Races & Classes details from the WotC boards

[Rechan]

Dragonborn are kin to dragon, they are egg laying (so why on Earth do females need a halter?).

'Cause geeks love boobs.

It actually pisses me off that he didn't give us tiefling fluff.

GIVE US TIEFLING FLUFF DAGNABIT.

 

[Pinotage]

Here's the problem with this: the PHB is not setting-neutral (and wasn't in 3e since it's covered in Greyhawk lore). It assumes a brand-new meta-setting, which makes different assumptions about things than previous editions.

Guess I'm just not a fan of the new assumptions. :\

Pinotage

 

[Pinotage]

So the perfect Phb would have only the rules for dwarfs/elfs/whatever, and not a single line of fluff?

I never said that. I just alluded to the fact that it should be more generic and less restrictive. A racial description can be full of fluff and at the same time not restrict the race. You can bet that some of the first 4e products will contain 'mountain humans' or 'underground eladrin' or 'swamp dragonfolk'. Define the race, give it some characteristics, and let the setting decide the rest.

I'd much prefer a set of core rulebooks where all the core races had listed 'Environment: Any'.

Pinotage

 

[Shortman McLeod]

I'd much prefer a set of core rulebooks where all the core races had listed 'Environment: Any'.

Why stop there? We could go on to have, "Abilities: Any. Age of adulthood: Any. Favored class: Any."

The GURPSification of D&D. Nah.

 

[Szatany]

I never said that. I just alluded to the fact that it should be more generic and less restrictive. A racial description can be full of fluff and at the same time not restrict the race. You can bet that some of the first 4e products will contain 'mountain humans' or 'underground eladrin' or 'swamp dragonfolk'. Define the race, give it some characteristics, and let the setting decide the rest.

I'd much prefer a set of core rulebooks where all the core races had listed 'Environment: Any'.

Pinotage

Elves are nimble and agile thus forests are a good place for them. Elves have abilities that indeed make them nimble and agile, but where did you get the idea that they get abilities that are reliant on forests? I read nothing of that sort, meaning you can have an elf from mountains that lives in mountains? Where's the restriction (other that the one in your head), because I can't see any.

 

[TwinBahamut]

Where do civilizations appear? Not on the plains. Not in the mountains. Not in swamps. River valleys. Places where there is lots of water to drink, to give to your animals, and to irrigate with. Humans will aggregate at river valleys. Maybe other races have physiologies more suited to different environments, but humans, given their druthers, will show up near rivers. There's a reason why the steppes and plains have such low population densities. They don't support large populations.

It is best not to discount the people from the steppes just because they had low populations. Steppes peoples like the Huns and Mongolians have had huge impacts on history. You can probably describe a lot of Eurasian history as the conflict between settled river-valley people and nomadic people of the plains. Both (along with important oceanic and sea travel), pretty much define human civilization.

After all, the difference between plains and river valleys is pretty much semantics. I bet the two are farily indistinct as far as the flavor for humans in 4E is concerned.

The important thing is the distinction between plains and other terrain like mountains, deserts, or forests. Mountains and deserts are the terrain humans in the real world would only settle in as a last resort. Humans can't ive in such terrain easily, but it seems that Dwarves and Dragonborn can do so easily. I like that. Similarly, large populations of people tend to cut down forests in order to create open fields, so I wouldn't say that humans are a forest civilization like Elves are portrayed to be. Halflings being riverfolk is a nice touch, and implies something very different then people who just live in a river-valley (though this may be my experiences with Suikoden 5 altering my expecatations).

As a whole, I think these assumptions are basic enough that they fit well into generic flavor and a wide variety of settings.

Does anyone know what kind of terrain is good for Tieflings or Eladrin? I suppose Tieflings may not have one, but it seems Eladrin should.

 

[Jhaelen]

I never said that. I just alluded to the fact that it should be more generic and less restrictive. A racial description can be full of fluff and at the same time not restrict the race. You can bet that some of the first 4e products will contain 'mountain humans' or 'underground eladrin' or 'swamp dragonfolk'. Define the race, give it some characteristics, and let the setting decide the rest.

Not necessarily. Several designers have mentioned they didn't like the explosion of subraces in 3E.

I'd much prefer a set of core rulebooks where all the core races had listed 'Environment: Any'.

I'd hate that. Really. Unless they introduced a distinction between race and culture.

Are you, btw. arguing from the viewpoint of an earlier edition?

I'm asking because what you'd prefer is not something we've had in 3E. All of the PC races were assigned a certain climate and terrain (in the 3.5 MM). Humans weren't in the MM, so you can only guess what their Environment entry would have said.

 

[Hairfoot]

Now they admit, that the main source of inspiration for the 3.x halfling is the kender.

Was there, inconceivably, some doubt about this?

It's like George Lucas "admitting" that the inspiration for Empire Strikes Back was Star Wars, or Honda finally conceding that the inspiration for the blue 1999 unleaded automatic Civic was the red 1999 unleaded automatic Civic.

So humans correspond to White, dwarves to Red, elves to Green

Snap! Under WotC's stewardship, I knew it was only a matter of time until D&D became Magic: the Roleplaying Game. Might not be a bad thing.

 

[Fifth Element]

HWhat if I want a dwarf who lives in the swamp? Does he have to be a halfling-loving ostracized dwarf?

This is no different from previous editions. Dwarves have always been under the mountain. This doesn't mean ALL dwarf characters have to be.

The only difference here is a designated niche for humans.

 

[WhatGravitas]

'Cause geeks love boobs.

Argh! Arcane Codex flashbacks!

Fainting, LT.