Post/Author/DateTime	Post
kwanzaabot 06-12-07, 01:40 AM	I'm a big mythology nerd. There, I said it. I like my fantasy creatures to have actual relevance to the mythical creature that they're inspired by, and as a result i'm not too keen on Eberron's Changeling race. Anyhoo, i'm looking to create a slightly more accurate Changeling, based on the various myths and fairy tales of medieval Europe. For those of you who don't know about proper Changelings, they're human children who are replaced by fairies (typically Trolls or Elves) with fairy children. (Although my sources seem to indicate that the human children who are raised by the fairies are also referred to as Changelings) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changeling In Wales the changeling child (plentyn newid) initially resembles the human it substitutes, but gradually grows uglier in appearance and behaviour: ill-featured, malformed, ill-tempered, given to screaming and biting. It may be of less than usual intelligence, but again is identified by its more than childlike wisdom and cunning. Anyway, I want to create a race (or possibly a template, it might work better) to better depict a Changeling. Unfortunately, i'm ok at concepts and stuff, but statting things out isn't really my forté. Judging from Wikipedia, i'm looking at a high Wisdom, low Intelligence, low Charisma (maybe) creature that originally is identical to the base creature (Human or similar) but over the course of a few levels, gradually becomes more Troll-like. I don't want it to become an actual Troll, but i'd like it to gain certain traits- nothing too game-breaking, of course (perhaps a toned-down regeneration ability or whatever) Ideally i'd like it to start off as a child, but that's nothing I MUST HAVE, y'know? So, anybody want to do it for me... er, "help me out"?
hiryuu 06-12-07, 07:22 AM	Question: If you were given the task of naming a partially doppelganger race with the primary ability to change its physical appearance, what would you call it? I'm pretty sure the creators of the "changeling" weren't trying to model that sort of thing in the slightest, and were using a colloquialism of the word, and not basing their use of the word on any sort of real-world mythology. That is, I'm pretty sure the name came after/during the development, and they didn't start out with the idea to make a "changeling" and got lost (especially given Keith Baker's penchant for doppelgangers). Anyway, there are several fey-touched type templates. There was one in Dragon magazine, if I recall, as well as in Monster Manual II, I think. A changeling child is, of course, only capable of fooling its immediate relatives; everyone else could always see the child for what it was. Perhaps some sort of illusion-based ability is in order, one that is harder to save against for its parents? The problem here is that the "child" used to replace the stolen kid is often centuries old, and a powerful entity in its own right. It'd make a better monster than a race, actually.
YabaTheWhat 06-12-07, 07:48 AM	Anyway, there are several fey-touched type templates. There was one in Dragon magazine, if I recall, as well as in Monster Manual II, I think. Fiend Folio has both the feytouched and half-fey templates.
kwanzaabot 06-12-07, 08:12 AM	Question: If you were given the task of naming a partially doppelganger race with the primary ability to change its physical appearance, what would you call it? I'd call 'em Half-Doppelgangers. =P I'll have a look at those suggested templates, from what I recall, they're not quite what i'm after, but they'd be a good starting point.
Mai_ariti 06-12-07, 08:45 AM	Dragon Issue 313 had stats for half- races like Half-Rakshasa and Half-Nymphs. Also the Green Hag Ecology article a while ago, commented that they reproduce with humans and their chilren ARE changlings in the mythical sense, complete with replacing human children and becoming ugly and killing people. Fun.
hiryuu 06-12-07, 12:08 PM	Ah, Fiend Folio. Thanks. This is what I get for making up monsters more than paying attention to anything after Monster Manual I. I'd call 'em Half-Doppelgangers. =P Problem is they're not half-doppelgangers anymore than an Aasimar is a half-celestial. Plus, in the game world, nobody's ever going to use the term "half-doppelganger" for something so common; it's too long and it breaks up the spoken sentence. I'll admit the terminology bugs me a bit. I've been using a half-goblin creature called a "changeling" for quite some time in a homebrew setting (goblins being creatures that walk through walls, kidnap children, and lure people away to strange times and places in the middle of the night), and the two terms need to be settled every once in awhile at the table, but there's no better term for the creature with the disguise self effect at will, especially after such a colloquialism has been in common use for a good long while. Bear in mind that if you're going to do this, you'll need to overhaul D&D fey completely, since almost none of them fulfill their proper legendary role or powers.
Nephallim 06-12-07, 01:48 PM	Well...the Eberron folks could have called them Shifters...but...yeah. My friend still gets Shifters and Changelings mixed up to this day. Also...I think in Races of Eberron, I think they mention Changelings doing something similar to mythical Changelings, with their children.
kwanzaabot 06-12-07, 10:26 PM	...Bear in mind that if you're going to do this, you'll need to overhaul D&D fey completely, since almost none of them fulfill their proper legendary role or powers. Actually, most fey aren't too bad. I'm not too hung up on making ALL fairies be Fey-typed, so Gnomes and Kobolds are just taking a simple reflavouring, but the majority don't need even that. They're not all EXACTLY like their mythic counterparts, but as long as there's similarities I don't really mind. Also...I think in Races of Eberron, I think they mention Changelings doing something similar to mythical Changelings, with their children. Really? I might have to look into that. :D
Manyfist 06-13-07, 11:23 AM	Really? I might have to look into that. :D In ROE, it states that Changelings usually kidnap Human/Elf..etc. Babies and pass them off as their own (since Changeling youth have limited control over their Shape changing ability.)
kwanzaabot 06-13-07, 07:05 PM	In ROE, it states that Changelings usually kidnap Human/Elf..etc. Babies and pass them off as their own (since Changeling youth have limited control over their Shape changing ability.) Okay, that's pretty much what i'm after. Now, if only I liked those Changelings... :( So... let's pretend you never said that. ;)