[Cosmos] Ancestry - Myrachid (Patreon)

There are so many new ancestries and species I wanted to explore for the Cosmos! I don't have much time, but this is one of my favorites. Finally you get to play as a sentient colony. The Hunters from Halo have a pretty darn cool lore.

About the Myrachid

The myrachid scores 27-28 points on my Greater Detect Balance sheet, meaning it's in the average range.

The myrachid is Small with a 25 ft move speed, which starts it off with a couple drawbacks.

The main feature of the myrachid is Colony Dispersal, which basically allows them to escape restraints and pass through bars, and swim or fly. It's a very strong scouting and escape ability designed only for those situations but has some drawbacks: they can't take anything with them, cannot do anything but move or hide, and can't stay like that for long. It has no use in combat (the one place where flight can be a problem) and comes with risks on scouting operations. Still, I graded it pretty strongly just in case.

Their secondary ability is Swarm Mentality, which allows a short-ranged simple communications. Sort of a ribbon since it's really just an extra language and up to GM fiat.

They get a couple of other situational bonuses or skills. The annelid monarchid picks up a bonus action ability to extend their reach, which is essentially equivalent to a bonus action disengage - I'll talk about its realistic utility in the Builds section.

Myrachid Builds

Thanks to Colony Dispersal, you're better off going with an unarmored build so you don't have to worry about dropping your items or armor whenever you disperse. Because Small creatures have disadvantage wielding Heavy weapons, the ideal builds come to Monks (who can make up for the 25 move speed) and casters who don't wear armor.

For the above reason, the annelid's bonus action disengage turns out not that useful. As a monk, you already get that ability, and as a caster you probably shouldn't be on the front lines (unless you're a bladelock).

Monk: Being unarmored, you can easily make use of Colony Dispersal without losing your weapons or armor (though someone will have to hold onto your items). The speed bonus offsets your slower speed, and you can make use of Colony Dispersal's flight to scout or fly out of combat in  a pinch (though you should take care because your fly speed is only 10 feet).

Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard: Any caster with mage armor will circumvent Colony Dispersal. With Swarm Mentality, you can easily fit in a psychic flavor like Great Old One Warlock or Aberrant Mind Sorcerer. If you choose annelid myrachid, you can also get into the front lines where needed and still run away. Talk to your GM to see if the melee cantrips will work (as currently written, they specify a target within 5 feet).

Bard, Ranger, Rogue: It'll be a little harder to keep your weapons or armor on, but if you use Colony Dispersal less, you can get a pretty good ranged build out of it. Being Dex-focused, you'll get appropriate damage and defense when unarmored. If you go with a Rogue, you can rely on Sneak Attack instead of heavy weapons for damage.

Alright I'm done.  What do you think? If you have comments or feedback, let me know! I could only take a best guess with a lot of speculation to determine where the myrachid lands without actual playtesting. What other unique ancestries would you want to see?