TOMB OF ANNIHILATION: Grung Playable Race

One of my players came up to me and asked if they could play a Grung character. After I investigated, I noticed that there's no official release for a playable version of this race, and instead there's a list of deduced stats taken from an article. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the result and decided to put my own spin on it.

Links involved:
https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Grung
https://www.sageadvice.eu/2017/09/05/grung-as-an-official-playable-race/
https://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/223738


Link of my final product: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/BkXEjZjtfE


Here's the stuff that I changed. I wrote the things that were extrapolated in red, and my changes to them in green. Finally, I explain my changes in italics.

Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Constitution score increases by 1.

Ability Score Increase: Your Constitution score increases by 2 and your Dexterity score increases by 1.

It's easy to give a small race a +2 bonus on dexterity, and though it would have fit for Grungs, there's something we need to consider. Their immunity to poison, as well as the fact that they live in a place where it's easy for them to dehydrate, should give the idea that they are naturally more hardy. The Grung monster stat block supports this by giving them a higher constitution score than they have dexterity.

Arboreal Alertness: You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Arboreal Mobility: You have proficiency in the Athletics skill.

Though giving them Perception proficiency would fit, we should consider that Grungs are meant to be more athletic than they appear. Their Standing Leap ability shows this. If you check the Grung's stat block, they have a +2 bonus for both Athletics and Perception, but their natural Strength of 7, compared with their Dexterity of 14, makes me believe that their natural bonus to Athletics was made to help them with their weakness. 

Poisonous Skin: Any creature that grapples you or otherwise comes into direct contact with your skin must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 1 minute. A poisoned creature no longer in direct contact with you can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. You can also apply this poison to any piercing weapon as part of an attack with that weapon, though when you hit the poison reacts differently. The target must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or take 2d4 poison damage.

Poisonous Skin: On your turn as a bonus action, you can choose to secrete poison. When you do so, you can choose to coat one slashing or piercing weapon or up to three piece of ammunition. Once applied, this poison retains potency for one minute before drying, or when you make an attack with the coated weapon or piece of ammunition. Alternatively, you can spray the poison as a bonus action on a single creature that is in contact with your skin. 

A creature that makes contact with the poison must make a Constitution saving throw, the DC of which is 8 + your proficiency bonus + you constitution modifier. The creature takes 2d4 poison damage and is poisoned for 1 minute on a failed save, and takes half damage without being poisoned on a successful one. A creature that was poisoned by this effect can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns. After you use this ability, you can't use it again until you complete your next short or long rest.

This ability had three issues:

1. It's not party friendly: This would make it difficult for fellow party members to heal or carry their Grung teammate.
2. The poison DC is set: Most, if not all, racial features that force a saving throw have a DC that adjusts to their proficiency bonus and one of their stats. A set DC just gets weaker as a character progresses.
3. It's always on: Racial Features are usually limited in a short rest or long rest basis. This one would have the Grung PC be able to add poison to all their attacks, forever.

I turned this feature into an attack that was not only simple to use, but would also be a staple for a melee Grung combatant. Adjusting the DC and turning it into a short/long rest ability helped balance it. I'm not entirely happy that the end result turned into a longer paragraph so this might be something I could look into adjusting in the future. 

Water Dependency: If you fail to immerse yourself in water for at least 1 hour during a day, you suffer one level of exhaustion at the end of that day. You can only recover from this exhaustion through magic or by immersing yourself in water for at least 1 hour.
Water Dependency: If you don't immerse yourself in water for at least 1 hour, you need to drink twice the amount of gallons of water required to stay hydrated at the end of the day.

We already have an end-of-the-day system that penalizes you if you're not taking care of yourself. Not only would the original version have worked on top of something that already exists, it would have made itself really annoying to play. 

Also, consider this; the wording implies that a Grung with no access to water would risk receiving two levels of exhaustion at a time. One from the normal dehydration rules, and another from their own racial features. Not just that, but their racial feature also doesn't grant a Constitution saving throw to save themselves.

What I did was add an extra condition to the system that already works. They just need more water than any of the other races, but they are penalized the same if they don't meet the requirements.

I'll probably come back to this as I continue playtesting it.