Bluffside: Changes Between Editions

[SmokestackJones]

Okay, so I want to run a C&C campaign in Bluffside for my group and wanted to do up a player's packet for them. I have a hardcopy of the C&C version but I don't have a pdf to work from but I DO have the original Thunderhead Games pdf. SO the question I have is what has been changed/added to/deleted from the original vs. the C&C edition (aside from the stats reworked, that is)?

-SJ

[Traveller]

For additions and deletions, the authors would have to chime in on that. I can only tell you about the changes, of which there really weren't that many. The biggest change is in the time line, but not the only change.

• The history of Bluffside dates back over 200,000 years. The original had it dating back 100,000 years, which is impossible because the Palace of Sem La Vah is over 200,000 years old.
• The d20 version of the setting added a century to all dates following Jarman the Wise's disappearance in 1158. The information about his disappearance mentions a simultaneous uprising in the nearby mountains, which was the start of the Goblinoid War. This is inconsistent with the timeline, therefore the timeline had to be off by a century, which set the Goblinoid War in 1159, not 1259 as in the d20 version.
• Some notable events detailed in the history were added to the timeline.
• In d20 the lich and vampire were templates to be added to a given creature. For C&C, there are no templates, so there were changes to the hit dice and abilities of Jarman and Tamalek. In Jarman's case, his Lawful Neutral alignment was retained. In Tamalek's case, his weapons were retained.
• There is no half-dragon PC race in Castles & Crusades. If there were, I think everyone would want to be one, but I digress. Both for flavor reasons and because she is an NPC, Gal Na Mar Khan was kept as a half-dragon. "Upgrading" her to a full silver dragon was not an option. Removing the silver dragon ancestry would have worked, but then the connection between her and the Silver Wyrm inn would have been lost.
• The dragori writeups were consolidated into one entry, with the differences between the sub-races mentioned. It made no sense to repeat the same information three times.

The rest of the changes were in the area of general text editing and polish. I had forgotten however that I made the conscious decision to keep Gal Na Mar Khan as a half-dragon.

[Treebore]

Rigon has some house rules for Half Dragons he uses. I think he adapted it from old Dragon articles, and I am currently playing a Half Silver Dragon human in his Monday C&C Kalamar game.

[SmokestackJones]

For additions and deletions, the authors would have to chime in on that. I can only tell you about the changes, of which there really weren't that many. The biggest change is in the time line, but not the only change.

• The history of Bluffside dates back over 200,000 years. The original had it dating back 100,000 years, which is impossible because the Palace of Sem La Vah is over 200,000 years old.
• The d20 version of the setting added a century to all dates following Jarman the Wise's disappearance in 1158. The information about his disappearance mentions a simultaneous uprising in the nearby mountains, which was the start of the Goblinoid War. This is inconsistent with the timeline, therefore the timeline had to be off by a century, which set the Goblinoid War in 1159, not 1259 as in the d20 version.
• Some notable events detailed in the history were added to the timeline.
• In d20 the lich and vampire were templates to be added to a given creature. For C&C, there are no templates, so there were changes to the hit dice and abilities of Jarman and Tamalek. In Jarman's case, his Lawful Neutral alignment was retained. In Tamalek's case, his weapons were retained.
• There is no half-dragon PC race in Castles & Crusades. If there were, I think everyone would want to be one, but I digress. Both for flavor reasons and because she is an NPC, Gal Na Mar Khan was kept as a half-dragon. "Upgrading" her to a full silver dragon was not an option. Removing the silver dragon ancestry would have worked, but then the connection between her and the Silver Wyrm inn would have been lost.
• The dragori writeups were consolidated into one entry, with the differences between the sub-races mentioned. It made no sense to repeat the same information three times.

The rest of the changes were in the area of general text editing and polish. I had forgotten however that I made the conscious decision to keep Gal Na Mar Khan as a half-dragon.

Moving the timeline makes sense in retrospect. As for Gal Na Mar Kahn's half dragon status I would have just made her a full dragon with shapeshifting abilities, but that's me.

The consolidation of the dragori was a smart move, as was changing the Prestige Classes to regular Classes.

-SJ

[Traveller]

I could have, but the increase in both hit points and hit dice I felt would be problematic. Plus, as a full dragon she would lose her current spellcasting capability and have it replaced with dragon magic. Such changes I felt wouldn't fit the character as designed, thus it was best to keep her as is.