d20Dwarf said:
Pretty good intuition there. 
Heh. It wears it's inspiration on it's sleeve. Not that it's a bad thing- this setting looks like what I've wanted since 3e was released. I'm tired of hodge-podge settings like FR, Greyhawk, Scarred Lands, etc. (No offense to fans of those settings, I've played in all of them and regularly steal material from them...) I wanted something with the coherency and thematic feeling of Dragonlance, Wheel of Time, or Middle Earth, just without being hamstrung by novels all my players had read.
Only heroes (PCs) get heroic paths, even NPC characters that have PC class levels don't get access to a heroic path. They are reserved for a very special few destined heroes. In your game, this means the PCs, although I can certainly see using heroic paths for heroes turned to the dark side, but to maintain the flavor I would use this very sparingly.
Usually PC's have magic item superiority over NPC's, at least according to the guidelines in the DMG. This makes up for that advantage, in other words... I get it.
They were indeed removed. In Midnight, the non-human character races are all considered Younger Fey, descended from the Elder Fey who were essentially destroyed by the Sundering. The Elder Fey scattered and over thousands of years became the dwarves, orcs, elves, halflings, and gnomes of the world. The Younger Fey can interbreed, but not with humans, so the half-orc and half-elf from the PHB do not exist.
They weren't mentioned above, so I was concerned. Of course, this brings up another question- if humans and fey can't interbreed, can humans take the Feyblooded heroic path? Or could Elder Fey interbreed with humans, but Younger Fey can't?
We give specifics on some creatures, like dragons, but didn't go into detail on others. I understand why DMs would want this information, however, so I'll be happy to answer questions about it here, on the Midnight Yahoo Group, or feel free to email me privately. The setting definitely isn't a traditional fantasy setting, and it's my opinion that too many hydra/chimera/medusa type creatures takes the players' minds off where they should be--namely escaping and foiling Izrador's minions.
Alright, that makes sense. I'm more interested in where, if anywhere, do Demons, Devils, and Celestials fit into the setting, if at all. Giants as well.
The new core classes are:
Channeler- devoted spellcaster, with good skills and a special ability depending on his spellcasting focus (spiritual, charismatic, or hermetic)
Defender- the people's champion, unarmed fighter with a great list of special attacks and defenses
Legate- evil clerics of the dark god Izrador. They, along with their astirax companions, hunt magic users and magic throughout the land.
Wildlander- a ranger without spellcasting, also has a huge list of special abilities he can choose from so he can specialize in any number of concepts. Big thanks to Kevin Wilson for the inspiration for this class.
You can also use Barbarian, Fighter, and Rogue from the PHB. All other base classes have spellcasting capability and therefore cannot be used, with special exceptions (see below).
EDIT- technically I suppose you could use the monk, but we think the defender is a much better choice for Midnight.
It was mentioned that the Midnight core classes were "balanced against eachother". Since Barbarians, Fighters, and Rogues are unmodified, I take it that Midnight core classes are no more powerful than normal core classes. The Channeler does look pretty potent, but magic has it's own MAJOR drawbacks.
Agreed on the Monk vs. Defender. The Defender looks like how I would have designed the Monk- more choice of abilities, rather than a set progression, and a focus on more common weapons (rather than the oriental-tinged ones of the PHB Monk). Also, the fact that they don't have to be Lawful will make at least one of my friends happy (he's wanted to play a Barbarian/Monk for some time now...
)
Of course, there are only (not counting the evil Legate) six classes, which some players might find stifling. I might modify AEG's Wanderer class and add it to the game. Are there any seafarers? Maybe a modified Pirate might be in order as well... (in the Tolkienesque vein, I immediately thought of the Corsairs of Umbar... since it seems we already of Gondorians (Erlanders) and Rohirrim (Sarcosans)... )
We do have some prestige classes in the main book, and a bunch more in Against the Shadow, the player's guide that should be out in May. Among the prestige classes can be found the wizard and druid, Midnight's versions of the two core classes but integrated into the new magic system.
I'll be picking up Against the Shadow for sure. I'll also be interested in seeing how the Wizard and Druid are handled...
There aren't guidelines for adapting PrCs from other sources. Spellcasting classes will require some work to make them usable with Midnight's magic system, but it shouldn't be hard to figure out what changes need to be made, especially once Against the Shadow comes out and you have a lot more Midnight spellcasting PrCs to compare.
I suppose that most general combat-based classes shouldn't be a problem- Dwarven Defender, Cavalier, Weapon Master, Duelist, just for instance.
I'm also a big fan of the Path books though... how well would the Legendary Classes fit with Midnight?
Hope all this has been some help, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the book when it comes out!
Speaking of that, is there anywhere on the net that I can order the book yet? Amazon.com doesn't seem to have it up yet.
Now if my local store would get the game in.
