Dragon 372 - Design & Development: The Gnome, the Bad, and The Ugly

Shroomy · Feb 6, 2009

It's up:

Design & Development: The Gnome, the Bad, & the Ugly

thecasualoblivion · Feb 6, 2009

Reading that, I'm 90% convinced the Half Orc is Str/Wis.

Lojaan · Feb 6, 2009

IMHO I think the main problem with half-orcs, fluff-wise, is the assumption that the 'half' part means 'human'. Ditch that and you're fine, and it opens up a world of possibilities. And you can keep it that most people *think* that they're half human, half orc 'cause that's how they look, but really they're their own race.

In my game I've done that with half-elves. They're called 'half-elves' colloquially, but really they're half (or just part) fey. They could have had a nixie, or saytr, or even harpy ancestor. Means half-elves are much more fun, can all look interesting/unique, and you get out of that whole why are there no half-eladrin or drow, why don't they get a bonus to dex weirdness. And explains why they make such good feylocks.

I do the same with tieflings. Get the player to pick a devil and get physical/emotional charastics from that instead of just the horns and tail shtick. More fun. But each to their own.

Rechan · Feb 6, 2009

Lojaan said:
IMHO I think the main problem with half-orcs, fluff-wise, is the assumption that the 'half' part means 'human'.

I really liked what Mouseforatu did with the half-orcs in the Advanced Player's Guide. They descended from neanderthal/proto-human and orc interbreeding. So they're a true breeding race with old ancestry.

In my game I've done that with half-elves. They're called 'half-elves' colloquially, but really they're half (or just part) fey.

Aye. I do similar. In fact, I think Half-Elves make great changelings (in the original sense of the word, not the doppelganger guys).

I do the same with tieflings.

I offer Tiefling Houses. You have some that look the way they do in the book. Then you have the goat-legged ones with ram horns. Then you have the red-skinned ones with spade-tipped tails. All dependent upon lineage.

vagabundo · Feb 6, 2009

It was probably best leaving the story options open - although a bit of a cop out. It was a funny read anyway:

If you ask a half-orc about his origin, you might hear one of these stories. You might also get a punch in the face for asking such a rude question.

I was half-tempted to end with: That's just how half-orcs roll.

EDIT: I'm also starting to really want to base my game in the implied setting, throw in some of the iconic locations and the new (old) backstory and you have an interesting place. I've gone with semi-homebrew because there is no unified resource for all the history. Maybe next year we need fluff cyclopedia.

Samurai · Feb 6, 2009

I'm glad gnomes are back. I had a great time playing a gnome by the name of Mad Angus Malone in a Forgotten Realms game. He was truly crazy... he was incredibly paranoid, and he'd latch on to ideas/delusions about things and just not let them go. He was convinced a secret cabal of Ice Wizards were out to take over the Realms. He thought a highly intelligent race of Yellow Musk Creepers ruled the jungles of Chult, which our party visited. (We never saw any Yellow Musk Creepers, but every flowering plant was "one of them", and he'd torch it on sight!) And every single ship was a pirate ship to him... he'd talk to the crew as if they were pirates, belittle the lack of guns on a trading ship ("How will you get your prey to surrender without a cannonshot across the bow?"), etc. And there were numerous other, smaller delusions that he'd have as well... he was just a blast to play, and was constantly getting into trouble!

Plane Sailing · Feb 6, 2009

Heh. I try the link and I get

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Trolls · Feb 6, 2009

I found this quote particularly interesting:

"Some races need more tweaking than others. If we ever get around to doing a version of the kobold as a PC race, we'll probably change shifty pretty significantly. You'll see more examples of how a PC race is not always the same as a monster race in the Eberron Player's Guide this summer."

So that confirms we'll see at least 2 races from the MM in the EPG. Warforged is probably one of them, and shifters are in the PHB2, so this seems like confirmation that doppelgangers are included. It could be hobgoblins, goblins or orcs, but I'd put my money on changelings reappearing.