From tiny fairies to towering giants, player characters in Dungeons & Dragons already come in all sizes and shapes, but Spelljammer‘s plasmoid may be one of the most interesting playable races in quite a long time. With the release of the game’s new slate of Spelljammer content, players can make characters with fluid forms by playing as plasmoids. A species of sentient, space-faring oozes, plasmoids are certainly one of the strangest options available to players. In a game with magic, demons, and now literal space travel, these ooze people manage to be incredibly alien – and that’s a good thing.
Plasmoids are only one of the six playable races in Spelljammer: Adventures In Space, but the other five are quite tame in comparison. The material provides the first-ever official method to play a fifth edition character with no head, mouth, or typical internal and sensory organs. Instead, plasmoids consume food via osmosis and excrete waste via pores. They’re essentially sentient amoebas, though they’re not single-celled; materials describe them as having nerve clusters that can sense light, heat, vibration, and other stimuli. Otherwise, plasmoids wouldn’t be able to feel pain, which might run the risk of making them a bit too weird.
In fact, as strange as they are, plasmoids have a number of traits that deliberately pull back on the alien factor, making them more like typical character options. They’re capable of maintaining a roughly humanoid form, allowing them to wield weapons, wear armor, and cast spells. They need to breathe, though are capable of holding their breath for up to an hour, and the method through which they absorb oxygen is flavorfully a huge departure from the other species included in the Spelljammer box set. And they can speak, though they produce sound by “forcing air out of tubular cavities that constrict to produce sound” – which certainly sounds alien, but isn’t actually that different from how a human’s diaphragm and vocal tract works.
Plasmoids Are A Perfect Playable D&D Race For Players Who Need Something New
So, what gives? Plasmoids somehow seem simultaneously super weird and not weird at all, and some of their strangest attributes are just cosmetic. Players can do all kinds of interesting things in Dungeons & Dragons, but at the end of the day, the rules still need to work. Wizards of the Coast can’t realistically release a playable creature that can’t cast spells or use weapons, as those are fundamental components of the game. This design restriction is more than reasonable – D&D is already a plenty complex game – and players who hoped for more can always bend D&D‘s systems with house rules. Yet despite all this, there are a host of unique features that let players have fun playing a plasmoid.
For creative players and dungeon masters who love detailed descriptions, a plasmoid player character can be a huge boon. The weird ways they “eat” and “breathe” offer plenty of opportunities for fun roleplay moments; doubly so for their mutable forms, as plasmoids de-congeal in their sleep, losing all shape and becoming big blobs. This feature does even have gameplay relevance, allowing a plasmoid to slip through tiny cracks. The opportunities are endless!
Unfortunately, players seeking lore information on plasmoids are likely to be disappointed. The materials in Spelljammer: Adventures In Space are a bit terse; even combined, the three books are shorter than any previous D&D adventure or sourcebook. Plasmoids, specifically, are part of an ongoing trend for Wizards of the Coast – releasing new playable races without significant lore. For many, plasmoids will likely exist as generic “ooze people,” with few details on their societies or dispositions. But perhaps that’s a good thing. Creative players are sure to find ways to make a talking blob of goo interesting, and plasmoids are unique enough that the novelty alone is worthwhile. Anyone who thinks they can have fun roleplaying in D&D as strawberry jam is welcome to give it a try.
