MerricB said:
Dragonlance adds Draconians. 4e has Dragonborn.
Dragonlance also has dragonspawn.
Of course, DL has Minotaurs.
In the end, that's all that really matters.
Irda Ranger said:
Also, I think it would be intriguing to present Dragonborn exactly as written in the 4E PHB and say "Oh, well, when Draconians figure out how to breed, Dragonborn is what you get. All that turning to stone and different color-types is first-generation only." You can have both Draconians and Dragonborn co-existing, but only the Draconians are innately evil, and only the Dragonborn are available as PC's. Perhaps some Dragonborn have been converted to the worship of Good and Neutral gods by prisoners taken during the Wars, or by missionaries.
Draconians have already found the means to reproduce, so that kind of rules out that theory (though it's an interesting one). Also, don't forget that Dragonlance has the noble draconians as well.
Whether that rules out dragonborn in Dragonlance, I don't know. I suspect that they'd only be playable after the War of the Lance, and no later than the Chaos War. Or rather, that's when they could be created. They could live on past the Chaos War.
I would also present Halflings exactly as written in the 4E PHB, just changing the name. Kender, as written in the DL books, were unplayble. Well, you could play them, but it wasn't easy on everyone else. I would not encourage anyone to choose a character that was designed to be disruptive.
I wouldn't just rename the halfling. Looking at 3e, they have some things in common, but a bonus against fear does not equal total fearlessness. There's also taunting to consider.
Also, I disagree with the assessment that kender are disruptive. Kender aren't disruptive; players are. Of course, this is a losing battle...
For the same reason, I see no reason to make Tinker Gnomes a PC race. They exist, you can go to Mt. Nevermind if you insist, but otherwise, we can just as easily pretend they're not there.
I disagree with this assessment. Tinker Gnomes have been a playable race since Dragonlance began. What happens when you have a player who wants to play a tinker gnome and he can't?
Lastly, and bear me out, I'm wondering if the Tieflings (with proper re-theming and new coat of paint) will make good Irda? We'll have to see on that one; just no way to know at this time.
I'm going to say no. Not unless tieflings can shapeshift.
The last thing I can think of right now, and this will be a real stickey wicket among the fan base, I bet, will be how to handle alignment. I think the 4E changes to alignment (from what we've seen) are a Good Thing(TM). I don't want to re-introduce the full nine-point spectrum, and get in arguments over what "True Neutral" means. Moreover, I think it would be a fascinating exercise to try to reimagine the various races and Gods as only Good, Evil, Lawful, Chaotic or Unaligned, and not any combination of those.
A huge theme of Dragonlance is the Balance of Good, Evil, and Neutrality. It is hard-wired into the setting. Perhaps this can become just a flavor piece or perhaps DL will need its own alignment rules. I don't know.
For instance, I think Minotaurs should be either unaligned or Lawful, and rarely Evil.
Lawful, yes. Rarely evil? Gotta disagree there too. Minotaurs as a whole worship Sargas (aka Sargonnas), the evil god of wrath. While the Kazelati minotaurs worship Kiri-Jolith, they're a minority. The minotaur nation, as a whole, is LE in alignment.
