Campaign Creation: practical effects of some changes

[WizarDru]

So for the new setting I'm working on, I'm working with a few ideas with relatively minor mechanical implications. What I'm wondering is if there are effects that I'm missing that I may need to factor in.

Due to a series of setting specific reasons, the following conditions apply:

• Skin colors are not fixed and can be different colors across the spectrum
• Some individuals still have normal flesh tones, but considered a minority
• Some people are born with a crystal embed in their skin, no relation to their skin color
• Interracial couplings always breed true, though can be from either parent
• There are no societies based around shared ancestry, other than geographic location or citizenship
• There are no half-breeds (i.e. no half-orcs, no half-elves) with the exception of planar touched
• There are no 'sub-races' such as deep gnomes, duergar or dark elves
• All mortal races live roughly the same lifespans, with a variance of only about 20 years on average (in either direction)

Mechanically these are fairly minor changes and I'm not seeing any real effect on the players, per se. Are there are any wider effects on the players from these changes (such as reducing lifespans or or removing ancestral groups) that would have wider mechanical implications? For example, are there any spells that would have their effectiveness changed by these conditions significantly? Are there any larger mechanical issues to consider? Just double-checking I'm not short-changing any players in this setting.

 

[TwoSix]

Other than knocking out some popular choices like half-elves, I fail to see the changes as anything other than aesthetic. Lifespan simply doesn't come up as a mechanical benefit.

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=17465]Wizard[/MENTION]Dru Fey Ancestry of elves?

 

[WizarDru]

After double-checking the Fey and Draconic Ancestries, I think those should be fine, as is. Since there won't be any half-elves or half-orcs, they should continue to work as intended.
I may consider some variation of using half-orcs AS orcs in terms of where players are concerned, if one of my players expresses a desire to play as one, I suppose, but for all intents and purposes, they'd be an orc conceptually and a half-orc mechanically.


Thanks!

 

[Coroc]

Ist just fluff, it sounds nice, maybe like what earth might look in the far future, lots of mutations but still Close to each other. No worries about any negative Impact on the game, especially do not worry about leaving out HE and HO. If they do not exist in your campaign they do not exist. Do not let others try to convince you that oyur Setting is missing out something because of it.

Genetic dominance of one parent usually is not the scientific Explanation, every one and their mother is the mixture of his/her four grandparents rather.

Thats e.g. the reason blondes might die out because the gene for it is subordinate which means to be blonde three of your four grandparents have to be.
Thats also the reason how "white" couples might produce a "black" kid and vice versa, when the Grand parents were e.g. 3 of one color and 1 of another.

 

[aco175]

I read this yesterday and now today trying to think of why. I do not think that anything you are proposing has any affect on playing. Some players may want to play a few races as stated and now cannot. This is no big deal. I was trying to figure out why you are taking it all away in the first place and if I was playing would that mean my character concept now cannot be played. I get that it is your campaign and you set it up and players play, but it is also dependent on players buying in to the game.

I found myself thinking of race and culture and how they evolved and how that influences character design. Say, I wanted to play a 'viking' and that picture in my mind is replaced by random-colored, same as every other human, no different from the rest. I found myself trying to buy in and not getting there. I do not know the background behind your doing this but get the player buy-in on their concepts.

 

[WizarDru]

I found myself thinking of race and culture and how they evolved and how that influences character design. Say, I wanted to play a 'viking' and that picture in my mind is replaced by random-colored, same as every other human, no different from the rest. I found myself trying to buy in and not getting there. I do not know the background behind your doing this but get the player buy-in on their concepts.

Oh, I wouldn't put this forth without knowing my players would be willing to follow me on that journey. I'm looking to do something different with this new campaign in terms of setting. If one of my players felt really strongly about it, we'd find a compromise. My main concern was any hidden 'gotchas' due to things like more obscure mechanics or spell effects. There are other differences, but they're not modifying core mechanics so much as adding new ones. In this campaign world, a viking culture would be more about design, traditions and locations as much as anything else. One thing I've already changed is breeding; after consideration and more world-building, breeding works differently...but since that doesn't have a direct mechanical change, it shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for the feedback!