Vere: A World in Progress [Archive] - Wizards Community

Vere: A World in Progress [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
queenfange
08-01-07, 12:35 PM Due to the new terms of use, which give WotC right to freely use or take anything I post, I regretfully must remove Vere from this site. I hope to see some of you again elsewhere.

Moderators, please feel free to delete this thread.
unundindur
08-01-07, 01:01 PM Looks brilliant so far :)

I see some traits that match my own Eiir which you know, and after seeing this I realise I have to put up a similar "what is different" box, as its a bit hard to show some things via fluff-texts.

My own world will have no alignments, and it seems such an idea might suit you too... What i do rulewise is that effects that usually targets a spesific alignment targets a spesific group, religion or organization. Furthermore, for spells that target alignments they now target anyone, but have their spell level increased by 1. I have not yet come to type this out though, but I think you see where its going.

I also like what you are doing with realism, as I am doing the same thing ;)

Best of luck, and I will keep an eye on this thread :)
queenfange
08-01-07, 01:21 PM (See the first post)
ewancummins
08-01-07, 08:40 PM Looks good so far. Tell us more about the various races, please.
Dog_O_War
08-01-07, 09:16 PM NO KNIGHTS?! This is unheard of! But seriously, knights and knighthoods were more that some dink in fullplate riding a horse, they were orders of warriors (just like your elite guards you mentioned), who shared one thing in common, which was a title they held; knight.
Baernwulf_of_Nor
08-01-07, 09:46 PM I agree Dog_O_War. Although in real life Knights were made obsolete with the longbow, this is D&D; and in which a well placed longbow shot will not stop a hardy knight atop his great steed. max dmg with a longbow couldn't kill even a level one fighter. And I presume that knights are level 2 or higher.

Other than that looks good so far.
Ell
08-01-07, 09:51 PM It's looking good so far in terms of realism (as much as you can attribute this word to anything set in D&D realm :rolleyes: ), and you should try to maintain this as much as you can. You don't have mighty dragons, +5 vorpal swords and Elminters to excite your players (thank god to that! :D ), so you have to incorporate other things that could do that. If you don't mind, I'll give you some advice in your noble quest for realism ;)

Things you wish to think out really well:
1. Politics. Complex and realistic diplomatic relations between countries, churches, organizations. Complex nobility and heritage system varying from region to region. Different social systems and conflicts based on those differences.
2. Economics. No fixed prices, use laws of demand and supply, maybe some tribes still use barter system. Banking system in developed countries (no more traveling with carriages full of gold coins), coin forgery (sometimes, if not often, done by the state itself, like diminishing the percentage of gold or silver in a coin).
3. Culture. Try to use subtle cultural references, if you are into history. Even if you aren't, try to include recognizable elements or more elusive things, like mentality.
4. Religion. Now this is tricky, if you are not a theologist or philosopher yourself. Well, you don't have to be, you just have to be sensible and rational. Not very advanced races and regions with tribal or slavery structure have more sensible, nature and goal-oriented religions. As the society grows, expands and gets more complicated it tends to delve into lawful side of aligment scale and incorporate more abstract concepts in the religion. Almost all polytheistic pantheons have a deity of earth and abundance and her male... hmm, counterpart ;) who is often a very manly man with ability to call lightnings. I don't have to explain the analogy, do I? Well, actually religion is my weak point, if I get to it I can never stop :twitch: So off with this *slaps herself*
5. "Well, other stuff". You can't believe how some things can excite and charm. Setting a colour symbol system, incorporating heraldics, herecies and so on can be very rewarding. It's this small "stuff" which makes the world alive.

And the last thing - don't get too realistic :) It's jut not possible for fantasy to abide by all the real-world laws. It's fantasy, after all)

Hope I didn't get too carried away and didn't offend you in any way :blush:
taradusis
08-01-07, 10:44 PM One thing you might consider is families of gods?The greeks had Ares as their main war god but he had children like Fear,Strife,Chaos,Discord,etc.Aphrodite had Cupid,Eros,Agape,Priapus,etc.So how I would set this up is a greater god with 4 domains produces 4 children who are lesser deities with 2 domains with 16 saints or demigods who have 1 domain?With 20 main deities you would get 80 lesser deities and 320 saints/demigods.This should also give you a calendar with a lot of saints holidays,and a lot of patron saints for towns.RANDOM THOUGHT.
Dog_O_War
08-02-07, 02:22 AM What I was saying about knights (so no one gets confused) is that not every knight is a fighter; a 'knight' was a title bestowed apon a person by royalty; this, like other titles was able to be inherited. So in essence anyone could be a knight, it is simply most often represented as a mounted warrior in heavy armour. A wizard or sorcerer could be a knight, for example.
queenfange
08-02-07, 07:48 AM (See the first post)
queenfange
08-02-07, 08:04 AM (See the first post)
queenfange
08-02-07, 08:11 AM (See the first post)
queenfange
08-02-07, 10:00 AM (See the first post)
queenfange
08-06-07, 12:38 PM (See the first post)
GoriceXII
08-06-07, 01:44 PM This looks very interesting...does Ilene's body remain resting somewhere? Is there a legend of this?
queenfange
08-06-07, 03:42 PM (See the first post)
ewancummins
08-06-07, 06:55 PM Do the races have their own seperate pantheons, or are the gods multiracial?
queenfange
08-06-07, 07:20 PM (See the first post)
Optimized_Commoner
08-06-07, 08:35 PM This is looking good.

One thing I found myself wondering though, when reading through the description of the Mesai, is why they feel certain ways about certain issues. For example their obsession with racial purity. Does it come from somewhere in particular? Was there a historical event which provoked it? Is it a part of their religion? Etc.

Why the hell is Nefsalyadam evil? They have a harsh criminal code? Is that it?

Honestly it sounds Lawful Neutral more than anything else.
queenfange
08-07-07, 06:42 AM (See the first post)
Optimized_Commoner
08-07-07, 09:36 AM Ahhh... <sweat> Sensitive topic...

The universal rule of world design is no matter how serious your names are, the players will make a mockery of them if you're not careful what they are. Unless your players are very mature,

Do not name the patron god of a homophobic race Quirinus (say it aloud quickly).
Optimized_Commoner
08-07-07, 09:46 AM Evil Neftsally? Hmmm...

The rights to peoples' dead bodies are purchased to create undead slaves.

Foreigners are persuaded to come there by these amazing sounding contracts but find themselves trapped and losing money rapidly through harsh clauses and quickly work up a debt that traps them in servitude through endless red tape.

Endless propoganda, "Love Neftsally, the Greatest city in the land", conversely sedition is punished by painful death. Or alternatively seditioners dissappear only to reappear years later preaching endless propoganda.

...

I know the problem. I once created a land called Teyana which was supposed to be the embodiment of the lawful evil alignment and all of the players comments were universally... 'wow, this place is efficient. Everything runs so smoothly, I like it here. Maybe we should stay'.

The scary thing was that even the Paladin of Freedom liked it, though they did eventually end up assassinating the tyrant king because he had a demonic true name stored in the moment of his death by assassination (in that world demons hid their names inside particular future events and you had to witness said event to know the true name. The more powerful the demon, the more obscure, difficult and evil the event has to be).
queenfange
08-07-07, 10:22 AM (See first post)
taradusis
08-07-07, 08:16 PM If you have a necromantic guild maybe there's alot of crimes that carry the death penalty just to keep a supply of bodies coming?Perhaps you should break up quir into 2 syllables...qu-ire?RANDOM THOUGHTS
queenfange
08-07-07, 09:50 PM (See first post)
taradusis
08-08-07, 10:21 PM I once created a race of **** SUPERIOR for a game I was running,the entire group still bugs me about it in a quite infantile fashion and I bet the stupid mechanical filter will blank out the latin word for man as well.
queenfange
08-10-07, 08:59 PM (See first post)
Pyre_Born
08-14-07, 05:51 PM I like your ideas, not many people seem to like making lands with "dark elves" but I like what you've done. Keep it up.

Sorry that I don't have anything to add.

Peace,
Pyre
queenfange
08-16-07, 09:36 AM (See first post)
taradusis
08-17-07, 05:52 PM Rather than Light and Dark Elves why not consider other types?Consider upgrading Elves to large size (8-10ft)and giving them really big Greatswords.If these Fairies were virtually immortal and a city of 1oo,ooo Fairies saw only one birth a decade this would lead to despair as they saw their numbers decreasing with every skirmish they have with shorter lived but more prolific races?The fairies could all live together in one city that has buildings close down as their numbers diminish.Occasionally a Fairie would run amok and attack other races,Pcs would be forgiven by authorities for defending themselves?This is a more traditional or Tolkien view of elves.Suppose elves were Small in size,being about 1 1/2 to 2 ft.tall.Would this give them an inferiority complex towards taller races?A 2ft.tall race would need 3 ft ceilings and a 30ft tower would be a 10 story building for them.This would make Insulae like the ancient romans had quite practical,one building per tribe of 100?If surrounded by orchards and farms,or equiped with a hanging garden,it would function like an arcology.Suppose elves lived as long as humans and had children at the same rate.This would eliminate their long-range attitudes and make them focus on more mundane matters.The elves still would have their other gifts to rely on;eyesight,archery,swordplay and natural affinity for magic.Some Random Elf Thoughts.
queenfange
08-17-07, 08:21 PM (See first post)
taradusis
08-17-07, 08:53 PM Oddly enough cloud and storm seem Ok to me?You could get a copy of the tolkien dictionary and rename them tolkien style?Perhaps name them after their patron deity,I.E. children of corellon larethian?Perhaps name them after their ruler or the land they live in,Elrond's folk for ex.Name them after hair color,berrenhir for brown-haired,ferrenhir for fair-haired,Etc.....RANDOM THOUGHTS
queenfange
08-18-07, 08:54 AM (See first post)
taradusis
08-18-07, 10:50 AM Well.here's my first impression,please don't take it poorly.You seem to use almost twice as many domains as is normal,I would cut the domains in half.Next I would expand the portfolio,sort of redefine the domains as portfolio items?Remember that preists need a holy symbol to rebuke or turn undead,what does this god use as a holy symbol?Does this god have a favorite animal?What about religous observences,do con men form a circle and say a little prayer before going out to sting someone?Just a few thoughts.:)
queenfange
08-18-07, 02:04 PM (See first post)
Archus Forix
08-18-07, 05:20 PM when it comes to naming the elves, an easy and traditional way can be to have a common word for elf, like Elder Scrolls has 'Mer' and from there add the relevent prefix.

So a common suffix for elf, could be, 'eld' for sake of argument:

Cloud Elves: Arield (like 'air elf')

Sun Elf: Suuneld (sun with an extra u, I'm so clever :P)

Dark Elf: Daegeld
And now you have the basis for language!

Furthermore, you could be doing the same with Deities, like a common name, and the nature is tagged on.

Hope that helps, if you don't use it, I will!!

[EDIT] Sorry I misread Sun for Storm (ah well, you have another one if you need it)

Storm Elf: Acreld (sounds quite forceful, 'Ack')
taradusis
08-19-07, 06:38 PM I did some thinking on holy symbols.BLACK HAND this would be similar to the old mafia symbol,do executioners wear black gloves?SILVER TONGUE this could be similar to the rolling stones symbol and refer to how silver-tongued PEITHO is.RED SUN I'm thinking a red sun,with 8 arms,rather a geometric design?Perhaps a stern face in the middle of the sun?
queenfange
08-19-07, 08:45 PM (See first post)
GoriceXII
08-20-07, 08:00 AM Why did you decide to make your elves less long lived? Just curious.

A few thoughts on lawful evil. I respectfully disagree with optimized commoner (who I greatly respect the opinons of) in this. I think that lawful evil doesn't have to be overtly nasty--it can be unpleasantly insidious in a way that seems totally benevolent which is what I get the idea you are going for. I stand ready to be corrected and proved wrong of course but it's my feeling that lawful evil might be the alignment most likely to, properly wielded, confuse players or even totally pull the wool over their eyes simply by being effective and impressive.

Also I have to pay you a general compliment--I've often seen your thoughtful and interesting remarks in other threads and I'm glad you are putting up your own campaign thread.
queenfange
08-20-07, 08:37 AM (See first post)
GoriceXII
08-20-07, 09:04 AM What I would suggest is that commoners must perceive that justice at least ought to work, though they should also definitely be afraid of breaking the law, rocking the boat, etc. They don't have to have the Darth Vader style of personal violence to keep them in line--if the land is fairly stable and well run the threat of losing a position, income or social acceptance can work just as well and can even have a nasty side to it--I imagine a truly lawful evil society could actually have the ordinary person be as much a proponent of the law as any official.

As far as the aristocracy goes I imagine that their intrigues would be distant or even invisible to the average person.

About the age thing--what you suggest makes sense and I can see how you are more concerned about playability than about having elves like many other worlds do.
queenfange
08-20-07, 10:27 AM (See first post)
taradusis
08-20-07, 07:16 PM The race vs.ethnic seems like commonsense.Been thinking about your gods,suppose they had no alignment.This means they don't grant access to alignment domains,these are chosen by players who wish to worship a philosophy.A cleric would have to choose if they channel positive or negative energy with some gods like Quire dictating the choice?
queenfange
08-21-07, 06:21 AM (See first post)
GoriceXII
08-21-07, 10:03 AM I like your ideas about racial versus cultural groups. It makes a lot of sense. In a large part that is why in my Republic of New Edom Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Lizardfolk, etc might certainly trade in New Edom, have homes there and so on but are not really citizens--they are foreigners. Touchstone has a large dwarvish community but there is a 'dwarvish quarter'. I may later develop dwarves that have nothing to do with New Edom, have never heard of it or their dwarvish allies.
taradusis
08-22-07, 10:59 PM I've been thinking about qui-re and his symbol?How about a compass rose,the kind you find on old maps?Perhaps a symbol like the masons?I still like the red sun symbol for the holy sun undead hunters.RANDOM THOUGHTS.
queenfange
08-23-07, 03:51 PM (See first post)
taradusis
08-24-07, 07:40 AM This is how I'd organise your religions.First since there's only 20 deities and they all helped to create the vere I'd make them all Greater Deities,this helps to explain the Domain thing.Then I'd organise/codify religeous beleif.I would have a world-wide druid organization with Circles controlling geographic areas.I would also have a sect in the druids devoted to eliminating intelligent life,the old Shadowclave option.I would allow some Pcs to worship GOOD,EVIL,LAW or CHAOS as a force.I would limit then to this one domain,but allow them to take a bonus feat. 6 of the gods would be outsiders,probably racial gods.Clerics of these gods could only get that deities domains?The remaining 14 gods I would group into a tight pantheon like the Greek gods so that their clerics could get any domain the tight pantheon offers?I might even consider having two tight pantheons of 7 gods each.You could go Male/Female,Light/Dark,Creative/Destructive or Two Families?Just some holy thoughts:)
queenfange
08-25-07, 05:16 PM (See first post)
taradusis
08-25-07, 09:36 PM I would consider bumping her to greater goddess status.Perhaps eliminate Chaos and Evil from her domains.Make it possible for clerics of any alignment to get spells from her.Make her holy symbol a small blue dagger of crystal.Followers should tattoo a small blue dagger between their left forefinger and thumb,this should be popular with disaffected youth.Oracles should be heavily tattood,perhaps one of the classes from one of the splatbooks?RANDOM THOUGHTS
queenfange
08-26-07, 12:53 AM (See first post)
taradusis
08-26-07, 11:47 AM I had another thought.You might get better responses if you put each deity up for critique on the deities forum.For instance,post the stats you have for Qui-re and then list 2-3 "keyed"in questions like,'What would be a good holy symbol?"How would a religion or sect devoted to this god organise itself?".Since the deities forum features a lot of god-crazy types you should get more and better responses?RANDOM THOUGHT.
taradusis
08-31-07, 09:02 AM What would you think of Rivia as a multi-armed deity?In each arm she could hold a symbol representing one of her domains?With the blue skin she sort of makes me think of hindu deities?RANDOM THOUGHTS.
queenfange
08-31-07, 02:00 PM (See first post)
taradusis
09-01-07, 12:25 AM Perhaps you could give the blue amarel'neve a culture like hindus.Rivia could be something like Kali.Cloud giants in D+D were based on hindu myth,perhaps they worship Rivia as well and are working with the cloud elves to Uplift blue amarel'neve civilization?Perhaps the cloud giants are competing with the cloud elves for patronage of the amarel'neve?RANDOM THOUGHTS
GoriceXII
09-02-07, 10:25 AM What if Rivia's dark side is reflected in a hidden society of assassins and sorcerors, who deliberately don't wear blue? What if instead they seek to create confusing intrigues to create chaos, pitting factions against one another, turning powerful families against one another?
taradusis
09-02-07, 07:30 PM I had a disease related idea.suppose the elves had a type of sleeping sickness called "Ielenes curse".A sleeping sickness is scary to elves if they don't slumber and only enter a reverie?RANDOM THOUGHT.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
queenfange 08-01-07, 12:35 PM	Due to the new terms of use, which give WotC right to freely use or take anything I post, I regretfully must remove Vere from this site. I hope to see some of you again elsewhere. Moderators, please feel free to delete this thread.
unundindur 08-01-07, 01:01 PM	Looks brilliant so far :) I see some traits that match my own Eiir which you know, and after seeing this I realise I have to put up a similar "what is different" box, as its a bit hard to show some things via fluff-texts. My own world will have no alignments, and it seems such an idea might suit you too... What i do rulewise is that effects that usually targets a spesific alignment targets a spesific group, religion or organization. Furthermore, for spells that target alignments they now target anyone, but have their spell level increased by 1. I have not yet come to type this out though, but I think you see where its going. I also like what you are doing with realism, as I am doing the same thing ;) Best of luck, and I will keep an eye on this thread :)
queenfange 08-01-07, 01:21 PM	(See the first post)
ewancummins 08-01-07, 08:40 PM	Looks good so far. Tell us more about the various races, please.
Dog_O_War 08-01-07, 09:16 PM	NO KNIGHTS?! This is unheard of! But seriously, knights and knighthoods were more that some dink in fullplate riding a horse, they were orders of warriors (just like your elite guards you mentioned), who shared one thing in common, which was a title they held; knight.
Baernwulf_of_Nor 08-01-07, 09:46 PM	I agree Dog_O_War. Although in real life Knights were made obsolete with the longbow, this is D&D; and in which a well placed longbow shot will not stop a hardy knight atop his great steed. max dmg with a longbow couldn't kill even a level one fighter. And I presume that knights are level 2 or higher. Other than that looks good so far.
Ell 08-01-07, 09:51 PM	It's looking good so far in terms of realism (as much as you can attribute this word to anything set in D&D realm :rolleyes: ), and you should try to maintain this as much as you can. You don't have mighty dragons, +5 vorpal swords and Elminters to excite your players (thank god to that! :D ), so you have to incorporate other things that could do that. If you don't mind, I'll give you some advice in your noble quest for realism ;) Things you wish to think out really well: 1. Politics. Complex and realistic diplomatic relations between countries, churches, organizations. Complex nobility and heritage system varying from region to region. Different social systems and conflicts based on those differences. 2. Economics. No fixed prices, use laws of demand and supply, maybe some tribes still use barter system. Banking system in developed countries (no more traveling with carriages full of gold coins), coin forgery (sometimes, if not often, done by the state itself, like diminishing the percentage of gold or silver in a coin). 3. Culture. Try to use subtle cultural references, if you are into history. Even if you aren't, try to include recognizable elements or more elusive things, like mentality. 4. Religion. Now this is tricky, if you are not a theologist or philosopher yourself. Well, you don't have to be, you just have to be sensible and rational. Not very advanced races and regions with tribal or slavery structure have more sensible, nature and goal-oriented religions. As the society grows, expands and gets more complicated it tends to delve into lawful side of aligment scale and incorporate more abstract concepts in the religion. Almost all polytheistic pantheons have a deity of earth and abundance and her male... hmm, counterpart ;) who is often a very manly man with ability to call lightnings. I don't have to explain the analogy, do I? Well, actually religion is my weak point, if I get to it I can never stop :twitch: So off with this slaps herself 5. "Well, other stuff". You can't believe how some things can excite and charm. Setting a colour symbol system, incorporating heraldics, herecies and so on can be very rewarding. It's this small "stuff" which makes the world alive. And the last thing - don't get too realistic :) It's jut not possible for fantasy to abide by all the real-world laws. It's fantasy, after all) Hope I didn't get too carried away and didn't offend you in any way :blush:
taradusis 08-01-07, 10:44 PM	One thing you might consider is families of gods?The greeks had Ares as their main war god but he had children like Fear,Strife,Chaos,Discord,etc.Aphrodite had Cupid,Eros,Agape,Priapus,etc.So how I would set this up is a greater god with 4 domains produces 4 children who are lesser deities with 2 domains with 16 saints or demigods who have 1 domain?With 20 main deities you would get 80 lesser deities and 320 saints/demigods.This should also give you a calendar with a lot of saints holidays,and a lot of patron saints for towns.RANDOM THOUGHT.
Dog_O_War 08-02-07, 02:22 AM	What I was saying about knights (so no one gets confused) is that not every knight is a fighter; a 'knight' was a title bestowed apon a person by royalty; this, like other titles was able to be inherited. So in essence anyone could be a knight, it is simply most often represented as a mounted warrior in heavy armour. A wizard or sorcerer could be a knight, for example.
queenfange 08-02-07, 07:48 AM	(See the first post)
queenfange 08-02-07, 08:04 AM	(See the first post)
queenfange 08-02-07, 08:11 AM	(See the first post)
queenfange 08-02-07, 10:00 AM	(See the first post)
queenfange 08-06-07, 12:38 PM	(See the first post)
GoriceXII 08-06-07, 01:44 PM	This looks very interesting...does Ilene's body remain resting somewhere? Is there a legend of this?
queenfange 08-06-07, 03:42 PM	(See the first post)
ewancummins 08-06-07, 06:55 PM	Do the races have their own seperate pantheons, or are the gods multiracial?
queenfange 08-06-07, 07:20 PM	(See the first post)
Optimized_Commoner 08-06-07, 08:35 PM	This is looking good. One thing I found myself wondering though, when reading through the description of the Mesai, is why they feel certain ways about certain issues. For example their obsession with racial purity. Does it come from somewhere in particular? Was there a historical event which provoked it? Is it a part of their religion? Etc. Why the hell is Nefsalyadam evil? They have a harsh criminal code? Is that it? Honestly it sounds Lawful Neutral more than anything else.
queenfange 08-07-07, 06:42 AM	(See the first post)
Optimized_Commoner 08-07-07, 09:36 AM	Ahhh... <sweat> Sensitive topic... The universal rule of world design is no matter how serious your names are, the players will make a mockery of them if you're not careful what they are. Unless your players are very mature, Do not name the patron god of a homophobic race Quirinus (say it aloud quickly).
Optimized_Commoner 08-07-07, 09:46 AM	Evil Neftsally? Hmmm... The rights to peoples' dead bodies are purchased to create undead slaves. Foreigners are persuaded to come there by these amazing sounding contracts but find themselves trapped and losing money rapidly through harsh clauses and quickly work up a debt that traps them in servitude through endless red tape. Endless propoganda, "Love Neftsally, the Greatest city in the land", conversely sedition is punished by painful death. Or alternatively seditioners dissappear only to reappear years later preaching endless propoganda. ... I know the problem. I once created a land called Teyana which was supposed to be the embodiment of the lawful evil alignment and all of the players comments were universally... 'wow, this place is efficient. Everything runs so smoothly, I like it here. Maybe we should stay'. The scary thing was that even the Paladin of Freedom liked it, though they did eventually end up assassinating the tyrant king because he had a demonic true name stored in the moment of his death by assassination (in that world demons hid their names inside particular future events and you had to witness said event to know the true name. The more powerful the demon, the more obscure, difficult and evil the event has to be).
queenfange 08-07-07, 10:22 AM	(See first post)
taradusis 08-07-07, 08:16 PM	If you have a necromantic guild maybe there's alot of crimes that carry the death penalty just to keep a supply of bodies coming?Perhaps you should break up quir into 2 syllables...qu-ire?RANDOM THOUGHTS
queenfange 08-07-07, 09:50 PM	(See first post)
taradusis 08-08-07, 10:21 PM	I once created a race of **** SUPERIOR for a game I was running,the entire group still bugs me about it in a quite infantile fashion and I bet the stupid mechanical filter will blank out the latin word for man as well.
queenfange 08-10-07, 08:59 PM	(See first post)
Pyre_Born 08-14-07, 05:51 PM	I like your ideas, not many people seem to like making lands with "dark elves" but I like what you've done. Keep it up. Sorry that I don't have anything to add. Peace, Pyre
queenfange 08-16-07, 09:36 AM	(See first post)
taradusis 08-17-07, 05:52 PM	Rather than Light and Dark Elves why not consider other types?Consider upgrading Elves to large size (8-10ft)and giving them really big Greatswords.If these Fairies were virtually immortal and a city of 1oo,ooo Fairies saw only one birth a decade this would lead to despair as they saw their numbers decreasing with every skirmish they have with shorter lived but more prolific races?The fairies could all live together in one city that has buildings close down as their numbers diminish.Occasionally a Fairie would run amok and attack other races,Pcs would be forgiven by authorities for defending themselves?This is a more traditional or Tolkien view of elves.Suppose elves were Small in size,being about 1 1/2 to 2 ft.tall.Would this give them an inferiority complex towards taller races?A 2ft.tall race would need 3 ft ceilings and a 30ft tower would be a 10 story building for them.This would make Insulae like the ancient romans had quite practical,one building per tribe of 100?If surrounded by orchards and farms,or equiped with a hanging garden,it would function like an arcology.Suppose elves lived as long as humans and had children at the same rate.This would eliminate their long-range attitudes and make them focus on more mundane matters.The elves still would have their other gifts to rely on;eyesight,archery,swordplay and natural affinity for magic.Some Random Elf Thoughts.
queenfange 08-17-07, 08:21 PM	(See first post)
taradusis 08-17-07, 08:53 PM	Oddly enough cloud and storm seem Ok to me?You could get a copy of the tolkien dictionary and rename them tolkien style?Perhaps name them after their patron deity,I.E. children of corellon larethian?Perhaps name them after their ruler or the land they live in,Elrond's folk for ex.Name them after hair color,berrenhir for brown-haired,ferrenhir for fair-haired,Etc.....RANDOM THOUGHTS
queenfange 08-18-07, 08:54 AM	(See first post)
taradusis 08-18-07, 10:50 AM	Well.here's my first impression,please don't take it poorly.You seem to use almost twice as many domains as is normal,I would cut the domains in half.Next I would expand the portfolio,sort of redefine the domains as portfolio items?Remember that preists need a holy symbol to rebuke or turn undead,what does this god use as a holy symbol?Does this god have a favorite animal?What about religous observences,do con men form a circle and say a little prayer before going out to sting someone?Just a few thoughts.:)
queenfange 08-18-07, 02:04 PM	(See first post)
Archus Forix 08-18-07, 05:20 PM	when it comes to naming the elves, an easy and traditional way can be to have a common word for elf, like Elder Scrolls has 'Mer' and from there add the relevent prefix. So a common suffix for elf, could be, 'eld' for sake of argument: Cloud Elves: Arield (like 'air elf') Sun Elf: Suuneld (sun with an extra u, I'm so clever :P) Dark Elf: Daegeld And now you have the basis for language! Furthermore, you could be doing the same with Deities, like a common name, and the nature is tagged on. Hope that helps, if you don't use it, I will!! [EDIT] Sorry I misread Sun for Storm (ah well, you have another one if you need it) Storm Elf: Acreld (sounds quite forceful, 'Ack')
taradusis 08-19-07, 06:38 PM	I did some thinking on holy symbols.BLACK HAND this would be similar to the old mafia symbol,do executioners wear black gloves?SILVER TONGUE this could be similar to the rolling stones symbol and refer to how silver-tongued PEITHO is.RED SUN I'm thinking a red sun,with 8 arms,rather a geometric design?Perhaps a stern face in the middle of the sun?
queenfange 08-19-07, 08:45 PM	(See first post)
GoriceXII 08-20-07, 08:00 AM	Why did you decide to make your elves less long lived? Just curious. A few thoughts on lawful evil. I respectfully disagree with optimized commoner (who I greatly respect the opinons of) in this. I think that lawful evil doesn't have to be overtly nasty--it can be unpleasantly insidious in a way that seems totally benevolent which is what I get the idea you are going for. I stand ready to be corrected and proved wrong of course but it's my feeling that lawful evil might be the alignment most likely to, properly wielded, confuse players or even totally pull the wool over their eyes simply by being effective and impressive. Also I have to pay you a general compliment--I've often seen your thoughtful and interesting remarks in other threads and I'm glad you are putting up your own campaign thread.
queenfange 08-20-07, 08:37 AM	(See first post)
GoriceXII 08-20-07, 09:04 AM	What I would suggest is that commoners must perceive that justice at least ought to work, though they should also definitely be afraid of breaking the law, rocking the boat, etc. They don't have to have the Darth Vader style of personal violence to keep them in line--if the land is fairly stable and well run the threat of losing a position, income or social acceptance can work just as well and can even have a nasty side to it--I imagine a truly lawful evil society could actually have the ordinary person be as much a proponent of the law as any official. As far as the aristocracy goes I imagine that their intrigues would be distant or even invisible to the average person. About the age thing--what you suggest makes sense and I can see how you are more concerned about playability than about having elves like many other worlds do.
queenfange 08-20-07, 10:27 AM	(See first post)
taradusis 08-20-07, 07:16 PM	The race vs.ethnic seems like commonsense.Been thinking about your gods,suppose they had no alignment.This means they don't grant access to alignment domains,these are chosen by players who wish to worship a philosophy.A cleric would have to choose if they channel positive or negative energy with some gods like Quire dictating the choice?
queenfange 08-21-07, 06:21 AM	(See first post)
GoriceXII 08-21-07, 10:03 AM	I like your ideas about racial versus cultural groups. It makes a lot of sense. In a large part that is why in my Republic of New Edom Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Lizardfolk, etc might certainly trade in New Edom, have homes there and so on but are not really citizens--they are foreigners. Touchstone has a large dwarvish community but there is a 'dwarvish quarter'. I may later develop dwarves that have nothing to do with New Edom, have never heard of it or their dwarvish allies.
taradusis 08-22-07, 10:59 PM	I've been thinking about qui-re and his symbol?How about a compass rose,the kind you find on old maps?Perhaps a symbol like the masons?I still like the red sun symbol for the holy sun undead hunters.RANDOM THOUGHTS.
queenfange 08-23-07, 03:51 PM	(See first post)
taradusis 08-24-07, 07:40 AM	This is how I'd organise your religions.First since there's only 20 deities and they all helped to create the vere I'd make them all Greater Deities,this helps to explain the Domain thing.Then I'd organise/codify religeous beleif.I would have a world-wide druid organization with Circles controlling geographic areas.I would also have a sect in the druids devoted to eliminating intelligent life,the old Shadowclave option.I would allow some Pcs to worship GOOD,EVIL,LAW or CHAOS as a force.I would limit then to this one domain,but allow them to take a bonus feat. 6 of the gods would be outsiders,probably racial gods.Clerics of these gods could only get that deities domains?The remaining 14 gods I would group into a tight pantheon like the Greek gods so that their clerics could get any domain the tight pantheon offers?I might even consider having two tight pantheons of 7 gods each.You could go Male/Female,Light/Dark,Creative/Destructive or Two Families?Just some holy thoughts:)
queenfange 08-25-07, 05:16 PM	(See first post)
taradusis 08-25-07, 09:36 PM	I would consider bumping her to greater goddess status.Perhaps eliminate Chaos and Evil from her domains.Make it possible for clerics of any alignment to get spells from her.Make her holy symbol a small blue dagger of crystal.Followers should tattoo a small blue dagger between their left forefinger and thumb,this should be popular with disaffected youth.Oracles should be heavily tattood,perhaps one of the classes from one of the splatbooks?RANDOM THOUGHTS
queenfange 08-26-07, 12:53 AM	(See first post)
taradusis 08-26-07, 11:47 AM	I had another thought.You might get better responses if you put each deity up for critique on the deities forum.For instance,post the stats you have for Qui-re and then list 2-3 "keyed"in questions like,'What would be a good holy symbol?"How would a religion or sect devoted to this god organise itself?".Since the deities forum features a lot of god-crazy types you should get more and better responses?RANDOM THOUGHT.
taradusis 08-31-07, 09:02 AM	What would you think of Rivia as a multi-armed deity?In each arm she could hold a symbol representing one of her domains?With the blue skin she sort of makes me think of hindu deities?RANDOM THOUGHTS.
queenfange 08-31-07, 02:00 PM	(See first post)
taradusis 09-01-07, 12:25 AM	Perhaps you could give the blue amarel'neve a culture like hindus.Rivia could be something like Kali.Cloud giants in D+D were based on hindu myth,perhaps they worship Rivia as well and are working with the cloud elves to Uplift blue amarel'neve civilization?Perhaps the cloud giants are competing with the cloud elves for patronage of the amarel'neve?RANDOM THOUGHTS
GoriceXII 09-02-07, 10:25 AM	What if Rivia's dark side is reflected in a hidden society of assassins and sorcerors, who deliberately don't wear blue? What if instead they seek to create confusing intrigues to create chaos, pitting factions against one another, turning powerful families against one another?
taradusis 09-02-07, 07:30 PM	I had a disease related idea.suppose the elves had a type of sleeping sickness called "Ielenes curse".A sleeping sickness is scary to elves if they don't slumber and only enter a reverie?RANDOM THOUGHT.