Lets Kill Tolkein D&D

It doesn't even make sense that people use the elf/dwarf/orc situation in D&D anymore. So fuck it, lets ruin it and build something better.

BOONS:

10,000 years ago, the first wizards discovered how to apply magical boons to themselves, which broke all of time and space for the next 9,000 years. the civilization beyond that wall of void are the remnants of that lost city, of immortal Ice Assassins and permanent gate spells between a nexus of cities, and even worlds. The spellweavers had six arms, and each arm could cast one spell and they chose to use this power to dominate all nonspellweavers into submission. And so the time was locked away, and the fragmentary boons have been passed on to the survivors.

The Ascended, who emerge from the darkness of that time immortal, with powerful magic crackling at their fingertips from the time they complete the ritual.

Ascended characters are "immortal," as far as anyone knows. Anyone who completes the ascension may rebuild their character from beyond level one once.

the ascended gain the stats of High Elves.

[[oops h/ o. i'm just gonna write this as i go, i have the ideas, might as well make a Veeky Forums thread ;p]]

The Charmed
But, the ascended do not breed true. Any child carried to term by one of the Ascended , whether that child is fathered by an ascended or not, will be born Charmed. This refers to the marks on their skin, the bonds which defined them and the power they can wield. A Charmed spellcaster's skins will be marked by the spells they cast repeatedly. There might be a city of the Charmed among Ascended territory, but the ascended treat it like the kids table, and the charmed are fine with that. the whole city is rife with banditry and every other week there's a revolution. The charmed often live like this until they're old, and then ascend and [metagame-wise] rebuild from rogues to sorcerers or fey warlocks as the ascended

this just sounds really autistic and dumb

[they're half elves. I'll come back to this, if the thread's still around. 2 drunk sorry boiz]
the sun touched are the most numerous boons. Any baby who feels warm on a summers day could get a boon from the sun.

As standard human

>It doesn't even make sense that people use the elf/dwarf/orc situation in D&D anymore
Not even that I agree or disagree with you, but what do you mean "anymore"? Did the stock Tolkien fantasy races make sense at one point? What made them obsolete?

Nobody's going to fucking care.

oh word? i was worried it'd sound SJW-y. I don't like the concept of race in D&D, especially when i have to introduce it to my leftist friends, yknow?

"HEY THE SECOND CHAPTER OF THIS FUN GAME I'VE BEEN TRYIN 2 GET U TO PLAY IS CALLED R A C E "

sure, autistic and dumb, but like, can you get politics out of my game?

it's confusing, it's not fun, it hurts the concept of a coherent world, it's lame, it's boring, it's been done, it doesn't make sense, and... like, there's more to fantasy than just "what business does an elf a man and a dwarf have in the riddemarch"

in other words "People need to stop liking what I don't like!"

nah, i just want to try to provide my players with what they do like, and thought other people would be interested. like i said, i'll continue if i get less drunk

>it's confusing
To who? That's the whole point, everyone knows what elves, dwarves and orcs are without having them explained.

>it's lame, it's boring, it's been done, it doesn't make sense, and... like, there's more to fantasy than just "what business does an elf a man and a dwarf have in the riddemarch"
It strikes me that the whole modern appeal of D&D is that it's the default, the thing everyone knows. Stock Tolkien races are a big part of that.

>I don't like the concept of race in D&D, especially when i have to introduce it to my leftist friends
Is this really an issue you've had, or one you imagine you might have? Because if you've somehow run into the very few people who might have a problem with such a thing you could very easily fix it by calling it "species" instead.

i have bad news for you my dude, the writers aren't the ones bringing the politics into your game

ok, but like, orcs are bad, and goblins are bad, but half orcs aren't bad? drow are ok? lizardfolk can be nice?

with "races" all morality becomes dubious. I'm building it with my players as we go, talking it out.


It's an issue i've had internally. most people will just shrug and relax a bit when I explain that it means elves and stuff, but there's that moment of [?????]

Elves are the reason that the derivations of tolkien don't make sense. tolkeins elves were so closely tied to his world, but D&D elves aren't quite that, yknow? that's hard to play as.
i'd just rather not use the word, and the concept has always been a nagging one. I like the idea of using "feats as culture" sort of thing, give everyone a bonus extra feat as something which they grew up with, or something. min maxing potential, but I think it's fun and makes things more interesting.

Spell weavers always creeped me out back in AD&D.

>it doesn't make sense that people use Tolkien in D&D

Actually, yes it does. Tolkien more or less is an expression of the higher European spirit and mythological spirit within modernity. It isn't a surprise that a practice (roleplaying), which is an inherently Pagan concept, utilises this.

The Breakers

They supposedly were created by the spellweavers to aid them in dealing with magical obstacles. Or maybe just to spite those who didn't have the full power of the spellweaver. Breakers are big towering humanoids and their skin almost always has a metallic shine. They breed and grow very fast and their lives are short - some research was done to prolong their lives but it seems that their abilities mess with such techniques. Their power is to break the magic, though it makes them themselves somewhat vulnerable.

Breakers mature within 10 years and live for up to 50 years.

Stats: As goliath, except Mountain Movement, Acclimated and bonus Sense Motive are changed to following:

-Magical Erosion: Any magical or spell-like effect placed on a breaker works for no more than 5 rounds after which time it is dispelled.

-Debilitated Spirit: Breakers can not cast any spells or use any class features that count as spell-like abilities. They still can activate magical items.

-Break: As a free action you can choose any creature or a 5ft. cube within 10 ft. per HD of the breaker - its magic items and abilities are suppressed as if affected by the Antimagic Field. All items and effects on the breaker that uses this ability suffer the same fate.

>i'd just rather not use the word
Then, I beg you, use something that doesn't sound as stupid as "Boons". "People". "Folk". "Species". These are all acceptable synonyms.

>and the concept has always been a nagging one.
What, exactly, bothers you about the idea of non-human peoples?

But Deva are the bad guys, Yazata are good.

>Tolkein D&D
Can't kill what didn't exist.

Dunno what OP is on about, but he seems to have confused the setting of Forgotten Realms to equate to all "Tolkenian" EuroFantasy and all that encompass D&D.

He seems to be missing the idea of "Homebrew" being a thing in RPGs since its modern depiction in the 80s, spewing his autismo setting that he wrote for his leftie friends who can't handle the words "race" of "classes"?

>ok, but like
Um, sweetie. Like, no. You're totally right. Race is, um, a social construct, and you shouldn't let these pissbabies tell you otherwise.

>"Let's not use the old races!"
>Refluffs the old races

>2018
>Still using races

How do you kill something that doesn't exist? The DnD races have multiple sources.

DnD elves are 80% Poul Anderson, 15% tops Tolkien

The dwarves might be 95% Tolkien, but Orcs are only maybe 75% being generous

Damn, beat to it by If you're talking Tolkien DnD in general than it barely has a resemblance to the games and settings and dungeons of DnD. You would need to have no other fantasy knowledge at all to equate the two. Like having only ever eaten vegetables and one steak, finding fish and praising it for being the best beef steak.

As a trans-dwarf, I am offended that you are trying to wipe my people out of history.

There is literally nothing stopping you from using the D&D rules and creating a setting free of Tolkein tropes. People do it all the time already. What bizarro world are you from where everyone you meet can't handle not using the pre-written lore and creating their own?

>drow are ok

Jesus man, I hope we're not both talking about the same canon. Drow are a race of sadistic subterranean slavers who are corrupted by a spider demon. They're not necessarily all bad, but the vast majority are fucking atrocious.