New Subrace: Sea Dwarf. Feedback?

[Morfedel]

I realize this was intended specifically for D&d in regards to Fantasy Grounds, but there was nowhere else in particular I really wanted to post this, so I was hoping it would be ok to post this here to get some feedback.

Ok, so I have a custom campaign world I'm working on, and it includes what in most game worlds an oddity: Sea Dwarves. No, these aren't mermen or gill sprouting Dwarves. These are dwarves that make their lives near, at, on, or in the sea. Its just complex enough that i don't want to go into all the details here, but suffice it to say these dwarves live in a serious of ten extinct volcanoes deep in the ocean, have made their lives there, and while they have bretheren that never leave the volcanoes, the typical hill and mountain dwarves, the sea dwarves are those that learned to brave the seas, live on the seaside of the volcanoes, and even swim in the oceans, something their brothers inside the volcanoes just shake their heads at, even though they realize the sea force of Ten Hammers is in fact necessary for their survival.

So, I contemplated what a Sea Dwarf might look like in terms of attributes, and decided that not every sea dwarf is a sailor (I leave that for the background Sailor), but every sea dwarf deals with the sea on a regular, and generally personal basis. As such, in time their endurance has become even greater than that of their kin, swimming in the waters, diving for pearls, catching fish, and the like.

I also decided that most of their subracial abilities would be a bit more circumstantial than most, so it was ok to go just a bit better. And as such, thinking MOST of this IS circumstantial at best, this is what i came up with:

Ability Score Increase: Constitution Score increases by +2
Dwarven Water-Trained: Sea Dwarves can hold their breaths twice as long as other characters: they can hold their breath a number of minutes equal to (1+con modifier)x2, minimum of 1 minute, and can survive after this a number of rounds equal to twice their con modifier, minimum of two rounds.
Heightend Endurance: Sea Dwarves get advantage on their first time in a day they need to make a check for exhaustion. They regain this ability after a long rest.
Natural Swimmers: Sea Dwarves are considered proficient in Athletics for purposes of swimming; if already proficient, they double their proficiency bonus for any athletic checks for swimming.

Seeing how most of this involves swimming, and holding their breath, and avoiding exhaustion, I figured it was fairly balanced. I hesitated on the Con increase and almost considered a +2 strength instead ala mountain dwarves, but I figured with the rest of the abilities being so much more circumstantial this would be ok. However, maybe I missed something... what do you think?

[LordEntrails]

Dwarves happily in water? No! What's the world coming to?

Flavor-wise it seems to be pretty good. But you're right in that +2 Con could be a problem. I guess it depends on your players. If they are min/max'ers then you'll have to think this through more. If not, I think you'll be fine.

[kylania]

Here's skut's take on the Sea Dwarf: https://dnd-5e-homebrew.tumblr.com/p...braces-by-skut

[Morfedel]

Dwarves happily in water? No! What's the world coming to?

Flavor-wise it seems to be pretty good. But you're right in that +2 Con could be a problem. I guess it depends on your players. If they are min/max'ers then you'll have to think this through more. If not, I think you'll be fine.

Most of my players are not minmaxers, but you never know. What would you think would fit better? +2 strength, like the mountain dwarf?

Oh, and happily in water, lol, yeah I know its weird heh

[Morfedel]

Here's skut's take on the Sea Dwarf: https://dnd-5e-homebrew.tumblr.com/p...braces-by-skut

Yeah, but that stuff is kinda covered with the Sailor background, which feels kinda duplicating without necessity. I started going that route and backed off precisely because of that.

[damned]

I think the +2 is ok but cap it still at 18 (or lower).

[GunnarGreybeard]

I'd use the +2 but like damned said, cap it at 18.