A Warrior for my Monstrous Heartbreaker

And now I'll take my first real crack at creating a whole character using the uber-simplified Warrior class I wrote about a couple days ago.  He's a guy from Ravnica.

I really love the setting of Ravnica and am pretty happy that it was the first Magic: The Gathering plane to have an official splatbook printed for it.  It's a sprawling city covering the entire plane, infused with magepunk technology and perpetually caught in a struggle for power among ten guilds, each of which represents one MTG's two-color combinations.  The red/green "guild" is a loosely affiliated group of clans called the Gruul who largely oppose the trappings of civilization and often seek to preserve -- or, uh, reintroduce -- wild spaces on the plane.

Among these clans is the Ghor, who have been represented on a number of cards in various Magic sets...

And their leader is the fearsome ogre warleader Ruric Thar...

Today, though, I'm just looking at one particular Ghor-Clan Wrecker (updated image coming along at some point)...

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Sergiu Pijha

Warrior, Level 5

Wallpaper-style artwork taken from here

Human, 26 years old

Birthplace: Ravnica, Tenth District

Guild: Gruul Clans (Ghor)

STR       DEX       CON      INT       WIS       CHA
16 (+2)  11 (--)   13 (+1)   8 (-1)    6 (-1)    11 (--)

HP 30     Move 30 ft. (6 units)
Attack Bonuses: +8 melee, +6 ranged (additional +2 when attacking with chain weapons)
Additional notes: 2 attacks per round, +1 damage on all attacks, +1 AC

Proficiencies
Skills: Athletics, Intimidation, Survival
Talents: Metalworking
Languages: Common, Goblin
Saves: Strength, Constitution
Weapons: All simple and martial weapons
Armor: All armor, shields

Sergiu Pijha was born in the heart of Ravnica and began an apprenticeship as a metalworker in his early teens.  About a year in, a shady redevelopment project funded by the Orzhov Syndicate forced the closure of the metal shop where he worked.  He arrived home that day to find that his parents had been arrested and his family's apartment ransacked by members of the Boros Legion.  Those events planted a seed of distrust that eventually grew into total opposition to the corrupt set of systems that we refer to as civilization.

He likes breaking shit and hitting people with chains.

MTG's Aetherdrift...I gotta say, it looks pretty rad.

This past Saturday, Pun posted some info on the Patreon project known as Planeshifted over at the Halls of the Nephilim.  This creator (Gabe Rodriguez, aka /u/letterephesus on Reddit) produces incredibly detailed and really high-quality 5e D&D supplements based on Magic: The Gathering lore, typically focusing each release on one of the planes of reality in which the MTG story takes place (hence the moniker, which also echoes the name of a series of unofficial D&D supplements based on MTG worlds that WotC released on their website).

One of the upcoming projects that I'm definitely looking forward to is a supplement based on the new MTG set coming out next weekend (with prereleases in just a couple of days, although I don't think I'll be able to make one): Aetherdrift.  For years now, I think the Magic story team has just been killing it (in a good way, in case that isn't obvious) with some aspects of the lore, mainly as they've started taking risks that seemed impossible when I started playing the game 25 years ago.  To me, Aetherdrift kind of seems like a culmination of those efforts; it's a set based upon a freaking road race that spans multiple planes in the MTG multiverse.  And it looks awesome!

From here.

The Aetherdrift story is certainly not without its detractors.  And...I do understand why.  Some of the most legitimate criticisms I've seen of the Magic story in recent years have been concerns that elements of the lore just didn't feel like the more traditional "magepunk" fantasy of earlier sets.  And yeah, when there's a Western-themed set, and we see that a known character is now wearing a sort-of-cowboy hat...well, it's easy to think that seems a little silly.

More directly for me...I loved that they returned to the plane of Ravnica -- my favorite in the MTG multiverse -- for the "murder mystery" themed set (I even picked up a copy of the Clue/Cluedo crossover release).  I think Ravnica represents a lot of what is great about Magic's lore, and it is apparently pretty popular, as that set (Murders at Karlov Manor) was essentially our fourth trip to the plane.  BUT...now there are a bunch of characters wearing detective-style garb, when we'd never seen that before in the city-plane of Ravnica.  And it can feel a little...eh, weird.  I don't think it's overdone, and it really is a minor detail, but I can understand why such things feel like a pebble in the shoes of devoted MTG lore fans as they explore a multiverse they've enjoyed for more than two decades.

(And by the way, it has not been overlooked by observers that -- especially when you also consider the Art Deco stylings of the set Streets of New Capenna, and the retro gangster archetypes many of those characters evoked -- maybe it's just that the Magic story team has a weakness for silly hats...)

SO...with Aetherdrift...yeah, the mixing of SF and fantasy is going to throw some people off.  At this point, though, we've seen with the cyberpunk-fantasy set Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty (which got a Planeshifted guide that I wrote a little about back here) that the team is very capable of pulling off a setting that infuses interesting bits of speculative fiction into the fantastical base you expect from a game called Magic.  I'll admit that there are a couple of things -- specifically the set symbol (a checkered racing flag) and a new mechanic called Start your engines! -- that didn't initially hit me as spectacular additions to the game's background...but as I've gotten used to them, they're starting to feel normal.  It has to be near-impossible to take the risks necessary to keep planes fresh and engaging without occasionally overstepping into bits that don't immediately mesh 100%.

This art is for the card Pedal to the Metal.  I'm certain that name won't please everyone... (From here.)

Additionally, similar to the 10 guilds of Ravnica that are defined by each two-color pairing in the game, Aetherdrift features 10 different racing teams with different goals and methods according to the colors of mana that they represent.  Since the five-color mana system is probably the coolest part of MTG to explore, I am there for this.  (I would say I'm along for the ride, but...I shouldn't.)  The fact that interplanar travel is a key part of the story is just icing on the cake!

If you're interested in looking into the set or its story more, the landing page for the new release is here.  The official story archive, with several installments of tales from the set (many of which have audio versions), can be found here.  I haven't even made my way through all that much of the actual story yet (although I have listened long enough to realize that I was apparently incorrect in believing those first two syllables to be pronounced EE-thur, as opposed to AY-thur...that's gonna be a tough habit to break).

I think I'll create a character connected to the setting soon.  Since I still need to get around to statting out Sergiu Pijha, who I brought up long ago in a post about Manaball...

...I think I'll also stat out a character inspired by this card, from the black/red racing team known as the Endriders...

Whatever system I use (ideally something that will morph into my Monstrous Heartbreaker), it might be cool to see how two Human Warriors repping red mana can be differentiated.

Alright...[insert racing pun meaning "thanks for reading, and goodbye" here]!

A work-in-progress Elemental Color Wheel

I spend a fair amount of time...a lot more than anyone probably should, to be honest...thinking about elemental philosophies in games, beliefs, and esoteric pursuits.  I am certainly no expert (far from it!), but I think my history as a tabletop gamer has naturally led to this as a sort of obsession.  After all, I was pulled into gaming by the Pokémon TCG, have become a hopeless lifetime devotee of Magic: The Gathering (even during stretches where I don't get to play it at all), and lately have put a lot of thought into traveling around in a fantasy cosmology.

Plus, I'm a functional scientist myself.  It kind of feels like I'm meant to ponder such things.  In fact, the appeal of working out a sensible and symmetrical elemental system in my mind is probably similar to the drive a lot of physicists have in their search for a theory of everything.  If I were smart enough to fully comprehend both general relativity and quantum mechanics, I might spend my showers trying to merge them in my brain.  But I'm not, so that shower time is spent thinking about how MTG's colors interact with Pokémon's types.  And the result, so far, is this work in progress...

I'm thinking this is a broad overview of the Inner Planes, the sources of elements and energy that give rise to the physical world.  There are still Outer Planes of various philosophical persuasions that are filtered through these elements to create our experience of the universe.  On the wheel so far, you'll find the colors of MTG, some Pokémon types (video games and card game may be represented separately, since they do differ in a way that reduces the number of types for the TCG), most of the Duel Masters civilizations, a couple of World of Warcraft classes (using their Hearthstone icons), and one stray aspect from the Star Wars: Unlimited TCG.  The Ravnican guilds whose color combinations fit the wheel are also represented, in part because I think it's cool how the Boros logo echos Pokémon's Fighting symbol, and how Dimir and Psychic share an eye in their icons (plus the colors kind of work!).

Also, I stole that color wheel in the middle from here; let me know if it seems like gratuitous theft, please.  I do think I like the hexagonal RGB+CMY skeleton for the wheel!

Okay, enough blabbing.  If you have thoughts, criticisms, or suggestions, please throw 'em my way!

Look, Dad, all those philosophy classes are paying off!

5e Races (or Ancestries/Cultures) in OSR games...why not?

 I recently picked up this book when I found a really good deal on it:

This is kind of a rarity for me, as I don't normally pick up the nice, big, hardcover books, and...although I am probably a bit of a jerk for not patronizing my FLGS (which I haven't even had a chance to visit in my new home, FWIW)...I am REALLY enjoying reading over this.  Ravnica is probably one of my favorite fantasy settings in general and is almost certainly my favorite plane for Magic: The Gathering.  I really love how one of the most crucial aspects of the card game's identity--the five colors of mana--are an integral part of the setting, as the colors pair up to form 10 guilds that vie for control of the plane-spanning city of Ravnica.  No matter what game system a Ravnica campaign is run in, it's still going to have at least a little bit of the feel of MTG the card game (especially if there are any planeswalkers involved).

So, I'm really looking at starting up an online game set in Ravnica, but I'm not sure I want to run Fifth Edition.  I'm just not as familiar with it as I am some other systems, and if I'm already adding on the "frills" that come from gaming online, I might as well make sure the system I use is as no-frills as possible while still hitting the points I'm looking for.  Honestly, Swords & Wizardry White Box/Light/Continual Light seem just fine for such a game, and it can double up by keeping me in a Light City state of mind.

Classes seem like they'll be easy enough to handle.  Races, though...that's a different story.  Ravnica probably needs to include Loxodon (elephantfolk), Centaurs, Goblins, Merfolk, Viashino (draconic lizard-type-folk), and maybe hybrid beings from the biomantic Simic guild.  (EDIT: Oh yeah, and Vedalken!)  I'm not against creating them on my own, especially since some of that could just be reskinning stuff that's already out there.  But...and maybe I'm weird in feeling this way...there's something about reskinning races that just FEELS wrong, like it's breaking through the shared imagination of the game in a way that can't be ignored.  It's cool to say, "This is what a Ravnican goblin is like."  It seems relatively lame to just say, "Eh, play a halfling and we'll call you a goblin."  That's just...I dunno, less fantastic and more gamey.

But then I realized...why can't I just tack on 5e races to the classes of just about any OSR game and use them pretty much as-is?  I'll have to buy into some 5e-isms like Advantage/Disadvantage (which it seems gamers have accepted quite well as a mechanic fit for broad use), and I'll need an established way to resolve skills so that any skill-related benefits will have meaning...but those are minor concerns.

Movement rates should convert very simply.  Proficiencies?  If it's a weapon, that means you get to add your attack bonus when you use it.  For other stuff, it means you get to add your level to rolls.  Alignment?  There doesn't seem to be any harm in just ignoring the 5e recommendations, or in simply adopting the nine-alignment system for the game.

As examples, I think a "basic" Human build would just gain +1 to all stats and get to learn an extra language.  Or we can look at...say, the Kor from Plane Shift: Zendikar, the first of Wizards of the Coast's free PDFs bringing 5e rules to MTG:

There doesn't seem to be anything game-breaking there, and it could be fun to actually play the "official" takes on MTG's races.

Have any of you tried something like this?  Other than the "danger" of having starting characters a little more powerful than they would be otherwise, are there any big pitfalls I'm missing here?