The Campaign Builder's Guild

Quote from: Lord Vreeg2) What is the status in terms of players in your setting? How may PC's, how often do they play? What do they seem to like and what direction do you want them to go in? What are their stregths and weaknesses? What is working and not working in the GM/PLayer interface?

4) What area in your setting would some immediate feedback help? What area will benefit the most from having a few fellow creators take a quick look at and try to give some new perspectives in? (And again, feel free to link here to where you want me/us to wite about it).[/quote]http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?41732[/url]

[spoiler=two Ork pictures]
[/spoiler]

Orks
Orks are a magically created hybrid of Elves and Trolls. They were raised to be the shock troopers of the Elves to destroy their Troll rivals, and therefore they were created to kill extremely powerful warriors. Orks combine the features of both their parent species, but to a much lesser extend.  Ashkardian Orks are of similar height than humans, but they are built more heavily and feature both Elvish and Trolllish traits, such as the canine teeth of the trolls and the elongated and pointed ears of the Elves.

There are two major Orkish cultures in Ashkardia: On the one Hand, the Abiders, who are still loyal to their Sidhe masters and on the other hand the free Orks who are no slaves anymore. While the Abiders serve the Elves as cheap labourers and legionnaires, most of the free Orks were assimilated into the surrounding human cultures or retreated in depopulated areas where they can live free in small tribes.
Orks are physically strong and resilient, but their masters created them to obey and not to think for themselves.

Ork '" word that already sound like a threatening growl. The Orks are a species that was created to commit a genocide and that was born from two species that hated each other for millennia and their child combines the best '" and the worst '" traits of both. The Orks are hated, feared and enslaved, praised for their martial prowess and despised for their cruelty. The Orks were created to commit a genocide '" and afterwards they had no place in the world apart from that they have conquered for themselves.


[spoiler=The nature and culture of the Orks]
It is difficult to talk about the common nature of the Orks, because there is no uniform Orkish culture. There are two major groups among the Orks '" the Abiders who are still loyal to their Elven creators and masters and the Dissidents, the free Orks who are nobodies servant anymore.

The Abiders are still the frugal and stoic servants of the Sidhe, who are trained to follow the orders of their masters and see their honor in their servitude and the worship of their 'Goddess' Vilanai. These Orks regard their renegade brethren as traitors and heretics who refuse to follow the path they are determined for.

The Abiders still live as the times of the first breed, the first 12 Ork men and women who broke their way out of the magical womb of Vilanais transmogrifying chambers. The Abiders have no own language, but use a more guttural and often simplified variety of the Sidhe language. It is up to debate if the Abiders have a culture of their own or if they are just a part of the Sidhe culture as a whole. Their whole society is targeted on the ideal of assist and serve the Sidhe. Due to the Sidhes' aptitude for enchantment and generations of Orks manipulated by a lifelong propaganda, the Orks were conditioned into their roles of humble servants and this manipulation has left its marks. The Abiders are willing to die for their masters and worship them. A true Abider follows any order given to him by a Sidhe, even the order to commit suicide or kill the own children. Like all Orks, the Abiders slowly develop a magic resistance, and with the reduced liability to the Sidhe's mind warping spells, they have lost most of their illusions about their masters '" but they still serve them, because they still feel that it is their destiny to do so. Those who refuse to obey their orders among the Orks disappear or join the ranks of the Skru'zash. But still, the majority of the Orks kowtow whenever a Sidhe walks past them.

The life of the Abiders is determined from the day of their birth. No magician was able to copy Vilanai's breeding methods, and therefore the Orks of today are produced in the classical way. The ruling masters couple fitting parents together for a night or two and part them afterwards. Parenthood and family means little to the Orks; most Orks do not even know their parents. Early after their birth, they are taken away from their mothers and are brought together in the child cohorts where they are filtered and trained for the caste they will join. The majority of the Orks are member of the hammer caste '" the physical labourers and mules of the Palace Gardens, the craftsmen and workers. They are regarded as the lowest caste of the Orks and therefore the lowest social group in the whole hierarchy of the Elven cities. The caste sign of the hammer is a mark that its bearer is not good enough for the more advanced castes. The next higher caste are the tree Orks, the gardeners and craftsmen who are responsible for the gardens and groves of the Palace Gardens '" and since the Sidhe produce most of their weaponry out of special crops of Witchwood trees for their bows and Moonweave bushes for armors. The tree Orks live in a constant concurrence with the other Sidhe servitor race, the Pixies. The Sidhe encourages the competition between their servants to make sure that they will never join forces against their masters.
The highest caste of the Orks are the swords. Sword Orks are the military backbone of the Sidhe's armies and the elite of the Abiders. The Sword Orks remain for the longest time in the cohorts and are trained in camps separated from the rest of the world. The warriors to be are trained in different packs of Orks. These packs are the base military unit of the Sidhe armies and, for the sword orks, they are family and security. Orks do not work '" or fight '" well alone, and they excel in the cooperation with their pack mates. This is a part of their design '" Vilanai thought a single Ork would hardly be a match for an angry Troll and implanted the pack instincts deep in the being of her creation. The training encampments are a dangerous place and the training of Orks cost almost a third of the young Ork whelps dies during their first years. In the time of their rigorous training, the future sword Orks have gone through the fire and back. All the weak ones have died or were send in one of the lower castes. Barely any human would survive a week in the training camps and only the constant training of the Trollish Witch Warriors is equally enduring. The surviving Sword Ork packs are proud on the torturous training they have survived and compared to their training, the blood and mud of the battlefield looks liberating for the Ork warriors.

Female Orks are not part of any caste. The Sidhe are dependent on a vast army of Ork slaves to nurture their settlements and maintain their prosperity and since they have long lost the secret of the artificial wombs, they need the female Orks as breeders. The female Orks are born in the breeding caves and they stay there for the rest of their lives. They have nothing, not even names, and when they are too old to bear new children, they become the goodwives of their caves, until they die. The dissident movement began in the breeding caves, and the first Orks who fled the rule of the Sidhe were young females.

Most foreigners only ever see sword Orks when they meet Abiders at all '" most Orks are slaves that rarely leave the Palace Gardens. Therefore, the Sword Packs have formed the common picture of the Orks for most people '" hulking, scarred warriors with grim faces, always armed and equipped for war.

The Abider's culture is strongly influenced by the cult of Vilanai. The Orks worship the Sidhe sorceress as their great mother and creator who created them to cleanse the world of all demons and devils. Most Orks believe that Vilanai not only created them but the whole world as well, with the Sidhe as the rulers and the orks as their servants and protectors. The '˜evil god' Aggdegg on the other hand created the demon races of Trolls, humans and Klackers because he was jealous about Vilanai's beauty.

The Sidhe, who have their own quite unique and murderous point of view are slightly disconcerted by the religious fervour of their servants.[/spoiler]


[spoiler=The Dissidents]Since centuries, there were Orks who tried to break free from their slave's life and become free from the rule of the Sidhe. They fled from the breeding caves and the Palace Gardens into an uncertain freedom, in a world where there were no place for them. They have changed the public image of Orks '" away from the grim warriors of the Sidhe to bands of vagabonds. Many free Orks travel from one fiefdom to another in small family groups because they are rarely tolerated in the long term by the denizens. Only a minority has settled down (most of them in the larger cities under Human or Goblin rule) and absorbed the surrounding culture.

Dissident Orks have a bad reputation '" they are a part of a minority and they are as well confronted with the normal prejudices against Chimeras as well. In the best cases, they are confronted with forced politeness, but rejection is much more common. This has lead to isolation and this has formed an own and surprisingly detailed culture of the Orkish vagabonds. The Skruzashim how the Ork vagabonds call themselves (a malapropism of the Sidhe word si'jirusazh: worthless, dirt, scum) live from begging, small scale trading and sometimes as brigands. Orkish bandits have become a stereotype in the tales of the bards.

The alliance against the Klackers after the Simber battle slowly changes the social position of the Orks '" suddenly, a standing army has become very attractive for the different realms of Ashkardia. Hobgoblin, Goblin and Human kingdoms start to finance a defensive line on the Klacker front. But recruits and mercenaries are rare '" and the dissidents have little to lose. The 'Bug Stomper Legion' in the South of the Simber has become a catchment basin for former Orkish bandits and peons.

The urban Orks often live in small ghettos, small towns outside of the greater settlements. These Orks are accepted in the greater communities as they are strong and enduring craftsmen and as long as they accept their inferior position, they are tolerated. These urban Orks often accept the religion of their environment. This is especially true in the traditionally more tolerant Caliphate, where the rulers have long ago acknowledged that they have little to lose but much to gain from recruiting those who are persecuted elsewhere. The Caliph uses over 5000 Orkish mamluks and the Orks are eager to follow him and their new found religious fervor.

The dissidents have retained the belief in the divinity of Vilanai and the Sidhe as her divine servants '" but they have long ago ceased to worship her. The Hated Children of the Icecold Mother, so one of the more colourful names the Skruzashim use for themselves see Vilanai as a near crazy demon queen who prostituted herself to other demons (or were raped by them '" there are quite different stories) and gave birth to the Orks. Because she hated the demons who fathered her children, she also hated her children and used them as tools against the other demons.

Since only a minority of the Dissidents (and almost no Skruzash) is literate and therefore, the Orks have developed a colourful oral lore. The Orks never developed an own language '" their language is a pidgin of Sidhe and different human languages '" and there is no fitting alphabet for it. The more important the oral history has become for the traditions and culture of the Orks. Almost every Skruzash group is lead by a Wisdom Keeper who keeps the Skruzashim's legends and lore. These Orkish bards are no singers or idle troubadours but narrators and often the spokesmen of their groups. Ideally, the Wisdom Keepers are Gifted, but because of the rather weak affinity of the Orks for magic, this is an exception. Apart from the Wisdom Keepers, most Ork groups are lead by a Greatfighter as well. The Greatfighter is the physical leader, the champion and defender of the group. This dual leadership structures have been maintained even among the urban Orks, where the duo of Keeper and Greatfighter represents the Orkish communities.

The Dissidents were created by women who fled the breeding caves, and they have always sought to separate from the picture of the almost always pregnant breeding machines that the female Orks have become among the Abiders. There is no gender based distribution of activities among the free Orks.[/spoiler]


[spoiler=The Body of the Orks]Orks were created from Trollish prisoners of war and inconvenient Sidhes who '˜disappeared' into the transmogrifying chamber of Vilanai's castle. The children of this magical coupling bear the physical features of both parent species, but Vilanai formed her Chimera as well and left her marks on them. Orks are tall, but smaller than Trolls. They have long arms and legs, but not as elongated as the limbs of the Sidhe and they are built with heavy muscles '" but not nearly as strong as the Trolls, but they were not meant to be. They have inherited the tough and leathery skin of the Trolls, but their skin lacks the almost mystical protective quality of true Trollskin. Ork faces combine the jutting eyebrow ridge of the Trolls with the elongated and pointed ears of the Sidhe. They have the canine teeth of the Trolls, but their lower teeth are longer and remember tusks. Their eyes resemble the eyes of the Trolls, but they do not glow like those '" Orks lack the infrared vision of the Trolls because Vilanai believed in the superiority of Sidhe perception.

There is no true appearance of Orks '" the variety between different Orks is enormous '" the color of their skin, hairs and eyes varies from albino white to the slate blue skin of the Trolls and, often an olive green skin both parents lack '" the green skin was meant as a camouflage. Some Orks are completely hairless, others feature a dense body hair, in some cases it even resembles a fur. There are even Orks who wear the stumps of horns '" a heritage of their Troll ancestors. Strangely, there seem to be no relation between those physiognomic features of Orkish parents and their children.
Orks mature very fast '" and the age very fast, as well. An Ork is pubescent with seven and full-grown with ten years. They start to age with roughly 30 years and it is unheard of an Ork who has reached an age of over 50.
Like all Ashkardian people, the Orks have inherited the deadly affiliation for iron. [/spoiler]


[spoiler=The magic of the Orks]Deliberately, the Orks are notably unmagical, especially in comparison to their parent species. Vilanai knew that magic holds power and the Orks were meant to be tools, not rulers and therefore they were barred from magic. Only one in two hundred Orks has a weak Gift, and only one in hundred of those have a Gift that is strong enough to become a powerful spellcaster.

Among the Abiders, most Gifted Orks are included in the Sword caste and are trained in the way of battle magic '" the Sidhe decline their war slaves the access to more powerful varieties of magic, especially antimagical spells. The Orkish mages also serve as priests of Vilanai for their comrades and they are even stronger indoctrinated than the rest of the Orks and they are left to believe that their Gift is a divine instalment of their Goddess.

Among the Dissidents, those who have the gift are similar rare and in most cases, they are educated by Gifted Wisdom Keepers to become Wisdom Keepers as well. [/spoiler]

[spoiler=Ork Race Template]
Orks (LA+0)
Abilities: STR+4, CON+2, INT-2 Orks are hulking strong and muscled, granting them great physical prowess and toughness. They were created to follow orders, not to question them.
Medium Ashkardian Humanoids (Orks)
Superior Low-Light Vision: An Ork can see four times as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
Tough Skin: Though not as hard and leathery as the skin of their Troll ancestors, Ork skin grant them a +1 natural armor bonus.
Cultural Background: At Character Creation, an Ork chose one of the following traits: yes, this list isn't complete as well.
Vulnerability: Orcs are vulnerable to iron. They suffer one additional point of damage for every damage dice dealt by iron weapons.
Sharp Senses: Their effective perception grants Orks a +1 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks.
Pack Hunters: Orks get a +1 racial bonus to attack rolls when fighting in groups of 5 or more Orks, whether they are enemies or allies. The wild calls and howls of attacking Orks fill their brethren with a frenzied sort of valor.
Favored Classes: Rogue, Warblade  or Warmage. Orks who follow the Rogue, Warmage or Warblade class get a bonus feat on 1st, 5th and 10th class level.[/spoiler]

Quote from: LordVreegMagic system makes me happy. Spell success%, spell points, ritual magic are all faves and are used heavily in my setting, so I approve very much. Next, your level added to DC is a nice clean generalized rule of thumb.
I also like the reasoning behind magic item rarity, though after reading your sidhe thread it rings false. I would rather think they would be enchanting every frigging ponytail holder and spoon, with their magic-heavy lifestyle. Also one of the few things that might keep life a little less tedious.

Not necessarily - Why should I do the tendious and draining work to enchant something if I can have three or four oks or pixies who can do anything for me? The Sidhe do not really enchant items - they change living things into fitting forms for their usage. Like magical biotechnology.  

Next Step: The Trolls
   [note]The Trolls are - still - my personal favorites among the species of Ashkardia are the Trlls. The Trolls are both the noble savages and the great, honorable warriors. They are on the first view probably the only really 'good' people around in Ashkardia - unless you recognize that they brought the Doom over the whole planet, destroyed its balance and even though they didn't took part in the atrocities of the Conquest, they are still responsible for it. And they sacrificed their whole ideals by doing it. They had great ideals, they were - truly - the honorable ones. But when it became decisive, they failed.[/note]

Trolls
The Trolls are the other Elder Race of Ashkardia, and like the Elves, they are immortal, but contrary to the Sidhe, Trolls have learned to deal with eternal life without declining into decadence and airiness. There are only a few hundred Trolls left in the world, but they refuse to vanish, or to bow to anyone. Trolls are probably the physically and mentally moat impressive species in Ashkardia. The remaining Trolls live in their holy mountain range of Mil'Varat. Trolls are powerful magic wielders, and like the Sidhe there are no trolls without the Gift.
Trolls are reasonably bigger and stronger than humans and have an often very dark and leathery skin and canine teeth. Despite their physical prowess, trolls have a deep understanding and a natural link to spiritual magic.

[spoiler=The nature and the culture of the Trolls]
The Trolls are an old race, perhaps the oldest race in Ashkardia. Almost as old as they are is the feud between them and the Sidhe. The Elves hate and despise the Trolls, and use the word 'trollish' as a curse. The Sidhe word 'Fhoi Myore' is one of the direst result in both languages.

The humans fear the Herculean Trolls, and the other Ashkardians pay them more than a fair share of respect.

Like the Shide the Trolls were cursed with immortality after the Godswar when the last of the Gods died under the arrows of the Sidhe and the axes of the Trolls. After they have reached a certain age, they don't age anymore and without violence, they can live for almost ever. Their immortality has affected the whole Troll society. They had never the delusion that the immortality curse was anything but dangerous and threatening. While the Sidhe cling to their life and manically try to live for no other reason, the Trolls have become stoics, who do not celebrate their immortality but simply endure it. To forestall the descent into decadence and corruption so many Sidhe suffer from, the Trolls develop a rigid code of personal honour. The ideal Troll that is praised by its brethren embodies the ideal of equanimity. Passion, hate and enmity will pass by, but the Trolls will remain. It is pointless to burden oneself with useless ballast '" no matter if said ballast is emotional or materiel. From a Troll's point of view it is more important to be accept ones life and fate. Their dominant codex includes a strong stoicism and indifference towards material property. Trolls rarely rely on anything but themselves, and even though they use weapons or tools when necessary, most Trolls believe it is more honorable and pure to not be dependant on anything. Fanatic Trolls form anything they use with their hands, with the unique force and patience that is unique to the Trolls.

The Troll society is not very restrictive, but it only changes rarely. The Trolls don't believe that they need something like judges or rulers, because this implies that the single Troll could be dishonourable or incompetent. In the years before the Time of Fire, there were several Troll Clans scattered over the flanks of the Spine Mountains, but the genocide when the advancing Orks and Elves killed any Troll they could lay their hands on has destroyed the clan system and most clans as well. The remaining social order of the Trolls are the N'charka, which can roughly translated as '˜caste' or '˜school of thought'. Not all trolls are part of a N'charka, but among most of them, it is the rule. There are more than twenty different N'charkas but most of them are very small or local. There are three major N'charkas that easily dominate the Troll culture; these are the Fe'kra ('˜the nurturing ones'), the Gul'wa ('˜the builders') and the Sissel'kra ('˜the deep dreamers'). The legendary witch warriors the military elite of the Trolls, come from all N'charkas. Being a witch warrior is more a question of readiness to make sacrifices and fatalism than of personal views.

The three major N'charkas represent the most important groups in the Trollish philosophy '" the Fe'kra consists of farmers and huntsmen. Their basic belief is aimed at the notion that the individual has to serf the community and that the common welfare is more important than personal happiness. The Fek'ra are the providers of the Trollish society and they have become the most important branch of the Trolls '" they were the ones who sacrificed themselves during the worst times of the Age of Fire to save the rest of their people. This sacrifice gave the Fek'ra a great prominence among their fellow Trolls.

The Gul'wa are the most materialistic Trolls '" they are the craftsmen and architects of the Troll society. The Gul'wa's traditions contains commitment to one's work and the strive for perfection. A Gul'wa tries to elaborate his craft and to be taken up in the process of their work. Some Gul'wa manufacturers create only a single object in a century '" handformed kryst goblets or the famous song chambers where the wind blows through certain wholes to create whole symphonies. The Gul'was are not interested in the possession of their products, but in their creation and perfection. Humans or Sidhe can hardly understand how a Trollish crystal grower can form a single gem in a decade and after its completion destroy it just to form it again. There are few renowned Gul'wa warriors who form the cold and calm heart of the Trollish forces. They are still craftsmen who perfect the art of killing.

The Sissel'kra are the smallest of the three major N'charka, but also the most influential. The Sissel'kra live most of their life completely without material properties and while most Trolls prefer a calm and stoic mind, the Sissel'kra are the most extreme. Many of them spend their life in meditation and asceticism, parted from the hectic of other beings. In the world how the Sissel'kra sees it, there is no need for passion, fear or discomposure. Fate will come as it comes and nobody can change it '" and since everything is predetermined, there is no need to quarrel with one's destiny. The other Trolls respect the Sissel'kra for its self-abandonment and their calm minds -  and because the Sissel'kra also have the most powerful mystics of the Trolls in their rows.

All N'charkas bear warriors for a reason '" the last 500 years weren't kind to the Trolls. The last decades of the Time of Fire was an era of genocide, when Vilanai's Chimera warriors killed a family of Trolls for every Sidhe that had died during Aggdegg's campaigns. Only one in ten Trolls survived this slaughtering, whole clans were wiped out and all but the most holy settlements of the Trolls were burned and in the end, the Trolls were desperate enough to betray their own philosophy '" out of fear of extinction, they tossed the gates between the worlds wide open. The remaining Trolls that are old enough to remember the siege of the Mil'Warat and the coming of men are deeply ashamed by their actions. They remember how they were too weak to fight off their enemies especially such dishonourable foes as the Ork packs which could only withstand the Trolls due to pure masses, The veterans f these days remember that they had to call out for help to survive and this burdens the soul of the Trolls until today.

The only comfort is, that the Mil'Warat was never defiled by the Sidhe. This mountain, the semi-mystical place of Origin of the whole Trollkind is the centre of the Troll culture. Here, the first Trolls treaded out of the very stone into the world of Ashkardia, and now, here lives the majority of the Trolls. The mountain was formed and carved by generations of Trolls, formed into a fortress and a shrine, even though it is almost blasphemous to lay hands on this holy rock.

Back in the days before the genocide, there were no gender-related assignment of tasks within the Troll culture. Men and women could follow any path they chose, as long as they were honourable and strong enough for it. But now, after the genocide, most Trolls have developed a protective instinct towards their females '" female Trolls are rare by now, and only them can bear new Trollings. In this time of sorrow, with so few remaining Trolls, the loss of a female Troll is much more painful than the death of a male Troll. Therefore a certain expectation towards their females has become common among the Trolls. Most Trolls prefer to see the their women in more peaceful activities than in the midst of a battlefield '" and they prefer it the most, when they see their women pregnant. The female Trolls have a very strong influence on the Troll society '" much more than most outsiders suspect. Trolls live in a mild matriarchy and many Troll women live in polygamous relationships with several husbands.

As Godslayers, the Trolls have no such thing as an organised religion. Trolls do not worship any gods, but they worship their Trollship. Trolls don't pray '" because that would mean that they beg for help '" they remember great heroes and ancestors of Trolldom, and use these ancestors as examples for their own life. The Trolls fought the Gods not because of a strive for personal freedom as the Sidhe did, but because of the glory that lays in a victory over the most powerful beings and the determined mind to be strong enough to accomplish a quest as great as this.

Every Troll who comes to age undergoes the Ritual of the first Blood to prove their mental and physical prowess and symbolizes the initiation of the Trolling into the world of the adult Trolls. The Ritual consists of a long span of time of feasting and meditation '" and finally, the soon-to-be adult Troll enters a trance due to blood loss. The Troll cuts himself with small Kryst blades or even bite their own veins open. In the trance, the mind of the Troll should form and the Troll should make the change from a Trolling into a real Troll and chose a name. Many Trolls chose their N'charka during these rituals and a mentor who should lead and advise the new adult. Some prominent elder Trolls had several protégés. It is told that Aggdegg was chosen as a mentor more than a hundred times, even though he never joined a N'charka. This mentor system is the base of the Troll's hierarchy. Every Troll respects his mentor and often follow their advices. In a society that does not know any priests, leaders or other authority figures, the mentors are a necessity.

Whenever a Troll is confronted with  a vital question '" for example to reproduce or to join the ranks of the Witch Warriors '" he undergoes the Blood Ritual another time to come to a decision. Therefore older Trolls are often covered in scars (and often, these scars are enchanted as Tattoos of Power) and the lack of a similar spiritual ritual in other societies is a reason for distrust for the Trolls who find such behaviour to be hasty and a sign of to little thought.
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=The body of the Trolls]
Trolls are '" compared to humans '" quite big. The typical Troll is taller than the tallest human. Most of them are between two and two and a half meters tall and weigh between 140 and 180 kg. Trolls have a grey to blue skin and often darker or lighter patterns on their skin. Back in the old days, these patterns were typical for the different clans, but since most Troll clans has long lost their boundaries to their clans, the patterns have become more random and have lost their meaning. The Troll's skin is surprisingly tough, more like hardened leather. There are several reports of blades that slide of a Troll's skin like from an armour. Their skulls are hard, with a jutting eyebrow ridge, a wide jaw and a set of bowed horns. Trolls have only hair on their heads, and very rarely on their limbs, and the color of their hair varies widely. Most Trolls wear their hair in long braids. Troll eyes are often dark and glow dimly in the dark. Trolls can see in the dark, because they see in the infrared spectrum and are independent from light sources, but most of them prefer the daylight. Because of the cultural importance of their ritual scars and the idealised independence from any aids, Trolls dress as lightly as possible, displaying their ritual scars and muscles for all to see. Their canine teeth are long and pointed and look like the teeth of a predator, their hands are beefy and equipped with short but powerful claws. Female Trolls are a little bit smaller than their male relatives but have an equally muscular built '" with the exception of their broader hips and the often quite voluminous bosom.
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=The Magic of the Trolls]
Like Sidhe, the Trolls have an innate Gift for magic, but unlike the Sidhe, the Trolls do not rely completely on their magic. The Trolls uses magic when necessary, but they fear to become dependant from it like the Sidhe. And unlike the Sidhe with their often quite wandering minds, the Trolls concentrate more on certain branches of magic and tend to specialise. The different N'charkas have set their own emphases in the magical education '" most Fe'kra are apt in the schools of healing and protection, the Gul'wa attend mostly to elemental spells and the Sisel'kra focus on divination. Trolls have a strong taboo towards necromancy, for two reasons: Firstly, because desecrating bodies or graves is considered very dishonourably by almost every Troll and secondly because the Trolls regards the dead and the undead as weak '" if they were truly strong allies, they would not have died. [/spoiler]

[spoiler=The Witch Warriors]
The Witch Warriors are the military elite of the Trolls. They were founded back in the time before the Godswar, as a military force that could act independent from the bickering of the different clans. Now, the clans have lost their importance and influence, but the Witch Warriors (called '˜Raka'Chuz' in Trollish) still remain. Every adult Troll can join the Witch Warriors. They undergo an additional Blood Ritual, get the rune of the Witch Warriors carved into their face and swear to become the defender of the Troll people '" or die trying. A Witch Warrior consecrates himself to become the most effective and strong fighters among the Trolls, and other than the rest of he Trolls, they sacrifice their honor for the greater good and the survival of the Trolls. A Witch Warrior can do things any other Trolls would be cast out for, if they are necessary for the survival of other Trolls. The Witch Warriors are living martyrs who sacrifices anything to save the rest of their brethren.
Under the leadership of Aggdegg, the Witch Warriors became famous and respected among the other Trolls, and in the time of the genocide they were the ones who guaranteed the survival of the whole Troll species. Prior the elder sages of the Trolls sacrificed themselves to summon the humans, they joined the ranks of the Witch Warriors.
A Witch Warrior leaves his former life and names behind and is mourned by his friends and relatives as if he had died. Witch Warriors are suspected to have no relationships and are required to live celibately. A Witch Warrior should not reproduce because of their often quite short life expectation '" and the Trolls don't believe that a child should grow up as half-orphans.
Witch Warriors fight with all weapons, their bodies and magic. Since they regard themselves as moribund, they have little else to do but train and improve their martial skills. The Sidhe hate and fear little more than a Troll that wears the rune of the witch warriors. [/spoiler]

[spoiler=Troll Rule Template]
Trolls (LA+2)
Abilities: STR +6, CON +2, WIS+2 Trolls are extremely strong and have the endurance and resilience of the mountains. Their calm and stoic minds grants them a deeper understanding of their environment.

Medium Ashkardian Humanoid (Troll)
Troll base land speed is 30 ft.

Powerful Build: The physical stature of Trolls lets them function in many ways as if they were one size category larger. Whenever a Troll is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as during grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), the Troll is treated as one size larger if doing so is advantageous to him. A Troll is also considered to be one size larger when determining whether a creature's special attacks based on size (such as improved grab or swallow whole) can affect him. A Troll can use weapons designed for a creature one size larger without penalty. However, his space and reach remain those of a creature of his actual size. The benefits of this racial trait stack with the effects of powers, abilities, and spells that change the subject's size category.

Darkvision: Trolls can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and dwarves can function just fine with no light at all.

Physical Prowess: The natural athletics and strength grants Trolls a +2 racial bonus to Jump, Climb and Swim checks.

Natural Magic: Trolls don't need the Gift trait to take levels in a full Caster Class. They are always treated as if they had the Gift trait of their chosen form of magic.

Tough Skin: The hard and leathery skin of the Trolls grant them a +2 natural armor bonus.

Resilient: Trolls just refuse to lay down and die. They get one additional Hitpoint per level.

Strong mind: The calm and stoic nature of the Trolls grants them a +2 racial Bonus to concentration checks and a +2 racial bonus against all fear or fear related effects.

Cultural Background: At Character Creation, a Troll chose one of the following traits: Alertness, Athletic, Endurance,'¦ and several others. The lists are not complete yet.

Resistant: Their natural toughness grants Trolls a +2 racial bonus to Saving Throws against Poisons and Illnesses.

Vulnerability: Trolls are vulnerable to iron. They suffer one additional point of damage for every damage dice dealt by iron weapons.

Unaging: Trolls take no penalties to their ability scores for aging and cannot be magically aged. Bonuses still accrue.

Weapon Familiarity: Trolls may treat the Elfcrusher and the Trollaxe as martial instead of Exotic Weapons.

Favored Classes: Druid, Swordsage or Warblade. Trolls who follow the Druid, Swordsage or Warblade class get a bonus feat on 1st, 5th and 10th class level.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Typical Troll Weapons:]
Elf Crusher: The Elf Crusher is one of the favorite weapon of the Witch Warriors - a gigantic, heavy hammer able to squish an enemy Sidhe with the full force of a troll's heavy muscles. These Hammers are so big that even the Trolls use them two-handed.
The Elfcrusher is an exotic two handed weapon.
(weight 15lbs. Dam.(large): 3D6 Dam.(huge): 4D6 Crit: x4)

Troll Axe: The Troll Axe is another favorite of the Troll warriors. It is a big and often unwieldy weapon and it needs some training to use it one handed. For a human, a Troll axe is just a Greataxe, but a Troll warrior can use it as a one handed weapon.
(weight 12lbs. Dam.: 2D6 Crit: x3) [/spoiler]

Quote from: JharvissGodslayers? They killed their own gods? Could this be the coolest idea I have heard all week? Yes, yes I do believe it is. And now they've all gone insane! Perfect.

This is perhaps a random thought -- I could really see some sidhe living in the desert. Without need for nourishment and the like, the desert could be a perfect location. Even if it were a very few, having a well-developed city or small civilization of desert-dwelling sidhe would be really cool, in my opinion.[/quote]

Actually, that doesn't really fit in the geographical mindmap I had of Ashkardia, but I have to agree: Desert Sidhe are a fabulous idea. I will include them in the setting, I think. Thanks for this great proposal!  

Undeads in Ashkardia
Undeads in Ashkardia are rare. There are no large hordes of brainless zombies or animated skeletons (which I personally despise, because I always found them extremely contralogical). Ashkardian undeads are created when a "soul" is forced back into its body after it died. Since animals can be animated in this way as well, the "soul" part is up to dispute. The undead remember their life, even though they rot. Undeads dissolve without a constant supply of life energy - and therefore they hunt for the living to get this supply. The form in which they consume it varies widely - from flesh and blood of the most primitive undeads up to the "breathstealers" who can feed on a sleeper without waking him up and leaving only a dried out hull behind.
Unmdeath is a curse, and often the victims of undeads become undeads themselves.
There are numerous names for the living dead in Ashkardia - draugr, vampire, wights, ghouls, gyonshi or revenants. The single names do not refer to single, different species but to a wide number of different undeads.
The power of different undeas vary widely - the more life essence a living dead has absorbed or absorbs regularly, the more powerful it becomes. As a rule of thumb, an undead needs 1 D6 of hitpoints per week to not further decay (they still decay, but the changes are purely cosmetical). When they consume the flesh or blood (or essence...) of the living, they regenerate damage both from injuries as well from rotting as well from decay. An undead that starves becomes more and more feral and rots faster, while their decaying joints make their movements slow and staggering. An undead needs a steady supply of essence to maintain a human-like intellect; if they regularly consume more essence than they need, they will develop additional powers and often a very life-like appearance. The most powerful undeads are as old as the oldest dragons and Sidhe and more than equal in powers. Many undeads can feed of magical energies as well, which makes all kinds of magicians a favorite targets for them. There are therefore quite a number of undeads which have the Gift themselves, but like they can't heal their bodies on their own anymore, they need the essence of the living to cast spells. The Dark Portals are very common among them.

[spoiler= A sidhe picture] picture by Maria Sundqvist[/spoiler]
[spoiler=The nature of the Sidhe]
Sidhe, Elves World Travellers '" the Fair Folk, the Euminides '" no other Ashkardian race has sparked that many and deep fascination in the newcomers as the Sidhe. Even the most nimble and elegant human looks clumsy and awkward next to a Sidhe, even the greatest craftsmen and artists envy their aptitude and sense of beauty. Their music is of ethereal beauty, their Garden Palaces are breathtakingly beautiful. But behind their always young faces and their well-proportioned smiles, the Sidhes' souls are slowly rotting.
The immortality of the Sidhe is their greatest blessing and their greatest curse at the same time. Their unaging bodies allows them to achieve the perfection in all areas of life the Sidhe strive for. But at the same time, it sears them, every experience becomes the shadow of thousand experiences before. Every kiss, every moment of happiness, every pain '" everything was already there and in the face of eternity everything becomes banal, stale and irrelevant. With all their power, the Sidhe struggles against their most dangerous foe, this endless boredom that threaten to eat the their souls from within. The oldest among them slowly loses this struggle and descend into madness and suicide. Only a handful of the Godslayers are still alive, and their madness is even unsettling for other Sidhe who are used to the eccentricities of the immortals. The younger Sidhe party and dance as if there were no tomorrow, they search for a focus in life, strive for it for a century or two and get bored by it after they achieved a certain degree of perfection. Elves themselves into life because they have to '" they laugh and work hard to be as shallow as possible, but in deeper understanding of themselves there is only desperation. The time tears wholes in their lives and the Sidhe struggle to fill them up with as many deflections as possible. A Sidhe that stops to live as much and hard as possible, will soon be swallowed by the pure banality of his own existence.
The only fate worse for a Sidhe than death is boredom.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=The body of the Sidhe]
Physically, the Sidhe are more similar to humans than any other Ashkardian race, even though they despise the comparison to the 'Iron Monkeys', especially those Sidhe that are old enough to remember the Conquest and its atrocities.
Elves are tall and slender but despite their airy figure, they are surprisingly strong. Both male and female Elves look androgynous and have feminine hands and lineaments. Sidhe have astonishing reflexes and an even more astonishing dexterity. Their limbs are proportionally longer than those of a human, and especially the legs are very muscled. Sidhe are built for fast movement and mobility and they excel in these areas.
The iris of their almond eyes polarizes in direct light like cat eyes. The color of their eyes are very intensive and have the cold beauty of gemstones which gives the stare of the Sidhe a hypnotic quality. Sidhe have an incredible night vision, but even more impressive is their ability to resist bright light '" a Sidhe can stare into the sun for a minute without blinking.
The ears of the Sidhe are elongated and pointed ( and once they were a favourite trophy of Troll warriors). The perception of Elves is famous and even respected by the Trolls.
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=The Culture of the Sidhe]
The Elven culture is dominated by the Sidhe's constant strive to fight the boredom of an eternal youth. The younger Sidhe are those who define the whole culture mostly, because in the first one or two centuries of their existence, the Sidhe can still be deeply absorbed into one specific objective or hobby and bring new and often fascinating creations into existence. Later, when they are older, it becomes much harder for them to become involved and fascinated by anything '" the typical Elven blasé attitude is a result of this indifference for passions which became only a repetition of a repetition. After this circle starts, stimula to wake the interest of the Sidhe become more and more extreme.
While some Sidhes collect such stimula '" from breathtaking beautiful sculptures to the conserved remains of the most disgusting chimeras, self created organs out of Kryst and sharply ragged tools of torture.
Others become interested in a wide variety of differences of different activities for a short time but lose interest as soon as a more serious involvement or even something similar to work is necessary; than they get bored and their interests shift to other activities.
At first, the Sidhe society looks utopian '" Sidhe faniants spent their leisure time in their garden palaces a perfect fusion of architecture, magic and gardening. Every Sidhe lives in a pure world, free of hardships without the need to work, for ever free, for ever youthful and without the plights, illnesses and dirt of the normal world outside the Sidhe palace gardens. Every Elf practises his arts, authorities or gods are unnecessary in the Elven paradise.
But the paradise has a darker and more terrifying side. The luxury of the Sidhe is bought by the freedom of others and the Sidhe's freedom is based on the work of their slaves.
There are three to five slaves for every Sidhe that lives in the garden palaces '" and ironically the slaves are happy in their roles '" better to be treated like dirt by the Sidhe than treated as an equal by another human. The slaves '" humans as well as the servitor races like the Orks and Pixies '" are enchanted by the glamour of the Sidhe and dream of being a part of the Elven paradise. In a way they are already a part of it '" the dirty part the Sidhe prefers to ignore. The slaves are happy and ignore that the Sidhe will hardly ever recognize any Non-Sidhe as anything more than a curious animal.
Apart from the obvious authority of the Sidhe over their slaves, the Sidhe world has little need of nobility or authority figures. A Sidhe has numerous , almost endless freedom and priviledges. From the Sidhe's point of view, it is absolutely normal that a young Sidhe spends one or two centuries as a wild rebel to let of some steam. Often, these young elves are those who feed the interest of the Sidhe as a whole
It is quite common for Sidhe to develop and maintain a fine sense for beauty and Aesthetics, on the one hand because they have enough time for such trivia, and on the other hand to maintain a certain fascination for something beautiful '" or grotesque '" even after more normal impressions have become shallow. Many Sidhe try to retain a spark of childish fascination for small moments of beauty or pain, or at least they maintain a mask of this fascination even to themselves to not face the truth of their damnation. Sidhe who have lived through several centuries life for small wondrous moments and hope for an epiphany. Smug elder Sidhe who dismiss highly complex symphonies without further notice can be completely hypnotized by the flight of a bird or dew drops on a spider's web. Contests of all kinds of artists are a popular and common pastime in the garden palaces. But the Sidhe can see easily art in any activity that requires a certain passion or aptitude in the process of its creation '" including the creation of the most scarring chimeras or the art of torture and flaying.
The majority of the Sidhe live in the remaining six old towns, the so called garden palaces. The remaining towns are '" apart from the Mil'Varat fortresses and tunnels of the Trolls the oldest remaining settlements in Ashkardia. The palace gardens are the archetypical Elven settlements, a careful maintained '˜wild' forest where the line between the plants and the buildings blur. The other, much smaller Settlements of the Sidhe are designed in a similar way to resemble the original old towns. These towns are spacious and only thinly populated; the Sidhe favour their privacy and complex architecture full of careful arranged details and ostentatious monuments. Between the single palaces grows the Forest of the Sidhe full of carefully created and maintained tree-chimeras, always blooming magically formed groves which are maintained by swarms of pixies. Within the palace gardens the plant life is not subjected to the wheel of the seasons but to the will of the Sidhe alone. The greatest level of skill is described as the perfect fusion of plants, magic and buildings into one great artwork.
Outside of the true palace gardens and plump and ugly by Elven standards, the slave quarters are located. Here are living the humans, orcs and pixies that are necessary the Elven way of life and infrastructure. Most elves rarely come to these quarters and avoid them whenever possible '" or come here if they look for an adventure or laboratory animals. The Sidhe call this dark slums 'Aldij'ereth' '" the blemish.
As already mentioned, the Sidhe society functions without strict hierarchy, but the oldest Sidhe '" especially those who are renowned for their knowledge of the magical arts, are widely respected. Otherwise, the influence and esteem of a single Sidhe is in constant change and intrigues to embarrass a rival or improve someone's reputation are so usual that no one among the Sidhe recognizes them anymore. The lack of such intrigues would be much stranger for them.
The Sidhe are completely atheistic. They did not only kill their gods back in the days when they were still mortals, but in the world how the Sidhe see it, there is no place for any powerful beings who demands worship apart from the Sidhe themselves.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=The magic of the Sidhe]
Magic is almost omnipresent in the life of the Sidhe. They claim to have the most powerful magicians among them and hardly differentiate between mundane and magical tasks and often merge them into one. Sidhe thinks of magic as something granted and treat those without a gift with an arrogant pity like a human may treat a blinded person. Elves are apt in any schools and colour of magic and have little qualms to use any kind of magic, but they are particularly talented in two fields of magic: transmogrification and mind affecting enchantments. While most Sidhe wizards never achieve the effortlessness of the vivisectionist transmogrifying chambers, they have created countless chimeras, among them the Pixies and the Orks as servitors as well as pegasi or mock unicorns and the praised witchwood trees. Enchantment spells come naturally to Sidhe and they are the unchallenged masters of these spells '" the Sidhe have developed most of them from the most subtle magical insinuations to the gross cruelty of the vilest mind rape spells.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=The Dragon Riders]
The dragon riders are exotic, even measured by the standard of the Sidhe. Millennia ago, the Sidhe started to train and manipulate dragons as mounts and weapons of war. Dragons maybde sentient but by no means are they as intelligent as the cunning Sidhe and with the right methods and the natural aptitude of the Sidhe for mind affecting magic, the dragons are turned into obedient servants when the training can be started early enough. Since the upbringing and training of a dragon is highly complicated and takes several decades to work, only a handful of Elves ever get involved in this cumbersome process and become true dragon riders. Those few are often considered to be peculiar eccentrics by their fellow Sidhe and often they spend more time with their dragons than with other Sidhe. Most dragon riders serve the palace gardens as scouts and messengers but they rarely get involved with most of the way of life of the other Sidhe. Dragon and Sidhe must adapt to each other and even though the Sidhe as a whole boast that they can even dominate the powerful dragons, the true dragon riders rarely agrees to this claim '" for them, it is less a domination and more a symbiosis between the rider and his mount.
The Wind Singers, a fringe group of Sidhe dissidents fled from the advancing trolls over the sidhe on the western islands which are called the Dragon Islands today in the so called 'Winged Exodus'. Isolated from the other Sidhe for several centuries the island dwellers developed own somewhat strange customs and never became involved in the revenge driven slaughters of Vilanai's Orks. Here, the Dragon Riders have became the elite of a small and separated Sidhe subculture which is much less ostentatious than the Sidhe of the garden palaces. The Wind Singer communities are much more primitive than their mainland counterparts and have a very bad reputation as trollfriends and brutes among the majority of the Sidhe. The Wind Singers on the other hand regard themselves as '˜pure' in contrast to the blasé and decadent Sidhe of the old towns. Both groups hardly speak with each other and bear a deep distrust for the opposing group.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Rule Template]
Sidhe (Elves) (LA+2)
As a rule of thumb, all Ashkardian Races will be more powerful than usual, including the Sidhe. They are more likely a LA+3 race in a different scale.
Abilities: DEX +4, INT+2, CHA +4 Elves are painfully graceful and beautiful to watch. They move with the elegance and aura of great cats, but a cold and rational mind is hidden under the beautiful appearance.

Sidhe are Medium Ashkardian Humanoids (Sidhe).

Elf base land speed is 30 feet. At 5th level, the Elf gets a 10 ft Bonus to his or her base land speed if he or she is wearing no armor, light armor, or medium armor and not carrying a heavy load.

Superior Low-Light Vision: A Sidhe can see four times as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.

Sharp Senses: Their superior perception grants Elves a +2 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks. An elf who merely passes within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check to notice it as if she were actively looking for it.

Unsleeping: Sidhe do not need to sleep. They only need to rest to regenerate Spellpoints or Fatigue. They are immune against Sleep spells or similar magical or supernatural effects.

Masters of Enchantment: Elves have mastered the mind affecting magic of enchantment; they get a +1 racial bonus to their Casting Level when ever they use an Enchantment spell. Their great aptitude for this variety of magic also grants them a +2 racial bonus to Saving throws against Enchantment spells.

Natural Magic: Sidhe don't need the Gift trait to take levels in a full Caster Class. They are always treated as if they had the Gift trait of their chosen form of magic.

Great Potency: Sidhe are among strongest magicians known to Ashkardia. They receive an additional Spellpoint per level.
Magical Perception: Sidhe can use the Spell Sense Magic at will. The use of the Spell does not cost them any spellpoints. The caster level is the half (rounded up) character level of the Sidhe.

Affinity for Magic: Their magical perception and innate magical powers grants Elves a racial +2 Bonus to Spellcraft, Knowledge (Arcane) and Use Magical Device skill checks.

Cultural Background: At Character Creation, a Sidhe chose one of the following traits: Agile, Acrobatic,. Alertness, ,'¦ (the list is obviously not complete yet. )

Unaging: Elves take no penalties to their ability scores for aging and cannot be magically aged. Bonuses still accrue.

Vulnerability: Elves are vulnerable to iron. They suffer one additional point of damage for every damage dice dealt by iron weapons.

Favored Classes: Ranger, Sorcerer or Wizard. Sidhe who follow the Ranger, Sorcerer or Wizard class get a bonus feat on 1st, 5th and 10th class level.[/spoiler]

This thread will list and describe the different species of Ashkardia en Detail. The first one will be the immortal and infamous Sidhe, the Elves of Ashkardia.

Sidhe (Elves) - Short description
One of the two Elder Races, the Sidhe lives on Ashkardia since the dawn of time. They are nearly immortal and only die because of violence, never because of age. Sidhes are masters of magic and arts and have created the most astonishing pieces of art known to any sentient species. Sidhe tend to recognize their immortality more as a curse than a gift, and fight an eternal conflict against the creeping boredom that comes over than when all experiences start to repeat. Elves are known to be beautiful, easily bored, very cunning and often very cruel; their century old conflict with the Trolls have reduced them to a shadow of their former greatness, and by now both elder races have lost their predominance to the minor race of humans. The remaining Shide lives in separated and breathtaking beautiful garden palaces in the far west of Ashkardia.
Sidhe are taller but much slighter built than humans, but resemble them more than any other Acadian species; like all Ashkardians, Sidhe are vulnerable to iron, but they are one of the most powerful magical species in Ashkardia.

Undeads in Ashkardia
Undeads in Ashkardia are rare. There are no large hordes of brainless zombies or animated skeletons (which I personally despise, because I always found them extremely contalogical). Ashkardian undeads are created when a "soul" is forced back into its body after it died. Since animals can be animated in this way as well, the "soul" part is up to dispute. The undead remember their life, even though they rot. Undeads dissolve without a constant supply of life energy - and therefore they hunt for the living to get this supply. The form in which they consume it varies widely - from flesh and blood of the most primitive undeads up to the "breathstealers" who can feed on a sleeper without waking him up and leaving only a dried out hull behind.
Unmdeath is a curse, and often the victims of undeads become undeads themselves.
There are numerous names for the living dead in Ashkardia - draugr, vampire, wights, ghouls, gyonshi or revenants. The single names do not refer to single, different species but to a wide number of different undeads.
The power of different undeas vary widely - the more life essence a living dead has absorbed or absorbs regularly, the more powerful it becomes. As a rule of thumb, an undead needs 1 D6 of hitpoints per week to not further decay (they still decay, but the changes are purely cosmetical). When they consume the flesh or blood (or essence...) of the living, they regenerate damage both from injuries as well from rotting as well from decay. An undead that starves becomes more and more feral and rots faster, while their decaying joints make their movements slow and staggering. An undead needs a steady supply of essence to maintain a human-like intellect; if they regularly consume more essence than they need, they will develop additional powers and often a very life-like appearance. The most powerful undeads are as old as the oldest dragons and Sidhe and more than equal in powers. Many undeads can feed of magical energies as well, which makes all kinds of magicians a favorite targets for them. There are therefore quite a number of undeads which have the Gift themselves, but like they can't heal their bodies on their own anymore, they need the essence of the living to cast spells. The Dark Portals are very common among them.

Thanks, 'll have a look at HERO when I have the possibility.

After a long and hard brainstorming I found the followinfg set of rules for Ashkardia D20:


1.: Paths
Originally, I wanted to use Gestalt rules, but since the number of available base classes in the campaign is more limited and I am not willing to see characters who have both an activator level and full casting, I dismissed the idea. Instead, there are paths. Every character chose one path during character creation, which gives him several additional abilities or features when he advances in level. Unlike a class, a path cannot be changed and most path features are less significant than class features. The whole path stuff is very similar to the bloodlines found in UA, but I have stolen borrowed the from the excellent midnight campaign setting.

2.: Ability scores
There are two fixed settings of ability scores for Player characters. Every player chose one of the settings and distribute the scores as ever he wants.
Score One: 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8
Score two: 16, 14, 14, 12, 12 10
Ability modifiers per race are distributed afterwards.

3.:Hitpoints
A character's hitpoints are not determined by rolling any dice. Instead, a fixed and somewhat lower amount of hitpoints every level. The starting amount of hitpoints does not change. The Constitution bonus is still added to the gained amount of hitpoints per level. A D4 conforms to 1 hitpoint/level, a D6 2 etc.

This also applies to all kinds of monsters, but for them, hit dice are scaled by size (larger creatures are tougher than smaller ones). I'm not sure if the hitpoints of PC's should also be scaled by size.

4.: Defense
There is no AC. Instead, there is a defense bonus based upon either the BAB or the Reflex Save plus the dexterity bonus. This Bonus is added to a normal roll, like a Save where the attack roll is the DC. Shields, Dodge and Deflection bonus increases the defense. Armor, however, does not.

Defense:
BAB or Reflex Save +Dexterity + other Bonus (e.g. Shields)+ Size Modifier+D20

Flatfooted: When caught flatfooted, only half the Defense bonus is applied to the Defense check.

Touch Attack: Touch attacks give a flat +4 bonus to hit.

5.: Armor
Armor gives Damage Reduction. So does natural armor and all stuff, which is not better suited to give a defense bonus.

6.: Classes and Races
All races are a bit stronger (roughly equivalent to a former LA+1 race) to allow a broader bandwidth of traits, and while classical melee classes are improved, most spellcasters are somewhat nerfed)(but rarely to an amount that would make them significantly weaker). Especially dead levels were hunted and are now nearly extinct, as well as alignment restrictions. Ashlkardia will use the classes presented in the Tome of Battle.

7.:Spellcasting
Instead of a fixed number of spellslots, spellcasters get a number of spellpoints which can be distributed among his or her spells. This is described en detail in the main thread.

8.: Damage Steps and Wounds
The more a character is injured the harder it gets for him to fight on. There are for different damage steps which brings penalties to all throws, checks and saves (including damage)  based upon the relation of total hitpoints to suffered damage.

Damage Steps/Penalties
Full Hitpoints (unharmed): No Penalties
¾ of Hitpoints left (Hurt): -1
½ of Hitpoints left (Wounded): -2
¼ of Hitpoints left (Mauled): -3

Example: A knight with 40 total hitpoints takes a heavy hit by an ogre's club, dealing him 11 points of net damage. His Hipoints sink under the ¾ margin, and he suffers a '"1 penalty to his throws.

9. Alignment
The alignment system is completely ignored. Anyone who tries to argument with childish terms like good or evil is to be undressed covered in mustard and tossed into the next dog pound.
Instead of 'good' or 'evil' spells, those spells are applied to Living Beings like protection from living', or Detect Living' or unliving beings (e.g. undeads or outsiders).

10: Equipment and Treasure
The amount of treasure is halved, as well as the wealth per level. There are no possibilities to buy magical items, only custom made and to the double listed prices. If you want to have a specific magical item, you should have an equivalent fancy one to change. The experience cost of item creation is doubled.
Due to the generally more powerful classes and races and the additional path bonus, the characters are roughly as strong as before, but less dependant from their equipment. The character, and not what he or she is carrying is the important part.

11: Small Stuff
All characters are considered to be illiterate as long as they don't have a rank in Decipher Script.

Sneak Attack and similar abilities gives a flat +2 damage bonus/ level instead of a dice to balance these abilities with the overall lower hitpoints.

Critical Hits are dependant on the success margin, not the roled number. A hit is considered to be critical if the margin is ten or more, -1 per additional point of thread range (e.g. a keen scimitar would only need a 6 point margin to score a critical hit).

The Wild Magic Feats do not exist. The Eschew Materials becomes a sorcerer class trait instead of a freely accessible feat.

Spells who are known for their imbalance are either banned from the game or somewhat weakened, e.g. with reduced durations or durations dependent from the invested spell points. The following spells are banned: Ropetrick, Mage's Magnificent Mansion, Baleful Polymorph, Polymorph any object.

The Duration of the spells Alter Self is reduced to 10 rounds/level (and can be extended for 2 additional rounds per additional invested spellpoint). The duration of Polymorph is reduced to 1 round/level, +1 round per invested spellpoint. Both spells are considered to be one level higher.

Laws concerning Ashkardian magic (in the following just called magic):
Magic does not 'tell the laws of physics to shut up and sit down'. Magic just transforms one form of energy (raw magic force) into an other concentrated, specified form (the spell and its effects). In this, a magician is remarkable similar to a light bulb. Only more flexible. And less transparent.

Magic does not create new energy, it just transforms it. A spellcaster collects the magic raw energy around him and most important inside of him and channels it through him in a new form.  If the inner flame of magic energy burns low, the spellcaster can't form new effects, until it regenerated. In fact, a spell caster is a big transformator, pressing raw magic energy into formed effects via spells.

And don't think that magic is that much more powerful in battle '"obviously this is not true in Ashkardia, where completely unmagic knights and Saracen warriors could beat an army of powerful Elven wizards and their orkish dogs of war. In Ashkardia, the Sword is more powerful than the spell '" especially when the sword is made out of steel and iron.

There are two ways to use magic in Ashkardia '" quick and dirty, without much preparation time and a high risk to fail or even to backfire, which is normally described as spell casting, in contrary to the slow and secure way of ritual magic, which has a much lower chance to fail '" or to kill the magician in a terrible loss of control over the magical powers.

To mimic the effect of an inner flame of magic, as an energy source for spells, Ashkardia uses the Satyrs Sadistic Spellpoint System.

Satyr's Sadistic Spellpoint System
I never liked the Vancian magic system. And 'never liked' is a great euphemism. It is the reason why I hate playing spellcasters. Therefore I searched for alternatives, but never found something I really liked. Therefore I did it myself.
  Instead of a fixed number of spellslots, spellcasters get a number of spellpoints which can be distributed among his or her spells. Casters who have to prepare their daily spells still afford to do so. Three spellpoints can be three level 1 spells as well as one level 3 spell. Every spell takes his level of spellpoints to be casted, cantrips or other Level 0 spells count as 0.5 spell points. The number of spellpoints which can be channeled per turn are limited though, therefore more powerful spells need a longer time to be casted.
On 1st level a full spellcaster can channel 1 spellpoint per turn and can channel one additional point per turn, while a weaker caster can channel one additional spellpont every 8 levels.


A 15th level wizard (spelllchanneling 3/turn) could cast a lvl. 3 spell every turn, a lvl. 4, 5 or 6 spell in two turns or a lvl. 7 spell in three turns.

Spellpoint channeling is a Standard Action. Metamagic Feats need as many spell points as their modified level indicates. The Quicken Spell Feat doesn't exist.
Spellpoints are gained like hitpoints , meaning somewhat random. A typical full caster would get (1D6 + ability bonus) spellpoints per level. This is maximized at 1st level.

Spellpoint regeneration: Per day, a spellcaster regenerates his caster level + main ability x2  per day, and an additional d4 per hour of meditation (this does not include sleep). For example, a lvl. 15 wizard with Intelligence 18 would regenerate 38 spellpoints per day, +3 d4 if he meditates for three hours.

To summerize, spellcasters are a lot more flexible what spells they wish to cast. Overall, they can cast a lesser total amount of spells, but they have much more influence which spells they want to cast. Spellcasting times are prolonged, making low level spells more attractive, because they are faster to cast.

Magic, and the risk of embarassing perils
Magic comes at a price. The biggest (and from my perspective almost unforgivable) mistake of the normal D&D rules is the easiness of magic. It can hardly fail, and with the exception of running low on fuel,  there are no affiliated risks. How boring. How completely and utterly uninteresting.
Power must have its price '" or it kills anything like balance (as shown in the standard D&D rules) and even the worth of magic '" it must have a downside, or it is, essentially, worthless.

Therefore, Ashkardian magic comes without the guaranteed spellcasting success of the standard rules.

Spell casting '" the risky and dangerous way of magic -  needs a Concentration check to be successful. The DC of these checks is 15+Spell level. (A 1st level spell would be DC16, a 7th level spell would be DC 22). If the check fails, the spell is fizzled and the invested spellpoints are wasted. Armor Check penalties are applied to these checks, but the Arcane Spell Failure Chance plays no role anymore.

A natural 1 on the Concentration check always means a failure and needs a confirmation, just like a critical hit, but against the Concentration skill. If the confirmation succeeds, nothing more happens. The spell points are wasted, but, that is the only negative effect. If the confirmation fails, the caster has made a critical mistake and suffers for it. The target of the spell is a different (in the case of damage dealing spells it's almost always the caster himself), the effect is turned around (Cure spells become Harm spells for example), etc. The more powerful the spell was, the more devastating is the effect of a critical failure. As a rule of thumb, a damage dealing spell will deal its full damage to the caster.
A botched spell should bring a spellcaster in serious, in the case of powerful spells even life threatening peril.

Yes, that means that a 1st level wizard has a chance of fail around half the spells he or she casts at least on the short term. But with feats like a Concentration Skill Focus, the risk of blasting yourself isn't that high. But the risk is always there as it should be.

Ritual Magic is much safer and reliable. A ritualized '˜spell' needs twenty times as long as a fast cast, but it does not require a Concentration check and therefore can only fail horribly when the ritual is interrupted by outer means.

Ashkardian spells rarely use material components. Doing this is in most cases not necessary, but helpful and grants an additional +1 bonus to the Concentration check, but it is by no means necessary.

Maagic and Thermodynamics
It is much easier to destroy than to build something up. Think about it. Compared to the amount of labor, energy or time you need to let almost anything grow or construct something, it is extremely easy to destroy it. Why should it be different with magic? In Ashkardia, at least, that is how magic works.- You can create with magic, but it hurts. Destruction is much simpler (and it hurts, too, but at least not you).
All Spells, that heal, restore hitpoints or have similar numerical effects are only half as effective as listed; Cure spells uses D4's instead f D8's, Heal heals only 5 hitpoints per Caster Level, etc.
Spells that create, gives life or similar effects (like e.g. Plant Growth) are treated as one level higher. The Spell Mend does not exist at all.
Destruction is easy though '"spells that hurt, kill and injure just stay as they are.

The different varieties of magic
There are three different greater categories of magic '" hereditary magic, like those of sorcerers (with innate magical abilities and charisma as a basic attribute), hermetic magic (with spellbooks, long training and intelligence as the basical ability - the magic of wizards) and spiritual magic, based on the spirit world and a deep understanding of the supernatural.
Hereditary magic simply is and is only based on the will and character strength of its user; hermetic magic is based upon an inner logic. It works on a base of rationality and an almost scientific approach. Spiritual magic on the other hand is almost completely based on intuition and emotion; it is not based on logic and thought but on dream and passion. Hermetic magic works within a prefixed set of rules, spiritual magic doesn't.

Hermetic magicians '" Wizards '" uses more or less the same rules as in Standard D&D. Apart from the complete different magical system.
Likewise, hereditary magicians '" Sorcerers '" resemble their predecessors.
But the spiritual magicians  are different. The two major spiritual magicians are Shamans and Druids, and the Scholars of the Trolls, who were always the most apt spiritual magicians .

What is the great difference between Hero and Gurps? As far as I know, both systems are quite similar  - so what is the point of Hero when I have already most of the Gurps books?

I am brainstorming about it right now.
Right now I'm mostly orienteering on the spellchanneling rules of Midnight - I will get rid of the vancian magic system and replace it with a more fitting spell point system. Additionally, spell casting will effort a Concentration check to be successful...
And there is more, but it's quite ripe yet.

Magical items and Equipment
Magical items are comparatively rare in Ashkardia. On the one hand, because it is harder to enchant items than in most D&D worlds and on the other hand, because the two great magical societies '" the Elves and the Trolls '" never really got into it. Trolls prefer not to be dependant on anything else but themselves and created bloodgems, magical tattoos and similar enchantments of their bodies. The Sidhe preferred transmogrification to create new servitor species, and rarely use more classical items (with the exception of magical armor and weapons in the times of fire). Therefore, a lot of enchantments are still unknown to Ashkardian spellcasters and most spellcasters are not firm in enchantment practices. Goblins are the one great exception, and roughly about 80% of all non weapon magical equipment is of goblin origin.

Unique magical equipment of Ashkkardia

Bloodgems
Bloodgems are magical stones, often made out of Kryst or jewels which are filled with magical essence. The first bloodgems were used by the Trolls who claim that the first bloodgems were found by them in the depth of the Mil'Varat and they only copy the natural magic of these stones.
Bloodgems are implanted into the forehead of its wearer. A very painful and cruel procedure, but after the implantation, the stone is awakened by the life force or magical flame of its wearer and grants him a magical bonus to abilities, access to memories within the stone - other Bloodgems are foci or gemstones.

Bloodgems are very common in Ashkardia, and belong to the most common magical items around.

Tattoos of Power
Trolls never liked to use magical items or to be dependant on any kind of equipment, and therefore they learnt how to enchant their blood ritual scars and other emblems on the skin. The process is similar painful as the implantation of a bloodgem, but it is irreversible; if a tattoo of power is in place, it can't be removed (with the exception of flaying). A tattoo of power is a magical sigil carved into the skin of its bearer which grants him an enchantment bonus. The more powerful a tattoo is, the more elaborated and big is the tattoo.
Tattoos of Power grants an enchantment bonus to abilities. There were once other, more elaborated and exotic tattoos of power who granted other, more exotic powers, but the near extinction of the Troll people and the self-sacrifice of their council of elders have destroyed the knowledge how to create those.
The price of a Tattoo of Power is the same as an ability enhancing magical item. However, no one can tattoo and enchant the one back or face, therefore the tattoos must be purchased from those who are able to use the magic of scars and ink.
Magical tattoos change under the skin and move slowly when they are active and gleam dimly. It is quite easy to identify them.

Glowstones
Glowstones are a common tool of spellcasters '" these are gems that storage magical energy and offers it to the user. A Glowstone can greatly expand the magical energy of any spellcaster.
There are two different kinds of Glowstones '" unaligned stones can feed about any spell, while dedicated Glowstones only energize one specific one specific school of spells.
A Glowstone of any kind regenerates one Spellpoint per day, but the wielder can pump his own magic into the stone to recharge it on a 2:1 ratio: For every two spellpoints the magicians spends, the Glowstone regenerates one.


Foci
Foci are magical items that simplify the spellcasting. Foci can have about any given form (common are jewels, jewelry, wands and rods). A Focus concentrates the magical power of spellcasting and allows to cast certein spells with a higher efficiency. Unlike Glowstones, Foci are always aligned; every Focus only works for one school of magic, and ignores others. Powerful (or rich) magicians therefore often use more than one Focus, dependant on the magic thy want to cast.
In the religious donminated Magical Orders, Foci are often formed as religious symbols, in at least one case, a Focus was included in the hilt of a sword. Foci can be implanted in the casters like bloodstones, but rarely happens.


Special Materials
More than - the often very boring and dull and rarely as fascinating purely magical items, special materials are an acceptable reason why better or supernatural items which identical or similar attributes are that common. I tried to gave Ashkardia some interesting and unique materials like iron. Which is, obviously, extremely mysterious and exotic.


Witchwood
Witchwood trees are magically created trees which were used by the Sidhe to fletch powerful bows. Witchwood is dark grey as ashes, but the wood is extremely stable and flexible. Witchwood can be formed by magic quite easily, and Sidhe fletchers knew magic songs of creation that helps to give the wood the expected form. A witchwood bow can be enchanted much easier than regular wood.

Kryst
Kryst is the deep blue to sea green crystal used by the Trolls to create extremely sharp weapons. The stone can be clipped into blades sharper than anything made out of metal, but it is brittle. It is not possible to build a sword or a similar long blade out of Kryst, but the material is excellent for axe blades, arrow points or other smaller blades.

Klackhide
A rare material for armors, which is almost completely reserved for veterans of the Klacker front, the skin of the outworldish vermin is an extremely good raw materiel for armor. Klackhide can be used to create both leather armor and hide armor and grants a natural +1 Enchantment bonus and the weight is reduced by 25%. Klackhide can not be enchanted, and the armor must be cooked and salted carefully or it starts to rot.
Klackhide costs as much as a +1 enchanted armor of the same type (either hide or leather armor).

Trollhide
An uncommon sight today, but in the times of the great war, veteran sidhe warriors praised their armor made out of dead troll's skin. Trollskin is tough and leathery, and it grants good protection, but, and this is the most important, it is a great way to infuriate any troll.
Trollhide uses the same stats as moon ivy, but the wearer should not be seen by a troll.

Yesterday I tried a test round of Harnmaster with my old hometown group. They hated it, and they hated it thoroughly. The system is too deadly and too complicated and, and this is why they hated it that much, it is too detailed making it even more cluttered.

I discussed it with them and we came to the conclusion that Harnmaster is probably not the right system for us - to much bookkeeping, too much blah and detail. Seriously, I like stuff like hit tables and rules for wounds and blood loss. But Harnmaster is too detailed and too inflexible for my taste.

Therefore this will not do it for me. Ashlkardia should be more accessable.
And, since I have new material since ...err... tomorow, I think I will try to create a specific Ashkardia D20 System, which will include the features of other, more low fantasy D20 settings and systems such as Conan, A Game of Thrones and Midnight.

My greatest problem will be the magic system, but thanks to my friends, i think I have found a basic frame for this that will fit into what I think works well for Ashkardia.