Folkscraft
Folkscraft is a homebrew tool for building D&D 2024 species and getting a quick sense of how much power their features add up to.
It is meant to help with comparison and playtesting; it is not an official D&D rules system.
Reading the Score
Aim for roughly 30 Species Points. Landing near that number means the species is in the same general neighborhood as the benchmarks used by Folkscraft.
It is a good place to start playtesting, not a guarantee that every combination will behave the same at the table.
Below 26 SP: Probably too light.
26–27 SP: A little light, but still workable.
28–32 SP: The main target range.
33–35 SP: Strong; take a closer look at how the features work together.
36–39 SP: Probably too strong.
40+ SP: Worth trimming before playtesting.
Features that need extra care.
Some abilities can reshape encounters even when the total score looks reasonable. Permanent flight,
extra usable limbs, broad magic resistance, unusual permanent size, regeneration, extra reach,
and major changes to action economy all deserve special attention in playtesting.
Before You Playtest
1. Look at combinations.
Ask which classes or character builds get the most out of these features. If several abilities all
push in the same direction, the species may play stronger than the score suggests.
2. Think about how often each feature matters.
A swim speed can be amazing in one campaign and nearly invisible in another. The same goes for
terrain, stealth, social, and exploration features, so judge them in the kind of game you expect to run.
3. Read the feature like a player will.
Look for edge cases and unintended combinations, especially with flight, teleportation, grappling,
reach, extra limbs, invisibility, concentration, resting, size, and item use.
4. Compare it with official species.
Find a couple of official 2024 species that do similar things and compare the whole package.
One feature can look harmless or expensive on its own and feel very different once the rest of the species is included.
Folkscraft also watches for obvious overlaps.
The Builder points out things like two different size choices, overlapping Darkvision, duplicate movement upgrades,
or resistance that is already covered by immunity. It never changes your score on its own; it simply tells you
where you may be counting the same benefit twice.
5. Then play it.
Pay attention to moments when the species makes encounters much easier than expected, skips whole kinds
of challenges, or pairs so well with one class that the choice starts to feel automatic.
Random Build.
Random Build throws together a species from the feature library and aims for the 28–32 target range.
It leaves out pricing-only rows and drawbacks, and it will not intentionally go above 35 SP.
The result is something to experiment with, not a promise of perfect balance.
Source
Official reference.
Based on a feature from an official 2024 species. The point value is Folkscraft's estimate, not an official number.
Legacy adaptation.
Adapted from older fifth-edition homebrew balancing ideas, including Detect Balance, and repriced for the 2024 species rules.
General mechanic.
A familiar D&D mechanic turned into a reusable species feature rather than tied to one particular species.
Folkscraft original.
Created for Folkscraft to cover homebrew ideas that go beyond the usual official species design space.
Pricing modifier.
An adjustment used to price another feature. It usually should not appear by itself in a finished species.
Credits & Lineage
Folkscraft is an independent D&D 2024 homebrew tool inspired in part by
Detect Balance: a 5e Homebrew Race Guide
.
Detect Balance helped popularize the idea of comparing fifth-edition ancestry features with point values.
Folkscraft carries that idea forward for the 2024 species rules with a new scale, a larger feature library,
source labels, conflict warnings, and PHB benchmarks.
The Basic Idea
Use the score to get into the right neighborhood, then use comparison and playtesting to decide whether
the species really belongs there. Folkscraft is here to support judgment, not replace it.