Burning THAC0: Alt Roden?

[beer is the mind killer]

No offense intended towards the Roden idea as it is very smartly done... but rat-men aren't quite iconic DnD figures.

How do I drag them over while retaining the feel of the Red Box, Blue Box, and all that?

I was thinking Kobolds. Why not use the Below & Society settings for the little buggers? Some of the traits need to be changed to scales instead of fur, but the essential feel of the bad guy parts can be the same.

Also, Halflings. Roden Tails would have to be futzed with, and Fur would have to be "Made of Tougher Stuff Than You Realized", or something... but the Field setting kinda fits.

Just a thought, anyway.

[rafial]

Makes perfect sense. I always considered Field Roden to be halfling equivalents. In fact it wasn't until prepping my Roden scenario for Burning Con that I realized that RAW (Roden as Written) are human sized. I've always considered them to be about 4' tall. So from now on, in my brain, Roden have the Small Stature trait.

[beer is the mind killer]

You know, being extremely humanocentric even in my gaming, I never thought about using the Roden at all, and Mouse Guard is alien enough... I also thought Roden were smaller than man-sized.

Of course, I can see Uncle Bilbo having a Hermit (Exile) lifepath...

Would it make sense to link Halflings and Kobolds via this choice? Halflings as Hobbits... Kobolds as dog-men (old school), but also Gollum-like. That's totally not THAC0, though.

Okay, getting car-sick from my wife's driving & this gods damned infernal Blackberry...

[zabieru]

I think Roden totally fit the feel of old-school D&D. Mapping them onto races that were there, so you get the details as well as the feel, is lovely.

I'd say the connection between halflings and kobolds, if any, should be Tolkein Elves and Orcs (rather than the more explicit BW Elves->Dark Elves->Orcs).

Mess with the cosmetic traits, but I think it basically works.

[beer is the mind killer]

Cool beans, and thanks for the reminder about Tolkien's Elves and Orcs. That set off an idea in my head.

What if Possett is part of the Burning THAC0 world, and what happened to the Halfling-Roden (the Fall from the Fields to the setting Below) is actively happening today? (I forget all the various deities for Halflings (Yavanna or something?) and the Kobolds)

Or the transformation to Kobold is a step in the Society rather than simply going Below, since DnD Halflings can also be Chaotic (Below). That transformative step is happening right now on the Borderlands of Karameikos, in the Caves of Chaos!

Now I've got a situation! Too bad it's rewriting the ecology/mythology of Kobolds, not there was a ton before...

EDIT:
Yondalla! She's the primary Halfling deity...
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yondalla

And the Kobolds worship Kurtulmak...
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurtulmak?wasRedirected=true
(Patchy scaly skin, growths of hair, yipping voices... Kobolds-as-debased-Halflings!)

Maybe a Male/Female schism in the reimagined Roden-Halfling pantheon? And the real solution for the Faith isn't choosing either Yondalla or Kurtulmak, but the marriage/union of the male and female forces. A Halfling quisatz haderach... Hahaha.

I like the Aecer mythology, but it isn't DnD. Well, it's less DnD than Yondalla getting together with Kurtulmak.

[beer is the mind killer]

Yondalla as Aecer...

So, Yondalla apparently has some split aspect called Dallah Thaun, representing all the sneaky Halfling shit that kept Halflings safe.

The story of Possett is about betrayal & false prophecy... And then he's out of the Aecer story, except through the Society.

So... Burning THAC0 deity would be Yondalla, with aspects of Fertility, Family, and maybe Harvest? And then you split out a Burning THAC0 demigod (minor power) called Possett, with the Protection aspect of Yondalla & Dallah Thaun? (Deities & Demigods!)

Yondalla of the Fields (with Yondalla-Aecer), Possett taking the Halflings Below to keep them safe (and those Below aren't fallen from Faith like Below Roden, but simply followers of the dark aspect)... and then you've got the Society proposing a twisted marriage of Yondalla & Possett (turning Kurtulmak into a semi-demigod/saint figure like Possett is written in the Roden mythology, but also the agent of transformation to the Kobold thing & chief poobah of the Society)... with the Faith-to-come of the harmony between Yondalla & Possett, representing the actual thing that brings reunification?

Okay. Enough bastardification of DnD & Roden for now. I need more booze to make it make more sense at this point. Time to go to the beach.

EDIT:
Okay, I have to appropriate Name Ritual from the Orcs for the Visionary, to create some sort of re-christening ceremony for those who enter the Society/become Kobold spirits. Kurtulmak is really far from Pippin, Merry, Drogo, and whatever.

I guess I'll try to write all this shit up at some point.