Plasmoid Guide 5e

Published on November 14, 2022, Last modified on November 21st, 2022

Introduced in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, these far-out creatures from deep space are as weird as they sound.

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What is this guide?

This guide is meant to give you an idea of whether or not the plasmoid will be right for your 5e character build.

The color code below has been implemented to help you identify, at a glance, how good that option will be for your plasmoid. This color coding isn’t a hard and fast rule; there are plenty of sub-optimized options out there that will be viable to your party and will be fun to play.

Red : Isn’t going to contribute to the effectiveness of your character build at all
Orange : Situationally good, but a below-average option otherwise
Green : A good option
Blue : A great option, you should strongly consider this option for your character
Sky Blue: An amazing option. If you do not take this option your character would not be optimized

What are Plasmoids in 5e?

Source: Spelljammer: Adventures in Space

Plasmoids are sentient ooze creatures that exist out in the depths of Wildspace. These creatures can mold their amorphous bodies into various shapes, allowing them to appear almost humanoid, create tentacles, or appear as a limbless blob.

Appearing as the first playable Ooze character type in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, plasmoids are a very unique character race as not many spells and effects are meant to target Oozes. This combined with their ability to squeeze through small holes, hold their breath, and shape their bodies can result in a distinct playstyle not found in any fifth edition race.

Plasmoid 5e Traits

Ability Score Increase: Being able to choose between +2 ASI, +1 ASI, or +1, +1, +1 ASI means that you can pick exactly what your build will need.

Creature Type: Oozes cannot be targeted by spells that normally target Humanoids, like hold person, nor spells like normally target Fey, like protection from good and evil. This can innately allow plasmoids to avoid some spell effects, even if magical resistance isn’t included as a racial ability.

Size: Being able to choose between Small and Medium allows you to fine-tune your build. Looking to go for a heavy weapon-weilding barbarian? Medium is the way to go. Wanting to lean a bit more to the stealthy side of things? Small size might be right for you.

Speed: 30ft is the standard walking speed for most races.

Amorphous: Being able to fit through 1 inch gaps is surprisingly useful for any number of scenarios but the caveat of wearing and carrying nothing takes away from the efficiency of this ability. Luckily, you get advantage on grappling and escaping grapples whether you’re wearing armor or not.

Darkvision: Darkvision is always great, but its advantage can be ruined if your party members do not also have it.

Hold Breath: Not nearly as long-lasting as a water breathing spell, but Hold Breath can still come in handy. One hour isn’t very long if you are doing a whole underwater adventure, but this trait can also be used in other situations.

Natural Resilience: Free resistance to poison and acid, along with advantage against being poisoned are solid defensive traits that will certainly come in handy over the course of a campaign.

Shape Self: Being able to alternate between a humanoid and shapeless blob can be useful for stealth. As for the pseudopod, it’s essentially a mage hand that’s attached to your body. You can use your pseudopod to open doors and move Tiny objects, but it can’t attack. Unfortunately, a big bonus of mage hand is that it’s meant to interact with dangerous objects so you don’t get hurt, which, because it’s attached to your body, the pseudopod lacks.

Which 5e Classes Work With Plasmoids?

Plasmoids are an interesting race to build around. Their main benefits come in some damage resistances and the ability to escape grapples, which are defensive abilities that any build would welcome. They also come with quite a few utility-based abilities that can help your character excel out of combat. To make the most out of plasmoid’s Amorphous ability, you have to be okay wearing and carrying nothing, which isn’t ideal for the vast majority of builds.

Artificer: Artificers live and die by their magic items, so the plasmoid's Amorphous will rarely be used beyond the advantage on escaping grapples. Other than that, artificers can get down with some damage resistances and the pseudopod can help while they tinker.

Barbarian: Because of Unarmored Defense, barbarians can actually get a surprising amount of use out of the Amorphous trait. Unfortunately, you won't be able to carry your greataxe with you through the holes, but a Tavern Brawler build could make for a very interesting barbarian plasmoid.

Bard: Unless you plan on sticking to spells that require only verbal spell components, the Amorphous trait can only be used for it's advantage to escape grapples. Also, other than for delivering touch spells, the pseudopod is a strictly worse mage hand, which you already have access to.

Cleric: As long as you're not a heavy armor cleric, plasmoids are actually a really good choice for clerics. Their defensive bonuses can help your cleric stay up healing your party and the pseudopod from Shape Self can help deliver touch healing spells at a distance. Just be careful of using your Amorphous trait if you need to hang on to spell components or your spellcasting focus.

Druid: Plasmoids are a solid choice for druids. Their defensive bonuses can help your druid stay up healing your party and work in wildshape. Also, the pseudopod from Shape Self can help deliver touch healing spells at a distance.

Fighter: Some defensive bonuses, some utility, and advantage on grappling all work well for fighters, especially Tavern Brawler builds. Keep in mind that your Amorphous ability will be hard to use if you're lugging around a greatsword and heavy armor.

Monk: A prime candidate for monks, plasmoids can offer a ton of utility and combat effectiveness. The bonus to escape grapples, resistance against poison and acid, and advantage against poison can all help with survivability. The ability to squeeze through 1 inch gaps as long as your not wearing or carrying anything is almost purpose built for monks, who have Unarmored Defense and primarily use their fists to attack. Unfortunately, your pseudopod can't deliver any attacks, but the plasmoid race is still a very worthwhile choice for monks.

Paladin: Some defensive bonuses, some utility, and advantage on grappling are decent bonuses. But, your Amorphous ability will be hard to use if you're lugging around a greatsword and heavy armor.

Ranger: Beyond the resistance to poison and acid and against being poisoned, there isn't much here for the ranger.

Rogue: If used properly, plasmoids can make for incredibly sneaky rogues. They can fit through small cracks and use their pseudopod to open doors or reel in Tiny objects. This, combined with Darkvision, the ability to hold their breath for an hour, and some defensive bonuses make plasmoids a great choice for rogues.

Sorcerer: Beyond the resistance to poison and acid and against being poisoned, there isn't much here for the sorcerer. Especially because the pseudopod is essentially a strictly worse mage hand, despite its ability to deliver touch spells from range.

Warlock: Beyond the resistance to poison and acid and against being poisoned, there isn't much here for the warlock. Especially because the pseudopod is essentially a strictly worse mage hand, despite its ability to deliver touch spells from range.

Wizard: Beyond the resistance to poison and acid and against being poisoned, there isn't much here for the wizard. Especially because the pseudopod is essentially a strictly worse mage hand, despite its ability to deliver touch spells from range.

Sources Used in This Guide

2024 PHB: 2024 Player's Handbook
BR: Basic Rules
GotG: Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
SotDQ: Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen
ERLW: Eberron: Rising from the Last War
EEPC: Elemental Evil Player’s Companion
EGtW: Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount
FToD: Fizban's Treasury of Dragon
GGtR: Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica
MotM: Monsters of the Multiverse
MToF: Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes
MOoT: Mythic Odyessys of Theros
PAitM: Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse
PHB: Player's Handbook
SAiS: Spelljammer: Adventures in Space
SCoC: Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos
SCAG: Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
TCoE: Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
TTP: The Tortle Package
WBtW: The Wild Beyond The Witchlight
VRGtR: Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft
VGtM: Volo's Guide to Monsters
XGtE: Xanathar’s Guide to Everything

Mike Bernier

Mike Bernier is the lead content writer and founder of Arcane Eye. He is a Adamantine best-selling author of Strixhaven: A Syllabus of Sorcery on DMs Guild and is a contributing author at D&D Beyond. Follow Mike on Twitter.