (ex) Yiga Clan member.
Goron
Ability Scores: +2 Constitution, +1 Strength
Size: Medium (6 to 8 feet tall)
Speed 25 feet (35 feet while rolling and 50 feet going downhill)
Age: Up to 200
Alignment: Gorons are a hardy and boisterous race, but are welcoming to outsiders. They tend to be good or neutral.
Heat resistance: You have resistance against fire damage.
Rock eater: You can eat rocks and regain 1d4 HP for each eaten. It takes a turn to eat a rock.
Dark vision: You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light.
Goron training: You have proficiency with the light hammer, pickaxe, club, greatclub, and warhammer.
Natural Armor. Due to the shape of your body, you are ill-suited to wearing armor. Your back provides ample protection, however; it gives you a base AC of 17 (your Dexterity modifier doesn't affect this number). You gain no benefit from wearing armor, but if you are using a shield, you can apply the shield's bonus as normal.
Shell Defense. You can roll up into a ball as an action. Until you emerge, you gain a +4 bonus to AC, and you have advantage on Strength and Constitution saving throws.
Travel roll: While rolled up into a ball, you travel faster, and unless you know the layout of the land, you have a disadvantage on perception checks.
Roll attack: As an action, while in ball form, you can charge and attack any creature ahead of you. The DC for this is 8 + your constitution modifier + proficiency bonus. A Creature takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage on a failed save, and half as much on a successful one. The damage increases to 3d6 at level 6th level, 4d6 at 11th level, and 5d6 at 16th level. You can use equal to your constitution bonus + proficiency bonus
Languages: You know Hylian and Goron
The Gorons were pretty easy to make, as the Tortle are pretty close to Gorons. Of course, Gorons can move while rolled up, so I put that into the equation, to make them blind tanks. Plus, they're tough, yet dopey.
Rito
Ability Scores: +2 to Dexterity, +1 to Wisdom
Size: Medium (5 to 7 feet tall)
Speed 25 feet (50 flying speed)
Age: Up to 90 years
Alignment: The Rito tend to want freedom in the sky and to not be involved with the other kingdoms, unless needed. They tend to be neutral.
Flight: You have a flying speed of 50 feet. To use this speed, you can't be wearing medium or heavy armor.
Swooping talons: While in the air, as an action, you can fly down to scratch a creature you see. The DC is 8 + your dexterity bonus + your proficiency bonus. Upon hit, you deal 1d4 piercing damage. The damage increase to 2d4 at 6th level, 3d4 at 11th level, and 4d4 at 16th level
Hunter: You have proficiency with the crossbow (light, hand and heavy), shortbow, and longbow, as well as how to make traps.
Mountain Dweller: You have resistance against frost damage and have dexterity advantage.
Languages: You know Hylian and Ritan
The Rito here were also pretty easy to make, being based on the aarakocra race. And yes, this Rito is heavily based on BOTW's take, but I personally think a more bird-like race is cooler than people with beaks on their faces.
Zora
Ability Scores: +1 to Strength, +1 to constitution, +1 to Charisma
Size: Medium (5 to 8 feet tall)
Speed: 30 feet (50 swimming speed)
Age: Up to 200
Alignment: The Zora have a strong connection with the Hylians, and often come to aid Hyrule when trouble starts. Because of this, they are often good or neutral, while also being Lawful to neutral.
Amphibious: You can breathe air and water, but need to keep your skin wet.
Water defiers: You have strength and dexterity advantage against strong water tides, and can swim up waterfalls.
Tool Proficiency: You gain proficiency with the artisan tools of your choice: Calligrapher's supplies, cartographer's tools, jeweler's tools, masonry tools, smith's tools
Languages: You speak Hylian and Zoran
The D&D that was easy to make the Zora from are the Tritons. Weirdly enough, the Tritons are like Aquaman, being able to communicate with fish, and are much smaller than the Zora, almost as tall as Farquaad from Shrek.
Gerudo
Ability Scores: +2 to Dexterity, +1 to Charisma
Size: Medium (5 to 6 feet tall)
Speed: 35 feet
Age: Up to 100
Alignment: The gerudo are a more secluded race, living in the deserts that few dare to travel to, and are only welcoming to women, with men being kicked out. Gerudo tend to be neutral, listening to their queen, and a king born once every 100 years. They tend to be neutral, but under Ganondorf's rule, will be evil.
Female: Every one hundred years, a single male gerudo is born. Otherwise, any Gerudo is born female, regardless of who their partner was before.
Warrior Agility: Your reflexes and agility allow you to move with a burst of speed. When you move on your turn in combat, you can double your speed until the end of your turn. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you move 0 feet on one of your turns.
Desert Dweller: You have proficiency in the desert biome, and have heat resistance.
Matriarch: You have advantage over male creatures, but disadvantage over female creatures.
Silent mover: You have proficiency in the stealth and perception skills
Warrior training: You have proficiency in Light and Medium armor, and Martial Weapons
Languages: You know Hylian and Gerudon
Most of you won't know what the race I homebrewed to be like the Gerudo. It's the Tabaxi; the cat people of D&D. Both live in the desert, and the Gerudo are somewhat based on Calico Cats, the cats that are 99% female with the rest being male.
Kokori
Ability Scores: +2 to Dexterity, +1 Charisma
Size: Small (3 to 4 feet tall)
Speed: 25 Feet
Age: Up to 300
Alignment: The Kokori live happy in the Korok forest, right by the Great Deku tree. Very few leave the forest, and those that do only do so as a means to keep the rest safe, and to save Hyrule. They are typically good, with a few being neutral.
Ageless: Despite their age, the Kokori still resemble children.
Fairy Assistant: You have a fairy right by your side. On your command, you can have the fairy aid yourself or an ally equal number of times to half of your level (minimum of 1). The fairy adds a 1d6 to any roll made. You can only use this trait again after a long rest.
Kokori nimbleness: You can move through the space of any creatures that are a size bigger than you.
-Spirit talkers: Kokori can see and talk to the spirits of the dead.
-Korok: If you die, your spirit comes back as a Korok. Your memory is lost, but you still have your personality, and your fairy returns to the Korok forest.
Languages: You know Hylian and Kokorian.
A mix between a gnome and a halfling (hobbits of D&D), these are based on the folks from Ocarina of Time, but added the head canon from BOTW that a fallen Kokori becomes a Korok.
Twili
Ability Scores: +2 to Charisma, +1 to Intelligence
Size: Small to Medium (4 to 7 feet tall)
Speed: 30
Age: Up to 500 years
Alignment: The Twili have made the Twilight realm their home, and are a mirror reflection of the Hyrule kingdom. Most are neutral, but a few can be evil, believing their home to be a prison and they'll be free from taking over Hyrule.
Superior Dark vision: You can see dim light in front of you as bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light.
Sunlight sensitivity: You have disadvantage with attack rolls in direct sunlight.
Twilight Magic: You know the dancing lights cantrip.when you reach third level, you can cast the silent image spell once per day; you can only use this after a long rest. At fifth level, you can also cast the darkness spell once per day; you must take a long rest before you can recast your spell. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Portal sensitivity: Once a day, you can sense where a portal to the Twilight realm may be. If you find a portal, then you and your allies can use it to travel to the Twilight realm and back.
Alternate form: As a bonus action, you can assume a more bestial appearance. This transformation lasts for 1 minute, until you die, or until you revert to your normal appearance as a bonus action. When you shift, you gain temporary hit points equal to your level + your Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 temporary hit point). You also gain advantage on strength and dexterity rolls, but disadvantage with intelligence and wisdom rolls. Once you shift, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
Languages: You know Hylian and Twilin
The Twili may have been only in Twilight Princess, but with Midna's crown in BOTW, this means that they can still be in future Legend of Zelda games. The races used to make the Twili are a mix of the Tieflings (devil people), the Drow (Dark elves), and Shifters (werewolf people)
So what do you guys think? Think some of you may be interested in playing a Legend of Zelda themed Dungeons and Dragons campaign? I aimed for the races that are, for the most part, friendly, to Link, and are popular in the Zelda community.
These do sound fun in a Zelda campaign. I am already picturing an entire party of Zora. The fish heroes quickly realize that NO, not all temples are water temples, and some ARE in fact in volcanoes. They then hire someone to follow them around with an endless water backpack and constantly mist them, so they stay moist at all times. Most people would hate this job, so they made sure to get one of the easily excitable Hylians. The type who would stand in Malo Mart singing for hours on end and never get bored.
5696812
Would depend heavily on the DM and the type of campaign they'd do. But that does sound hilarious, especially if they start smelling like cooked fish by the end, lol