Statting Melniboneans for AD&D 1e/OSR

[Elriconan]

I am currently working on statting various sorts of Elven races (the humanish sized ones with slightly pointy ears). I am mostly done with my work on the Elves of Middle Earth (Rolemaster's conversion suggestions were quite helpful). I am currently working on Melnibonean race, those catty half-elves descended from interdimensional dolphin men. Later today I'll dig up my Stormbringer books, as the range on statisti s isn't too dissimilar to AD&D, but I was keen to see if anyone had thought or suggestions.

If you're interested in how I treated the Elves of Middle Earth (it needs a little editing to make it clear that Half-Elves and Numenoreans aren't immortal, and added height tables) check here: http://rpgiconoclasm.wordpress.com/2013/12/06/the-elves-of-middle-earth/

[Digitalelf]

When the 1st edition Deities & Demigods book first came out, it had a Melnibonean entry (these were removed from later printings however).

It listed various "heroes" (like Elric for example) and had quite a few of the monsters as well...

[Elriconan]

When the 1st edition Deities & Demigods book first came out, it had a Melnibonean entry (these were removed from later printings however).

It listed various "heroes" (like Elric for example) and had quite a few of the monsters as well...I own a first printing, in fact! However, I am looking to create racial statistics for themx not particular NPCs. I'll edit the original post to make that clearer.

[Rhynn]

Haven't actually done it previously, but going off Stormbringer and Elric!...

Even though all three nominally use a 3-18 scale, +1 to an ability score is a bigger deal in AD&D than in either of those systems. Giving Melnibonéans +1d10 Intelligence is clearly not an option, and the Elric! approach (2D8+4 for most stats, 3D8+8 for INT) is also obviously not feasible...

So I'd say +1 Intelligence, no penalty, no fancy abilities (they don't see in the dark, etc.) necessary. Minimums/maximums (pre-modifiers) something like STR 9/18/00, DEX 9/18, CON 9/18, INT 12/18, WIS 6/18, CHA 5/18. Always Chaotic and usually Evil.

Classes allowed: Fighter, Thief, Magic-User, Illusionist, Cleric*, Assassin.
Multi-class Combinations: Fighter/Thief, Fighter/Magic-User, Fighter/Cleric, Fighter/Assassin, Fighter/Thief/Magic-User, Fighter/Magic-User/Cleric, Thief/Magic-User, Magic-User/Cleric, Cleric/Assassin.

Use fairly high level limits; say, Fighter 15, Thief 18 or U, Magic-User 18 or U, Illusionist 18 or U, Cleric 12, Assassin U (whatever the usual limit is). Adjust by prime requisite if you want.

* Really, for both Elric's and Conan's worlds you should probably smash together the various spell lists in some fashion - choose 10-12 spells for each level to include the in the campaign, dropping flashy ones like fireball and adjusting the level of some on a case-by-case basis. Make this the spell list of a Sorcerer class with wizard HD, XP, and combat ability, but not limited in weapon choices. Replace Magic-Users and Clerics with that. Keep Illusionists and maybe Druids, though.

[Elriconan]

* Really, for both Elric's and Conan's worlds you should probably smash together the various spell lists in some fashion - choose 10-12 spells for each level to include the in the campaign, dropping flashy ones like fireball and adjusting the level of some on a case-by-case basis. Make this the spell list of a Sorcerer class with wizard HD, XP, and combat ability, but not limited in weapon choices. Replace Magic-Users and Clerics with that. Keep Illusionists and maybe Druids, though.

Thanks for the suggestions, my thoughts were that Melniboneans (being 'half elves') would be somewhat less exalted than the Elves of Middle Earth, and your write up scales well with the statistics I gave them. As for alignment, I wont be using it in my write ups (though Law and Chaos are more appropriate than usual in their case) I prefer an amoral/wertfrei approach. Thus I would describe Melniboneans as catty - selfish, hedonistic, indifferent to the well being of others despite their ability to be charming - and leave the hopeless subjectivity of normative evaluation to people interested in such trifles.

I would note that Melniboneans historically were pacifistic favorites of a Lord of Law, qnd then balance, before becoming the thralls of Chaos. Their race being related to Corums might indicate that it was more circumstance and history that makes those of the Dragon Isle so cruel and arbitrary.

[Rhynn]

I would note that Melniboneans historically were pacifistic favorites of a Lord of Law, qnd then balance, before becoming the thralls of Chaos. Their race being related to Corums might indicate that it was more circumstance and history that makes those of the Dragon Isle so cruel and arbitrary.

Yeah, the Eldren are present on many worlds in different forms (IMO it's clear that Corum's people were Eldren, and the nonhumans in Erekosë's story are even called Eldren), but by the time we're talking Melnibonéans, it implies a very specific culture aligned with Chaos. Similarly, the Mabden of Pang Tang are IMO clearly the Mabden of Corum's world (both groups aligned with Chaos)...

Mind you, the history of Melnibonéans isn't very clear-cut: there's two contradictory accounts (the one where they came from R'lin K'ren A'a, and the later one with Imrryr and H'hui'shan).

Glad you liked the write-up! It was done quickly, but AD&D is so straightforward it seemed easy enough. :smallbiggrin: I'm planning on making a Sorcerer class to replace Clerics (and maybe Mages, too) for ACKS (a Basic D&D retroclone) to use in both Young Kingdoms and Hyborian Age games...

[Elriconan]

Yeah, the Eldren are present on many worlds in different forms (IMO it's clear that Corum's people were Eldren, and the nonhumans in Erekosë's story are even called Eldren), but by the time we're talking Melnibonéans, it implies a very specific culture aligned with Chaos. Similarly, the Mabden of Pang Tang are IMO clearly the Mabden of Corum's world (both groups aligned with Chaos)...

Mind you, the history of Melnibonéans isn't very clear-cut: there's two contradictory accounts (the one where they came from R'lin K'ren A'a, and the later one with Imrryr and H'hui'shan).

Glad you liked the write-up! It was done quickly, but AD&D is so straightforward it seemed easy enough. :smallbiggrin: I'm planning on making a Sorcerer class to replace Clerics (and maybe Mages, too) for ACKS (a Basic D&D retroclone) to use in both Young Kingdoms and Hyborian Age games... Melniboneans are also partially human, which makes them less fae than the Eldrin (and possibly meaner). In any case, check out my BECMI Warlock class, it's not quite Hyborian but it's only semi-Vancian, though it has a blast power. I made it for a Hyborian/Middle Earth/Young Kingdoms game.
http://rpgiconoclasm.wordpress.com/2013/12/07/warlock-class-dark-dungeonsbecmi/

And here's the finished race: http://rpgiconoclasm.wordpress.com/2013/12/07/melnibonean/