[5E] Using Ravnica in BC 2300
by John CalvinI know I'm a little behind on this one, as Ravnica was published back at the end of 2018, but I've recently picked this book up (along with a couple of others that I've had my eye on for a while) and started going through it. Although I haven't even ready halfway through the book yet, I can already tell that a majority of its focus is placed on the guild structure of the city/world of Ravnica. That seems like it might be prety specific to that campaign setting, but there were several ideas already that jumped out as being able to fit in Mystara 2300 BC, so I thought I'd share them here. I'll definitely share more as I make my way through more of the book.
Races:
Centaur (Fey)
The centaurs of Ravnica are listed as fey creatures, and so it might make a lot of sense to include them as player races from Grondheim (where the Troll Queen - also a fey creature - has sway). Not all centaurs on Mystara need to be fey, and there are probably tribes around the world that aren't. These fey variants however, are slightly smaller than normal sized centaurs (making them medium build - think more along the lines of a pony body rather than horse) and may have been transplanted from the Feywild (or wherever the fey originate from).
Goblin
Although the beastmen of BC 2300 haven't quite started breeding true (as the standard humanoid races), we could still use this goblin variant to represent some of the creatures living in and around Urzud.
Loxodon
These elephant people could be used as analogs of pachydermions, however I don't necessarily have a place to put them in the known world setting of BC 2300. You could file off the flavor text and make them more monstrous. That might make them an appropriate choice for a creature from Urzud. With different flavor text they might also be used in Grondheim as a form of "small giant", or they may even work as the male version of the troll species (before being changed into the monsters we know in modern times).
Minotaur
There aren't technically minotaurs on Mystara until BC 2000, but this player option could be used for members of the tauran species. Taurans would be numerous in Davania and along the Arm of the Immortals and Savage Coast, but populations of taurans may also have made their way into Taymora. True minotaurs would make their way to Taymora (and beyond) sometime after BC 2000, and the murder of Gildesh by Minoides.
Vedalken
With only just a little tweaking to their appearance, the vedalken could be used as a nice stand-in for one of the Makers (aka: the progenitor culture of Teka-nuri-ria). Vedalken are taller than the average human, lanky, and blue. Give them larger ears and they could pass for the race that once dwelled on Teka-nuri-ria. They are also able to breath both air and water, and although I never thought of the Makers as semi-aquatic, I aslo don't think that ability needs to necessarily be removed. For a race of creatures that have been altering themselves (and others), having at least some of them be able to breath water should be fine. We might find other Maker analogs in different source material, and I see no reason not to include them as player options. The Makers are first and foremost all about lifecrafting, so having multiple playable races as options should fit.
Simic Hybrid
In the same vein as the vedalken above, I think the simic hybrids would also fit nicely into Maker society. These are in fact the results of Maker experiments (on humans, elves, and vedalken), to fuse them with other animal traits (most notably aquatic, reptilian, or amphibian creatures).