The Campaign Builder's Guild

4E is coming out soon, and I've been waiting in the salad crisper so that my crunchiness remains extra fresh. While I can't very well say how it will turn out, here are my plans for 4E starting in June.

1: Tear the Ranger apart, possibly giving some of their melee stuff to the Rogue and Fighter, and using their ranged stuff to help construct a "Hunter" to be the "Martial Controller". The class will focus upon ranged combat (projectile or thrown weapons) and traps (set while using stealth) to control the enemies and the battle field.
2: Possibly deconstruct the Cleric into a Priest by removing Cleric Armor and retooling melee abilities. This way the Warlord will be the melee leader and the cleric is a ranged leader. With the Paladin covering any alignment, I don't feel it is necessary to have crusading Clerics, though I could possibly be swayed out of this idea.
3: Move the Ranger itself to the Druid/Barbarian power source, and inject some more feral wilds into them.
4: Make my Valkyrie, Ifrit, and Triton races.
5: Debate over the final appearance of the Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Monk, and Sorcerer.
6: Make things to fit my setting: New Wizard traditions/implements to reflect the elemental nature of my world's casting; new deities and maybe channel divinity abilities.

I can't wait.

Quote from: Xeviat4: Make my Valkyrie, Ifrit, and Triton races.

I'm sorry, but these sound awesome. Can you give some sort of preview?

Yes. My setting has always needed to have 4 elemental demihumans. In the past, I used dwarf (earth), elf (air), orc (fire) and goblin (water) for this. 4E's going back to more classical roots helped me to see that if I'm going to use names like "elf" and "goblin", I should be true to what those names mean. So elves are fey, goblins might be fey, and orcs are going to be descendants of a shadow race.

Thus was born the idea of the Valkyrie, Ifrit, and Triton races. Luckily I'm able to use some of the racial fluff I made for my own orcs and goblins to flesh out the Ifrit and Tritons. The Valkyries almost wrote themselves. As it stands, the Tritons are a little under developed.

Valkyries stand 6 to 7 feet tall, and while they have toned musculature they are quite thin and incredibly light. They have long limbs, long fingers, and dexterous toes (they can grasp things with their feet, using their heal almost as a thumb when bare footed). Females are noticeably more muscular than males, and their skin and hair is dull grays and browns; males are more slender and slightly shorter, but their skin and hair is stark white with accents of blues and greens. They have large eyes and no apparent ears (their auditory organs are internal, and sound is taken in through the mouth), with full heads of hair; they are often seen with their mouths open, even though they are never seen taking a breath. Most noticeable are their wings, which grow from their back just below their shoulder blades; the wing consists of arm bones and a single digit supporting a skin membrane that is covered in fine hair on the backside and is naked on the inside (the skin stretches down the back to the tail bone). Most Valkyries lack the muscle power for true flight, and typically 'wear' their wings as a cloak; their wings can be used to slow their fall and aid their jumping. The presence of wings requires them to wear open backed clothes and armor, their clothes resembling togas.

The Valkyries are a nomadic matriarchal race. Their matriarchy formed for three reasons: they don't lactate, so there was no reason females had to take care of the young; they lay eggs; and females out number males 10 to 1. Males are a "precious resource", so they are not allowed to participate in dangerous professions. Males are nominally owned by families of females, and one male will sire many children.

In Krellshah (the first continent I'm developing) there are two major regions of Valkyrie settlement. One is on the northern mountain plateau, while the other is on the southern near arctic mountain range. The southern range is home to a great temple metropolis that is largely uninhabited during the winter. Tradition says the temple is where the Air Dragon first breathed them into life, and especially devout Valkyries make the migration there and back each year (summer is spent in the south, fall is spent traveling north and gathering food for winter, winter is spent on the plateau, and spring is spent traveling south and gathering food). Only about 40% of the Valkyrie population migrate in current times, while the others remain living on the plateau year round.

Valkyries are a warrior people, and wars are waged during the spring and fall when they don't have to defend their homes (Valkyries are better at offense than defense). When they are not at war, Valkyrie warriors work as mercenary warriors and scouts for other races, using the money earned to purchase things for their family.

Valkyries favor the spear and javelin. Light armor is preferred, meaning there are less Valkyrie fighters. They will probably be getting +2 Dex and +2 Wis, +2 to Endurance (they don't breath, so they get tired slower) and Perception, some ability to increase jumping ability and decrease falling speed and damage (like no penalty to jumps without a running start, as I assume there will be a similar thing in 4E). I might make their jumping thing a racial encounter power, letting them make a jump as a swift action. But until I can compare the other 4E races, I won't be able to stat them out.

I'll write something on Ifrits and Tritons soon.

Quote from: Kapn Xeviat should have said4E's ban on redefining "core terms" helped me to see that if I'm going to use names like "elf" and "goblin", I should be true to what those names mean

Fixed. ;)

Hu? Language is a funny thing. It allows us to say the word "dog" and people instantly imagine something. Some people might imagine a retriever (my idea of a "dog"), while others might imagine a poodle, a chow, or a great dane. But we're all imagining a dog.

Same thing with classic fantasy tropes like elves and goblins. Sure, you can be "different" and change your elves into something else, but then why are you calling them elves anyway?

4E is redefining terms. Eladrin is now an Elf, Angels are now not all good, Paladins can be any alignment, Demons are evil elementals.

I've also got a bunch of work to do :) I've pre-ordered my books (save over $30 on amazon if you buy them all together), and have been using  DND4.com's PHB to begin adjusting many of the races to my new world Afterworld.

I'm ripping apart the Dragon born and Tieflings, creating my own history and background for them, and I will probably be adjusting much of the other core races as well. Only another month or so! :)

Quote from: Kapn XeviatSure, you can be "different" and change your elves into something else, but then why are you calling them elves anyway?

Hehe, of course. Don't mind me, I just found your post amusing because it could be taken a different way in light of the new GSL. :)