The Age of Kings (criticism welcomed)

[Captain Obvious]

Regarding the latest versions of the classes, most of them seem to work fairly well. I think the whole bloodline level thing with the sorcerer will end up getting complicated, though. Instead of letting sorcerer levels count as bloodline levels, how about the following? Every sorcerer picks a bloodline and gains the benefits of that bloodline. He does not need to take any bloodline levels, but his bloodline benefits are based on his sorcerer level instead of his character level.

I would probably give the Ullor a +4 bonus on Swim checks. That would put them on par with the semi-aquatic lizardfolk when it comes to swimming ability, and would further help to offset their racial penalties to physical ability scores.

I like how you tie goblins and wolves together using lycanthropy. That's something I've done in a campaign before because it just makes sense. Something I haven't seen done anywhere else before: the "two souls" idea. Very cool and very original.

I'm a bit intrigued by the whispling's eyesight. They are penalized in bright light, but can only see as well in the dark as a human. Is that correct?[/quote]As for nations, consider detailing some of the smaller ones. Even though Morash is the sole superpower, it never hurts to know about other places in the world. The story of present-day America, for example, would be rather boring if you took away southeast Asia and the Middle East. What are the foreign affairs of Morash like?[/quote]As for classes, do you have access to all the Complete titles and the Tome of Magic? The Binder in the TOM would seem to fit the 'rough edges' feel of your divine casters. (You'd have to change the fluff a bit - instead of making binders threatening to divine casters, make them a close cousin of them. Or perhaps, a simpler evolutionary state.)

Do you have access to Races of Destiny? The Sharakim might be worthy of your attention - mainly because your nation-builders have penalties to both Intelligence and Charisma. I've always felt that racial Charisma was tied to the sophistication of a races society, simply because it dictates, in part, how well the people work together. If there's a penalty to Cha, a higher Int would make up for it. Sharakim would be a perfect illustration of this theory, but I haven't much examined the Cha/Sophistication correlation (it is obviously impossible to reality check.) Do you have any thoughts on the matter?[/quote]
I was thinking of using binders, but i don't want too many different magic styles since it may clutter up the world. Also, i am giving the TOM classes a much more central role in my other CS, so i'm only using the shadowcaster for this homebrew.
I don't have RoD but would like it if you could give me a rough idea of who the Sharakim are (are they those guys with the connection to symbols and writting? i don't really know that book too well).
The orcs do have a Cha penalty and no Int bonus, but their society is mostly led by half dragons, or dragon bloodlined orcs, so this make up for it.

[DeeL]

Oooh no.  Those are the Illumians, and they have some interesting fluff.  If only they didn't add an entire new level of complexity to their playing, I might be a bigger Illumian booster.

As for the Sharakim, they are portrayed as the 'high orcs'.  Story goes that their ancestors were human, but fell under a curse.  Orcs descended from them, leaving a small line of sharakim intact.  +2 to STR and INT, -2 to DEX and CHA, Darkvision, shadow affinity, light sensitivity, +1 AC, Favored class Wizard, like to dress well and bathe often.  Despise other orcs, getting a bonus to attack them.  RoD gives them LA +1, but I wouldn't.

The dragon bloodline is an interesting touch, though.  Yes, that would give a civilization of orcs a binding element, but it might give the impression that orcs are still 'the flunky race'.  Not necessarily, but it requires a little attention.

[Captain Obvious]

Yeah, I was worried that they might still remain a flunky race if i did this, but they have been ruled by the dragon and his offspring for so long, that the long period of order and prosperity, the orcs have grown quite civilized as a race. The majority of the ruling class does have some draconic blood in them, but not all of them.

The problem with the Sharakin is that 1) they come from humans (which i don't have) and i want them to be their own race and 2) i don't want them to go from a serious penalty all the way to an Int bonus. All of the standard races are just Int 10 and they have fine societies. I don't want them to have a brilliant nation filled with  inventors and philosophers, etc (they have some though), but rather a prosperous merchant/militant mix of a society.