Dilandri: Discussion

[Stargate525]

It's interesting how each race has its own qualities and features, and a culture to it. I like that part a lot. I'm not sure about some of the generalizations, though, especially things like "Race X doesn't get along with Race Y," because that seems like something factors in a given geographical area or community could change heavily. Perhaps some of these "racial" characteristics may be better associated with the most dominant nations to be found within each of these racial groups, and be a sort of dispersion of the national culture, rather than some truly "racial" trait. Just a thought, though.

You're right, once I get all of the individual nations written up, I'll change it over to nation-by-nation. The thing is, only the humans have any real large distinction between nations, and any racial relationship information I give will have to be a generalization.

One note on languages: I'm not sure how much sense it makes to have languages defined by species in such a cosmopolitan world. I realize the D&D take on language is rather simple (especially compared to its roots, like Tolkien!), and I'm fairly interested in linguistics and such, so this may all be rather pedantic, but, it seems like linguistic communities would form around social strata or geographic areas, especially in more urban areas. And, in rural areas, well-- why would two people who never come into contact speak the same language?

I haven't really started messing with language yet, and the only one that I know already is half-elven (I have no idea why dwarves have that entry). Trust me, I like languages. Expect several.

Neat, I always like settings that meld magic and technology in interesting new ways, or work to make them two aspects of the same phenomenon. I'm a pretty big fan of that Arthur C. Clarke quote, too, actually. ;)

:) I have a fan.

Or simply a magical technique for producing a lift gas-- in the past I've made use of airships filled with magically produced hydrogen, and it seems to strike a nice balance between the magical and the realistic.

hmm. I'll have to keep that in mind. I might utilize that for the dirigibles, but I don't think I can envision the windships with the kind of envelope needed for that technology.

I really like this. It reminds me a lot of late 19th century Japan, specifically, actually, where Japan had both a strong element of wanting to be completely isolated from the outside world (as it had been for centuries) and yet a realization that if it did not absorb foreign technology and ideas, it would fall hopelessly behind.

Cool. I've got a secret; I actually know very little about Japan during that time period. I'm glad to see I was able to reproduce the flavor despite that.

This role got some flak, but I actually like it, so I'll propose an alternate rationale. Perhaps there is a certain grudging tolerance for half-elves in most elven communities-- they're not pure-blooded, but they're not entirely the devil foreigner, either. As the elves enjoy hearing of foreign lands without actually inviting those people in, half-elves provide a useful answer, as they can deal with someone who is both foreign and familiar at the same time. Perhaps there's even a sense among some that these people who have some elven blood can be "reclaimed" by the elves, in a way.

Consider it stolen. ;)

Catching up since my last post and wow, you have added a good deal!

Again I love your Myths Legends section. The elves Book of Five entry is fantastic. How you wove the plant traits into the racial tones blends wonderfully.

Thank you.

What makes the Wind pass lower winds so strong? Are you going with geography or is there some other reason for it?

Geography. Of course, my geography might not hold water, and then I'll have to make up something else.

For Vandaar you mention that this country is almost unknown by outsiders, but then you say that most outsiders don't like it?

Fixed that. Somewhat silly.

Letters of Marque! Yeah! Sorry, but I love this plot device.

So do I. I was a bit surprised that Eberron didn't have them.

Addictive wheat? You are twisted and sick! Such a great idea to expand your trade! Have others tried to grow it in their regions and it just won't grow? Any mutations that are more addictive or have more side effects or withdrawal symptoms?

Yeah, it won't grow in other regions. I'll add that in. And I will have to toy with other strains.

Look forward to even more from you!

I hope to provide.

[sparkletwist]

Off all the words in my setting, that stupid sentence has given the most confusion. I've changed it, hopefully it makes more sense.

For Vandaar you mention that this country is almost unknown by outsiders, but then you say that most outsiders don't like it?[/quote]Addictive wheat? You are twisted and sick! Such a great idea to expand your trade! Have others tried to grow it in their regions and it just won't grow? Any mutations that are more addictive or have more side effects or withdrawal symptoms?
[/quote]
Hmm, and what if you brew it into beer?
Maybe it becomes downright narcotic!   :demon:

[Ravenspath]

Addictive wheat? You are twisted and sick! Such a great idea to expand your trade! Have others tried to grow it in their regions and it just won't grow? Any mutations that are more addictive or have more side effects or withdrawal symptoms?

And thats the whole evil wheat to a completely new level! Can you imagine an Octoberfest (of Dilandri equivalent) with this beer? Ouch. You could have a whole nation of beer addicted alcholics.

[Bill Volk]

Like some of the others, I'll admit to not having read absolutely all the material

I agree with Ravenspath that you present your material quite professionally. It's a very good start, and sort of the opposite of the way I do things.

I appreciate the precise arrangement of relationships among all your thirty gods, (it reminds me of all the guilds in Magic's Ravnica setting,) but they feel like pretty standard D&D deities, considering that the setting's connection to the gods is the very first thing you mention in your premise. Is there anything unusual about your characters' relationships with the gods that I'm missing?
Also, to help players take in the symmetry of your pantheon (and to help them remember all the gods' names,) you might want to draw some kind of big Venn diagram with the five major gods and the minor gods inside heir spaces, with lines to denote the alliances and rivalries.

The Tome of Knowledge and Secrets is an interesting idea, but, speaking personally as a DM, if a source writer tells me never, ever to use the major artifact he's written, I'm going to be tempted all the more to use it. If you want it never to be a part of a campaign, what effect can it have on the play experience of your players? In other words, why write about it?

I loved the premise for gnomes (a whole society of nothing but brilliant inventors and Renaissance men,) but I don't think you took the premise far enough in practice. If EVERY gnome is a super-ambitious engineer, who gets stuck doing the other work that needs to be done? Although they're extroverted, wouldn't they have trouble working together if they all wanted to be the one in charge of a project? Is a gnome city a little like Los Angeles, dominated by a single "glamour industry" where the supply of talent far exceeds demand and every menial laborer has a screenplay (or in this case a blueprint) that they're trying to sell? Are there gnomish patent attorneys?
Ah, but forgive me. I only go on like I do because I like so much what you've written so far.

[Stargate525]

What I'm trying to say, basically, is that it seems to me that the non-human races have an odd sort of racial unity that seems a bit out of place in a world with lots of different nations and well-travelled people.

I'm not sure how this works. Looking at the modern world, and the history of the world, it seems that race and politics are hopelessly linked. Any sort of separation between race and politics is a much newer idea-- this is not to say that another world may not achieve this separation earlier, but in the face of so many other sentient species about, don't you think some sense of "human identity" would arise? On the darker side of it, people are people, for good or ill, and there's probably some "human supremacists" out there...

Is it just me, or do those two paragraphs contradict each other?

Hmm, and what if you brew it into beer?
Maybe it becomes downright narcotic!   :demon:

:o You're even more evil than I am! I am totally stealing this, but it won't be narcotic (otherwise people would start to get suspicious of the wheat.)

[Stargate525]

I appreciate the precise arrangement of relationships among all your thirty gods, (it reminds me of all the guilds in Magic's Ravnica setting,) but they feel like pretty standard D&D deities, considering that the setting's connection to the gods is the very first thing you mention in your premise. Is there anything unusual about your characters' relationships with the gods that I'm missing?

There will be, I hope. I haven't gotten to fleshing out religion beyond the names and personalities (hence the blank section of heirarchy below it), but I hope I'll be able to get some unique stuff in there still.

Also, to help players take in the symmetry of your pantheon (and to help them remember all the gods' names,) you might want to draw some kind of big Venn diagram with the five major gods and the minor gods inside heir spaces, with lines to denote the alliances and rivalries.

And here I was going to write a song based on the animaniacs countries of the world...

Kidding, but you aren't the first to request that sort of thing.

The Tome of Knowledge and Secrets is an interesting idea, but, speaking personally as a DM, if a source writer tells me never, ever to use the major artifact he's written, I'm going to be tempted all the more to use it. If you want it never to be a part of a campaign, what effect can it have on the play experience of your players? In other words, why write about it?

By all means, use it. I put it there because it is one of the religious artifacts and the list would be incomplete without it. It's something I as a DM would use in a heartbeat, but need to make sure that the players can never actually USE it. Kinda like the Holy Grail in the Last Crusade.  

I loved the premise for gnomes (a whole society of nothing but brilliant inventors and Renaissance men,) but I don't think you took the premise far enough in practice. If EVERY gnome is a super-ambitious engineer, who gets stuck doing the other work that needs to be done? Although they're extroverted, wouldn't they have trouble working together if they all wanted to be the one in charge of a project? Is a gnome city a little like Los Angeles, dominated by a single "glamour industry" where the supply of talent far exceeds demand and every menial laborer has a screenplay (or in this case a blueprint) that they're trying to sell? Are there gnomish patent attorneys?
Ah, but forgive me. I only go on like I do because I like so much what you've written so far.

Haha, that was funny. I tried to balance that out by having gnome society based on merit; those who aren't as good don't get as good of jobs. I am totally stealing your 'everyone has a blueprint' idea, as well as the gnomish patent attorneys.

[sparkletwist]

Is it just me, or do those two paragraphs contradict each other?

do[/b] have a strong sense of their own identity.

I guess I wasn't really being contradictory, it's just that it seemed strange to me that humans think one way and the other races all think a different way, when it seems more like they should all be closer to somewhere in between.

Of course, this is all invalid if there's some biological or other difference that causes them to think differently, but then you should probably mention this.

[Stargate525]

Is it just me, or do those two paragraphs contradict each other?

do[/b] have a strong sense of their own identity.

I guess I wasn't really being contradictory, it's just that it seemed strange to me that humans think one way and the other races all think a different way, when it seems more like they should all be closer to somewhere in between.

Of course, this is all invalid if there's some biological or other difference that causes them to think differently, but then you should probably mention this.

Ok, I think I understand you now.

It'sw not so much that they identify as a race rather than as a political body, it's that they identify as a species. Comparing Humans to Gnomes is not like comparing Africans to Caucasians, It would be like comparing Humans and Ferengi. Since I based the humans so much on imperialistic europe, I needed the national identity for them, and I think it's what us as humans would do.

Looking at it logically, however, if aliens suddenly came to your planet, wouldn't you want to work with them as a single entity rather than a legion of small states? The other races understand this, and no matter their internal squabbles, they work as a united, solid front when dealing with other races (D&D definition). The humans simply don't have this, as their racial internal politics are the center of their world, and they simply don't understand it.

Does that explain it at all?

[Lmns Crn]

I've been browsing Dilandri a chunk at a time for a couple of days now, and I'm just pleased as punch to be writing about it this morning! I'm going to go through your setting thread and more or less address things in order.

It is an unclean, filthy place, full of noise and bustle without meaning. The air is polluted with the smell of people, the ground is barren with the tramples of feet, and at night the very stars are blocked out by their lights. It is a vile place.

I wouldn't leave it for the world.

Papyrus font overuse[/url], but that's not going to be me. :)

Your gods are an interesting setup. I feel their names could do with a bit of sprucing up in some cases-- some of the names strike me as all-too-descriptive. (Luminor, the Beacon? Evil Lilnith, one letter away from Lilith? Perhaps I am being a little too picky.) In general, I get a sense of unlikely levels of symmetry in your gods: five gods, each having exactly five subordinates... seems a little to convenient to have likely arisen naturally. (Which perhaps is exactly the point.) I do not think the number and detail of your gods and their children are excessive or overly complex, but do not be surprised if many players ignore the children to focus on the simpler concept of the Big Five.

Gudruun and Caed, with their opposite takes on their book symbol, strike me as among the most interesting characters here. Ganes' five-sided dice are impossible to create with all sides the same size and shape (and so would have to be "weighted" towards particular values, which perhaps is exactly the point. Cheater. :) ) Vidac Ni strikes me as a cheap gimmick for turning gnomish armies into the Knights Who Say Ni, which undermines their overall straight-up and serious treatment (one of the things I liked best about them.) Asumai creates an interesting juxtaposition of the "barbaric" halfling culture previously described, against the ideals of love and honor. I like it. If Dessas's symbol is a rat's skull, have your world's thinkers identified rats (and their fleas) as disease vectors? How much do they know about bacteria and the spread of sickness?

Overall, the spread seems to imply that death is a terrible thing to be feared, and that magic is generally benevolent. Is this an accurate reading?

Your dwarven clans seem to operate less like families and more like castes. Are dwarves born into their clans and forced to pursue appropriate trades, or do they join clans based on their aptitudes? Clan Thovar seems almost superfluous (and is certainly the least interesting, as written-- the clan that basically is normal.) If it's the oldest clan and other clans broke apart from it, it might be possible to "disappear" Thovar as entirely transformed into the others.

I find it interesting that you consistently abbreviate "Dwarven Mining League" as "DLM", rather than "DML." Is this an issue of dwarven syntax, or a persistant typo?

I do like what you've done here, quite a bit. This setting has a lot going on, a great deal of detail to get interested in. I'd be curious about what sorts of adventures you have in mind as especially well-suited for the setting, and other information about how you expect it to play out in-game.

[XXsiriusXX]

Review for Dilandri.

Chapter I Races

Humans
Your humans are pretty standard, but frankly humans are standard in every setting. I really like how humans have almost a strangle hold on grain and how they are trying to acquire as much territory as possible.

Now are humans fighting each other for more land? Are they attacking the other races territory? Settling unclaimed territory? or all of the above?


Elves
I like how the elves are somewhat based on the Japanese culture of the late 19th century. I like how there are two sub cultures, each adapting to contact with other species. I like the Elves belief that art and music have magical powers. Well that begs the question do they? (I mean from beyond the bard spell list ). I think it would be rather cool if they were able to cast really powerful spells by just playing a song, telling a story, or painting a picture. The dragon saints concept seems very interesting.

Is the small sect of dragon worshippers growing in power?
How do they gain magical powers from the saints?
Do you have any info on the Dragon saints?


Half-Elves

Why do half-elves favor chaos over law and good over evil?


Gnomes
The gnomes you have created are exactly how gnomes should be. The only thing I can commit on is how much I really like them.

Halflings
I like how you have made Halflings. They have a really big Mayan vibe to them. Which is cool and one doesn't see much in a D&D setting much any more. (not counting the forgotten realms offshoot maztica).

Half Orcs'

I like how you have made them more the barbarians and how you have giving them this drive to take care of there own kind no mater where they are.

Dwarves

Dwarves seem very standard; I do like how they have only just discovered paper. You say that there are no writers among them, I was wondering if they have ancient Egyptian mentality of carving all of their information on the walls of their important structures?

Classes

First off I love the ARCANIST. It is a great class, from forgotten realms and I am glad that somewhere some one is using it. I like how you have altered it to fit your setting.

The Regions

I like what you have so far, my favorite regions are the sunken hills and the dragon lands, I would really like to get more info on them. Also, your maps are huge, and there is nothing wrong with that. They look amazing and have some good detail in them.

Magic

I really like the idea of the crystals, the way you have incorporated them is logical and an interesting way to use components and not have to carry vast sums of crap.

Religion.

 I like how each of the 5 gods has five sub gods. Also I really like Lor how he takes souls that have no where to go, and after a time of servitude with him, they go off with obella. My question is what do the souls do while in Lor's service?

The coming of age for each of the races is also a nice touch.

One last question, why did you change the name of the world?

All in all I really like the setting, and I would really like to see a sections on how each race views character classes. A section on how races view weapons. What I mean by that is do humans have a fascination with swords (like in the real word), do elves view the bow to be only suitable for hunting and not for war, stuff along those lines.

[Stargate525]

Considering the strife between various members of the five gods, I have a real hard time buying the "let's forge a land and rule together in peace and unity" line being spoken by them. Am I to assume that the Book of the Five is a somewhat romanticised version of this story, or have the relations between the gods not always been as strained? :)

It's definitely romanticized; if you have several versions of an event, the Book of the Five probably has the least accurate version. Once I get more religion stuff up, you'll see why.

This summary paragraph struck me as a little odd, because it seems to be written for an audience of people who read about various fictional worlds all day long, rather than, say, people who like a little fantasy fiction. Otherwise, why mention technology just to say it's a non-factor, and how magic "scientifically" replaces it? It's like reading a plot summary on the back of a book, and finding that it mentions things that have nothing to do with the book-- a little weirdly jarring.

Bolding mine. Isn't that what you are? Honestly, why would I write a summary that isn't based on the people who will most likely be reading it?

[ooc]I am skipping over the Table of Contents, and just reading down your thread one post at a time. I am operating under the assumption that the table of contents leads only to posts within your main thread, not any outside content, so I won't be missing anything by just going in order.

If I'm wrong about this, please do correct me. :)[/ooc]

You're right. If you wanted the thing wikified, that's as close as it'll get. ;)

I was confused the first time I read this, and made a mental note to comment on it, because of how the last line makes little sense. If the human city is so vile and awful, why would this incidental narrator want to stay there so badly?

On my second read, it occurred to me that the narrator might simply be a wheat addict, without realizing it. Have I hit truth, or should I take off my tinfoil hat?

Remove your tinfoil (at amplifies the brainwaves us aliens need anyway). What I was trying to convey there is how some people will come to a city and dislike its dirt and bustle, really all the individual things about it, but still fall in love with its atmosphere. If you notice, the 'human on an elf homestead' is like that, but reversed.

Your conception of gnomes leaves me with mixed feelings. I think I have some not-too-unusual prejudices against tinkering gnomes, and magic-technology has similarly never been one of my preferences. On the other hand, I'm really quite pleased to see them being treated "seriously", and the overall air of ingenuity astounds me. I think this may be the first time I've ever seen a setting with explicit acknowledgement  of the possibility of making a living through production and licensing of ideas, which strikes me as very, very cool. I also really like the image of moving lifts and platforms to navigate the cliffs.

I've discovered that you can't please everyone with Gnomes, as much as I'd like to try. Glad you like some aspects of them though.

This confuses me. How does one build a lifestyle around ways to get killed?

Not ways to get killed, ways NOT to get killed. When you're living somewhere that requires constant attention to remain alive, your lifestyle sort of grows around that.

The dichotomy between "traditional" elves and Free Elves is interesting, but it leaves me wondering what exactly the Free Elves have been freed from. I think a little elaboration of elven society or politics, as relevant to the difference between Free and "normal" elves, would be really useful.

Free doesn't mean 'not a slave' in this case, more 'free to do what they want.' Free elves have relations with other races, normal elves do not.

This last sentence throws me off. It seems strange for a culture to place such a high importance on spoken stories, then place such a severe restriction on how those stories can be used. (Because honestly, if you want to keep somebody from learning a story, you pretty much have to be sure never to tell it while they're in earshot. Wouldn't this trust issue essentially kill the whole storytelling element of culture whenever a non-trusted person is nearby?)

I really like the business about elven knot-stories.

Hearing a story and being taught a story are different, especially to an elf. Also, learning a story word-for-word orally would take several repetitions.

I'll probably end up making a section on elven storytelling.

I'd like to hear more about this. It seems to be an important point, and is completely glossed over in abstract terms when it would benefit from specificity.

Myths and Legends section will be including histories soon, and it will go in there. You're right though, it does need more explaining in the Elf section.

Your half-orcs are not the first thing in your setting that has given me a bit of an Eberron vibe, but they're probably the strongest. (You may not be aware, but there's a pretty big part of that setting that involves half-orcs acting as wilderness guides in areas where magical crystals have been discovered.) Like my comments on gnomes, I have never been a fan of the idea of half races that exist because of rape. Then again, in the case of half-orcs in just about every setting, that seems to be the norm due to unspoken consensus-- nobody seems to be able to get away from the idea.

This part really intrigues me, and I think makes half-orcs the one of your races that stands out most in my mind as interesting.

I wasn't aware actually. The more I'm filling in the sections, the more I'm coming to realize I may have to make Orcs a playable (read: integrated as playable) race. If I do, the 'byproduct of rape' will probably be thrown out the window.  

Your dwarves strike me as the race you've done the least interesting things with, but there again, you're in good company. There is a strong tendency for anyone who uses dwarves to use them in boring ways, which is  unfortunate.

It's difficult to make them unique without making them feel gimmicky. If you have a suggestion, I'm open to it.

I like your maps. Someone, somewhere, is going to give you grief for contributing to the global epidemic of Papyrus font overuse, but that's not going to be me. :)

I had no idea. Although, it's not my fault that they made a really good font, is it?

Your gods are an interesting setup. I feel their names could do with a bit of sprucing up in some cases-- some of the names strike me as all-too-descriptive. (Luminor, the Beacon? Evil Lilnith, one letter away from Lilith? Perhaps I am being a little too picky.) In general, I get a sense of unlikely levels of symmetry in your gods: five gods, each having exactly five subordinates... seems a little to convenient to have likely arisen naturally. (Which perhaps is exactly the point.) I do not think the number and detail of your gods and their children are excessive or overly complex, but do not be surprised if many players ignore the children to focus on the simpler concept of the Big Five.

Ignoring the smaller gods is something I'm already expecting, unfortunately. But in regards to symmetry, if you look at the bible and analyze it, there are some remarkable affinities for numbers. You're right on your assessment, the Five are not designed to be something that feels organic; it should feel very structured and organized.

Gudruun and Caed, with their opposite takes on their book symbol, strike me as among the most interesting characters here. Ganes' five-sided dice are impossible to create with all sides the same size and shape (and so would have to be "weighted" towards particular values, which perhaps is exactly the point. Cheater. :) ) Vidac Ni strikes me as a cheap gimmick for turning gnomish armies into the Knights Who Say Ni, which undermines their overall straight-up and serious treatment (one of the things I liked best about them.) Asumai creates an interesting juxtaposition of the "barbaric" halfling culture previously described, against the ideals of love and honor. I like it. If Dessas's symbol is a rat's skull, have your world's thinkers identified rats (and their fleas) as disease vectors? How much do they know about bacteria and the spread of sickness?

In order:

Thanks, I like them too. Shape yes, size no, but you're right, they would have to be weighted to work correctly. That was something my unconscious mind thought up when I was writing one time, and slipped by my editing; will remove. Thank you. Yes, they know that rats carry disease, and they know about contagiousness, but I doubt they know about bacteria beyond simple practical uses (covered food keeps better, etc.).

Overall, the spread seems to imply that death is a terrible thing to be feared, and that magic is generally benevolent. Is this an accurate reading?

Pretty much. People do worship Lor, so there is that, but in general, yes.

Your dwarven clans seem to operate less like families and more like castes. Are dwarves born into their clans and forced to pursue appropriate trades, or do they join clans based on their aptitudes? Clan Thovar seems almost superfluous (and is certainly the least interesting, as written-- the clan that basically is normal.) If it's the oldest clan and other clans broke apart from it, it might be possible to "disappear" Thovar as entirely transformed into the others.

Eh, I didn't do a good enough job describing. The Clans work somewhat like castes, but it isn't solid. For example, you've got Miners and Craftsmen in the Glanmalk clan, but Warfare is what they are known for, and what most young Glanmalkians(?) would be pushed towards (but certianly not 'forced'). Clanship is based on birth, and can only be changed by marriage. I know that Thovar seems unneeded, but in that society it's essential, since it's the only one that actually has a balanced society within itself.

I find it interesting that you consistently abbreviate "Dwarven Mining League" as "DLM", rather than "DML." Is this an issue of dwarven syntax, or a persistant typo?

Persistent typo that is now related to syntax and grammar. ;)

I do like what you've done here, quite a bit. This setting has a lot going on, a great deal of detail to get interested in. I'd be curious about what sorts of adventures you have in mind as especially well-suited for the setting, and other information about how you expect it to play out in-game.

Thanks, glad you like it, have a badge.

Humans
Your humans are pretty standard, but frankly humans are standard in every setting. I really like how humans have almost a strangle hold on grain and how they are trying to acquire as much territory as possible.

Now are humans fighting each other for more land? Are they attacking the other races territory? Settling unclaimed territory? or all of the above?

Yes, Not recently, yes, and yes. :)

Elves
I like how the elves are somewhat based on the Japanese culture of the late 19th century. I like how there are two sub cultures, each adapting to contact with other species. I like the Elves belief that art and music have magical powers. Well that begs the question do they? (I mean from beyond the bard spell list ). I think it would be rather cool if they were able to cast really powerful spells by just playing a song, telling a story, or painting a picture. The dragon saints concept seems very interesting.

Is the small sect of dragon worshippers growing in power?
How do they gain magical powers from the saints?
Do you have any info on the Dragon saints?

Yes, the same way as other divine spellcasters (yet to be detailed), and I soon will.

As for whether their music actually has power, I'm not sure about. I might have to give it some thought, but it certainly won't become a separate type of magic.

Why do half-elves favor chaos over law and good over evil?

Just the way they're programmed. Why do standard dwarves favor law over chaos? I'll probably get some fluff that explains eventually.

Gnomes
The gnomes you have created are exactly how gnomes should be. The only thing I can commit on is how much I really like them.

Seriously, this is the most controversial topic in my entire setting.

Halflings
I like how you have made Halflings. They have a really big Mayan vibe to them. Which is cool and one doesn't see much in a D&D setting much any more. (not counting the forgotten realms offshoot maztica).

Minus the whole 'sacrifice and eat the heathens' thing, yes.

Half Orcs'

I like how you have made them more the barbarians and how you have giving them this drive to take care of there own kind no mater where they are.

Thank you.

Dwarves

Dwarves seem very standard; I do like how they have only just discovered paper. You say that there are no writers among them, I was wondering if they have ancient Egyptian mentality of carving all of their information on the walls of their important structures?

On walls, as well as stone tablets for portability. And you do NOT want to see an ancient Dwarven archive room. ;)

First off I love the ARCANIST. It is a great class, from forgotten realms and I am glad that somewhere some one is using it. I like how you have altered it to fit your setting.

Forgotten realms? Really? I altered a class I found on the WOTC boards... huh.

I like what you have so far, my favorite regions are the sunken hills and the dragon lands, I would really like to get more info on them. Also, your maps are huge, and there is nothing wrong with that. They look amazing and have some good detail in them.

Info will be coming. The maps are huge because they are based off scans of a huge map.

I really like the idea of the crystals, the way you have incorporated them is logical and an interesting way to use components and not have to carry vast sums of crap.

Thank you.

I like how each of the 5 gods has five sub gods. Also I really like Lor how he takes souls that have no where to go, and after a time of servitude with him, they go off with obella. My question is what do the souls do while in Lor's service?

Serve Lor, and help with his duties. He can't be everywhere at once (he is only a god, after all), so his servants take care of the common deaths, while Lor does large or prestigious jobs (sunken ships, death of Kings, etc.)

The coming of age for each of the races is also a nice touch.

Thank ye.

One last question, why did you change the name of the world?

:?:  
Explain please.

All in all I really like the setting, and I would really like to see a sections on how each race views character classes. A section on how races view weapons. What I mean by that is do humans have a fascination with swords (like in the real word), do elves view the bow to be only suitable for hunting and not for war, stuff along those lines.

Thanks, glad you like it, have a badge.

As for how they view weapons... I never thought of that. Consider it on my to-do list.

[Lmns Crn]

This summary paragraph struck me as a little odd, because it seems to be written for an audience of people who read about various fictional worlds all day long, rather than, say, people who like a little fantasy fiction. Otherwise, why mention technology just to say it's a non-factor, and how magic "scientifically" replaces it? It's like reading a plot summary on the back of a book, and finding that it mentions things that have nothing to do with the book-- a little weirdly jarring.

Bolding mine. Isn't that what you are? Honestly, why would I write a summary that isn't based on the people who will most likely be reading it?[/quote]isn't[/i], an element of misdirection is put into play-- it focuses the audience away from the thing being described, for just a moment. Plenty of people do this to great effect, but I'm not sure it's the sort of thing I'd want to be doing right off the bat.

I was confused the first time I read this, and made a mental note to comment on it, because of how the last line makes little sense. If the human city is so vile and awful, why would this incidental narrator want to stay there so badly?

On my second read, it occurred to me that the narrator might simply be a wheat addict, without realizing it. Have I hit truth, or should I take off my tinfoil hat?

Remove your tinfoil (at amplifies the brainwaves us aliens need anyway). What I was trying to convey there is how some people will come to a city and dislike its dirt and bustle, really all the individual things about it, but still fall in love with its atmosphere. If you notice, the 'human on an elf homestead' is like that, but reversed.[/quote]
Your dwarves strike me as the race you've done the least interesting things with, but there again, you're in good company. There is a strong tendency for anyone who uses dwarves to use them in boring ways, which is  unfortunate.
[/quote]
It's difficult to make them unique without making them feel gimmicky. If you have a suggestion, I'm open to it.[/quote]et al.,[/i] but that doesn't provide much footing for a player wanting to play a dwarf character in one of your games (which may discourage your players from trying.)

Biblical Numerology,[/url] to Ivan Panin's controversial ideas on that subject, or perhaps to something else? This sounds like a subject I'd be interested to read more about, if you happen to have any extra information sitting about.

One last question, why did you change the name of the world?

:?:  
Explain please.

shed some light[/url] on this particular confusion: :)

PLease note I've changed the name of my setting to Aardvar-Dilandri. Thank you. ;)

Anyway, as for this:

[/url]

Thank you. I'll wear it with pride.

[Stargate525]

Wonderful! I can't wait.

Neither can I! I only know half of the stuff that I type before I write it down, and that's usually the most boring stuff.

That is precisely what we are, but that's not really my point. The thing about that particular paragraph that struck me was that it didn't seem to be written for a world designed to stand on its own, and I certainly think Dilandri is big enough and interesting enough to stand on its own without being contrasted against a small ocean of similar projects by other people.

To put it another way: every time anyone describes anything by mentioning what it isn't, an element of misdirection is put into play-- it focuses the audience away from the thing being described, for just a moment. Plenty of people do this to great effect, but I'm not sure it's the sort of thing I'd want to be doing right off the bat.

Ah. I understand now. I'll probably give that a bit of a retooling then.

Pleasing everyone is not the best goal, anyway. Nobody in the history of the world has ever written anything that has pleased everyone who read it. But your ideas here are pretty well- and thoroughly-developed, whether I like them or not (and which is more important, anyway.) Keep it up.

Besides, I like most aspects of them. :)

Then I've pleased you. Honestly, I ain't picky. All I'm going for is that everyone who reviews it has no aspect to which they just go 'I just HATE that! Why did you do such a stupid thing?' And so far, I'm good. And besides, I need to please myself first.

It's difficult to learn every single word of a story, with no substitutions or mistakes, after a single hearing. It's fairly easy to learn a story's characters, plot events, and other features well enough to retell the story in one's own words. To an elf, is it not the "same" story, or not a "correct" story, unless it is a word-for-word reproduction of the original?

This is a pretty interesting take, and puts a whole new light on professional storytellers in elven society. I think a section on elven storytelling would be an interesting read, and I doubt I'm the only one.

Aye, it'll be coming.

Would they take over the role of half-orcs, then? Or would half-orcs stick around? Would full-blooded orcs be de-monsterized to the point where voluntary human-orc pairings could believably produce an entire population of half-orcs, perhaps?

Half orcs would stay around, and since half-orcs breed true, you wouldn't really need THAT many original half-orcs. The problem with de-monsterizing the Orcs is that I need to figure out motive and position in the world, while still figuring out how they can be non-monsters, unreliant on human grain, and still terrorize nearly all the other races.

I originally based them on REAVERS for cryin' out loud, and now look what I'm contemplating?!

You already have some good things going in the area of the clans, and I think that giving us just a little more information about that may take you in some interesting directions without even much deliberate effort required. They function perfectly well as a strange "other", which is how they've always historically functioned in literature like that of Tolkien et al., but that doesn't provide much footing for a player wanting to play a dwarf character in one of your games (which may discourage your players from trying.)

I sure as heck hope so.

Not at all. Also, I hope you are interpreting my ribbing about the font in the spirit in which it was intended: as good-natured, gentle teasing, not as a serious criticism. :)

You kidding? I don't take ANYTHING you say seriously. ;)

Quick derail: are you referring here to Biblical Numerology, to Ivan Panin's controversial ideas on that subject, or perhaps to something else? This sounds like a subject I'd be interested to read more about, if you happen to have any extra information sitting about.

I got it from my religion teacher mostly, and yes it would be close to Biblical Numerology and how these numbers, especially in revelation and other prophecies, mean certain things. For instance, 12 can mean God's influence on Earth by taking 3(number for God) multiplied times 4(number for man).

I think it's pretty cool that if you are important enough (or if you die in a big group of people, I guess), the god of death shows up in person to come collect you.

Heh, something I borrowed from Pratchett. I also am willing to bet that some of Lor's 3125 assistants don't want to leave. I mean that must be a pretty interesting job.

I believe I can shed some light on this particular confusion: :)

PLease note I've changed the name of my setting to Aardvar-Dilandri. Thank you. ;)

Ah. That was a joke. Hence the ;). You can't take anything that I say seriously when it's followed by a ;).

[Eclipse]

Ramanasta: Ramanasta is the Neutral God, and her alignment is naturally True Neutral. She is known as Mother Nature, The Stabilizer, and The Twilight. She is worshiped world-wide by those who are unsure of their true nature, as well as those who wish to maintain the status-quo. The Elves are her race, and until recently they were believed to be extinct. No one knows for certain how the Elves interpret Ramanasta's teachings.

I like the whole 'No one knows for certain how the elves interpret' idea, but you should still here let /us/ know, because if someone was wanting to play an Elf, they'd have to know how their religion functioned. Questions: Why is she called the Twilight? What significance does that have? By being a Neutral God, is she more than just a nature God, but rather cover all of true neutrality?

That's it for now. I think the coolest part of Dilandri is the magic, so I'll definately be going over that later.

[Stargate525]

I should have told you; Most of the answers to your questions can be found in the histroy section, under creation stories and myths.