New edition, new rules

After talking it over with Richie, I have decided to use 4th edition rules rather than 3.5. I think it will make the campaign easier for me to DM and easier for you to play, and as far as I can tell there's nothing I can't do in 4E that I could in 3.5.

Also, a few notes on character creation: the following races are allowed, with changes where noted.

• Elves - +2 DEX, +2 INT
• Dwarves - +2 CON, +2 CHA
• Humans - As per the Player's Handbook
• Halflings - +2 CON, +2 DEX
• Gnomes - As per the Player's Handbook 2

In this world, the eladrin never existed. More exotic races, like tieflings and dragonborn, may have existed in the past, but are now extinct. (I'm not being capricious there; there is a reason, and it will become clear.) There are no half-elves: elves and humans can reproduce together, but any such child has a 90% chance of being a full-blood human and a 10% chance of being a full-blood elf.

On the subject of the low-magic initial setting, converting to 4E has made this much simpler than the half-caster-level nightmare I concocted earlier: all powers drawing on the arcane, divine or primal power sources are used at -2 to-hit and -2 damage. This may be subject to revision. Later, when you leave your home plane, these penalties will disappear.