D&D 4E Converting 4e Races to Greyhawk

[airwalkrr]

In my blog, I've begun a series on converting some of the more exotic 4e races to the Greyhawk campaign setting, getting back to the traditional roots of Greyhawk while preserving all the mechanical choices available to players.

Converting 4th Edition Races to Greyhawk: Part 1, Dragonborn to Oeridian

I realize this idea might not be for everyone, but I am interested to see what people think about it.

 

[MerricB]

Hmm. For myself - having played an Oeridian character in Greyhawk - I'm not sure I like the idea of equating them with the Dragonborn. In my campaign, the remnants of the noble classes of the Great Kingdom of the Aerdy are Tieflings, with the bulk of the populace remaining human, and Dragonborn are strange creatures from afar (created by Bahamut and Tiamat for reasons unknown).

In my previous (3E) campaigns, I had a Dragon Disciple becoming more draconic, so I link that into the Dragonborn of 4E.

One of the greatest problems I have with a simple equation of powers is just that the human races of Greyhawk are so intermingled, and can be completely different around the world. The Suloise produce the nordic barbarians of the north (Frost, Snow and Ice), whilst to the south you get the Germanic/Nazi group of the Scarlet Brotherhood (Thief, Assassin & Monks); meanwhile, their mages were responsible for the Invoked Devastation in the distant past...

Cheers!

 

[Dragonhelm]

I'm a little confused here. Are you basically re-skinning the Dragonborn to make Oeridians?

One connection I liked for 4e races is the idea of Longtooth Shifters as Wolf Nomads and Razorclaw Shifters as Tiger Nomads. This is a retcon of sorts, but I think it thematically fits.

 

[airwalkrr]

I'm a little confused here. Are you basically re-skinning the Dragonborn to make Oeridians?

One connection I liked for 4e races is the idea of Longtooth Shifters as Wolf Nomads and Razorclaw Shifters as Tiger Nomads. This is a retcon of sorts, but I think it thematically fits.

Yes you have the right idea. It's a different approach to converting a campaign setting to the new rules. Rather than re-write the history of the campaign setting or introduce some cataclysmic event that "changes" the setting in drastic ways, the traditional history of the setting is maintained and the mechanical options available to players are re-skinned to fit the existing setting.

I have a new installment coming up that converts the Tiefling to Rhennee. I have plans for other subraces of both humans, elves and dwarves.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

Yes you have the right idea. It's a different approach to converting a campaign setting to the new rules. Rather than re-write the history of the campaign setting or introduce some cataclysmic event that "changes" the setting in drastic ways, the traditional history of the setting is maintained and the mechanical options available to players are re-skinned to fit the existing setting.

This is what I did to my homebrew campaign world when 4e came along and added things like Dragonborn and Tieflings as core - thematically inappropriate in this particular world whose roots go back to early 2e. Re-skinning new choices to match old flavour is much easier than having a messy and annoying FR-style "Time of Troubles" every time they introduce a new edition.