D&D at its heart is a storytelling interactive ruleset for you and fellow players. Alter what you want and still keep the D&D feel. Its your world and you're the dungeon master. As what other stated you pulled enough off that we instantly related to it and accepted the changes. It provided the theme and the effect and kept us reading on in full enjoyment.
Here is an excerpt from the Dungeon Master's guide, pg 263
"As the Dungeon Master, you aren’t limited by the rules in the Player’s Handbook, the guidelines in these rules, or the selection of monsters in the Monster Manual. You can let your imagination run wild."
You're doing fine and as someone who has being playing since I was 5 years old. I've DM'ed around the country and literally have 1000's of player's character's stat cards sitting in a box next to me. If I sat at a table with you as a DM and you provided that same captivating experience in this VN... I'd be asking you after the session when is the next one and where do I sign up?