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D&D 5E Kobolds are also from the Feywild now?


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I changed them to breath a concentrated 'life' energy, which makes all the natural fungus spores we're almost always covered in to sprout and drive roots into the victim's bodies, predigesting them for the beaked, toothless green to consume.
Those are some strange Shadar-Kai!!!

(I wonder at times if they originally had the five energy types in 1e if they would have had sonic breath.)
 

3E, 4E, and 5E have all had radically different origins for Shadar-Kai:

  • 3E: Fey bound to the Plane of Shadow
  • 4E: Corrupted humans from the Shadowfell
  • 5E: Elves who pursued a "Third Way" in defiance of both Corellon and Lloth, following the Raven Queen into the Shadowfell
To its credit, 5e’s take kinda preserves the spirit of 4e’s take in a non-Nentir Vale world; sure, it made them elves instead of humans, but it’s otherwise not too far off.
 


I would correct you, but that is too metal to pass up.

Screamo Metal Shadar-Kai!

I'm assuming the second quote made the facetiousness of the firsts obvious... but I'm glad, if nothing else, you're acting like it didn't because we wouldn't have Screamo Metal Shadar-Kai otherwise!!! Which I need to use somehow now.

Thank you!!!!!
 

Ok, had to go look it up. It looks like 3.5 was the big offender, but then 4's switch back left out the chlorine specification of what kind of poisonous

1: cloud of poisonous chlorine gas
Moldvay: chlorine gas, cloud
2: cloud of poisonous chlorine gas
3.5: a cone of corrosive (acid) gas
4: clouds of poisonous gas
5: poisonous gas
Corrosive (acid) gas is the green dragon breath weapon in 3.0 as well. My guess is the 3.0 team was trying to put the green dragon on an energy type like the rest of the dragons - poison not being an energy type. Then the same classes of protection (energy resistance, protection from energy, etc) were all useful tools against dragons of all types - provided you picked the right energy for the dragon encounter.

Now, poison's kind of on the same level as other energy damage types, but it still has relatively oddball protections that are generally more effective against it than remedies for other damage types. For example, protection from energy will give you resistance as a 3rd level spell, but protection from poison does it as a 2nd level spell. Moreover, heroes feast, while expensive, is an extremely good tool to use if you know you've got a green dragon lair to clear since it offers complete immunity to poison, not just resistance.
 

To its credit, 5e’s take kinda preserves the spirit of 4e’s take in a non-Nentir Vale world; sure, it made them elves instead of humans, but it’s otherwise not too far off.
Yeah, I think it does a good job synthesizing the two previous versions. And it's pretty easy to have a "Shadow-Human" by just taking Variant Human and taking the Feat "Shadow Touched."
 

Corrosive (acid) gas is the green dragon breath weapon in 3.0 as well. My guess is the 3.0 team was trying to put the green dragon on an energy type like the rest of the dragons - poison not being an energy type. Then the same classes of protection (energy resistance, protection from energy, etc) were all useful tools against dragons of all types - provided you picked the right energy for the dragon encounter.

Now, poison's kind of on the same level as other energy damage types, but it still has relatively oddball protections that are generally more effective against it than remedies for other damage types. For example, protection from energy will give you resistance as a 3rd level spell, but protection from poison does it as a 2nd level spell. Moreover, heroes feast, while expensive, is an extremely good tool to use if you know you've got a green dragon lair to clear since it offers complete immunity to poison, not just resistance.
Sonic feels like it would be the obvious one to go to for the energy resistance (being the only one missing from the types iirc?). Acid doubles up with black in 3.0/3.5, right?
 

The problem is theming.

Fire for red volcano-dwellers, cold for while glacier dragons, electric for windswept desert dwellers, acid for swamps... okay, sure should be poison, but we need energy types, and... uh... what energy are forests? I mean these days, fire, but there's only the four classical elements and core DnD isn't going to use wood, metal, void or aether.
 

The problem is theming.

Fire for red volcano-dwellers, cold for while glacier dragons, electric for windswept desert dwellers, acid for swamps... okay, sure should be poison, but we need energy types, and... uh... what energy are forests? I mean these days, fire, but there's only the four classical elements and core DnD isn't going to use wood, metal, void or aether.

I had the image of a lion looking sheepish and cowed after the green dragon showed him how it was done. But that's more savannah than forest.

I usually pick thunderstorms more on the plains than the desert. As you note poison seems for for the swamps. (Ice and Fire are certainly on point).
 

Into the Woods

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