Unearthed Arcana 14/05/18 - Centaurs and Minotaurs
Flying under the radar a little because of the release of Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, the latest Unearthed Arcana gives us two new playable races in the form of the Centaur and the Minotaur.
These races are borrowing heavily from Greek Mythology and not from the standardised Tolkien ideas of humanoids which is interesting and strangely refreshing even though the ideas pre-date his ideas by thousands of years. As Centaurs and Minotaurs are familiar concepts in the fantasy genre they look and feel pretty much how you would think they should. Mechanically these are potentially difficult to figure out in game terms because you want them to be specialised without them being overpowered or game breaking. Both of these races join the design space of the Goliath as the are considered Medium and have Strength as their primary statistic.
Centaur
A mixture of horse and human, now we can explore the important philosophical questions of how they would wear trousers and also where their genitals are in game. WoTC are conspicuously quiet on this issue.
The Centaur is a nature loving race and are tribal in structure. In game they have the Charge skill once per short rest and can use their hooves to attack instead of their fists. They are a great help to the party as they are a free horse and have an increased carry capacity due to their Medium size. The base speed is higher than bipedal races however there is a drawback as understandably they find it difficult to climb without digits on their feet! Their Strength and Wisdom increases lead you down the path of Ranger or fighter, which feels about right themeatically.
Minotaur
This is an update from a previous Unearthed Arcana in 2015. My first feelings are that they would make great Fighters or Barbarians as the prime Stats are Strength and Constitution. They are also imposing creatures so mechanically they have proficiency in the Intimidate skill. The natural weapons a Minotaur has is addressed in three interesting ways. First is a horn attack which is a better than base melee attack, second a Gore Rush where you would Dash and get a bonus horn attack. Thirdly there is the Hammering Horns ability which lets you shove a creature you have hit on your turn 5 feet away from you. .
Let's fight in the comments section over how Centaurs should wear trousers!
