Erebus RPG Player's Guide (Work in progress)

[Verdian]

I don't think the FoL would grant many, if any, of the powers that the Fey Pact grants.

Any suggestions then? I may have shoehorned them in there. When I wrote that I was under the impression that fey, as described in DnD, did not exist in Erebus. The closest I can think of would be Satyrs and Fawn, and perhaps treants, but there aren't any pixies or dyrads or gnomes(dnd 4 gnomes, that is). I think Nikis is including fey, though.

 

[Nikis-Knight]

All right, good news is that a large update posted in the first post. Bad news is that my computer is having problems downloading files. Grrr... anyway...

You'll note that I have assigned each cleric feat power to a new, specific god

Yeah, the channel divinity feats was one of the few mechanical changes that would definately be needed, even if just shuffling around. I'll look at your suggestions before deciding on anything, for sure.

 

[civ_king]

Kyorlin is more natural, is easier to say and remember

 

[LDiCesare]

Kyorlin is more natural, is easier to say and remember

I think the exact opposite: Kylorin is far easier for me

 

[Thunder_Gr]

I think the exact opposite: Kylorin is far easier for me

Same here.
Alternating vowels with consonants makes pronunciation easier than having vowels-consonants group(as in Kyorlin).
In most languages anyway. Northen languages tend to use more consonant grouping, southern more vowel grouping...
Of course, it also depends on how you pronounce y. Some languages pronounce it as ji or jo or just j, while, most languages, pronounce it i short(like in kill).

The english language includes both pronunciations according to case(as in Yet and likely).

 

[Nikis-Knight]

Well, before I read it carefully, I mentally pronounced it Ki-or-lin, which is just as easy to me as Ki-lore-in

 

[LDiCesare]

Even then, Kylorin is far from the most complex orthograph of Erebus. Welsh names like Amaethaon or Caswallawn resist very badly to a few transcriptions.

 

[Nikis-Knight]

I'm thinking of adding backgrounds when I get more familiar with the rules, along the following lines, for example:

Spoiler :

Backgrounds

A player’s choice of homeland confers a bonus to one skill and a choice among three benefits. Each is limited to specific races, though these can be waived in special cases with sufficient justification. While this is intended to encourage and influence your choice of homeland, it shouldn’t be a detriment to choosing something unusual. If one of the three benefits are not fitting to your character background, you can substitute the following instead for any national homeland:

• Experienced Traveler: You left your homeland early, perhaps an exile or to aid the family business or just out of a desire to see the wider world. You have largely stayed out of the troubles of your people and are well acquainted with long journeys.
When you spend a healing surge out of combat, you regain HP equal to your healing surge value+3 per tier.

Luchuirp: (Dwarf or Warforged only) You come from the Open-Sky Dwarves, skilled craftsmen and enchanters. +1 when using _________ skill; choose one of the following
• Rune Keeper: You are trained in the runic script Dwarves use for history and ritual. This is more than a language, it is a vital role within the community
o ?
• Enchanter: Through dedication to Nantosuelto or intense arcane study, you have mastered the art of enchanting. You were a valued member of your society, creating magical devices that make life easier for your people.
o ?
• Ancient (Warforged only): You were a relic of a past age before being awakened, perhaps trapped in a mine by sheets of ice, awaiting your next command.
o ?

Kuriotate: You come from the great city of Kwythellar, ruled by the boy king Cardith Lorda. +1 when using _________ skill; choose one of the following:
• Cosmopolitan: You are at home among people from around the world, and always eager for knowledge or new places.
o You have +1 to succeed at powers that effect allies of another race.
• Mediator: You are skilled at easing tension and understanding both sides of an argument.
o ?
• Dragon Cultist: You are a member of a secret group that worships the ancient weapons of the gods, the Dragons. Many believe them extinct, but you know in your soul that this is false.
o ?

Malakim: (Human, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, or Tiefling only) You come from the Malakim tribes in the great desert of Myrh, famed prophets and traders. +1 when using _________ skill; choose one of the following:
• Mystic: You are a wandering prophet, praying to your god for visions to be interpreted by your people.
o ?
• Pilgrim: You know your people’s holy sites by heart, and travel in the footsteps of the men and women of your faith.
o ?
• Skilled Guide: You know your way through journeys that few others could make, be it distant voyages on rough seas or across trackless dunes
o ?

Elohim: (Human, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Dragonborn, Tiefling only): You are a member of the Elohim nation, dedicated healers and protectors of holy places. +1 when using _________ skill; choose one of the following:
• Acolyte: You were trained to assist the local priest from a young age. Whether you followed in their path or went another route, their teachings have stayed with you.
o ?
• Mediator: You are skilled at easing tension and understanding both sides of an argument.
o ?
• Pilgrim: You know your people’s holy sites by heart, and travel in the footsteps of the men and women of your faith.
o ?
•

Bannor: (Human or Half-Elf only) You come from the Bannor Empire, land of righteous crusaders. +1 when using ________ skill; choose one of the following:

• Battle-honed Discipline: Your mettle was forged in battle, under a skilled commander alongside your comrades. You learned not just to fight, but to follow orders immediately.
o You have +1 to hit when adjacent to a cleric or warlord.
• Acolyte: You were trained to assist the local priest from a young age. Whether you followed in their path or went another route, their teachings have stayed with you.
o ?
• Conscript: You were not a fighter by trade, but the wars of your people have forced you into a combatant role.
o ?

With each background being selectable by two different nationalities for a minor effect

 

[Tyrs]

I've always mentally pronounced Kylorin as Kia-Lor-In

 

[civ_king]

I pronounce it Ki-or-lin

 

[Revolutionist]

I remember that there was a thread about someone starting an Erebus D&D game some time ago. Kael's answering of questions in that thread helped me a lot. So I figure that a new, comprehensive guide to it has to be useful.

I ran my own FfH D&D campaign, the last one in 3.5, which lasted about a year. It was probably one of my more successful games too, with the heroes trying to reclaim the glories of an old Patrian province in the time soon after the end of the Age of Ice.

Got to quite high levels, which meant it actually went into some of the more top-level stuff. On the good side, the group's wizard, a forgotten descendants of Kylorin, reclaimed part of his birthright. The group's priest of Lugus banded together with a group of 'Empyrean' refugees fleeing from Calabim lands to begin to establish the religion. And the group as a whole did manage to forge a small kingdom out of the hostile wilderness in the midst of the clash between the Bannor and the Clan, and near to both the Calabim and xenophobic elves.

Of course, in standard FfH fashion, things didn't end quite so well for everyone.
Most noteably the leader of the group, never quite overcoming his pride, was lured by the mad but potent teachings of the Overlords. In the climax of the story, after leading a small army through demons, poisoned lands and Veil cultists, instead of destroying the holy relic created before the Age of Ice by followers of Esus, the leader took it for himself, to use its power. Thus dooming the world to continued, spreading deception about the truth of the angels.
The one who saw the spreading 'disturbance' in the leader was never heeded by the rest of the group, naturally. Nor did he, for all of his strength, ever overcome his own failings. Even to the end, for all his good intentions, he was a coward and a glory-seeker.
The exiled heir to the throne in the dwarven Underhome, despite gaining a name that was practically used as a blessing for all of his heroics, never was able to successfully depose the corrupt bastard that deposed him. No need to mention his problems with alcohol as a character flaw, since it comes naturally to dwarves.
Even the shiny-happy High Priest of Lugus didn't get the perfect ending. Invested so greatly with divinity, he found himself slipping ever further away from his humanity.

And of course, the group leader's actions only split their kingdom down the middle, into bitter civil war, since he was entirely convinced he could run the kingdom better than the line that managed it during the Patrian days. Maybe he could have, if you consider Overlords theocracy better than the effectively Esus-flavored version of Sabathiel's leadership of the Bannor.

I'll be sure to read this new guide soon. My next 4e campaign, coming up quickly, is FfH-flavoured too, though that won't be immediately apparent to the players. The whole thing will be set in Arawn's vault, and deal with Laroch's rebellion, while the real world is grappling with Auric's ascension. Of course.. the players won't have any clue that they're actually dead. Fading memory when it comes the living world, has most of the still-'conscious' members of the afterlife convinced that they're all imprisoned in some devious false world, by some nameless enemy.

Also, my I say it Kie-lore-in. Just to be on topic.

 

[kenkrajen]

hell yeah its Kylorin. flows better. and i like the not so happy endings for your campaign. its giving me evil Dming ideas

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Kee-lore-in... Definently.

 

[KillerClowns]

Kee-lore-in... Definently.

Yikes, that sounds a bit too much like Keelyn for my tastes. Personally, I've always pronounced it KAI-lore-in.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

but Keelyn is pronounced Kee-Leen

haven't we already had this thread, though?

 

[Nikis-Knight]

Revolutionist, that sounds really cool. You should post more often Though it is cool to think that the FfH world is catching on so well even with people who aren't regulars.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I prefer either kior-lin (with the "y" synthesized/pronounced like a consonant) or kü-Or-lin, with the emphasis on the "o" and a heavily trilled "r" either way.

kü-Lore-inn or ki-lore-in, still with the emphasis on the o and the r trilled, is probably more correct though.

 

[Revolutionist]

Like most players of FfH I'd wager, I'm generally a lurker. But that lurking has been happening since Fall from Heaven 1, and I've been a big fan of it from the beginning. Think the original campaign started somewhere in Fire.

Obviously I love the lore, too. And judging by the creation of a guide, I'm also far from the only one that combined my love of FfH with DMing.

Who knows how many people out there are siphoning the powers of Kael for campaigns in total secrecy? Could be a cult following of thousands exploring Erebus every weekend.

Edit:
Also, now that I've actually installed a program capable of reading the guide on this new computer, I'll definately say that I wish I had this thing back when I was DMing my campaign. Just having all that history in easily readable form would have saved me ages of work in having to type it and write it up for myself. Not that I would have given that all to my players, mind. I made a big point of making sure history and knowledge was pretty frayed after the Age of Ice. It was only in the middle of the campaign, when they found the remains of a temple to Oghma, that they even discovered that the gods they made offerings and such to their whole life were completely fictitious. Well, except for Esus, but that goes back to the the whole plot of Esus' relic slowly corrupting knowledge of the other angels.

I had started a sequel to the campaign above in 4e, set decades later, that didn't get far, due to various reasons of people's lives getting in the way of the game. I'll try to remember what I did to Erebusify it.
-I know that the Sidar in my game weren't a race. They were essentially Fae-pact warlocks, slightly reflavored to make their abilities more shadowy. The RP results were the same though, losing emotions and becoming ageless.
-Dragonborn were the results of Cult of the Dragon experiments. And in my games they were also the result of 'contamination' with the blood of one of Ceridwen's dragons that was awakened by the CotD, and slain by the players (with much help). People that lived near where the monolithic creature died started to be born.. strange. The same is true of those that lived in the same city as the Bone Palace, which was made from its remains.
-Dwarves were dwarves. Luichirp were also dwarves, but were wiped out in the part of the world my campaigns were concerned with before the end of the Age of Ice. Probably still kicking elsewhere.
-Eladrin I had originally thought to make Sidar, but for some reason I changed my mind, so they were out for that particular game.
-Elves were both Ljosalfar and Svartalfar.
-Halflings used to be humans (Well, that's true of every race I can think of in Erebus). In my campaign, many of the angels had small groups of favored worshippers, like Bhall's people who became orcs, who they placed some kind of blessing upon. A small tribe was favored by Nantosuelta, for their outlook on life. She gave them two objects, the twin Hearts of Faith, infused with the traits she admired in them. The tribe lived a charmed existance in the glow of those artifacts, even through the Age of Ice. As long as they trusted in ability, luck and the good will of their god and those around them, that faith was made to prove justified. At some point near the end of the Age of Ice, by which time they were thoroughly infused with the powers of the Hearts, one of them was stolen. Nantosuelta's people diminished, by the loss, both physically and in their blessings. Still though, they're gifted with uncanny luck and trust that in the end, things will work out. (What a naive view in Erebus, huh?)
-Humans and Half-elves were humans and half-elves. Crazy, no?
-Tieflings were a mix of those who legitimately had lesser angelic blood in their veins, children who were in the womb when their mothers were touched by great evil, and people corrupted by delving into the most depraved demonology. The latter catagory made sure that the whole species was rather unpopular around town.
-Warforged were rare pre-Ice Luichirp golems imbued with at least a simulation of intelligence. The question of if they had real souls or thoughts is a constant debate.

 

[lessthanpleased]

I'm DMing a 4e game right now, too - and even though it's not a FFH game, I definitely stole a few names and ideas from the mod.

One bit of advice I wanted to throw out there, contra some of the people in this thread, is to not get to hung-up on getting things perfect; the great is not the enemy of the good, and from what I can see you've got good stuff there, Nikis-Knight.

That being said, there is some validity to the point that FOL Priests don't have a lot in common with Fey-Pact Warlocks; But unless you have a clearly better fit in the D&D classes (might I suggest Druid from the PHB2?), just suck it up and go with what you've got. If you're going to run a D&D game in the FFH world, you have to accept that FFH is your setting while D&D is your game.

Reskin things in D&D; flavor and mechanics are completely separated in the game, so it's designed to do that. But don't try to change the way classes work just to get the setting right. If you unbalance the game or somehow screw up its playability to get the setting right, no one's going to have fun playing the game within your setting.

Remember, if your goal with adapting FFH is to make a simulation of the mod for tabletop, then do just do that. But if your goal is adapting FFH to a setting for D&D, then know that you're well on your way to having that done. Don't get hung up trying to turn the backdrop of your game into a simulation of the mod if all this work is to create a campaign setting.

 

[Nikis-Knight]

Not that I would have given that all to my players, mind.

I was considering trying to make it a PDF, then decided that leaving it as a word document was preferable because people could alter is as easily as they wished. The information is presented as what a learned and well-travelled scholar might present (ie, mostly true with a few big secrets like the One, Mulcarn's rebirth, and vampires carefully excised), but certainly the average adventurer wouldn't have all this knowledge necessarily--perhaps even less so in your version of Erebus.

If you're going to run a D&D game in the FFH world, you have to accept that FFH is your setting while D&D is your game.

Totally. I'm willing to alter or stretch the setting if it leaves in more cool options without invalidating anything major; that's why the role of Tieflings have been expanded and lizardmen given civilized groups and Eladrin seperated. And I'm not planning on changing the magic to match the setting; we can just say that wizards are generalists and take what they want from the most commonly taught spells of the spheres. I don't have the setting mastery to rejigger everything even if I had the time.