Fantasy Craft and Forgotten Realms

[Arioch]

Is not a true limitation... I think. If I want to play an "intelligent" human character, I would probably be inclined more toward those ethnicities that show this trait prominently, choosing perhaps among Mulan or Netherese.

I do not perceive this as a "limitation" in the true sense, because it just guide a PC toward a group instead of another. More: is a rare occurrence that a player insist on a particular ethnicity, usually is the country/nation that can be important for the PC story. That said... if, for PC background reasons, you insist in wanting that your "intelligent" character comes from, let's say Rashemi stock (a more barbarian culture) of course you can, becoming a sort of atypical person... (what this exactly means is up to the Master: from nothing at all, and the list become just a list of suggestions... to loosing some minor bonus, like that of bonus equip)

I see this solution more open than the associating a human race to a talent...

[Wolverine]

I'm a little late to the party, but here's my thoughts on 3.5 FR:

• your subrace (ethnicity  in case of humans): A given region is inhabited by some ethnic groups you can choose among. (A human ethnicity = a talent, so to have some option to choose from)

As previously mentioned, you could create a series of origin options for each region, but your choice of simply listing options (both Specialities and Talents) common to each region is also a good way to go (and much easier, too).

For the record, I vote for adding Ruthless to the list for Netherese.

• Languages: Both starting languages, both the most common to choose from

Covered with Interests.

• Favourite Deities: in FC can be alignments (but maybe we car return on this)

Covered with Alignments, nice and easy.

• Regional Feats: Sort of special talents available to those originating from the region. (I'm unsure how and IF include also this in the conversion, maybe a list of the most common specialty in the region?)

You could have region-specific feats, but I would keep them to a minimum. You could also make a Study of the respective region a requirement to make them a little more exclusive.

• Bonus equipment: about 100gp of regional-typical goods as bonus equipment (for those opting for one of the listed specialties?)

Instead of handing out extra equipment, you could also suggest common equipment for each region.

That's my quick thoughts. How do they sound to you?

[Arioch]

Hi Wolverine! Welcome to the party 

I agree with your suggestions about languages, alignments, feats (maybe we can convert the special FR talents later).

Ruthless for Netherese people is a good addition!

While suggesting tipical equipment for each region is a good idea, the sense of giving bonus equip was to give ... a bonus, in fact, to those players accepting the minor limitation imposed by the lists of talents/race!

[Antilles]

If you want to reward players for playing to a region's type, how about making an inverse iconic specialty? 'If you are from region X and your origin contains at least one of the following talents and specialties , you gain Y', where Y is a 1-point talent/specialty benefit. Things like a couple extra languages, a specific trick or an additional origin skill wouldn't make the character overly better than one who goes against the norm, but it helps give a feeling of group identity, I think.

Also, I don't know how balanced this would be, but for region-specific feats, how about making Pathfinder Basics options that only works in those regions? I'm not familiar enough with the setting to make examples, but it might be doable.

[Desertpuma]

I really like that idea. I'm going to use it in my home game world.

[Dhampire]

When my group was playing in the Dawnforge setting using FC rules, each sub-race of humans got it's own list of talents (and I think some talents overlapped), and that worked fine for our group.

[Arioch]

If you want to reward players for playing to a region's type, how about making an inverse iconic specialty? 'If you are from region X and your origin contains at least one of the following talents and specialties , you gain Y', where Y is a 1-point talent/specialty benefit. Things like a couple extra languages, a specific trick or an additional origin skill wouldn't make the character overly better than one who goes against the norm, but it helps give a feeling of group identity, I think.

That's great! Much better than 100gp of stuff more... I'm afraid I'm not too expert with FC rules to add the benefits without unbalance the game... but with some help that could work!

@Dhampire: I think that's the idea!  (aside from the fact that in my case the list is shorter)

[jameswllorimer]

If you want to reward players for playing to a region's type, how about making an inverse iconic specialty? 'If you are from region X and your origin contains at least one of the following talents and specialties , you gain Y', where Y is a 1-point talent/specialty benefit. Things like a couple extra languages, a specific trick or an additional origin skill wouldn't make the character overly better than one who goes against the norm, but it helps give a feeling of group identity, I think.

I think this is a great idea - but don't know if it would unbalance the builds or not; I doubt it if it was only a 1 point benefit. As you suggested as well, perhaps having regional feats as well to allow players to further follow a ethnic archetype would keep things more balanced.

Personally I never really like the bonus equipment section for FR, so perhaps we could come up with a more Crafty solution to fit the setting.

[pawsplay]

@pawsplay: For the classes: nice starting point. How to diversify an Eldritch Knight from an Arcane Archer? (Aside from the obvious weapon choice )

What distinctions are you looking for? As it stands now, one Rune Knight differs from another according to speciality, base class (or classes) and fear choice. For instance, Fighter Mage/Rune Knight with Sword Basics and Spell Conversion: Casting Time, versus an Archer Soldier/Mage Rune Knight with Bullseye and Bow Basics.

[jameswllorimer]

Yes, I must admit because of the inherent versatility of the FC system, trying to force in a prestige class seems redundent; whereas you could merely state that a particular combination of feats and existing classes is the FR equivalent.

As Pawsplay states, you could be considered an Arcane Archer, once you have 6 spell points, a level in Rune Knight and Bow Basics. The only reason to create an equivalent expert class, would be to further specialise the character's role.

[Arioch]

Ok. I post a second (and for now last) list of typical Human talents by ethnic group. Please, feel free to correct it.

Calishite	charismatic, agile, intelligent, cunning
Chondatans	adaptable, industrious, nimble, gifted
Damaran	stern, crusading, single-minded, vigilant
Illuskan	grizzled, vigilant, cunning, strong
Mulan	educated, crusading, intelligent
Rashemi	strong, hardy, single-minded
Tethyr	Educated, striking, savvy, gifted
Durpari	Charismatic, educated,  adaptable, gifted
Gur	Wise, Unpredictable, Svelte
Halruaan	Educated, Intelligent, Wily, Wise
Imaskari	Methodical, Wily, intelligent, educated
Nar	Ruthless, savage, strong
Netherese	Intelligent, educated, ruthless
Shaaran	Hardy, Single-minded, savage

Not included for now:
Ffolk, Maztican, Raumviran, Bedine, Chultan, Shou, Sossrim, Tuigan, Ulutium, Vaasan

[Arioch]

@pawsplay: For the classes: nice starting point. How to diversify an Eldritch Knight from an Arcane Archer? (Aside from the obvious weapon choice )

What distinctions are you looking for? As it stands now, one Rune Knight differs from another according to speciality, base class (or classes) and fear choice. For instance, Fighter Mage/Rune Knight with Sword Basics and Spell Conversion: Casting Time, versus an Archer Soldier/Mage Rune Knight with Bullseye and Bow Basics.

I'm not sure about it right now... I'm more focused on completing the human region... can we return on that (classes - prestige classes) later?  

[Krensky]

One thing to consider for later Arioch, once you get a handle on things is in addition to the list of suggested talents, is to writeup the ethic groups as talents in their own right to represent the archetypal member of the group, the epitome of a Damaran or whatever.

[mach1.9pants]

I just popping in to say, interesting thread. IMO the 3.5 FR guide was the most awesome DnD book ever, so it is interesting to see it converted to the best version of DnD out.

[Coyote0273]

I used to disagree with Talents = Region for humans, but then I sat down and thought about this.

We expect people from certain areas to behave a certain way. Someone talks, and we snap our fingers and go "You're a New Yorker!" or "You're from SoCal!" In essence, those would be RL talents.

Now, there will be people who don't fit into the exact stereotypical mold and will be a "normal" human talent as opposed to a regional one, but those stereotypes exist because a lot of people from those areas tend to fit into specific molds.

Essentially, you expect a Netherese to behave a certain way, otherwise you wouldn't be saying "these talents should be from here". There's no harm in doing it the way you're doing it and say that you should only pick these talents. Just as there's no foul if you design an actual Talent that expresses all the typical Netherese values and talents. Something that combines features from Intelligent and Ruthless for instance. Same with all the other regions that tend to be stereotyped.