Changelings in a non-Eberron campaign? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Changelings in a non-Eberron campaign? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
jeffv
03-12-06, 09:07 PM My apologies if this is the wrong board, but it applies to both Eberron and FR as well as DMing in general, so I figured this was the best spot.

I'm going to be starting up a low-level FR campaign in the near future and one of my potential players asked me how I felt about changelings. I've never played or DMed in Eberron, so I'm not familiar with the race and I don't have a book for it. My philosophy has always been "if it's out of an official book and you have the book, go for it" so I'm used to picking up new things and running with them and I'll have no problem with this if I decide to let it in, but I've never had someone try to bring something in from a completely different setting.

First question, is this a good idea to be doing in general? I'm big on flavor and such in my games so I'm leery of doing this unless I find some way to believably port it into FR, but am I setting a precedent here that will end up biting me later?

Second, game-wise is this a good idea? As I said I'm not at all familiar with changelings at all, am I loosing something broken on the world by letting this in?

TIA

--Jeff
sdragon1984
03-12-06, 09:18 PM its your campaign, right?

play it your way.

(the answer to 90% of campaign-related questions)
TheChilliGod
03-12-06, 09:33 PM Meh, changelings are also found in the MMIII, if that's any help.
It's not that big a deal, all you have are human/doggelganger crossbreeds, which makes changelings perfectly adaptable to any campaign.

But you will have to be a lot more wary than usual, since changelings are masters of disguise and subterfuge. Don't even think of using castle guards to block the party from entering a castle anymore, if you don't want them to enter the castle (if you do have castle guards, make sure they have high spot/sense motive mods, and have an insignia-identification system to thwart Disguise Self), for example.

Aside from that bit of trickiness, changelings aren't unbalanced in the slightest.
ChaoticGood
03-12-06, 11:01 PM Even though we've played two campaigns in Eberron, nobody's played one yet, so I can't give you much advice on how to DM them, but I will tell you this: You can't unleash anything on Faerun that is more broken than what they have unleashed upon themselves in Serpent Kingdoms. :D

Seriously, though, a changeling's great strength is in disguise and subterfuge. They aren't really combat-oriented, so if someone is asking to play one, they may be looking for more of an RP-heavy campaign. You should plan for some encounters that can be Bluffed and Disguised through, so that the character gets a chance to shine every now and then.
allenchan
03-12-06, 11:53 PM In campaign that has dopplegangers and humans would logically have changlings. Ive used them in FR campaigns a ton, its not really a problem in my experience.
nyysjan
03-13-06, 02:08 AM the thing about changelings
is that they are kinda hard to notice
anybody could be one (well, almost anybody)
BadCatMan
03-13-06, 02:15 AM Champions of Valor even mentions Changelings, in passing with the planetouched. In what I've read so far, it's just in the 'raised in a monastery' regional backgrounds.

They're also referred to in Races of Destiny (the Chameleon).

So Changelings seem to now be officially generic, setting independent slightly freaky player characters, so you can do what you like with them.
Sereno
03-13-06, 10:15 AM Changelings are fun, and not in the least unbalanced.

They only get a couple of +2 bonuses and the Minor Shape Change. Flavorwise, they can "be anyone", but mechanics-wise it's just a "circumstance bonus".

Just remember about the huge penalties for using disguise to impersonate specific people and the changeling PC won't run all over your campaign.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
jeffv 03-12-06, 09:07 PM	My apologies if this is the wrong board, but it applies to both Eberron and FR as well as DMing in general, so I figured this was the best spot. I'm going to be starting up a low-level FR campaign in the near future and one of my potential players asked me how I felt about changelings. I've never played or DMed in Eberron, so I'm not familiar with the race and I don't have a book for it. My philosophy has always been "if it's out of an official book and you have the book, go for it" so I'm used to picking up new things and running with them and I'll have no problem with this if I decide to let it in, but I've never had someone try to bring something in from a completely different setting. First question, is this a good idea to be doing in general? I'm big on flavor and such in my games so I'm leery of doing this unless I find some way to believably port it into FR, but am I setting a precedent here that will end up biting me later? Second, game-wise is this a good idea? As I said I'm not at all familiar with changelings at all, am I loosing something broken on the world by letting this in? TIA --Jeff
sdragon1984 03-12-06, 09:18 PM	its your campaign, right? play it your way. (the answer to 90% of campaign-related questions)
TheChilliGod 03-12-06, 09:33 PM	Meh, changelings are also found in the MMIII, if that's any help. It's not that big a deal, all you have are human/doggelganger crossbreeds, which makes changelings perfectly adaptable to any campaign. But you will have to be a lot more wary than usual, since changelings are masters of disguise and subterfuge. Don't even think of using castle guards to block the party from entering a castle anymore, if you don't want them to enter the castle (if you do have castle guards, make sure they have high spot/sense motive mods, and have an insignia-identification system to thwart Disguise Self), for example. Aside from that bit of trickiness, changelings aren't unbalanced in the slightest.
ChaoticGood 03-12-06, 11:01 PM	Even though we've played two campaigns in Eberron, nobody's played one yet, so I can't give you much advice on how to DM them, but I will tell you this: You can't unleash anything on Faerun that is more broken than what they have unleashed upon themselves in Serpent Kingdoms. :D Seriously, though, a changeling's great strength is in disguise and subterfuge. They aren't really combat-oriented, so if someone is asking to play one, they may be looking for more of an RP-heavy campaign. You should plan for some encounters that can be Bluffed and Disguised through, so that the character gets a chance to shine every now and then.
allenchan 03-12-06, 11:53 PM	In campaign that has dopplegangers and humans would logically have changlings. Ive used them in FR campaigns a ton, its not really a problem in my experience.
nyysjan 03-13-06, 02:08 AM	the thing about changelings is that they are kinda hard to notice anybody could be one (well, almost anybody)
BadCatMan 03-13-06, 02:15 AM	Champions of Valor even mentions Changelings, in passing with the planetouched. In what I've read so far, it's just in the 'raised in a monastery' regional backgrounds. They're also referred to in Races of Destiny (the Chameleon). So Changelings seem to now be officially generic, setting independent slightly freaky player characters, so you can do what you like with them.
Sereno 03-13-06, 10:15 AM	Changelings are fun, and not in the least unbalanced. They only get a couple of +2 bonuses and the Minor Shape Change. Flavorwise, they can "be anyone", but mechanics-wise it's just a "circumstance bonus". Just remember about the huge penalties for using disguise to impersonate specific people and the changeling PC won't run all over your campaign.