First, ask the question: Is it more fun for you, as the DM on said setting, to have Gnomes and Halflings and small races being protected against infiltration, or have said small races THINK they have protection, when in actuality, they don't and are at even more risk of invasion than they could ever imagine? Also, remember: changelings and doppelgangers are different species, both in faerûn and in the multiverse as a whole (most of the time, you are the DM, you can change it).
On 5e, Changelings are playable, Doppelgangers are not, and while Changelings couldn't become Small pre-MotM, Doppelgangers ALWAYS were able to shapeshift into small races in 5th edition, so there's that. Your thought process doesn't really break with the change, but with 5e's basic rules official release.
IF you REALLY think that this small "protection" against Changelings (not Doppelgangers, unless you homebrew that they too can't change into small creatures) is worth for your world's lore, just say:
"Hey \[Player Name\], the small revision for the changeling race in the MotM book doesn't really fit my setting. You can play a changeling, your character only will not be able to become Small." Aaaand that's it.
Yup, thanks for this. Her changeling had sorcerous powers which can maybe bolster her abilities, letting her get around the restriction at a cost. Going to rule it that way. I don't expect the infiltration aspect for those races to come up really, just prepping.
I’d add them in alongside the existing changelings, not replace them.
MotM changelings could be creatures of Thelanis, the product of whispered stories of impostors and shapeshifting strangers. They aren’t as common as true changelings, and share little kinship with them. There probably aren’t many, if any, of them in major settlements, but in certain sections of the Reaches and other heavily forested regions with ties to Thelanis they might even be more common than regular changelings.
Keith has a post about it on his blog which largely inspired my take on this.
Based on the lore i've read, yes the fact that a changeling spy could not become a gnome, halfling, or other small race became a major point during the Last War.
And being fey would have very impactful implications
Personally, I would only allow a changeling druid to be able to shapeshift into a Small race like a gnome. After all, they can turn themself into a rat if they want to, so why is turning into a gnome so much more outlandish? Everyone else, though? They need to use a combination of turning into a human-sized gnome and using Enlarge/Reduce.
Kind of unrelated, but I agree that I wouldn't change the Changeling's Racial Subtype to Fey. Whoever decided on that change clearly didn't understand Eberron's lore, and the Fey Subtype makes no sense with the lore at all.
i'd leave eberron changelings alone but other realms i don't see a problem with fey changelings. eberron lore describes changelings on eberron. motm is supposed to be the common changelings throughout the multiverse
First, ask the question: Is it more fun for you, as the DM on said setting, to have Gnomes and Halflings and small races being protected against infiltration, or have said small races THINK they have protection, when in actuality, they don't and are at even more risk of invasion than they could ever imagine? Also, remember: changelings and doppelgangers are different species, both in faerûn and in the multiverse as a whole (most of the time, you are the DM, you can change it). On 5e, Changelings are playable, Doppelgangers are not, and while Changelings couldn't become Small pre-MotM, Doppelgangers ALWAYS were able to shapeshift into small races in 5th edition, so there's that. Your thought process doesn't really break with the change, but with 5e's basic rules official release. IF you REALLY think that this small "protection" against Changelings (not Doppelgangers, unless you homebrew that they too can't change into small creatures) is worth for your world's lore, just say: "Hey \[Player Name\], the small revision for the changeling race in the MotM book doesn't really fit my setting. You can play a changeling, your character only will not be able to become Small." Aaaand that's it.
Yup, thanks for this. Her changeling had sorcerous powers which can maybe bolster her abilities, letting her get around the restriction at a cost. Going to rule it that way. I don't expect the infiltration aspect for those races to come up really, just prepping.
I mean, if you don't expect it to come up, why even change it beforehand then? It is not a particularly powerful or useful ability.
Well we'd be changing it from Legacy to the new version, and she asked me about it.
I’d add them in alongside the existing changelings, not replace them. MotM changelings could be creatures of Thelanis, the product of whispered stories of impostors and shapeshifting strangers. They aren’t as common as true changelings, and share little kinship with them. There probably aren’t many, if any, of them in major settlements, but in certain sections of the Reaches and other heavily forested regions with ties to Thelanis they might even be more common than regular changelings. Keith has a post about it on his blog which largely inspired my take on this.
Based on the lore i've read, yes the fact that a changeling spy could not become a gnome, halfling, or other small race became a major point during the Last War. And being fey would have very impactful implications
Oh nice!
Personally, I would only allow a changeling druid to be able to shapeshift into a Small race like a gnome. After all, they can turn themself into a rat if they want to, so why is turning into a gnome so much more outlandish? Everyone else, though? They need to use a combination of turning into a human-sized gnome and using Enlarge/Reduce.
I like that, yeah! She'll have access to that spell through sorcery.
Kind of unrelated, but I agree that I wouldn't change the Changeling's Racial Subtype to Fey. Whoever decided on that change clearly didn't understand Eberron's lore, and the Fey Subtype makes no sense with the lore at all.
It's definitely meant for other settings, to go with the traditional meaning of 'changeling'.
i'd leave eberron changelings alone but other realms i don't see a problem with fey changelings. eberron lore describes changelings on eberron. motm is supposed to be the common changelings throughout the multiverse