As I think about it, I will actually probably close this blog down at some point, but for now it's staying up. As I said, though, there's really no reason not to go over to the new site and read things there.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
I've Moved!
I will be leaving this blog up for now, since it's free, but I have decided to try to consolidate my online writery and geekery on my new site, [doughagler.wordpress.com]. I migrated all of my posts from this blog, as well as a couple others that have been floating around out there, so everything here can be found there, plus everything I write going forward.
As I think about it, I will actually probably close this blog down at some point, but for now it's staying up. As I said, though, there's really no reason not to go over to the new site and read things there.
As I think about it, I will actually probably close this blog down at some point, but for now it's staying up. As I said, though, there's really no reason not to go over to the new site and read things there.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
5th Edition D&D: Dragonblade! Dragons, But Not Yet Blades
The setting is named Dragonblade! for Pete's sake. I'd better talk about either dragons or blades here soon. I pick dragons.
Obviously, with the goal of having an East/South Asian mash-up fantasy setting, dragons are going to look, and feel, and behave differently when compared to your "standard" Western dragons inspired by the likes of the Dragon of Revelation, the nameless dragon St. George killed, the nameless dragon that mortally wounded Beowulf and was slain by Wiglaf, Fafnir, Ancalagon the Black, Smaug the Golden and so on. I hope you are already pretty familiar with those kinds of dragons - generally sinister, almost as greedy and narcissistic as Donald Trump, fire-breathing, etc.
Eastern dragons (broadly), by contrast, tend to be wise, relatively benevolent, and associated with rivers. They are more serpentine and often wingless, though still able to fly in many stories. They often have lion's manes and clawed feet and long, flexible bodies. They often control the weather and sometimes, by extension, local fertility. They are, like their Occidental counterparts, associated with power and the supernatural, and do remain dangerous if crossed or aggravated. They're more likely to have a treasure-store of wisdom than of gold and gems, however. Obviously, there is a great deal of variation in both categories.
For Dragonblade, I wanted to stick with the strong elemental theme, and so I decided very early on that there would be five main types of dragons coinciding with the five Daoist elements. By color, in classic D&D fashion, that would be Yellow, White, Black, Red and Green dragons, and I'll describe them, but in a way to avoid spoilers for my players. You know, on the off-chance that they are some of the couple dozen people still periodically reading this blog.
Yellow Dragons, or Earth Dragons are on average the largest of dragonkind. In 5th Edition terms this means they will often have the largest hit dice compared to other dragons. This type of dragon was already covered briefly in my previous post about metaphysics in the setting.
White Dragons, or Metal Dragons, are able to glide at most. They have the highest AC of any of dragonkind, and have some capabilities that make them at home amongst undead. We know they will be strongly associated with lightening, and are likely to be vulnerable to fire in some way. In appearance, they are skeletal and have shiny scales that tarnish and rust with age. They are tireless and possibly even sleepless, and profoundly patient, even for dragons.
Black Dragons, or Water Dragons are flightless, though they have a stronger swim speed than usual for water sup-type dragons in the MM (like the Black Dragons listed there, or the Bronze Dragons). They are fully amphibious, at home in the water or on land, and are a lot like sea monsters sketched in to the oceans of old maps. We can already surmise that they will be strongly associated with cold, and will likely be vulnerable to acid and poison in some way. Black Dragons wield fear with incredible skill, and of all dragons have the most sinister reputation.
Azure or Green Dragons, or Wood Dragons, are the smallest and most flexible of dragonkind. They can fly, burrow and swim, though they are not fully amphibious like the Black Dragons and must simply hold their breath (which they can do for a long time). Green dragons are physically the strongest, especially for their size, and heal more quickly than other dragons. They are strongly associated with force and thunder, and vulnerable to fire. In appearance, they range from bright green to blue-green to sometimes even blue (sometimes this type of qi is referred to as green, and other times, as blue or blue-green). They are easily provoked to anger. In appearance they are the most "standard" Asian dragons, and of course, when they fly it is without the need for wings.
Red Dragons, or Fire Dragons, are able to fly but not burrow well, and certainly cannot swim. Whether they are able and simply hate it, or whether they drown easily none now know. They are the most affable and interested in lesser beings, and the most likely to genuinely care about ren and other races. They are passionate and value art and beauty very highly. Of course, they also breathe fire, and are in some way vulnerable to cold. In appearance, they can look less like dragons and more like huge phoenixes, or maybe like archaeopteryxes made of supernatural fire.
In addition to the five main types of dragons there are others. The ones I can't really talk about are the vast, epic monsters, the primordial beings from which all lesser dragons are descended. Can't spoil them here, though, sorry.
Obviously, with the goal of having an East/South Asian mash-up fantasy setting, dragons are going to look, and feel, and behave differently when compared to your "standard" Western dragons inspired by the likes of the Dragon of Revelation, the nameless dragon St. George killed, the nameless dragon that mortally wounded Beowulf and was slain by Wiglaf, Fafnir, Ancalagon the Black, Smaug the Golden and so on. I hope you are already pretty familiar with those kinds of dragons - generally sinister, almost as greedy and narcissistic as Donald Trump, fire-breathing, etc.
Eastern dragons (broadly), by contrast, tend to be wise, relatively benevolent, and associated with rivers. They are more serpentine and often wingless, though still able to fly in many stories. They often have lion's manes and clawed feet and long, flexible bodies. They often control the weather and sometimes, by extension, local fertility. They are, like their Occidental counterparts, associated with power and the supernatural, and do remain dangerous if crossed or aggravated. They're more likely to have a treasure-store of wisdom than of gold and gems, however. Obviously, there is a great deal of variation in both categories.
For Dragonblade, I wanted to stick with the strong elemental theme, and so I decided very early on that there would be five main types of dragons coinciding with the five Daoist elements. By color, in classic D&D fashion, that would be Yellow, White, Black, Red and Green dragons, and I'll describe them, but in a way to avoid spoilers for my players. You know, on the off-chance that they are some of the couple dozen people still periodically reading this blog.
Yellow Dragons, or Earth Dragons are on average the largest of dragonkind. In 5th Edition terms this means they will often have the largest hit dice compared to other dragons. This type of dragon was already covered briefly in my previous post about metaphysics in the setting.
White Dragons, or Metal Dragons, are able to glide at most. They have the highest AC of any of dragonkind, and have some capabilities that make them at home amongst undead. We know they will be strongly associated with lightening, and are likely to be vulnerable to fire in some way. In appearance, they are skeletal and have shiny scales that tarnish and rust with age. They are tireless and possibly even sleepless, and profoundly patient, even for dragons.
Black Dragons, or Water Dragons are flightless, though they have a stronger swim speed than usual for water sup-type dragons in the MM (like the Black Dragons listed there, or the Bronze Dragons). They are fully amphibious, at home in the water or on land, and are a lot like sea monsters sketched in to the oceans of old maps. We can already surmise that they will be strongly associated with cold, and will likely be vulnerable to acid and poison in some way. Black Dragons wield fear with incredible skill, and of all dragons have the most sinister reputation.
Azure or Green Dragons, or Wood Dragons, are the smallest and most flexible of dragonkind. They can fly, burrow and swim, though they are not fully amphibious like the Black Dragons and must simply hold their breath (which they can do for a long time). Green dragons are physically the strongest, especially for their size, and heal more quickly than other dragons. They are strongly associated with force and thunder, and vulnerable to fire. In appearance, they range from bright green to blue-green to sometimes even blue (sometimes this type of qi is referred to as green, and other times, as blue or blue-green). They are easily provoked to anger. In appearance they are the most "standard" Asian dragons, and of course, when they fly it is without the need for wings.
Red Dragons, or Fire Dragons, are able to fly but not burrow well, and certainly cannot swim. Whether they are able and simply hate it, or whether they drown easily none now know. They are the most affable and interested in lesser beings, and the most likely to genuinely care about ren and other races. They are passionate and value art and beauty very highly. Of course, they also breathe fire, and are in some way vulnerable to cold. In appearance, they can look less like dragons and more like huge phoenixes, or maybe like archaeopteryxes made of supernatural fire.
In addition to the five main types of dragons there are others. The ones I can't really talk about are the vast, epic monsters, the primordial beings from which all lesser dragons are descended. Can't spoil them here, though, sorry.
Saturday, July 11, 2015
5th Edition D&D: Dragonblade! Five-Element Metaphysics. And Dragons.
Every time I run my game, it makes me want to write about, so here you go you lucky internet folk.
Specific definitions of elemental damage types come and go in D&D, but from the very beginning it has been explicitly built on a four-element metaphysics, consistent with, broadly speaking, Western civilization as influenced by the Greeks and Romans. The four familiar elements are earth, air, fire and water, and they are familiar to us even from diverse sources like Final Fantasy, board games, our four suits we use in card games (by "our" I mean Americans and Europeans, D&D's main audience).
If we look out East, we find other metaphysical models for the elements. In Hinduism, broadly speaking again, you can say there are zero elements, or one element, or five, or six. When looking at the five-element and six-element models, they were imagined as concentric circles, or as increasing complexity, which wasn't what I knew I'd need for a D&D game.
I was already quite familiar with Daoist elements, and some of you reading this might be as well from such sources as acupuncture and feng-shui. In the Daoist model, there are five elements, and each flows into the next, and then each is vulnerable to one of the other ones, making this model look like a complicated five-pointed star with a circle drawn around it, like this:
Adapting this to D&D took some doing, obviously. I had to think it through in light of the way that elemental damage works in 5E. Leaving out radiant (which I'm calling yang) and necrotic (which I'm calling yin), there are acid, poison, fire, cold, lightening, force, thunder and psychic. I also left off psychic for this system, since in the metaphysical model itself, all of the five elements have psychic/psychological elements.
Reading further in the area, I found some correlations that were consistent. Obviously, Fire coincides with fire. Similarly, Water coincides with cold. Metal, being a conductor, I decided would coincide with lightening. Wood is associated with storms and strong weather, so I decided it would cover thunder. Earth is associated with acids and chemistry, so I left that association in place. And since thunder and acid damage are relatively rare, I added force to thunder and I added poison to acid. So, in terms of the type of damage associated with each element, I got this:
Fire: fire; Earth: acid and poison; Metal: lightening; Water: cold; Wood: thunder and force. That's in generative order. But each of the elements is also vulnerable to another. So, in thinking about supernatural creatures that are strongly rooted in one of the five elements - dragons, for example - I had to figure out what each one would be vulnerable to. This took a number of tries, but I ended up with :
Fire is vulnerable to cold; Earth is vulnerable to thunder and force; Metal is vulnerable to fire; Water is vulnerable to acid and poison; Wood is vulnerable to lightening (the least reasonable one at first glance, but necessary in the overall scheme).
This progression follows the overcoming/destructive cycle (the star above) exactly. Fire is extinguished by water. Earth is broken apart by wood (think of a tree root up the sidewalk). Metal is melted by fire. Water is broken up by earth (the sea hits the coast, the river held by the river bed, etc.).
An example of how this plays out is in the case of a Yellow Dragon or Earth Dragon. I reworked the Yellow Dragon to breathe either a line of acid or a cloud of poison. It is immune to acid and poison damage, and it is vulnerable to thunder and force damage. There are other changes too - no flying speed as it has no wings; +10' to base burrowing speed; higher Constitution; swap scores for Intelligence and Wisdom, all justified by the general idea of the element of Earth and how it is understood.
Figuring this out took a lot of work, but I'm proud of the result.
Specific definitions of elemental damage types come and go in D&D, but from the very beginning it has been explicitly built on a four-element metaphysics, consistent with, broadly speaking, Western civilization as influenced by the Greeks and Romans. The four familiar elements are earth, air, fire and water, and they are familiar to us even from diverse sources like Final Fantasy, board games, our four suits we use in card games (by "our" I mean Americans and Europeans, D&D's main audience).
If we look out East, we find other metaphysical models for the elements. In Hinduism, broadly speaking again, you can say there are zero elements, or one element, or five, or six. When looking at the five-element and six-element models, they were imagined as concentric circles, or as increasing complexity, which wasn't what I knew I'd need for a D&D game.
I was already quite familiar with Daoist elements, and some of you reading this might be as well from such sources as acupuncture and feng-shui. In the Daoist model, there are five elements, and each flows into the next, and then each is vulnerable to one of the other ones, making this model look like a complicated five-pointed star with a circle drawn around it, like this:
Granted, this is a complicated version, but it gives an idea both of the broad strokes as well as the complexities in this model. I hope. As you can see, the five elements are (from the top) fire, earth, metal, water and wood. Remember that these are not necessarily limited to the literal element as it seems in English translation, but to a form of energy that is present in the human body, the progression of the seasons, the rise and fall of dynasties, and pretty much everything else.
There are two cycles of interaction (actually four, but we're keeping it simple here). There is a cycle by which each element gives rise to the next, and also a cycle by which each element overcomes another. The generative cycle is the circle above, and the destructive cycle above is the star. One thing I like about it is that there is always a flow. It's kind of like Rock, Scissors, Paper, Lizard, Spock. Each element overcomes another element, and each is overcome by yet another, and if you follow either cycle all the way, you return to where you started.
Example: fire gives rise to earth (in the form of ashes); earth gives rise to metal (deposits of ore); metal gives rise to water (ancient people observed water condensing on metal surfaces); water gives rise to wood (duh); wood gives rise to fire (also duh).
Adapting this to D&D took some doing, obviously. I had to think it through in light of the way that elemental damage works in 5E. Leaving out radiant (which I'm calling yang) and necrotic (which I'm calling yin), there are acid, poison, fire, cold, lightening, force, thunder and psychic. I also left off psychic for this system, since in the metaphysical model itself, all of the five elements have psychic/psychological elements.
Reading further in the area, I found some correlations that were consistent. Obviously, Fire coincides with fire. Similarly, Water coincides with cold. Metal, being a conductor, I decided would coincide with lightening. Wood is associated with storms and strong weather, so I decided it would cover thunder. Earth is associated with acids and chemistry, so I left that association in place. And since thunder and acid damage are relatively rare, I added force to thunder and I added poison to acid. So, in terms of the type of damage associated with each element, I got this:
Fire: fire; Earth: acid and poison; Metal: lightening; Water: cold; Wood: thunder and force. That's in generative order. But each of the elements is also vulnerable to another. So, in thinking about supernatural creatures that are strongly rooted in one of the five elements - dragons, for example - I had to figure out what each one would be vulnerable to. This took a number of tries, but I ended up with :
Fire is vulnerable to cold; Earth is vulnerable to thunder and force; Metal is vulnerable to fire; Water is vulnerable to acid and poison; Wood is vulnerable to lightening (the least reasonable one at first glance, but necessary in the overall scheme).
This progression follows the overcoming/destructive cycle (the star above) exactly. Fire is extinguished by water. Earth is broken apart by wood (think of a tree root up the sidewalk). Metal is melted by fire. Water is broken up by earth (the sea hits the coast, the river held by the river bed, etc.).
An example of how this plays out is in the case of a Yellow Dragon or Earth Dragon. I reworked the Yellow Dragon to breathe either a line of acid or a cloud of poison. It is immune to acid and poison damage, and it is vulnerable to thunder and force damage. There are other changes too - no flying speed as it has no wings; +10' to base burrowing speed; higher Constitution; swap scores for Intelligence and Wisdom, all justified by the general idea of the element of Earth and how it is understood.
Figuring this out took a lot of work, but I'm proud of the result.
Monday, July 6, 2015
5th Edition D&D: Dragonblade! Classes and Races
I thought I would start where the Player's Handbook starts. I knew that for a homebrew setting, had to get the races right in particular, as that would be the first bit of color and system that the players would interact with, and would continue to be what the players interacted with the world through. I this case, I looked back at Oriental Adventures and L5R and the decisions that the designers made for those games, mostly because both are relatively familiar to me and OA was cheap as a PDF on DriveThru.
I also did some research on folkloric and mythological humanoids from east and south Asia. I looked at these various options through the lens of what would be fun to play and what would be easy to explain? Something more interesting than 'dwarves, but taller' and yet also a race or species that I could explain in a sentence or two at most. The final list of races, which I'll expand upon turned out to be: garuda, half-oni, koropokuru, kumiho (kitsune), naga, nezumi, ren (humans), tengu, vanara, yaksha and yashini.
With regard to classes, in thinking about it, all of the classes could be worked to fit into an Asian setting. Really, it's just a matter of color. You chant ancient sutras rather than arcane spells. Your spell components change a bit in form but not in function. A paladin's oath looks like a samurai oath and so on. I did decide to keep the setup from the Dragonlance Chronicles - specifically, that the previously known gods were forgotten, and that their worship had ended generations ago. Fortunately, I also had a robust tradition, in Confucianism and Daoism, or philosophy and ethics that weren't rooted in the decrees of specific deities. I left the door open for bards, druids, paladins and rangers, just not clerics. Yet.
Garuda is a name for a great bird-like creature in Hinduism. This creature, a deity in its own right, is also depicted as humanoid and winged, somewhat like an angel. A similar being is named the kinnari in Japanese lore or kinnaree in parts of southeast Asia. They are always fierce, warlike and beautiful. They are always depicted as committed to the gods, and there are many stories of their wars with the Naga. Sounds like a rich field to start with.
Rules-wise, I decided that garuda would get a +1 to Strength and a +2 to Charisma. They have advantage when performing music before an appreciative crowd, are medium-sized, have a speed of 30 and are warlike, giving them proficiency with one martial weapon of the player's choice. (I'm not sure why, but most of the races I created do not have darkvision, but I could see the garuda having it. No players chose to play a garuda, so it dodn't come up this time). They also have an optional racial Feat called Winged which would allow them to glide and have fully functional wings rather than the mostly-decorative ones the are depicted with in art. Garuda begin play speaking their own language, Garuda, as well as one regional language.
I needed a race that would be the orc-type - big, strong and scary. I decided on the half-oni because I already had ideas of oni playing a big part in the setting and the storyline for the campaign. I also liked them as a version of the Tiefling, their demonic origin making them hard to trust and accept.
As far as rules go, I decided half-oni would have +2 to Strength and +1 to Constitution. I wanted them to be big and brutal. Half oni are also cannibals - once per long rest, if they consume the flesh of a sentient being, they recover their level in hit points. (I might end up increasing this healing number, but I didn't want to overly encourage players to eat people.) Oni are demonic, and have disadvantage on any social roll to apppear trustworthy or harmless. At the same time, they are automatically proficient with Charisma (Intimidation). Oni have an elemental trait, and are resistant to acid and poison, cold, lightening, fire, or force and thunder. (This ties into how I altered the relationships between the elements for this setting) Lastly, half-oni are fearsome, and once per long rest they can use the Fear spell on a single target. Upon reflection, they half-oni may have too many benefits. I usually try to avoid RP penalties in exchange for concrete bonuses, since they are ripe for abuse, but that's sort of what I hope happens here. We have two out of four players who are playing half-oni, so we'll see how it balances out. Half-Oni begin play with one regional language. If raised by oni, they might be able to speak abyssal or infernal.
I also needed at least one race that was the small, tricky type, and I chose the koropokuru. They're a little bit obscure, but actually show up in Zelda games (they're the ones who, according to the game's lore, hide things in baskets and jars that Link goes around smashing) as well as some anime. They are little folkloric humanoids from Japan's northern island, adapted from an Ainu word for people who live under the butterbur plant's leaves.
Koropokuru gain a +2 bonus to their Dexterity and a +1 bonus to their Wisdom, and they are long-lived compared to ren (humans). They are skilled in camoflage, and have advantage on any Dexterity (Stealth) rolls when they have time to prepare in a natural environment. As gift-givers, koropokuru (koro for short) have advantage on any Charisma (Persuade) check with a creature who has accepted a gift from them in the past. They have a speed of 20 and are small in stature. (As an aside, it entertains me that given the abilities I gave them, they would be amazing smugglers.) Koropokuru begin play knowing their own Koro language and one regional language.
More commonly known as kitsune, at least to Americans like me, kumiho is the Korean term for a similar shapechanging fox. Generally, the kumiho is seen as more sinister and threatening than the kitsune. Mostly I wanted to integrate at least one Korean creature, and this one made sense.
Kumiho receive a +2 bonus to Dexterity and a +1 bonus to Charisma. They are fox-faced, and have advantage on Charisma (Persuade) rolls on characters they have already worked on seducing. They are also shape-changers, and can use a move to shift into a supernatural fox form, given away to careful observers because of their multiple tails (approximately one for every two levels or so). They can carry up to about 10 pounds of gear with them when they change, and the rest just drops to the ground. (I originally had them unable to carry any gear, but thought after the first few times naked kumiho running around would lose its humor). Fox-form kumiho have advantage on Strength (Athletics) rolls to jump and Wisdom (Perception) rolls involving hearing or scent. They are small in fox form and medium in humanoid form. Their speed is 30 on two legs and 40 on four legs. Lastly, as tricksters, they are automatically proficient in Charisma (Deception). Kumiho being play with one regional language.
As mentioned above, the naga and garuda in Hindu mythology (both are singular beings as well as kinds of beings) hate each other, and I kept that for this setting. Long ago the naga ran everything. Maybe this was even prehistory. The garuda are the ones who fought the war to liberate other conscious beings. As it stands in the 'present' of the setting, the naga are an ancient and mysterious race who are powerful and also mistrusted.
Naga gain a +2 to Intelligence and a +1 to Charisma. They keep their age and life-cycle secret from other creatures, but are thought to be incredibly long-lived. Naga respect, above all else, power, and this often means they lean toward evil in terms of alignment (later I'll talk about how I adapted the alignment system for this setting). Naga are shapechangers, and can change shape once per long rest. They have a ren (humanoid) form, an amphibian humanoid form with a serpent's lower half, or a huge sea-serpent with no limbs, fully aquatic. Naga in any form can unhinge their jaws and deliver a powerful bite, dealing 1d3 base damage and then 3d6 poison damage on the following turn. A Con save DC 8 + the naga's Constitution modifier + proficiency bonus. Naga begin play with Naga as their language, and must learn a regional language at character creation or in-game.
One of our player-characters is a nezume, and it's already more fun than I anticipated. The nezumi are my answer to one of the comic-relief races in Dragonlance that so bother me - the Gully Dwarves. I wanted a spot for a tough, durable, small race that lived in the shadow of more 'civilized' societies, but without being obnoxiously stupid. I also liked the idea of an 'unclean' humanoid race in societies where cleanliness is so important. They'd be the ones to handle dead bodies, the equivalent of untouchables.
Nezumi receive a +1 Dexterity bonus and a +2 to Constitution. Compared to ren they are short-lived, living about half as long, or about 40 years at most. Nezumi are gritty realists who know they don't fit into polite society so well, and so they tend toward the chaotic end of the spectrum. Unarmed, nezumi have a bite attack that deals 1d3 damage and they are small creatures. Their speed is 30 and they are vermin, meaning they have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) rolls to find food and water as well as advantage on saves against disease and poison. Nezumi begin play with one regional language.
For humans, I just took the Chinese word that means "person" as well as something very similar to the Confucian word for "humanity." They are exactly as written in the PHB. I also wanted to avoid the trope of having "humans" and then "humanoids" or "metahumans." It seems sort of species-ist. Ren begin play with one regional language.
The garuda are Hindu bird-people, and I decided to also use the tengu, Japanese bird-people (ignoring that they are sometimes dog-people and sometimes just big-nosed demons). Where the garuda are blunt and warlike, the tengu are warlike tricksters, and I liked the parallel between the Silvanesti and Qualinesti elves in Krynn. The garuda and tengu were of course once a single people, called the kinaree, but an ancient wrong split them into two, and the tengu left their ancestral homeland.
Tengu receive a +2 to their Wisdom score, and live about twice as long as ren. Tengu can be harsh, disciplined masters or somewhat sinister tricksters, and so they tend toward neutrality. They are more avian than the garuda, and retain the ability to communicate with all birds, enabling them to use Charisma checks with them. Their speed is 30, and they are sword-masters, and are automatically proficient with all swords. Tengu start play with a regional language (equivalent of Common), the Primordial dialect of Avian, and Tengu.
Already a race of beings in the Mahabharata, the vanara were an easy pick. Additionally, they're kung-fu monkeys, and who doesn't love that? Mythologically, vanara are described as courageous, playful and basically generous beings. Their homeland is in the vast forest at the base of the mountain where the garuda and tengu once lived together as kinaree. I like imagining their society as something bonobos would come up with after another million years or so of evolution.
Vanara receive a +2 to Strength and +1 to Wisdom, and they are medium-sized creatures even though they stand only around 4-5 feet tall and are significantly lighter than the average ren. Like apes, they have much more strength than their frames would indicate, and a different musculature and skeletal structure than ren. Alignment-wise they tend toward the good, and do not tend to be lawful. Their speed is 25 because of their proportionately short legs and feet unsuited to walking long distance, and they have a prehensile tail that is not a fine manipulator but can hold or carry around 5lbs.
Yaksha and Yashini
Yakasha and Yashini are the only species I have that has real sexual dimorphism. That was always something that bothered me about old-school D&D, that different genders had different ability score modifiers, minimums, maximums and so on. I do have a precedent in Hindu lore, however, of the yaksha, hulking people who steadily fatten as they age and are thought of as fierce and frightening, and the yashini, beautiful and volumptuous females who are more wise and alluring.
As of right now I haven't decided on specific abilities yaksha and yashini. For yaksha I am using stats from goblinoids based on their size, and for yashini I am using slightly modified stats for female drow.
I also did some research on folkloric and mythological humanoids from east and south Asia. I looked at these various options through the lens of what would be fun to play and what would be easy to explain? Something more interesting than 'dwarves, but taller' and yet also a race or species that I could explain in a sentence or two at most. The final list of races, which I'll expand upon turned out to be: garuda, half-oni, koropokuru, kumiho (kitsune), naga, nezumi, ren (humans), tengu, vanara, yaksha and yashini.
With regard to classes, in thinking about it, all of the classes could be worked to fit into an Asian setting. Really, it's just a matter of color. You chant ancient sutras rather than arcane spells. Your spell components change a bit in form but not in function. A paladin's oath looks like a samurai oath and so on. I did decide to keep the setup from the Dragonlance Chronicles - specifically, that the previously known gods were forgotten, and that their worship had ended generations ago. Fortunately, I also had a robust tradition, in Confucianism and Daoism, or philosophy and ethics that weren't rooted in the decrees of specific deities. I left the door open for bards, druids, paladins and rangers, just not clerics. Yet.
Garuda
Garuda is a name for a great bird-like creature in Hinduism. This creature, a deity in its own right, is also depicted as humanoid and winged, somewhat like an angel. A similar being is named the kinnari in Japanese lore or kinnaree in parts of southeast Asia. They are always fierce, warlike and beautiful. They are always depicted as committed to the gods, and there are many stories of their wars with the Naga. Sounds like a rich field to start with.
Rules-wise, I decided that garuda would get a +1 to Strength and a +2 to Charisma. They have advantage when performing music before an appreciative crowd, are medium-sized, have a speed of 30 and are warlike, giving them proficiency with one martial weapon of the player's choice. (I'm not sure why, but most of the races I created do not have darkvision, but I could see the garuda having it. No players chose to play a garuda, so it dodn't come up this time). They also have an optional racial Feat called Winged which would allow them to glide and have fully functional wings rather than the mostly-decorative ones the are depicted with in art. Garuda begin play speaking their own language, Garuda, as well as one regional language.
Half-Oni
I needed a race that would be the orc-type - big, strong and scary. I decided on the half-oni because I already had ideas of oni playing a big part in the setting and the storyline for the campaign. I also liked them as a version of the Tiefling, their demonic origin making them hard to trust and accept.
As far as rules go, I decided half-oni would have +2 to Strength and +1 to Constitution. I wanted them to be big and brutal. Half oni are also cannibals - once per long rest, if they consume the flesh of a sentient being, they recover their level in hit points. (I might end up increasing this healing number, but I didn't want to overly encourage players to eat people.) Oni are demonic, and have disadvantage on any social roll to apppear trustworthy or harmless. At the same time, they are automatically proficient with Charisma (Intimidation). Oni have an elemental trait, and are resistant to acid and poison, cold, lightening, fire, or force and thunder. (This ties into how I altered the relationships between the elements for this setting) Lastly, half-oni are fearsome, and once per long rest they can use the Fear spell on a single target. Upon reflection, they half-oni may have too many benefits. I usually try to avoid RP penalties in exchange for concrete bonuses, since they are ripe for abuse, but that's sort of what I hope happens here. We have two out of four players who are playing half-oni, so we'll see how it balances out. Half-Oni begin play with one regional language. If raised by oni, they might be able to speak abyssal or infernal.
Koropokuru
I also needed at least one race that was the small, tricky type, and I chose the koropokuru. They're a little bit obscure, but actually show up in Zelda games (they're the ones who, according to the game's lore, hide things in baskets and jars that Link goes around smashing) as well as some anime. They are little folkloric humanoids from Japan's northern island, adapted from an Ainu word for people who live under the butterbur plant's leaves.
Koropokuru gain a +2 bonus to their Dexterity and a +1 bonus to their Wisdom, and they are long-lived compared to ren (humans). They are skilled in camoflage, and have advantage on any Dexterity (Stealth) rolls when they have time to prepare in a natural environment. As gift-givers, koropokuru (koro for short) have advantage on any Charisma (Persuade) check with a creature who has accepted a gift from them in the past. They have a speed of 20 and are small in stature. (As an aside, it entertains me that given the abilities I gave them, they would be amazing smugglers.) Koropokuru begin play knowing their own Koro language and one regional language.
Kumiho
More commonly known as kitsune, at least to Americans like me, kumiho is the Korean term for a similar shapechanging fox. Generally, the kumiho is seen as more sinister and threatening than the kitsune. Mostly I wanted to integrate at least one Korean creature, and this one made sense.
Kumiho receive a +2 bonus to Dexterity and a +1 bonus to Charisma. They are fox-faced, and have advantage on Charisma (Persuade) rolls on characters they have already worked on seducing. They are also shape-changers, and can use a move to shift into a supernatural fox form, given away to careful observers because of their multiple tails (approximately one for every two levels or so). They can carry up to about 10 pounds of gear with them when they change, and the rest just drops to the ground. (I originally had them unable to carry any gear, but thought after the first few times naked kumiho running around would lose its humor). Fox-form kumiho have advantage on Strength (Athletics) rolls to jump and Wisdom (Perception) rolls involving hearing or scent. They are small in fox form and medium in humanoid form. Their speed is 30 on two legs and 40 on four legs. Lastly, as tricksters, they are automatically proficient in Charisma (Deception). Kumiho being play with one regional language.
Naga
As mentioned above, the naga and garuda in Hindu mythology (both are singular beings as well as kinds of beings) hate each other, and I kept that for this setting. Long ago the naga ran everything. Maybe this was even prehistory. The garuda are the ones who fought the war to liberate other conscious beings. As it stands in the 'present' of the setting, the naga are an ancient and mysterious race who are powerful and also mistrusted.
Naga gain a +2 to Intelligence and a +1 to Charisma. They keep their age and life-cycle secret from other creatures, but are thought to be incredibly long-lived. Naga respect, above all else, power, and this often means they lean toward evil in terms of alignment (later I'll talk about how I adapted the alignment system for this setting). Naga are shapechangers, and can change shape once per long rest. They have a ren (humanoid) form, an amphibian humanoid form with a serpent's lower half, or a huge sea-serpent with no limbs, fully aquatic. Naga in any form can unhinge their jaws and deliver a powerful bite, dealing 1d3 base damage and then 3d6 poison damage on the following turn. A Con save DC 8 + the naga's Constitution modifier + proficiency bonus. Naga begin play with Naga as their language, and must learn a regional language at character creation or in-game.
Nezumi
One of our player-characters is a nezume, and it's already more fun than I anticipated. The nezumi are my answer to one of the comic-relief races in Dragonlance that so bother me - the Gully Dwarves. I wanted a spot for a tough, durable, small race that lived in the shadow of more 'civilized' societies, but without being obnoxiously stupid. I also liked the idea of an 'unclean' humanoid race in societies where cleanliness is so important. They'd be the ones to handle dead bodies, the equivalent of untouchables.
Nezumi receive a +1 Dexterity bonus and a +2 to Constitution. Compared to ren they are short-lived, living about half as long, or about 40 years at most. Nezumi are gritty realists who know they don't fit into polite society so well, and so they tend toward the chaotic end of the spectrum. Unarmed, nezumi have a bite attack that deals 1d3 damage and they are small creatures. Their speed is 30 and they are vermin, meaning they have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) rolls to find food and water as well as advantage on saves against disease and poison. Nezumi begin play with one regional language.
Ren
For humans, I just took the Chinese word that means "person" as well as something very similar to the Confucian word for "humanity." They are exactly as written in the PHB. I also wanted to avoid the trope of having "humans" and then "humanoids" or "metahumans." It seems sort of species-ist. Ren begin play with one regional language.
Tengu
The garuda are Hindu bird-people, and I decided to also use the tengu, Japanese bird-people (ignoring that they are sometimes dog-people and sometimes just big-nosed demons). Where the garuda are blunt and warlike, the tengu are warlike tricksters, and I liked the parallel between the Silvanesti and Qualinesti elves in Krynn. The garuda and tengu were of course once a single people, called the kinaree, but an ancient wrong split them into two, and the tengu left their ancestral homeland.
Tengu receive a +2 to their Wisdom score, and live about twice as long as ren. Tengu can be harsh, disciplined masters or somewhat sinister tricksters, and so they tend toward neutrality. They are more avian than the garuda, and retain the ability to communicate with all birds, enabling them to use Charisma checks with them. Their speed is 30, and they are sword-masters, and are automatically proficient with all swords. Tengu start play with a regional language (equivalent of Common), the Primordial dialect of Avian, and Tengu.
Vanara
Already a race of beings in the Mahabharata, the vanara were an easy pick. Additionally, they're kung-fu monkeys, and who doesn't love that? Mythologically, vanara are described as courageous, playful and basically generous beings. Their homeland is in the vast forest at the base of the mountain where the garuda and tengu once lived together as kinaree. I like imagining their society as something bonobos would come up with after another million years or so of evolution.
Vanara receive a +2 to Strength and +1 to Wisdom, and they are medium-sized creatures even though they stand only around 4-5 feet tall and are significantly lighter than the average ren. Like apes, they have much more strength than their frames would indicate, and a different musculature and skeletal structure than ren. Alignment-wise they tend toward the good, and do not tend to be lawful. Their speed is 25 because of their proportionately short legs and feet unsuited to walking long distance, and they have a prehensile tail that is not a fine manipulator but can hold or carry around 5lbs.
Yaksha and Yashini
Yakasha and Yashini are the only species I have that has real sexual dimorphism. That was always something that bothered me about old-school D&D, that different genders had different ability score modifiers, minimums, maximums and so on. I do have a precedent in Hindu lore, however, of the yaksha, hulking people who steadily fatten as they age and are thought of as fierce and frightening, and the yashini, beautiful and volumptuous females who are more wise and alluring.
As of right now I haven't decided on specific abilities yaksha and yashini. For yaksha I am using stats from goblinoids based on their size, and for yashini I am using slightly modified stats for female drow.
Saturday, July 4, 2015
5th Edition D&D: Dragonblade! High Concept
Image credit: Mirror with coiling dragon, Tang Dynasty, Cleveland Museum of Art
Beyond the fun of playing is the necessary, for D&D, fun of planning and hacking my way through 5th Edition to make this homebrew setting. And this is what I'm going to be going through in these blog posts that probably no one reads. This blog is 10 years old - I started it back when blogging was a thing, and before WordPress was a thing. But I like throwing gaming-related stuff on here.
Dragonblade's High Concept
The high-level idea I had for Dragonblade came out of, as I've mentioned, my re-reading of the Dragonlance Chronicles and my thinking over what those storylines, so tied to AD&D, would look like if re-envisioned through the lens of 5th Edition, not to mention the last 30 years of game design. I thought about how Krynn, like many AD&D settings, was its own flavor of fantasy European mash-up. In contrast to the 500 million European fantasy mash-up settings, there are few East Asian ones, and most of them are Oriental fetishism, usually specifically Japanese fetishism. How many times have I had to sit through two caucasian fans of L5R argue about what "real" magic-wielding samurais would be like? Too many times. In addition, I'm all too aware of the history of cultural appropriation and Orientalism that periodically pervades Western culture. The "exotic East" and all that.And there is so much more to East Asian mythology than the Euro-American view of feudal Japan, including religion, folklore and fantasy of every kind. In the same way that authors have turned to not only Celtic and Anglo-Saxon mythologies but Teutonic, Scandinavian, Russian and Mediterranean, what would it look like if a setting took into account Mongolian, northern and southern Chinese, Thai, Aryan and Dravidic cultures and lore, and took them on their own terms, as much as possible for an outsider who is not a scholar in any of these things? And rather than try to recreate a colonial view of these cultures, mash them up into a fun fantasy setting for D&D?
Then I dropped the idea of Dragonlance and went with Dragonblade, because it sounds awesome. (There are still "dragon-lances", which is actually one name used in medieval China for pole weapons that spat gunpowder and projectiles).
Having said all that, I still had to generalize and mash cultures together into big vague groups - the world is infinitely complicated, but this is D&D, and still a hobby after all. I decided there would be five main cultural groups: the Han (fantasy China), the Yamata (fantasy Japan and some Korea), the Lao (fantasy Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia), the Agama (fantasy northern India) and the Maluku Islands (fantasy Indonesia, Malaysia). I also have a few fringe regions with their own broad cultures: the Dry Lands (fantasy Australia and New Zealand), the Barrier Wastes (fantasy Mongolia, Syria and Silk Road cultures), and the North (fantasy tundra peoples, Siberians, etc.) which I don't have a cool name for yet. Boreal Realm? I'll think of something.
Of course a lot of this is stealing, drawing heavily on my dusty old Bachelor's Degree in Religious Studies, and a lot of mixing and matching and mashing. One of the things I'm learning over again is how much interchange in culture and mythology there was between all of these cultures. Not surprising, just cool to find these connections.
Coming in future posts, I'm going to talk about: playable species, animals, monsters, the forgotten gods, philosophies (I'm focusing on Vedaism, Confucianism and Daoism, especially at first), the interaction of the elements (translating the five Daoist elements to D&D terms was a fun challenge), and the multiverse (a mix of Tibetan six-realm metaphysics, Confucian and Daoist beliefs). Also, of course, dragons and blades.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Dragonblade!
Image credit: http://www.annett-bank.co.uk/feng-shui-intro (currently unavailable)
A couple years ago I got the crazy idea to rewrite the Dragonlance War of the Lance saga. I loved the stories, but returning to them as an adult, some things in them stand out as...better than others. But the stories remained stuck in my mind, and I chewed over this idea for a few months, off and on.
What I came to was a complete re-imagining of the saga, and the things I thought were cool about it. The return of the true gods; dragons; love triangles. (Spoiler alert.) But looking into Krynn as a setting, it also has its weak points. Ansalon is a continent smaller than Texas, with ice in the south and jungles in the north. There are no fewer than three comic-relief races: the kender, tinker gnomes and gully dwarves. Those were just things I didn't want to rework.
I ended up creating a mish-mash medieval Asian fantasy setting, in the way that Krynn is a mish-mash medieval European setting. I wanted to get away from the Japan-fetishism that is totally not part of a lot of "...of the East" books for various games. What I came up with was Dragonblade!. And yes, the exclamation is part of it.
Right now I'm working on a 5th Edition D&D campaign based in the Dragonblade! setting. The story will arise out of choices the players make, but it will involve the return of some gods, dragons, and there is already one love triangle. I got rid of the comic-relief races, and the world will be appropriately big.
This is the Obsidian Portal page for the campaign. I hope that running this campaign will force me to flesh out the world more.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Running Evil NPCs
I am currently running a local group through Pathfinder's Reign of Winter adventure path. In the most recent session, the PCs (who are mostly good-aligned) ended up taking two prisoners at the end of a big combat, as they do when their opponents surrender. Both of these NPCs who surrendered were listed as Neutral Evil in alignment, but neither one had a reason to fight to the death when the battle was already lost.
One of the NPCs was a human female soldier, a commanding officer, but not philosophically committed to evil. Just naturally selfish and maybe more violent than most. The other was a supernatural fey creature who was evil by nature, corrupted by dark witchcraft. In both cases, the PCs entered into negotiations with them, and were very reasonable. They even let the sergeant leave with her "loot" from her bedroom, rather than taking it.
As a result, the PCs got some quality information, especially from the supernaturally evil fey, because she wasn't bought in to any particular cause, and was thankful for not being killed with cold iron. In both cases, though, they were kind of moved by the mercy shown, and in the case of the sergeant, I imagine her heading home with her possessions and life intact and really thinking about her life, maybe even making another decision. (In fact, she's likely to come back later as a character working toward reformation).
The point I'm getting at with this little gaming story is that, given how alignment leads to so much misunderstanding and internet flame-wars (and memes, as above) it's good to be flexible and responsive. It's even good to reward "good" behavior in reasonable ways. Just because it says "NE" or even "LE" or "CE" on a character sheet doesn't mean the person in question is always doing evil things, or will die in order to do evil, or will refuse to surrender, or is always lying and selfish.
Not only that, but these little moments of mercy are the kinds of moments that actually do change people for the better, sometimes, in the same way that one horribly cruel and painful event can change someone for the worse (again, arguably, see above). If nothing else, it gives "good" PCs in a D&D-style game to be something other than cookie-cutter moralists or, more often, just people who ignore alignment almost all of the time. Even if their mercy is not returned, or if they are taken advantage of, it just pushes them to another important choice - how do they respond?
Monday, March 2, 2015
Kender Player Ground-Rules
Edited and improved with input from the Fear the Boot forum. Thanks!
As I'm thinking about 5th Edition D&D Dragonlance, I obviously have to deal with kender somehow. For right now, the default is that kender are NPCs, but if someone wants to play a kender in a given game, I have some ground-rules that I think make sense and will help deal with many of the problems people have with kender in an adventuring party.
Kender Player Ground-Rules
If someone in your group is going to play a kender, there are some ground-rules that will be helpful.
- No stealing from the other PCs without their consent. If agreed to before-hand, the DM can say that you find something in your pouches that belongs to one of the PCs, but you can never steal from them. This is an out-of-character rule that you can justify in-character however you want. This includes going ahead of everyone and taking treasure that is meant for all of the PCs to split. If you do go ahead and rummage, roll on the trinket table. That’s what you get, because kender don’t understand commercial value.
- Any equipment that could fit in the palm of your hand might at any point disappear, reappear or be replaced, with the exception of items crucial to the current story and your favorite tool and weapon. Frequent use of the trinket table is recommended.
- If you decide to have your character rush heedless into danger (being immune to fear), the rest of the group is totally justified in letting you die, get lost, get eaten, etc. rather than risk all of their characters chasing after you. The thing with kender - they have a short life expectancy. They can have a touching funeral while you’re making a new character.
- You must be Chaotic Good or Neutral Good. Though Neutral or Evil kender may exist in the world, they are NPCs.
- You should roleplay your taunts, because they will probably be hilarious.
- Taunt is an attack, and so it can't be used against other PCs unless PvP is OK in your game.
- You must have some agreed-upon mutual connection with at least one of the other characters.
- Everyone at the table has to be OK with you playing a kender. Any player has a veto, no questions asked, when you float the idea. But you can mention these rules when you do, as it will probably help make your case. And as usual, table and house rules apply in the event that your character still gets out of control.
Friday, February 27, 2015
5E D&D Dragonlance (War of the Lance)
This is not complete, and I have put it aside for right now, but I've filled out and thought through a number of things that could be helpful to anyone else working on adapting 5th Edition D&D to Dragonlance during the War of the Lance. I know that WotC seems to intend to release official Dragonlance content, or at least it seems that way, but I got stuck on the idea and enjoyed thinking it through. Anyway:
Backgrounds
Seeker (subset of Charlatan)
You are, or were, a Seeker of Haven, one of the followers of the new gods.
Plainsfolk
You come from one of the “barbarian” tribes of Abanasinia, and can traverse those lands and find shelter and hospitality as long as you don’t bring evil with you.
Solamnic Lineage (subset of Noble)
You begin play with a suit of armor for free, up to and including plate armor and a steel shield.
Kender
Kender are a sub-race of halflings, effectively. Their Charisma increases by 1 and they gain the Fearless trait, which upgrades Brave to become an immunity to fear. Also, rather than lawful good, kender tend to be chaotic good - not intending harm, but not interested in rules or authority.
Kender as NPCs only: Kender PCs are notoriously difficult to deal with, and a DM can simply rule that Kender, like Gully Dwarves, are NPCs only. In this capacity, Kender can function very well as plot devices to move things along. Either way, at any time the DM can simply announce what a Kender has in her pouches and pockets, regardless of what the Kender player thinks is in there.
PHB Races
All PC dwarves are probably hill dwarves, though mountain dwarves also exist, as well as three or so kinds of ‘dark dwarves.’
Qualinesti elves are wood elves, and Silvanesti elves are high elves. Drow don’t exist. “Dark elves” are just elves who are outcast.
Kender are a subrace of halflings, and there are no other kinds of halflings.
Dragonborn don’t exist, and draconians lack breath weapons but have other special abilities instead.
All Krynn gnomes are tinker gnomes, or rock gnomes.
Half-elves normally choose to be half-Qualinesti or half-Sylvanesti, and are very rare.
Orcs and half-orcs do not exist on Krynn. Half-Ogres?
Tieflings probably do not exist on Krynn.
Need to work up Kagonesti, Dimeresti, Dargonesti
Irda, Kagonesti, Dimmeresti, Gully Dwarves, Minotaurs, Thanoi...
Knights of Solamnia
Solamnic Nobility background grants a suit of armor, and a bit of a stigma as an anachronism.
Knights of the Crown are an archetype of Fighter, starting with Squire. Knights of the Sword are a priestly order prestige class with spellcasting. Knights of the Rose are essentially Paladins in a world without other kinds of Paladins, making Paladin hard as hell to achieve.
Martial Archetype: Knight of the Crown (Loyalty and obedience)
3rd level, 7th level, 10th level, 15th level, 18th level martial archetype features to gain.
3rd level: Knight of the Crown. Travel to Solamnia to be tested according to the Oath and the Measure. Take the Oath. You gain an additional Background, which is Solamnic Knight
Multiclass to Cleric: Knight of the Sword (Courage, heroism, gods of good)
During the War of the Lance, Knights of the Sword no longer have divine magic granted to them, but this changes with the return of the gods. When Knights of the Crown become Sword Knights, they multiclass to Clerics of Paladine or Kiri-Jolith.
Multiclass to Paladin: Knight of the Rose (Wisdom, honor, justice)
Can only take the Oath of Devotion or, occasionally, the Oath of Vengeance. The oath of the Ancients is available to half-elves and elves after the War of the Lance. Otherwise, when a Crown or Sword Knight becomes a Rose Knight
Wizards of High Sorcery
Justify the alignment thinking. Some kind of link to the moons (advantage/disadvantage on casting rolls?). Red Robes are easiest to get into, a Wizard archetype maybe. Black Robes next, White Robes hardest. Black Robes are the only ones to focus on necromancy, and White Robes are often abjuration specialists. The Towers of High Sorcery are the only “official” Arcane Traditions. Any arcane spellcasters who do not don one of the three robes are renegade mages, though low-level casters are often ignored as long as they don’t draw attention to themselves.
The special ability gained at 2nd level for the PHB arcane tradition can still be taken, but the abilities at 6th level, 10th and 14th their feature comes from their organization.
6th level feature: Test of High sorcery
If you pass, choose your robe, and gain the associated benefits and/or cost. Because the various robes share spells and lore amongst themselves, you can choose different school abilities for 6th and 10th than you did for 2nd. The test itself occurs when you are 5th level, followed by training. Most who take the test become Red Robes, as both White and Black require clear demonstrations of commitment to good or evil respectively.
10th level feature: Bound to the Moon
In addition to your school ability, you are now bound to the moons of Krynn; Solinary and the White Robes, Lunitari and the Red Robes, Nuitari and the Black Robes. It can be both a boon and a penalty. In high sanction, you receive a small bonus of +1 to your spell save DCs and spell-related rolls. In low sanction, you have a similar -1 penalty. Soniari and Lunitari are obvious to everyone. Nuitari is only visible to Black Robe mages.
14th level feature: Master of High Sorcery
You are inducted into mastery, and join the small cabal of powerful wizards of high sorcery. You are expected to provide leadership for your fellow Robes, and the seven members of the Conclave from each order are drawn from among these masters. So, Master of High Sorcery < Conclave Member < Master of the Order < Master of the Conclave.
Wizards of High Sorcery as NPCs only: most PC casters, during the War of the Lance certainly, would be considered renegade mages, and therefore to be captured, recruited or neutralized. This makes being in an adventuring party difficult, unless PC Wizards are also renegade mages.
Black Robes
Only Black Robe Wizards have regular access to necromancy spells, and can choose 6th, 10th and 14th level benefits from Enchantment, Evocation or Necromancy.
Red Robes
Red Robes are most often illusionists, and can choose 6th, 10th and 14th level benefits from Conjuration, Illusion or Transmutation.
White Robes
White robes have the best access to abjuration spells, and can choose 6th, 10th and 14th level benefits from Abjuration, Divination and Enchantment.
Holy Orders of the Stars
Start as Clerics without any spellcasting ability but some kind of god-related artifact depending on their intended Order. True holy symbols are self-propagating, whatever form they might take. Early in the War of the Lance, the Disks of Mishakal are the basic religious text, though there is only one copy. Obviously Mishakal’s artifact is the blue crystal staff. Paladine or Kiri-Jolith’s might be a hereditary shield. Branchala’s could be a musical instrument. Etc.
Otherwise, PHB pg. 295.
The 21 true gods and their domains (where applicable): primary, secondary
Branchala: Light, Trickery
Habbakuk: Nature, Tempest
Kiri-Jolith: War, ?
Majere: Knowledge, ?
Mishakal: Life, Knowledge
Paladine: War, Light
Solinari: None
Chislev: Nature, Life
Gilean: Knowledge, ?
Lunitari: None
Reorx: ?, Trickery
Shinare: ?
Sirrion: Light, Knowledge
Zivilyn: Nature, Knowledge
Chemosh: Death, Trickery
Hiddukel: Trickery, Knowledge
Morgion: Death, Nature
Nuitari: None
Sargonnas: War, Nature
Takhisis: War, Trickery
Takhisis: War, Trickery
Zeboim: Tempest, War
“Renegade” Mages
As far as the Towers of High Sorcery are concerned, all Sorcerers and Warlocks, as well as Wizards who do not affiliate with them, are renegades. Sorcerers arise in the populace almost at random. Warlocks, on the other hand, have sought out some power in the world, in the absence of true gods. During the time of the War of the Lance, both are able to hide among the Seekers and other charlatans.
The Theocratic Seekers would have among their ranks Sorcerers and Warlocks who had, knowingly or not, discovered a path to arcane magic outside the authority of the Towers.
Bards would fall into an odd category, and would be seen as renegade mages who are dabblers and con-artists for the most part. They still do not have access to healing magic until the return of the gods, as on Krynn that is their sole purview. Most can remain beneath the notice of the Wizards of High Sorcery, as long as they don’t demonstrate the ability to cast 3rd level spells.
Draconians
Draconians, like true dragons, have spellcasting abilities. They can cast a number of spells equal to their Charisma modifier, at a spell level up to half of their hit dice, from the Sorcerer spell list. Draconians also have darkvision, and their species hit-dice are d8s as medium-sized creatures. Along with destructive death-throes, draconians also have a bonus to saves against magical effects equal to half of their species hit dice.
Baaz
Foot-soldiers, fighter-ish, at death turn to stone and weapon sticks for 1d4 rounds, Dex save to prevent if you land the killing blow. Magic resistance. CE. Claw/claw. Able to disguise themselves as Seeker priests, at least for a while, but still have tails and wings. +1 to saves vs. magic. 2 hit dice; normally not enough Charisma for spellcasting.
Bozak
As 4th level casters (sorcerers), high magic resistance, at death flesh turns to dust and sloughs off and bones explode. LE. Charm person, magic missile, shield; invisibility, mirror image. Sorcerer. Can glide with wings; magic second only to Auraks. Battle-commanders. +2 to saves vs. magic. 4 hit dice; 2nd level spells. Invisibility or mirror image, charm person or shield.
Kapak
Spell resistance, rogue-ish, at death dissolves into a pool of acid that splashes adjacent foes (Dex save). Able to poison blades with saliva (+1d6 poison damage to cutting or piercing). Darkvision and low-light vision both, as dragons. Many served Feal-Thas when he was White Dragonlord. NE. 4 hit dice; 2nd level spells, though they often lack the Charisma for spellcasting.
Sivak
Able to truly fly, often armed with two-handed swords. Can also assume the shape of any they kill. Largest of the draconians as well. Fighter-ish. Probably Rangers, as they are often employed as scouts and first-strike types. When killed, they assume the shape of whomever killed them, then crumble to black ash. If killed by someone large or tiny, they explode. LE. 6 hit dice; 3rd level spells. Alter self, fly.
Aurak
Powerful sorcerers and least loyal with their own strong agendas. When slain, or near death, the immolate, burning all those adjacent and whoever strikes them with a weapon, and then exploding and dealing fire damage to all nearby. Highest magic resistance at +3 to saves. NE. 8 hit dice; 4th level spells. Dimension door, greater invisibility, polymorph, suggestion.
As per AD&D Guide: Spells granted by Takhisis: 3/day Dimension door. At will/ Invisibility. 3/day Change self to resemble any humanoid. 2 energy blasts from hands per round (1d8+2 damage). 2 claws and bite 1d4/1d4/146. 3/day breath weapon - poisonous cloud 4d8 damage. Con save to avoid being blinded for 1d4 rounds and for half damage. Up to 4th level spells in addition to these, based on their Charisma modifier (as dragons). At will/ Suggestion. 1/day Mind control.
Death throes: at 0 hp an Aurak enters an immolation frenzy; +2 to melee attack and damage, and anyone striking them in melee take 1d6 fire damage. At -Con hit points, they become a ball of arcane fire dealing 2d6 damage per turn for three turns. Then they explode in a thunderous boom, dealing 3d6 sonic damage, Con save to avoid being stunned for 1d4 rounds and for half damage - 10 foot radius.
Magic Items and Artifacts of Krynn
Axe of Brotherhood and Sword of Friendship
Paired magical weapons, with the axe in a dwarven style and the sword in the style of abisinian ‘barbarians.’ Both are +2 weapons, and when wielded by allies in the same battle within 30’ of each other, then are both +3.
Bloodstone of Fistandantalus
An artifact of the greatest Black Robe Mage ever to live. The bloodstone enabled Fistandantilus to steal not only the memories and skills but the bodies of his victims, extending his life far beyond the norm for any mortal.
Blue Crystal Staff
The artifact of the goddess Mishakal.
Dalamar’s Bracelet of Magic Resistance, Ring of Healing and Wand of Lightning
Magic items created by Raistlin’s apprentice Dalamar, the ‘dark elf.’
Dagger of Magius
More than one of these magic items exist, worn by powerful wizards of high sorcery for self-defense. They range in power from +1 to +3, and are usually silvered or alloyed with cold iron.
Dragon Armor
Magical scale armor worn by dragon highlords and other powerful dragon-riders in Takhisis’ army during the War of the Lance. It gives a +2 AC bonus and counts as cold weather gear. The armor also gives resistance to an element based on its color: fire for red dragonscale, electricity for blue dragonscale, poison for green dragonscale, acid for black dragonscale, and cold for white dragonscale.
Flute of Wind Dancing
Footman’s Dragonlance
Easier to forge but still requiring the Silver Arm of Ergoth and the Hammer of Kharas, the footman’s dragonlance is designed to be wielded by a single soldier. It is a +3 magical dragonbane lance, effectively a long spear. Lesser lances might be +1 magical weapons, but are not dragonbanes.
Glasses of the Arcanist
Glasses of True Seeing
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?373588-New-Item-Glasses-of-True-Seeing-(Dragonlance)
Golden Circlet
Griffon Mane Helm
Flint Fireforge’s treasured griffon-mane helm increases a dwarf’s AC by 1 when worn.
Hammer of Kharas
Keys of Quinarost
The only keys known to be able to open the secret entrances into the realm of Silvanost.
Medallion of Faith
At the end of the Age of Despair, with the return of the true gods, clerics serving the true gods receive medallions of faith. A medallion of faith can create another medallion for any deity in a given pantheon once per day, but only on a true profession of faith (as someone becomes a level 1 cleric).
Mounted Dragonlance
True dragonlances must be forged by both the Silver Arm of Ergoth and the Hammer of Kharas together. When so forged, they are +3 dragonbane lances. Replicas might be merely +1, and are much more likely to shatter when used in aerial combat.
Nightbringer
A huge black iron mace given to Dragon Highlord Verminaard by Takhisis herself, Nightbringer is a +2 heavy mace and three times per day, upon striking an opponent, the wielder can say the word “midnight” and temporarily blind their foe. They are blinded until their next action, at which point they can make a Constitution save against a DC of 17 to restore their sight. (?) If they are still in combat with the wielder of Nighbringer, they make this save at a disadvantage.
Nightjewel
Orb of Dragonkind
Artifact, DMG pg. 225
Plate of Solamnus
Shield of Huma
This artifact is a +3 heavy steel shield with the symbol of the Knights of the Crown still visible on its scarred surface. It provides resistance against all breath weapons used by evil dragons or dragon-kin.
Silver Arm of Ergoth
Solmanic Armor
Spellcleaver/Darkstar/Magefool
Weapons created solely to kill arcane casters. They are normally +1 weapons, but become +2 when used to attack an arcane spellcaster (but not a supernatural creature with spell-like abilities). Once it has dealt a wound, the next spell cast against its wielder is resisted by a Dispel Magic effect with a caster level of 20. This ability can be used once per day.
Staff of Magius
Warbringer
Wyrmsbane
Wyrmslayer
The fabled sword and artifact of the elven hero Kith-Kanan.
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