DnD Head Canons

[Ajustusdaniel]

I agree with this. It's like how in real life the platypus isn't closely releated to either the duck or to the beaver despite the fact that it looks dead on like both of them

The platypus also has venomous ankle spurs, no stomach, sense electricity through their beak, sweat milk, glow green under ultraviolet light and lay eggs. I'm not entirely prepared to rule out the possibility that there was a wizard involved.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I say this as constructive criticism, and not an attempt to "debunk", but...

How does this explain the fact that (pre-5e) Otyughs can speak Common?

Wait, they can't speak Common in 5e? That was the best thing about them!

I hereby headcanon that 5e otyughs can speak Common just like in previous editions.

[Bohandas]

Otyughs are smart enough for that so it is just a matter of having the right culture since there is not really such thing as "inadapted vocal chords" in dnd.

I'm sure I've seen notes in monster entries to the effect that certain monsters can understand but not speak certain languages

[PhoenixPhyre]

I'm sure I've seen notes in monster entries to the effect that certain monsters can understand but not speak certain languages

They're all over the place. Including lots of the beasts and a bunch of undead--the skeleton has "Understands all languages it knew in life but can't speak".

[noob]

They're all over the place. Including lots of the beasts and a bunch of undead--the skeleton has "Understands all languages it knew in life but can't speak".

The skeleton have no vocal chords and the beasts that can understand a language but not speak it specifically(ex: can understand common but not speak it) can then speak any new language they learn(by raw).
So it suggests the problem is cultural in their case.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

How does this explain the fact that (pre-5e) Otyughs can speak Common?

Not only do Otyughs speak Common, but so do most things that can speak at all, even things like Krakens that rarely if ever interact with surface races, Chuuls whose mouthparts are nowhere near humanoid-like, and Gibbering Mouthers who are for all practical purposes insane. Further, Common isn't just the common tongue of a single region or a single world, but a multiversal constant: people from Oerth, Toril, and Krynn can chat with each other in Common over drinks, and spelljamming crews can drop in on a random backwater planet and say hi to the locals in Common, and everyone can understand each other just fine even if certain worlds have their own regional languages or dialects.

For those reasons, it's my headcanon that Common is just as much a primordial or fundamental language as Draconic, the outsider and elemental languages, and other languages spoken by highly-magical (near-)immortal beings. Draconic is a language of power, strongly associated with magical writings and possibly related to the Language Primeval; Celestial is a language of perfection, believed to descend from the same language as the Words of Creation; and Common is a language of unity, facilitating communication regardless of physiology, psychology, origin, or any other factors. Every single sapient race or creature that can speak at all becomes able to speak Common (or a dialect like Undercommon) as soon as they evolve or are created (though some creatures may eventually evolve to not speak it, such as some aquatic or Plane of Water creatures that now only speak Aquan due to never having the opportunity to use Common).

Also, dragons, celestials and fiends, and elementals have special exclusive magic/templates/etc. (breath weapon spells, spells with Archon components, etc.), can crossbreed with just about anything due to their intrinsic magical nature (see: all the Half-X templates), and have their own fancy magical languages, right? Well, humans are famous for sleeping with just about anything to produce half-elves, half-orcs, lots of genasi, tons of planetouched, and so forth, and they're also uniquely receptive to magical mutation or transformation into elan, azurins, illumians, kalashtar, and the like; there are a bunch of human- and human-offshoot-specific options (especially in Races of Destiny), and part-humans can take advantage of their non-human blood for even more options; and Common is often said to be (or have been derived from) a singular multiverse-spanning original human language. Coincidence? I think not.

[No brains]

I remember some old, old comment about how owlbears might be related to some dinosaurs.

If you have a body a bit like a protoceratops, with a beaked head on a four-limbed body, plus feathers, like a lot of dinosaurs had, you're basically halfway there.

Spoiler

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IIRC the Owlbear was one of the original D&D monsters that came from a pack of cheap plastic 'dinosaurs'. Art imitates life, I guess.

[Luccan]

IIRC the Owlbear was one of the original D&D monsters that came from a pack of cheap plastic 'dinosaurs'. Art imitates life, I guess.

The bulette as well. Speaking of, here's my "head canon": it's pronounced bullet. Now, I know some of you will be surprised, as I was, to hear that's not the original pronunciation the guys at TSR intended (for official release). According to Tim Kask, they did call it a bullet at first, but changed the spelling and moreover pronunciation to boo-lay because for whatever reason they thought that would be a funny way to mock the French. Or people's obsession with the French language? Was that a thing in the 70s? Anyway, that's a dumb sounding name which I've also been informed isn't even accurate to how you would pronounce that monster name even if it were French, so we arrive at my head canon that it's just pronounced bullet. And not BOO-let or boo-LET either, which I've also heard.

Slaadi aren't a threat to most planes/people because they usually find the consistency of everywhere that isn't their home plane dull

[Silly Name]

The bulette as well. Speaking of, here's my "head canon": it's pronounced bullet. Now, I know some of you will be surprised, as I was, to hear that's not the original pronunciation the guys at TSR intended (for official release). According to Tim Kask, they did call it a bullet at first, but changed the spelling and moreover pronunciation to boo-lay because for whatever reason they thought that would be a funny way to mock the French. Or people's obsession with the French language? Was that a thing in the 70s? Anyway, that's a dumb sounding name which I've also been informed isn't even accurate to how you would pronounce that monster name even if it were French, so we arrive at my head canon that it's just pronounced bullet. And not BOO-let or boo-LET either, which I've also heard.

Uh, pretty funny. Here in Italy I've always heard it pronounced "BOO-let", which sounds vaguely French now that I think about it.

We also apparently pronounce a lot of names "wrong" since books don't really come with a pronunciation guide and we obviously default to different pronunciation rules than American English. I still refuse to make "drow" rhyme with "cow".

[Archpaladin Zousha]

The DM I play with on Skype is like that: he pronounces "drow" like "crow."

[Luccan]

Uh, pretty funny. Here in Italy I've always heard it pronounced "BOO-let", which sounds vaguely French now that I think about it.

We also apparently pronounce a lot of names "wrong" since books don't really come with a pronunciation guide and we obviously default to different pronunciation rules than American English. I still refuse to make "drow" rhyme with "cow".

Eh, that's a little different. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so all-encompassing. My issue is with primary American English speakers pronouncing it in odd ways for seemingly no reason or to deliberately make the pronunciation "off". I would object to the other pronunciations significantly less than Boo-lay

[Cicciograna]

Uh, pretty funny. Here in Italy I've always heard it pronounced "BOO-let", which sounds vaguely French now that I think about it.

We also apparently pronounce a lot of names "wrong" since books don't really come with a pronunciation guide and we obviously default to different pronunciation rules than American English. I still refuse to make "drow" rhyme with "cow".

That's interesting, because I'm from Italy too, and I always pronounced it as boo-LET. Come to think of it, I have absolutely no idea why I picked this pronunciation, it just sort of came to me.

But yeah, for me "drow" rhymes with "though".

But then, the word "bow" can be pronounced in two different ways, depending on if it's referring to a kowtow or to a weapon.

[Bohandas]

The Athar are right regarding the gods. This is less headcanon, and more strict rules as written (at least in 3.x). The gods (as written in Deities and Demigod have a passel of themed abilities, but with few exceptions have little special ability to control their portfolio in an overarching manner or from across the planes. And they all have more or less the same abilities because the themed abilities are all redundant with the alter reality ability that most of them have. So none of them are really the 'god of x' or 'god of y', they're just a hobbyist interested in x or y who happens to have a lot of paranormal abilities.

[SpyOne]

(snip) ... they thought that would be a funny way to mock the French. Or people's obsession with the French language? Was that a thing in the 70s?

In the population in general? No.
Among people discussing mideval weapons and armor? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Then, now, and always.
Knock-down, drag-out fights over how to pronounce "trebuchet" that led a lot of people to start saying "tree-bucket".
Arguments over how to pronounce the "ch" in machicolation (which depends on whether the word came from French or directly from Latin).
And endless arguments about whether both French and anglicized pronunciations are acceptable or whether only one, and which one. (There are a precious few words that came into French from English.)

[Luccan]

In the population in general? No.
Among people discussing mideval weapons and armor? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Then, now, and always.
Knock-down, drag-out fights over how to pronounce "trebuchet" that led a lot of people to start saying "tree-bucket".
Arguments over how to pronounce the "ch" in machicolation (which depends on whether the word came from French or directly from Latin).
And endless arguments about whether both French and anglicized pronunciations are acceptable or whether only one, and which one. (There are a precious few words that came into French from English.)

Honestly, Tree-Bucket is a good euonym for a trebuchet. But that makes sense, with Gary and all those guys coming from the war game scene and making a medieval fantasy game.

[Bohandas]

But yeah, for me "drow" rhymes with "though".

It is now part of my headcanon that the dark elves are all named Drew

nvm. Misread your post. I thought you said rhymes with "through" not "though"

[vasilidor]

beware the drew, they like the darker places in the world.

I love it.

[Satinavian]

Uh, pretty funny. Here in Italy I've always heard it pronounced "BOO-let", which sounds vaguely French now that I think about it.

We also apparently pronounce a lot of names "wrong" since books don't really come with a pronunciation guide and we obviously default to different pronunciation rules than American English. I still refuse to make "drow" rhyme with "cow".

In the German translation it is called Landhai, which means land shark. Presumable one reason why they changed it is because "bulette" is just a minced meat dish here.

I still always get hungry when i read bulette in some English D&D text.

[Eldan]

Landshark is in the English monster manual too, as an alternate name of the monster.

[Bohandas]

Ok, I thought I figured out a way to explain how there can be multiple unaffiliated gods of the same sun by analogy with rival cellphone carriers or internet service providers that all connect you to the same network. But then I realized that I don't understand how those work either.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Ok, I thought I figured out a way to explain how there can be multiple unaffiliated gods of the same sun by analogy with rival cellphone carriers or internet service providers that all connect you to the same network. But then I realized that I don't understand how those work either.

That's a pretty good analogy. The ELI5 version of the technology is that ISPs and carriers can either use different hardware (separate cables or their own cell towers) to deliver their own service to you or there can be shared infrastructure (a single cable hook-up to a house or a single cell tower network) on which the different ISPs and carriers rent capacity to deliver their services, and in the latter case so long as the different companies are using different protocols, different portions of the spectrum, etc. there won't be interference.

In the case of competing gods, you have the single set of "hardware" (the sun) and each god provides different "service" (divine casting) to their "users" (priests) on different metaphysical "channels" (portfolios) and in different "service areas" (pantheons). Ao, then, would be Realmspace's "government regulating agency" who forbids multiple gods from existing with the same portfolios in the same pantheons because the "interference" from multiple gods using the same "frequencies" would provide a poor user experience for the gods' respective priests.

You can extend the analogy to a bunch of other magic-related concepts: a priest of Pelor who ends up on Toril can draw power from Lathander because Pelor and Lathander have "roaming" agreements, changing faiths requires some sort of quest or other demonstration of faith because you have to port your "number" to the new "network," and so forth.

[a_flemish_guy]

In the German translation it is called Landhai, which means land shark. Presumable one reason why they changed it is because "bulette" is just a minced meat dish here.

I still always get hungry when i read bulette in some English D&D text.

Landshark is in the English monster manual too, as an alternate name of the monster.

I once read they once asked one of designers how bullete ought to be pronounced and he said "I don't know, I just call it a landshark"

[Kane0]

Bouncing off the idea the magic (‘the weave’) is generated by the friction between planes:

Mechanus relies on this to keep the planar cogs moving in a sort of catch 22. Perfect order and uniformity would take away the power source and grind the gears to a stop.

Each plane is ‘infinite’ in some way by necessity, acting as a sink to combat overflow.

Mortals like to blame gods for cataclysmic events but in many instances they are as much victims as the mortals are. Planar ‘earthquakes’ cause all sorts of chaos and more often than not the highly magically inclined are more severely affected by any distuptions. Which reminds me I should probably come up with some magic counterpart to tectonic verbiage.

[Bohandas]

Changelings, in acknowledgement of their ability to freely change shape, all have names that could apply to either sex. ie. "Tracy" "Jamie" "Ash" "Sam" "Fran" "Paris" "Sandy" "Carmen" etc.

[Beleriphon]

The bulette as well. Speaking of, here's my "head canon": it's pronounced bullet. Now, I know some of you will be surprised, as I was, to hear that's not the original pronunciation the guys at TSR intended (for official release). According to Tim Kask, they did call it a bullet at first, but changed the spelling and moreover pronunciation to boo-lay because for whatever reason they thought that would be a funny way to mock the French. Or people's obsession with the French language? Was that a thing in the 70s? Anyway, that's a dumb sounding name which I've also been informed isn't even accurate to how you would pronounce that monster name even if it were French, so we arrive at my head canon that it's just pronounced bullet. And not BOO-let or boo-LET either, which I've also heard.

I always went with bew-let, like Ferris Bueller.

[Gemini Lupus]

Gnomes and halflings belong to the same race but are two subraces - gnome is the race’s proper name, while halfling is a derogatory term, used by the “big folk.” Two children from the same parents may manifest the racial traits of either “halflings” or “gnomes.” And they only have three fingers and a thumb (like gelflings in the Dark Crystal). This is mostly because I think the two races are too close to fulfilling the same niche in most campaign settings among the standard races

On that same note, racial traits from the various subraces may manifest in any member of a particular race - two wood elves may give birth to a high elf, though it might be less likely. The exception is the drow (rhymes with plow ) who are their own distinct race, separate from the rest of elvenkind.

Gnomish cuisine is made up of exotic foods such as pizza, tacos, spaghetti and meatballs, and sauced chicken wings. What are the culinary arts if not alchemy after all?

Dwarven beards are courser than human beards, produce special oils, and have mites which clean bacteria and such from the beards, all to function as a filtration system for all the dust they would otherwise inhale from their mine-work. Thus, shaving a dwarf’s beard is not just a cultural insult, but actually depriving them of a key element of their biology.

I’m certain I have more, I just can’t think of them right now.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Gnomes and halflings belong to the same race but are two subraces - gnome is the race’s proper name, while halfling is a derogatory term, used by the “big folk.” Two children from the same parents may manifest the racial traits of either “halflings” or “gnomes.” And they only have three fingers and a thumb (like gelflings in the Dark Crystal). This is mostly because I think the two races are too close to fulfilling the same niche in most campaign settings among the standard races

I used to do something similar back in the AD&D days but with dwarves instead of halflings, as the original metagame niche that gnomes fulfilled was basically "dwarves but with magic" since dwarves couldn't be arcane casters. I basically said that whatever arcane ability was present in humans and elves was somehow dormant in dwarves thanks to their innate magic resistance, like some sort of magical gene with dominant "magic-resistant" and recessive "magic-capable" alleles, so physically-weaker-but-magically-capable dwarves would pop up once in a blue moon and what humans knew as "gnomes" were basically true-breeding populations of those unusual dwarves who'd gone off and made their own communities.

On that same note, racial traits from the various subraces may manifest in any member of a particular race - two wood elves may give birth to a high elf, though it might be less likely. The exception is the drow (rhymes with plow ) who are their own distinct race, separate from the rest of elvenkind.

I like the explanation that because elves are so long-lived that natural selection is basically irrelevant on a species-wide level, elves basically evolve to fit their environment on an individual level to compensate. It's not that wood elves live in the woods, arctic elves live in the arctic, etc. because they're adapted to those environments, but rather an elf born and raised in the woods becomes a wood elf, one born and raised in the arctic becomes an arctic elf, and so on, and most elven communities are made up of just one subrace of elf because if a wood elf moves to a high elf city their kids become high elves so they literally can't maintain populations of multiple elven subraces in one place over time.

[Sharur]

Gnomes and halflings belong to the same race but are two subraces - gnome is the race’s proper name, while halfling is a derogatory term, used by the “big folk.”

....racial traits from the various subraces may manifest in any member of a particular race - two wood elves may give birth to a high elf, though it might be less likely. The exception is the drow (rhymes with plow ) who are their own distinct race, separate from the rest of elvenkind.

Conversely,
Gnomes are descendants of pairings between dwarves and elves, while halflings are descendants of pairings between dwarves and humans. They are shorter than either of their lineages due to outbreeding depression (which is a real thing). (The Muls of Darksun are also dwarf/human hybrids, but they are sterile).

In contrast, half-elves and half-orcs don't "merit" a unique name, because they don't "breed true" and can't maintain a stable population. A half-elf that mates with an elf will produce elvish progeny, the children of two half elves will be human 45% of the time, an elf 45% of the time and half-elf the remaining 10% of the time.

Subraces are more cultures than ethnicities (except for dragonborn)...Mountain dwarves live in regimented subterranean communities with mandatory military service, while Hill Dwarves live in more diverse, above ground settings where they grow up breathing fresher air; Wood Elves societies attempted to run and hid from the Archfey while Ancient High elves tried playing their games (mostly aiming to become vassals). Drow aren't born as Drow, but are elves "made" into Drow as infants, via a ritual dedicating them to Lloth involving injecting the infant with spider venom (which has a very high mortality rate). Varying depictions of Drow skin tone are the result of this ritual performed with different species of spiders.

There are no morally neutral dragons; dragons have binary, rather than trinary moralities. Dragons wear their hearts on their scales. A Metalic dragon that falls "below" good will go straight to evil, and become the corresponding Chromatic type(E.g. a falling Gold Dragon will become a Red Dragon); likewise, a Green Dragon who rises "above" evil will shoot into being good and a brass dragon.

Adult and older metallic dragons have secondary breath-weapons due to learning how to perform alchemy using the metals in their scales.

Alignments are semi-sentient/super-sentient. Non-neutral souls eventually are absorbed into these "alignments" and then are "reincarnated" as outsiders(angels, devils, demons, morons, etc.). Neutral souls are reincarnated in the Material Plane. All of the things that are reincarnated in the Material plane are the material plane's version of "outsiders". The Material Plane is the middle layer of the "Neutral" plane, along with the Feywild and the Shadowfell.

Slaadi don't belong to the Chaotic Neutral plane, they belong to the Neutral Chaotic Evil plane (Pandemonium), but are drawn to the Spawning Stone.

Limbo isn't the Chaotic Neutral plane; The Chaotic Neutral plane is the Elemental Chaos, which has "layers" of the classical elements, and Elementals are the Chaotic Neutral "outsiders"; Limbo is a relatively stable region of the Elemental Chaos, formed around the Spawning Stone.

Deities are former mortals(like Mystara Immortals), who exemplified an alignment in life; Their absorption/reincarnation has been delayed so that they can serve as an interface between their alignment and mortals...Essentially they are super-clerics in service to their alignments.

[PhoenixPhyre]

For a setting where fixed alignments aren't a thing:

The difference between chromatic and metallic dragons is whether they can change their shape. Metallics can, chromatics never decided to learn how. But if they do, their scales change.

90+% of the time, metallic also means spellcaster.

Also, cats were originally intended as psychopomps. That's why they can see ghosts. Many have forgotten or never learned this.

Spoiler: KorvinStarmast stay out

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Those that do know this secret can walk into the border of the Ethereal through people's shadows and speak in mortal tongues if they wish. Most are way too lazy and prefer to just be treated like royalty though, so they don't.

[Spore]

I never truly got the "Orcs are corrupted elves/bad cloning experiments". It makes much much more sense for them to be dwarf clones. Both are hale and hearty, both have darkvision, dwell in caverns and they hate each other as much as only estranged siblings can. Yes I understand they are the antithesis of many elven traits, but that is what makes me doubt their common heritage. Now every other D&D setting has their own origination myth for orcs, but if you have dwarves, they are brothers.