Aldreia Discussion Thread

[Jharviss]

I'm sorry for seemingly ingoring most of your constructive criticism - with school starting it's been a very entertaining but unproductive past two weeks.  All of your suggestions and comments are quite right.  

Raelifin - Everything you said was dead on.  I could feel most of your commentary just writing those races out.  The tildar felt off but I couldn't quite figure out how.  I'll tone it down shortly and show you the revised copy.  I'm afraid if I take away too much they won't be worth the +1 LA.  On that note, the opathi also felt quite weak.  I very much like your ideas for them, and I believe the Endurance feat or something along those lines would be a perfect match.  The zuezela, for me, were a huge challenge.  I am virtually clueless as to how to make these guys work.  I'm going to need to rework them entirely.

Tybalt - I appreciate your comment on the doro.  My only issue with this is that if I give them much more they will become outrageously outbalanced.  I believe they are dancing precariously on the edge already.  I love your idea about the gnolls and will definately incorporate it.  The gnolls have often seemed quite bland to me and I was planning to spice them up a bit but I wasn't sure how to.  That's a good idea, very much so.

I would like to revamp the gnomes shortly.  They have become the ignored step-child of common fantasy now-a-days, always existing but never mattering.  I'm tired of that, especially because I much prefer gnomes over halflings.  I am thinking of dropping my forest and rock gnome varieties and just making a standard gnome (I started to do to gnomes what I am trying to avoid with elves, and that's make a ton of subraces).  I am also going to drop the tinker gnome.  I can still have gnomes be tinkerers in some parts of the world without having a seperate race for that.  Furthermore, I hate how much that intrudes on Warcraft and Dragonlance.  I'd rather have individuality.  I want to replace the tinker gnomes with a new, hopefully original type of gnome.  I'm not sure what yet, however.

What I have been working on in my free time the past week or two is an absolutely gigantic map of Caerden, my primary continent.  It covers and area roughly 10,000 by 5,000 miles.  While this is incomplete, clicking here will take you to the giant map (scaled down slightly because it was too big to be uploaded otherwise).  

[Jharviss]

So, normally I like to tackle one country at a time and really flesh them out and get them well cemented in my head.  This is a stupid as hell way of doing things, especially because I have stuff in my head for every country but I don't have anything down for most of them.  I didn't realize this until I started going through my archive the other day and realized I had nothing for most of them.  Stupid, as I said.  So I said down and in the course of an hour and a half I wrote down just a little bit about each nation.  Sometimes there will just be one sentence, sometimes there will be a full paragraph.  I skipped the nations I had already begun developing.  Here's a list.

Delorinthis
Delorinthis is a monarchy with a House of Ancestors acting as a oligarchy.  It's capital city, Raalaviss, was destroyed during the Second Aelthiurian War by a spell the Delorinthians originally cast to protect it and backfired.

Suil'anthrose
An elven run nation with equal amounts elf and human, the nation was formed by refugees fleeing or exiled from Delorinthis during the Second Aelthiurian War.  The nation's capital is Anndilur, and the nation is run by eleven Juries--levels of government with different responsibilities.  The nation was once mostly plains but is now covered in forests.

Haloun
The halfling nation of Haloun quickly learned that peace was not an option.  The capital, Haloun City, is highly defendable.  Otherwise the halflings prefer to stay mobile, sometimes forming small towns.  Haloun is a loose feudal aristocracy.

Karadine
This is a noble monarchy that chooses its king from a small council of nobles.  Karadine claims to be a very righteous and noble knightly kingdom, but fails in many regards.  Nonetheless it is very powerful.

Zelhost
Zelhost is a mostly human kingdom with a large population of centaurs.  It is ruled by the crazed King of Dogs who recently took the nation.  Once prosperous and united, it is now in ruins.  Many warlords struggle for local power.  The King of Dogs is a wizard that has existed for aeons.  He was a inadvertant player in making Zelhost a great nation.  The Scorch, a huge mark of fire damage across central Zelhost, was made several years ago but refuses to heal.  The Castle of Violet sits in the middle of the Scorch and homes the King.

Vehn
This is a swampy nation of river naga.  It is ruled by a colossal naga that does not move and actually has little physical power.  It appoints warlords to rule Vehn.  The capital city is Drelk, where the naga ruler, Lokruuk, lays.  Rivers are everywhere in Vehn, most of them unnaturally created.

Pervicax
This is the last dwarven stronghold in Caerden after being pushed out of the Wethren Mountains by the aedin.  The Diemerians, however, believe most of Pervicax is their land and claim it as such.  A war is now going between them.  Pervicax is ruled loosely by a couple dwarven "kings."

Diemeria
Diemeria is primarily rocky terrain and not befit to agriculture.  A lot of Diemerians are migraters.  Diemeria is ruled by the Reyes.  The land is known for its great spearmen.

Siddeodru
This nation is primarily gnomish with large amounts of fey.  They dislike the Diemerians though they will not war with them.  The gnomes fight against the ogres a lot, however.  Siddeodru is a close ally with Vynar.  Siddeodru is ruled by gnomish and fey druids and mages, known as the Siddeodru Court.

Ogren Islands
Split into northern and southern islands, Ulig and Voruuk respectively, the Ogren Islands are full of war and sparsely populated.  The Islands are ruled by clans, though the south, Voruuk, is slightly more civilized.

Paldorus
The people of Nimhyar found their nation crumbling and corrupt, so its prided knighthood, the Mithril Chain, seded from Nimhyar.  It is a pseudo-plutocracy but with explicit rules and a seperate military.  Its only ally is Khemli, and it has combated the closest ogren tribest to the point of extinction.

Khemli
Until recently Khemli was naother Ogren Island.  It recently entered the political arena.  It is mostly human but with a large ogre presense.  The ogres tend to be civilized.  Many half-ogres also live here.  It is ruled by a half-ogre warlord who is proving somewhat tyrannical but tends to do what is best for the country and its people.

Kortah
This gnoll nation is ruled by a good queen who is balancing peace and the gnolls' warlike nature.  Her and her peaceful rule isn't expected to servive much longer.

Voxx Mountains
The Voxx Mountains were created by magic many aeons ago. They are now full of many races all tryng to gain power.  Dwarves are the most common, but elves, orcs, fey, arrowtails, and several others also live here.

Terlund
This peaceful nation is a realm of halflings.  In many ways it is a theocracy, but the nation is slightly anarchic and stays alive primarily through trade and ambassadors who keep Terlund out of war.

Vedsel
This is now an elven monarchy that recently seded from Adoipa.

Theoris
This raven elf nation is rather secluded from other nations, resting on a large island.  Theoris has destroyed the savage tribes on their island and enslaved many such savages.  It is now a huge force in the oceans and enemy of Otahvy.  Theoris has no real ruler, only an arcane force that tends to have all the answers.  It homes in a well just norht of Kazique, the capital.

Dexando
Dexando is ripped with strife.  Both Otahvy and Theoris wish to claim it and both have many citizens on it.  Originally settled by Otahvians a century before, now Dexando wants its own independence.  As long as Theoris and Otahvy fight over Dexando, the goal of independence shall never be accomplished.

Spalda
While not a direct theocracy, Spalda is largely ruled by the priests of the Pantheon of Virtue.  A human nation, Spalda has warred with Cadravlant for years.  Spalda is counted as one of the least corrupt governments in Caerden.  The Consul-General, leader of the military, has a lot of war-time power granted to him.

Aly'ith Wastes
The wastes are ruled by a queen and are struggling to survive and be recognized as a real nation.  With a small population, terrible natural conditions, and a lot of virtually useless land, Aly'ith has little power.  Spalda and Cadravlant have turned southern Aly'ith into a battlefield.  Orcs and giants are not uncommon here, though unwanted.

Crale
Crale is ruled by a just and old king, wily, wise, and battle hardened.  He has set Crale as politically invincible by creating a close relationship with Aelthiur.  Sometimes called the 12th Province of Aelthiur, Crale breeds the cralan, a powerful flying steed.

Cadravlant
Cadravlant is known for war.  It is full of orcs, humans, ogres, and other savage races.  It is ruled by multiple warlords all trying to gain power.  Some fight themselves, some fight outside Cadravlant.  All recognize Cadravlant as their patron country.  Cadravlant once warred against Xinithdom, Tordryon, and Valloruse, but virtually stopped when they united as Aelthiur.  It primarily wars against Spalda now.

[Jharviss]

All right, it's now summer and I've had one helluva Spring semester.  I was able to complete virtually none of Aldreia during these past couple months, specifically because I was working on a very intensive campaign, writing a webcomic, and just developing my ability to use the English language.  This isn't an excuse, just a preface.  This summer is going to be about creative development, and Aldreia is not going to thrive.

I've been thinking about the world and decided that I no longer want to do such an overwhelming divset world.  I originally had some themes but they got destroyed in the hustle and bustle, so, now I'm doing some major overhauls.  

I am remanufacturing my races.  I will be eliminating orcs and placing all goblins and ogres into one large subracial hierarchy.  There will be several types of ogres and goblins, mind you, but no more orcs.  I'm also eliminating some other little races, such as the igurikor, river naga, and tinker gnomes.  The last two have been done to death and I'm too original to have such cliches, and the former lacked any realistic racial traits.  Kobolds are also going to get an upgrade--kobolds are one of my favorite races, and I despise the pitiful role they take in most worlds.  In Aldreia, they'll be one of the favorites.

The races overhaul is huge.  It will drastically effect the rest of the world.  From the races I hope to just start eliminating pointlessly complicated parts of the world.  I want to really tone down my pantheon, as it's a bit much, but I'm not sure where to start snipping.  

I'm going to create a large section on my site dedicated to explaining the pains and theories I hold when creating my world.  I will explain levels--how deities range from 35th to 50th level, planar lords from 20th-35th level, and mortals from 1st-20th level.  I will explain how law vs. chaos has taken a much more central role.  I will explain how magic works and stays balanced without destroying everything.  Theories.

I will also begin huge renovations on my ritual system.  This is something I believe will work, and it excites me, but it needs to be truly fleshed out.  We'll see what direction that takes as well.  It'll be a large undertaking.

Otherwise, we'll see where things take us.

Love,
Jharviss

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Overhauling a big project is always a lot of work, but I'm usually happy I did in the end.  I wish you luck with this.  When you have some material on the revised Aldreia, we'd be happy to give it a look over.

[Jharviss]

Actually, I'm going to scratch a lot about what I just said.

The Troll has inspired me to take Colabore on a very different path.

I'll be updating it and will finish by Friday at the latest.

[Jharviss]

Would anybody mind looking over these guys?  I realized today that I rather like the race and would like them to be dandy before I start throwing them all over the world.

Lagora

The lagora were an unknown race until only a couple centuries time ago. None know how the lagora made it to the world or who created them. They are very similar to humans and often fit well with them, though lagora have a hard time adjusting to the upper echelons of human socieities.  They are an extremely hardy race.  Lagoras, known to be slightly eccentric, always push theirselves and those around them.  Their bodies show it - lagoras have, with few exceptions, bodies covered in scars from head to toe.

Lagoran settlements only exist in some of the most desolate and disastrous places in the world. They are found in deep ice caves, wearing nought but a loin cloth.  Other lagora choose to live within the confines of a volcano, wearing heavy coats as if tempting the fates to just try and hurt them.

Their bodies evolve at an amazing rate, a process that occurs because the lagoras genes change over the years. If a lagora's arm was slashed and scarred over, their child is likely to have thick skin around that arm.  If a lagora is forced to adapt to a terribly dry climate, their child will have skin that retains moisture more efficiently.  Lagora are fast products of their environment, and, because of this, each lagora is very different.  Lagoran tribes the world over rarely look anything alike.

Lagoras look like humans with a few small differences, the foremost being that their hands only have four fingers rather than five, and their fingers are larger than a human's.  Their teeth are carnal and they have twice as many canines as humans.  Unlike humans their eyes are never blue or green, but their common eye colors are that of orange, red, and brown.

Lagora Racial Traits
- +4 Constitution, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma: the lagoras are extremely tough, able to shake off tremendous blows, yet they do not have very capable minds.  They are impatient and ???hard to get along with.
- Medium: As Medium creatures, lagoras have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
- Largora base speed is 30 feet.
- Fast Healing: Lagoras regain one hit point per minute.  Fast healing does not restore hit points lost from starvation, thirst, or suffocation.
- Limb Regeneration: When a lagora loses a limb, his body slowly regenerates that limb.  A lost limb takes 1d6 months to fully regenerate.
- Languages: Common.  Bonus Languages: Any.
- Favored Class: Barbarian. A multiclass lagora â,¬,,¢s barbarian class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.
- Level Adjustment +1 : Lagoras act as one level higher than their class levels.