Search results

ENworld front page. :D Really, why? If the dragonborn were spoke of as having big horns as standard, or with nose horns, then I could see why you'd worry about that. But tieflings have been "horny" ever since they were introduced in the 2e, and horn-headed fiends go way back in history.

First of all, if we keep the classes in D&D (as we should do, IMO; some sacred cows you don't slaughter, no matter what!), then those classes must be meaningful. The situation in, say, 1e AD&D was that your class dictated most of what you could possibly do, ruleswise: every fighter with the...

Look at the next couple of sentences: So, to make a totally arbitrary guess, heroic-level tieflings look quite like humans if they cover up their horns and tail, which won't be hard (long hair, bandanna, loose pants...); at paragon levels, these traits show quite openly (like the PHB cover); at...

Agreed. Despite being a fan of Tolkien's work, I'm happy to see new races - tieflings and dragonborn - in the PHB which aren't Middle-Earth-compatible. There is nothing setting neutral about the old array of races and classes; it's just that we are all so familiar with the implied setting that...

Do we know that there are going to be punitive opportunity costs? As far as I can recall, the idea was to give the races abilities that are always useful, no matter what class they take... but are most useful when combined with the race's "preferred class".

It bothers me exactly as much as having Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Otto's Irresistible Dance, or the various Bigby / Otiluke / Mordenkainen spells in the game; ie. not a jot.

Yup. 3e took the good things about kender (adventurous, athletic, fearless halflings who have a reason to actually join the party), and ignored the bad (kleptomania, incredible obnoxiousness). Overall, I think this sounds good. As for the "homelands"... there have always been dwarves who live...

Quite simply, whatever the eighth race, a lot of people would find it unappealing. The same with the flavor and/or name of the dragonborn (again, what's wrong with the name?). As long as we don't have the actual PHB in our hands, so we can make statements and comparisions based on actual rules...

I think it's most likely a combination of 1, 3 and 4.

So, if the dragonborn are real, instead of just a catchy rumor, I'm perfectly okay with them. As others have said, reptilian people are an old stand-by of both sword and sorcery novels and of D&D (see yuan-ti and lizardfolk). Having a detailed, scaly race in the PHB (for use either as PCs or...

They certainly won't want people who are dead-set from beginning to hate 4e, WotC and all that they represent. More seriously, I think the playtesters are under non-disclosure agreements anyway, so you won't hear about them anyway.

Or you could have ogres as having split from humanity ages ago, with half-ogres (called half-humans by ogres) being occasionally born into either race, as throwbacks to the ancient form of the race...

The problem with the old approach was that the single-element Inner Planes, although distinct, were damn hard to make interesting in ways relating to adventuring on them, instead of abstract, cosmological/metaphysical way. And nothing I've seen mentioned about the Elemental Tempest does...

When the article speaks of "a single character's personal goals" qualifying as a quest, I can't really see it as meaning anything except player-set goals.

It sounds pretty good to me, overall; it's a nice compromise between the "fine until 0 HP" approach that's been traditional in D&D, and the more realistic but usually annoying death spiral system in several other games.

Half-vampiroids. They suck. :) Drow, although I don't hate them on principle, are a tad overused, and would be one too many fey race in PHB.

Like several other posters here, I'm baffled (but sadly, not surprised) by the reactions in this thread. The point of the article is that 4e is going to have story awards built in the system; this is excellent news. (Particularly since one of the long-standing criticisms of D&D is "You only get...

What's wrong with orcs beyond their Tolkien origin?

I doubt we're going to convert our current campaign (if it's still going at that time); I am likely to start a new one, using 4e rules, though.

Yeah, familiars make excellent advance scouts and/or watchers at low levels, especially when outdoors. Unfortunately, they are all too vulnerable for area effects...