Xiluh

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Alright, a Xiluh review:

Well, I know I missed it being the Setting of the Week due to time issues, but better late than never, right?

I did a look-over of this some time ago, but it's been a while.

Races
Points for being willing to stir up the norm, ditch races, and replace others.  Does the name yuma come from mesoamerican folklore, or did you just make it up?  I also like the backstory of the yuma being descended from the first-ones.
My recomendation is to due something similar with elves.  The term elves instantly brings up European imagery (mainly Celtic/Norse).  I think you could have a fey/sylvan race that doesn't feel so out of place.  If you don't mind using PI material from D&D, you could use the Killoren from Races of the Wild.  Even just re-naming the race with all the same flavor could work well.
I fear the same is true for dwarves, which also tend to inspire Norse imagery.

Classes
Good choices on monk/paladin and blurring the distinction a little between arcane/divine.  I don't really have any suggestions, other than maybe allowing Spirit Shaman (CD).

Lands
Beautiful map.

Creatures
Were-jaguars!   :demon:
Fire-giants?  Kobolds?
Nice choice in couatl, of course.

History
Always a personal favorite, but I think I already reviewed your creation myth.  Very flavorful.

It sounds like the second age has a very interesting story to tell, so fleshing it out like you do the creation myth would be my recommendation.  I hesitate to offer details, because it's written like you already know how these events came about, but just haven't gotten to explaining it.

The third age is a little more developed, but we're left with questions about who (or what) Thask is, how the invasions ended, and so on.  A summary might be more helpful than a timeline (though both are even better).

Also, halflings?  Since when?  They're not in the races section.

Money
There's already been a long debate on this. ;)

Pronunciations
Nice touch.  More authors should do this.  My website actually features a glossary, and I try to include pronunciations in it.

Overall
This is a very distinctive setting, and I encourage you to keep up the good work.  I did not read every comment people made after the main thread, so forgive any repeats.

[SDragon]

Alright, a Xiluh review:

Well, I know I missed it being the Setting of the Week due to time issues, but better late than never, right?

I did a look-over of this some time ago, but it's been a while.

is[/i] never, as far as i'm concerned. feel free to comment and review whenever you like.

Races
Points for being willing to stir up the norm, ditch races, and replace others.  Does the name yuma come from mesoamerican folklore, or did you just make it up?  I also like the backstory of the yuma being descended from the first-ones.
My recomendation is to due something similar with elves.  The term elves instantly brings up European imagery (mainly Celtic/Norse).  I think you could have a fey/sylvan race that doesn't feel so out of place.  If you don't mind using PI material from D&D, you could use the Killoren from Races of the Wild.  Even just re-naming the race with all the same flavor could work well.
I fear the same is true for dwarves, which also tend to inspire Norse imagery.

Classes
Good choices on monk/paladin and blurring the distinction a little between arcane/divine.  I don't really have any suggestions, other than maybe allowing Spirit Shaman (CD).
[/quote]Lands
Beautiful map.
[/quote]Creatures
Were-jaguars!   :demon:
Fire-giants?  Kobolds?
Nice choice in couatl, of course.[/quote]History
Always a personal favorite, but I think I already reviewed your creation myth.  Very flavorful.

It sounds like the second age has a very interesting story to tell, so fleshing it out like you do the creation myth would be my recommendation.  I hesitate to offer details, because it's written like you already know how these events came about, but just haven't gotten to explaining it.[/quote]The third age is a little more developed, but we're left with questions about who (or what) Thask is, how the invasions ended, and so on.  A summary might be more helpful than a timeline (though both are even better).[/quote]Also, halflings?  Since when?  They're not in the races section.[/quote]Money
There's already been a long debate on this. ;)[/quote]Pronunciations
Nice touch.  More authors should do this.  My website actually features a glossary, and I try to include pronunciations in it.[/quote]Overall
This is a very distinctive setting, and I encourage you to keep up the good work.  I did not read every comment people made after the main thread, so forgive any repeats.
[/quote]

thanks, again. there werent any repeats questions, other then what youve already pointed out, so feel free to take your time if you decide to look over the comments and reviews :)

[SDragon]

Edit- Moved to first post.

[SDragon]

formt under construction, and cultural note added in races.

[SDragon]

gratuitous bumpage.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

zombies:

the people of Xiluh are well convinced in reincarnation; simply put, if you die honorably, you become a star, to light the paths of others. if you dont, you continue your existance as one of those "others". this happens because there is no "spirit world" afterlife; even those who transcend reincarnation do not transcend the material world.

imagine then, the suprise they experienced upon finding creatures with neither the spirit of the stars nor the spirit of the living! these creatures seemed to appear after the Kunahites attacked the elves of Salanta Woods, and bore a resemblance to nothing previously known to Xiluh.

the only possible explaination, of course, was that zombies were somehow connected to kunahites. after only a few battles, the connection was discovered: Kunahites are somehow exempt from the normal path of reincarnation, and become these wretched creatures upon death. their spirit seems to transcend the material world, but their bodies dont. instead, the bodies rapidly degenerate into other forms.

Since everything else was covered in my last review, I'll look at this for this setting of the week review.

Reincarnation is an under-used theme in many settings, despite its importance in many religions.  I salute you for being willing to join me in diverging from the classic D&D afterlife picture.  Go circle of existence, go!

Anyway, it seems odd that your world would have different laws for different cultures.  Do the Xiluhans just think they are reincarnated?  Or do they simply not realize that the Kunahites are reincarnated, while their bodies become zombies.  Or perhaps (maybe best yet), the Kunahites are victimized by some terrible curse (ala Pirates of the Carribean) by some prior people they conquered.  After all, how do the Xiluhans know these people's spirits transcend the mortal world?  Is their divination magic that good?

Overall, nice idea and good for flavor.  It really makes an enemy more horrible if they are not killable.  Now if zombies in D&D weren't so laughably underpowered, they would be a little scarrier.  Check out Libris Mortis for some variants that don't suck completely.

As for your idea that there is no racial prejudice, it seems unrealistic, personally, but if you feel it is important to the flavor of the setting, go for it.

As I said before, you've got great stuff so far.

[SDragon]

zombies:

the people of Xiluh are well convinced in reincarnation; simply put, if you die honorably, you become a star, to light the paths of others. if you dont, you continue your existance as one of those "others". this happens because there is no "spirit world" afterlife; even those who transcend reincarnation do not transcend the material world.

imagine then, the suprise they experienced upon finding creatures with neither the spirit of the stars nor the spirit of the living! these creatures seemed to appear after the Kunahites attacked the elves of Salanta Woods, and bore a resemblance to nothing previously known to Xiluh.

the only possible explaination, of course, was that zombies were somehow connected to kunahites. after only a few battles, the connection was discovered: Kunahites are somehow exempt from the normal path of reincarnation, and become these wretched creatures upon death. their spirit seems to transcend the material world, but their bodies dont. instead, the bodies rapidly degenerate into other forms.

Since everything else was covered in my last review, I'll look at this for this setting of the week review.

Reincarnation is an under-used theme in many settings, despite its importance in many religions.  I salute you for being willing to join me in diverging from the classic D&D afterlife picture.  Go circle of existence, go!

*thrusts power ring into the air as my circle mecha transforms* go!

Anyway, it seems odd that your world would have different laws for different cultures.

Do the Xiluhans just think they are reincarnated?  Or do they simply not realize that the Kunahites are reincarnated, while their bodies become zombies.  Or perhaps (maybe best yet), the Kunahites are victimized by some terrible curse (ala Pirates of the Carribean) by some prior people they conquered.  After all, how do the Xiluhans know these people's spirits transcend the mortal world?  Is their divination magic that good?[/quote]needs[/i] to know.

Overall, nice idea and good for flavor.  It really makes an enemy more horrible if they are not killable.  Now if zombies in D&D weren't so laughably underpowered, they would be a little scarrier.  Check out Libris Mortis for some variants that don't suck completely.

As for your idea that there is no racial prejudice, it seems unrealistic, personally, but if you feel it is important to the flavor of the setting, go for it.[/quote]As I said before, you've got great stuff so far.[/quote]

thanks :) hopefully i'll hear more from you.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

i would just like to point out that kunahites are more then just from a different culture; they're from a different land that, as far as anybody knows, could very well be from a different plane of existance. what works on Xiluh will work for Xiluhans, but that doesnt neccessarily mean it will work for Kunahites.

put another way: why do you think evolution didnt put Komodo dragons in antarctica? do you think Komodo dragons would react to the antarctic envirnment the same way, say, Polar bears do?

Bad analogy, since we're talking about the fundamental laws of reality, not the ability to adapt to temperatures.  And polar bears live at the north pole.

Hoever, your point seems to be that there really are different laws of reality for different races of man.  Interesting.  In terms of D&D rules, if the guys are extraplanar, you need to know that since it has mechanical effects.

Also, can they be certain they kunahites don't become stars?  One only becomes a star if one dies honorably.  Maybe that doesn't happen for them very often, nor could the Xiluhs reasonably be able to simply look at the night sky and say, oh, that one's new.

As for elaborating on the prejudice thing, whenever two peoples are in conflict (much less actual combat) they tend to think less of those that are different.  The line between racial/ national/regional pride and feelings of superiority is thiner than we like to think.  The statement "I'm proud to be 'X'" implies that being 'X' is preferable to being 'Y,' otherwise there would be no reason to be proud of it.  A lack of racial prejudice makes the society sound utopian and would be likely only if the different races are closely allied.  Which is okay if that's what you are going for, but it does set a definite tone for your setting.

Anyway, I hope none of that sounded too negative, I was merely trying to clarify since you asked.  Good luck.

[SDragon]

Bad analogy, since we're talking about the fundamental laws of reality, not the ability to adapt to temperatures.  And polar bears live at the north pole.

the analogy still stands. regardless of whether or not kunahites are truely extraplanar, the fact is, they come from a completely different environment. they've evolved to exist properly in that envirnment.

like komodo fragons in a polar environment (or more appropriately, like H.G. Wells' martians on earth), they don't react to the new environment the same way native creatures do.

why do people seem to think extraplanar creatures can smoothly adapt the the physics of the material plane, even when the native plane has radically different physics? realistically, a native of earth wouldn't even be able to adapt to another planet on the material plane. other planes have completely different laws of physics (subjective directional gravity, anybody? try telling me that wouldn't cause nausea...). how are beings that adapt to the "reality" of one plane expected to smoothly adapt to the completely different "reality" of another plane?[/spoiler]

the reason yuma are the only race viewed as being inferior, ironically, is because historically, they believe themselves to be superior. the First-ones may have had a great and powerful empire, but they held beliefs of superiority, and determined the inferiority of others by superficial (and seemingly arbitrary) details. these beliefs never fully left, even when the First-ones became yuma, but with the fall of the First-ones, the beliefs became to be seen as dispicable, and dirty. since yuma were the only creatures to hold such awful beliefs of superiority, they eventually became fit only to be slaves.[/spoiler]

Anyway, I hope none of that sounded too negative, I was merely trying to clarify since you asked.  Good luck.

it didn't sound negative, so no worries :)

[SDragon]

note added on linguistics, in pronunciation section. also, timeline has been ever-so-slightly updated.

[SDragon]

i now offer badges for quality reviews on Xiluh. retroactive badges will be awarded, and all badges will be sent via PM.

[SDragon]

after receiving MM2 and dungeon master for dummies for christmas, i have more work i'd like to put towards here.

so, coming soon:

Xiluh calender (hopefully even complete with a holiday or two!)
Zombie stats, for at least one of the seven invading armies.

[SDragon]

i know i said a calender and zombie stats, but first, some cultural notes that i hope to build upon. elves will be a big focus, but there will also be a few notes for general human culture, and hopefully eventually, dwarven culture.


Edit- Moved to first post.

the calender and zombie stats will come eventually, honest!

[SDragon]

[spoiler= GURPS 3e ruling on magic]

Xiluh is considered a high-mana world, with some minor alterations:

when a character without clerical vestment knows any spells, they automatically get a -1 reputation penalty, at a cost of -5 points. this does not count towards the maximum reputation penalty of -4, and does not count as a disadvantage (as such, the -5 point cost does not count towards the point cost limit on disadvantages).

character with clerical vestment are considered proper shamans, regardless of whether or not they have magical aptitude.

characters without clerical vestment, but with magical apititude are considered sorcerors.

characters with neither clerical vestment, nor magical apititude, but that know spells are considered wizards.[/spoiler]

[Matt Larkin (author)]

So you're making Xiluh a GURPS world?  Or is that just a suggestion for people that want to use it?