Pre Vert Nes- World of Altor

[Vertinari118]

As no-one else seems to want to join I will begin work on an update after I have done my homework tonight. If anyone is lurking join now as it may be awhile before I execpt more sign ups.

 

[Abaddon]

erm, map?

Also, you don't explain anything about this nes.. rules? anything? all you have given is the descriptions of races everyone knows already.

 

[Abaddon]

erm, map?

Also, you don't explain anything about this nes.. rules? anything?

All you have given is the descriptions of races everyone knows already.

 

[Terrance888]

Um... Double post???

Also, he deserves his bonus... you stopped NWAG3 from badgering LM. So please. Respect his time.

 

[Abaddon]

VertNes: World of Altor​

Introduction:

Altor is a fictional world that I am making up. Players will chose a race and a starting continent and then lead their lives as they wish. When I get more experienced I will let players lead nations but for now players, if you chose this Nes, would have to be killing humans, 'monsters', other races, farming etc. This Nes will include magic and Gods and Goddesses, which can and will interact with the world. I will try to make this unique but it will draw on things such Tolkien, Fall From Heaven (mod for Civ IV) and other dark fantasy stuff and some of my own creations.


Rules

The rules are quite simple for this Nes at least at the start. You chose a race and then a profession as well (see below) as I have said before you can make your own race and profession if you wish but I may edit it to make it fit in better.

Spoiler Races :

Human

Your average humans. Same as Earth human but can channel magic and are a bit tougher, Altor's a dangerous place. They are the most shot lived of all the races but they have been blessed by all the Gods and so unlike most other races they can channel any kind of magic. Humans may be one of the weaker races physically and only have a life of 70 at most with the average being around 50 but they have almost unlimited potential in the realms of the mind and only Elves really equal them when it comes to the Art. Humans are the best magic users, arcane or divine bar fey and have the most opportunities when it comes to character development but are physically weaker and short-lived than most other races without the aid of powerful magic or a God. Humans could be good at any profession though.

Elves

Look almost identical to humans a skilled observer may notice slightly pointed ears and the more rugby ball shaped eyes. The main difference comes when they speak Elvish voices are amongst some of the most beautiful voices in all of Altor and the fact they can not die of old age. They tend to have bodies that match the beauty of their voices only the Fey are more beautiful. They stand about the height of a man and are very strong the weak of their race could easily defeat some of the strongest humans in physical pursuits and they often prove very good at the Art as well but a trained human could beat them hands down. The elves are also very enduring race only dwarves could be more enduring. They are strong of mind and body and spirit. The elves are an all-round race really they are best at being warriors or bards though with training and the elves have a lot of time for that, they can become very powerful wizards or priests. Once again no real limits on what an elf could do for a profession.

Dwarves

Look like humans but they are short at four foot, five-foot is considered tall and anything over freakishly tall. They have a close friendship with the gnomes, this is unusual for dwarves are known for their reclusive habits and inability to trust most other races especially orcs and elves. They are strong and enduring, they are said to be the most enduring race, but they are a stubborn race and as a result they are bad at channelling any magic bar Earth magic (because they were created by Danagaia or Lady Earth in Common tongue). They are a good race for someone who wants a walking tank but Earth magic should not be overlooked it, at the higher levels, can be very, very powerful.

Orcs

Orcs in this Nes are not so much a race but a group of races that are bound together by the fact they are not wanted anywhere else. A human could become an orc, wild elves (note subraces will be listed in a bit. This is WIP) are often called orcs and then of course you have the usual greenskins (orcs, goblins, lizardmen, odd troll etc.), the traditional orcs. Orcs are tough, strong and stupid. Magic is not their strong point normally but some lucky tribes may have a human or wild elf shaman in them. Orcs are tough and strong and evil, they are good for a player who want a challenge as most people hate them in the Nes but if you prove yourself you may become excepted.


Little Folk

Fay

Players can play as three types of fey pixies, nymphs and daylan. These all have strengths and weaknesses but here are the ones that apply to all fey: They are all very magical, they are all charming, they all hate metals iron the most, they are all physically weak. All fey live long lives nymphs live forever like elves never dying of old age, pixies live to around a few hundred years old, typically 400 years old, and Daylan tend to live for 70 years to 100 years old.

Pixies

Small creatures often two ½ foot in height upwards of three foot in height. They are one of the smallest of all the races and thus the weakest but they have other strengths. They learn to use magic when they are babies and are very powerful in a way. They tend to use enchantments and illusions over powerful spells of destruction and at these they are very good. If they did turn to something darker though they would be truly formidable, luckily for the others races of Altor pixies are a peaceful folk who hate war. If you wish to meet a pixie travel to a battle field and you will find them there tending both sides without any discrimination. Pixies are good for a player who wishes to be powerful but in a slightly different way. Could be very good as a spy but the one disadvantage would be it is hard to carry documents when your two ½ foot tall.

Nymphs

One of the largest of all fey standing at four-five foot tall, nymphs look like very beautiful humans or elves and can be male or female. Nymphs tend to guard a place in the wilderness; it may be a grove, a stream, a small part of the great plains. No one but the nymphs know why they do this and the nymphs are not offering any explanations. The magic they wield is quite powerful enchantments and defensive spells plus good healing magic. They also tend to be very good at communicating with animals and tend to have large amounts of animals with wherever they go. Not as hard to play, as a pixie would be nymphs could be quite interesting to play but they will be confined to a supporting role like pixies are.

Daylan

This race seems to only be three foot tall no other height has been observed. They look like small animals such as foxes, badgers etc. What kind of animal I will let the player decide. They have sharp teeth and tend to have claws. They are the strongest race of fey and could overpower an unsuspecting gnome or halfling quite easily. They are better at destructive magic than other races of fey but they are not as good at channelling magic as other fey. Daylan are still peaceful but if you make one angry get ready to start ducking fireballs. Good for a player who wants destructive magic, which is quite powerful, and some fighting ability. Daylan should not be on the front line at all. They are also quite stealthy so they could be good as a ranger or thief.

Gnomes

Gnomes are short at three to four foot. They look like humans but are far shorter and tend to be bald if male. Gnomes are a very intelligent, inquisitive race and quite hardy but they are not as strong as dwarves or elves often they only just match a human or daylan in strength. This race would be good for an alchemist or inventor. Gnomes also make good wizards as they are the best race at illusions and a gnome wielding Earth magic is a sight to behold!

Halfings

Halfings are around four foot tall (note if they were half the average human’s height they would be around two and a ½ foot tall!). They look human but a bit more feral this is because Halfings are fairly new on the scene as far as being civilised goes. They are nomadic and very dextrous but they do lack a bit in intelligence. They would make good spies or anything else involving stealth not so good with magic as it is a very new concept to them.

Wereanimals

I am not going to list them all as any mammal or reptile could be used as a base for a wereanimal. I am not allowing birds, fish or amphibians as these could get messy but if you really want them then I will lift the ban with serve restrictions. Wereanimals tend to be strong, fast and dangerous. Lycanthropes often look like the animal they transform into when in human form eg. a werebear in human form would be large, hairy and quite strong. The more you transform the more you look like the animal. Some lycanthropes have transformed so much they do not have the strength of will to transform back. Lycanthropy is a genetic disease that can strike down a member of any race. No one knows where it came from bar the fact it must either have been created by the One or must be coming from a different plane of this dimension. The gene is rare and wereanimals are few and far between. They are beginning to band together and if a lycanthrope player is successful enough to be given land they will begin to form nations.

Dragons

Dragons are not to be confused with Wyrms or Greater Dragons. The dragons players can play are about 10 to 12 foot long, twice the height of a human. They cannot breathe fire but they are naturally very, very good at fire magic, Wyrms can breathe fire. Dragons are scaly, winded creatures with sharp elongated faces and jaws. They have sharp teeth and claws and can fly but not very well! They have the best eyesight of all the races with elves coming a close second and are quite powerful creatures. Being big and lacking the ability to walk on two legs though like bears they can rear up onto their back legs they cannot use amour, unless in is made specially or wield weapons. They would make good offensive mages with fire magic or frontline fighters with their claws and teeth and scales all being good for hand to hand combat. Don’t try and sneak around unless you know invisibility, globe of silence and you know there are no animals in the area, dragons tend to smell a bit.

Vampires

Vampires are not undead but they are instead an ancient race, some say older than the elves, different line of creation to humans. Vampires feed off the blood of sentient creature, though the blood of animals can sustain them for a short time. The way they feed they absorb the life energy or Fiezarr from the Rardaquque or blood of a creature and as only sentient creatures posses Fiezarr. Animals have a different type of life energy but back to vampires. Vampires appear human but are very strong and fast. They cannot change shape and they can die of old age around about 500 years old though. Vampires are fast, strong but cannot perform magic at ALL this is because they lack Fiezarr that’s why they need to drink blood. Good for a player who wishes to have no connections with magic at all, this does bring benefits.

Note: All subraces and half elves etc are still to come I will sort them later. If you think I have missed out a significant fantasy just say and I will or will not amend as I see fit. Remember you can design your own races eventually.

Professions

Professions are whatever your character does for a living. You can start off as a civilian just PM me with the job you want and the town you want to live in and your set to go. I will only describe non-civilian professions here. Feel free to think up your own profession if you want.

Spoiler Professions :

Warrior

Warrior, fighter, soldier, mercenary all these words to describe one thing a trained killer. This profession is an ideal choice for a person who just wants to kill and not have any fancy trimmings. This is the best profession at pure combat and they could defeat any other profession in a straight brawl. No more needs to be said. The warrior is a base profession feel free to customise it. Same drill with the rogue profession.

Magic users

In this Nes there are many magic users most professions learn a bit even a warrior could learn some magic but these are the professions devoted to the study of magic. They are Magi, Mages and Sorcerers.

Magi

Magi are a very powerful order of magic users dedicated to using their magic to defeat the Shadow wherever it appears. The Magi are the most powerful magic users the players can play as but a Magi is born not trained and few are born each year. Magi can become very powerful so only three players may play as them to start off with and its first come first serve. A Magus is powerful because of his natural ability to channel magic that would kill other people. They have far stronger and are far more resilient to the effects of over using magic. Magi are weak in hand to hand combat most Magi struggle to learn how to use a dagger or knife yet alone a sword these guys can master any magic at all though.

Mages

Mages are powerful and anyone can become one they are not born like a Magi or Sorcerers. Mages can wield most kinds of magic but a few spells are beyond their reach. Mages are better at hand to hand combat though and most know how to use a sword or al least a dagger. Players who seek to be good at magic but have some fighting ability should chose this profession.

Sorcerers

Sorcerers are born but as they are more common and not as powerful as the Magi are. Any number of players can be one. Sorcerers have the natural ability to channel, like a Magus, but not the ability to survive excess use of magic. Sorcerers are quite powerful in that they have more time to study how to use weapons then a Mage and are not as obsessive about learning and advancing magic as the Magi are. Overall Sorcerers are good for a player who wishes some knowledge of magic but also likes at the front in any battle.

Rogue

The rogue profession is to be used as a base for players to design related professions from. This is because I am lazy and if I tried to work out every way someone might use this profession I would be bound to miss something and make someone angry. The rogue profession can do just about anything that involves not being seen and/or doing something criminal.

Priests

Priests channel divine magic which is very powerful but hard to master. This magic differs from arcane magic as it draws on the power of a God to cast. This means less Fiezarr is used for each casting but if a God finds your faith lacking expect your powers to disaepir. Priests have a large amount of time to train in the use of weapons and armour.

Stats

Stats will be posted in a word form for the player and I will keep the number form. Stats are dynamic so you may start of the game really strong but if you never use your strength it will not improve and may get lower. Stats will be similar to D & D stats but feel free to experiment and propose new stat ideas. I want to have a lot of player input in the development stage to try and make this a good Nes! Here’s a brief summary of the stats:

Spoiler Stats :

Strength

The most obvious one strength governs how strong you; are useful in all situations that it is useful for in real life. Elves, Dwarves, Vampires Dragons, Wereanimals and Daylan are all very strong. Daylan I list as strong because they are the strongest race of their size with gnomes coming in a close second. Humans, Gnomes, Halfings are all in the middle and the two remaining types of Fay are quite weak. Orcs vary in strength depending on the race they were before they became Orcs but Orcs tend to be very strong for their race.

Dexterity

Dexterity governs general hand eye co-ordination, balance and reflexes. The Little Folk all have excellent dexterity, Humans, Elves, Vampires and Dwarves average and Orcs, Dragons and Wereanimals not so good.

Constitution

This governs general overall fitness, healthiness and toughness. Dwarves, Elves Dragons, Vampires and Gnomes are the toughest races. Humans, Orcs, Daylan and Wereanimals are average and Nymphs and Pixies are poor.

Intelligence

Obvious, this governs your intelligence and when combined with charisma and wisdom affects your magical skill. Humans, Dragons, Gnomes and Elves have high intelligence. Dwarves, Little Folk bar Gnomes and Vampires average and Wereanimals and Orcs low intelligence.

Wisdom

Affects how wise you are this affects decision making and magic. Humans, Elves, Dragons, Fay have high wisdom. Dwarves, Wereanimals and Vampires and Little Folk have average and Orcs have low wisdom.

Charisma

Affects force of personality and how attractive your character is. Humans, Dragons, Little Folk and Elves have high charisma. Dwarves and Vampires have average and Orcs and Wereanimals have low charisma.

Age

I will need to know the age of your charecters so I can modifiy stats (if nesecary) and to figure out how expericed your charecter will be at the start of the game.

Magic

Magic is using one's Fiezarr to channel energy from other planes and directly from gods. This energy can then be shaped to form the desired effect. Please be careful at the start of the Nes as using too much Fiezarr can have many negitive effects. This requies concentration and inexpericened mages and sorcerers are normally told to speak a prase or incantation to focus their thoughts. Magi, due to their natural abilities with magic, tend not to need to speak an incantation but it is advised for complex spells. Magic can be spilt into several groups and sub groups. Here they are all listed.

Spoiler Magic Disciplines :

Divine Magic

Divine magic taps into the power, essence, of a God to work miracles. The elements of Fire, Air, Wind and Water are at your beck and call so are the powers of Light (Good), Law, Darkness (Evil) and Chaos.

Abjuration

Abjuration is a branch of magic that focuses on defence. You will start small creating bucklers made out of raw magic but as you become stronger you will be able to create enitire suits of raw magic. When you reach the peak of your strength you will be encasing entire cities in inpenetarable fields set apart from time and space! Good for a player who wishes to be defensive or to surport heavy hitters rather than being one.

Conjuration

Conjuration is the branch of magic that covers creation and manipulation of energy and matter. This magic can be used to heal, teleport, conjure stuff out of thin air and at the highest levels create Fiezarr to give an inanimate object life. Used to create Golems etc. Also used in summoning rituals.

Divination

The ability to see the past,present and future is great and terrible. For this reason very few chose this branch of magic the burden of knowing all soon becomes too much for all but the strongest wills. This magic can also be used to see cearly, focus your mind and dispell illusions.

Enchantment

Enchantments can be woven in many ways. They can be used to make something far stronger, tougher or they can be used to bring crippling weakness to a creature. Experiment this branch of magic touches many other branchs.

Evocation

An evoker is a powerful foe and ally. Envokers can have any type of energy at their beck and call but most chose to specialize in one or two areas. Envokers are very powerful on the offense but they have to start small and it will take a long time to become a master of this branch of magic.

Illusions

Illusion is a interesting branch of magic pionered by Gnomes. It can alter perceptions making people see things or hear etc. Illusions can draw out peoples' worse nightmares and make them live them, driving them mad or it can do the opposite. Illusions are useful for tricking but at higher levels it can also become very good offensive magic as well.

Necromancy

Necromancy is a hated and feared branch of magic and for good reason. Any and all undead in this world were made by a necromancer's rituals. However necromancy is not evil magic as such, it is just people abuse it. All resucections require some knowlage of necromancy and they are not evil. It should also be noted that this magic can extend one's life at a price.

Rituals

Rituals are used to cast spells which would normally take too much energy to cast by allowing the caster to draw strength from the reagents and symbols used. Also servives to focus your will.

Sorry about how note like these rules are I will post more normal rules tomorrow morning. Please be creative with magic and feel free to write your own incantations.


----------------

Ok, i've sorted the rules layout for you.. how about you tell us how to actually join your game? Since it doesnt say anywhere in the rules what we have to do. Perhaps give us a blank template?

 

[Vertinari118]

Sorry I explained this on the other thread. In order to join you post a background for your charceter and then what you hope your stats will look like. Do not roll your own stats as this is meant to be a black box style game. Please note when posting a charecter you can design your own race (sent it to me for approval first) and I am not going to be strict when it comes to professions so feel free to design your own. If you want I can design more races and professions but as everyone is different this might not suit everyone's taste. Why didn't anyone point that oversight out ealier?

 

[Abaddon]

What other thread?


(an I'd suggest noone else pointed it out, because all this thread looks like from the OP is a long list of generic RPGness, with no explanation to what it is!)

 

[Vertinari118]

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=277382

Abaddon my Nes rules may make this seem generic but the whole point is you can built pretty much anything in the game from the ground up, of you want or have a say in it. The only things I won't change are the gods, the map (as in the lay-out of continents but I will take on board advise) and the quests and artifacts. In fact players can make thier own artifacts.

 

[Abaddon]

An thats great, but not many will have seen your other thread, or even known this has anything to do with it.. i didn't and I even posted in the other thread!

A pre- thread is normally about a development.. looking at the rules, asking if people are interested.. all your OP is a section of your rules.

If you made it clear in your OP you are looking for signups, and how to go about it, you might get some response.

 

[Vertinari118]

Thanks for the advise Abaddon. I do know what a Pre-Nes is for and that is why I created this, anyone can clear up any questions and ask if anything can be added here so that the proper Nes will get off to a smooth start.

About the map. I haven't had alot of time if late to work on it but I will finish it at the weekend with any luck.

 

[Abaddon]

Aiken Drumn
21
Human Rogue with very basic Conjuration

 

[Vertinari118]

Fine will roll stats now. Could you please post some backstory in a bit?

 

[Abaddon]

Aiken Drumn, the trickster come funnyman. NEVER play a game of cards with this kid, he will make your hand turn into duds and his own a full house! Known to love the ladies as well as a bit of drink he is often seen in the taverns cheating drunks out of their weeks pay.

A rough life, growing up on the streets has made him relatively tough, a cruel scar slashed from his eyebrow to the top of his lip renders one eye blind and a ghostly white.

He never stays in one town of city long, and always seems to be in a great hurry when he does, perhaps this is because of the other people in a great hurry to follow him?

 

[Terrance888]

Lin Chuan is my character's name...

Human Sorceror

He begun as a warrior. But one day during a hunt he accidentally used magic to cook a deer. He started his training ans is able to casts impressive fireballs.

That's itl
(sorry! I forgot to add a name!)

 

[Vertinari118]

Out of intreast Charles where did you post your character I can't seem to find it. As soon as I do I will roll stats for you.

 

[Vertinari118]

Update -1*​

People came and went from the village, this was unusual, though it may seem normal. For the village of Larthorn was a small, unheard of, backwater place and the only thing it is famous for is learning how to weave the Larthorn plants into useful objects, like the walls of the village.

Yet recently an old man arrived, he had a aura of power and command around him as if he was a prince or royalty, yet he did not seem rich or aloof like royalty and aristocrats are. Then we have the five people who arrived today, they all arrived at different times and did not know each other but all of them looked like they had been travelling for a long time, one of them had a similar aura to the old man, the rest all looked like warriors and maybe a thief.

They all decided to stay in the Urntor's Prayer a small, cheap, very run-down tavern with no glass in the windows, a sign clinging onto the wall with one nail and about ten tiles left on the roof. This was the same tavern the old man had stayed in. Soon the travellers met up with each other and began to talk first each one told something of were they came for, names and generally who they were before they started to wander.

Jal Rekin's story was a simple one. He was the second son of a minor noble man in the Kingdom of Alvalon. He was and is an ambitious man and seeks to found his own dynasty. When his farther died and his older brother Soltalos inherited his fortune Jal found there was nothing left for him so he left and the wanderlust, which had been dorment inside him since he was born, took control. He did not remember much of his travels and this was one thing the travellers found they all had in common bar the gnome and he didn't speak much anyway.

Khyrdin's story was different insofar as he unlike the others had no reason to start travelling he just decided to one day. He was a repected member of his town but this clearly was not enough to keep this elf in one place. For years he has been wandering and now for some reason unknown even to him he arrived at this village. He hails from the elven kingdom of Larthorn called so because of the abundence of it in the kingdom and because they were the first, in this age, to learn how to weave and craft it into useful objects.

Then it was Lin Chuan's turn to speak. He did not have much to say, he was a spell warrior, so he ended up spending much of the time showing off his skills. What the others gathered was he from the south, from the great plains of the Zartral1 and was trained as a warrior. One day he cooked a deer with his mind quite by accident. Since that day he has been training his natural skill in evocation to a high level. He has clearly specialized in the control of heat energy ( infra red radiation in real life).

Next up was Aiken Drumn. He had a rough upbringing and he has the scars to show it. The most noticable scar cuts across from his right eyebrow down cuting his right eye, which is blind, finshing at the top of his lips. He came from a rough town in Alvalon and he soon worked out that in order to survive he would have to get on the wrong side of the law. But he did not have the stomach for muder and theft that way so he became a conman and a funnyman and an expert cards player. When he said he could beat all the other travellers five times in a row they did not belive him. So he dealt the cards and won five times in a row.

After that a new comer walked into the tavern. A green skin, the group all reached for their weapons or began spells until they see the orc has not drawn its weapon and there are no more orcs following it. The old man walks down the stairs and forces the friends to drop their weapons and he dispells any spells. "He is a friend, so let him speak." The orc takes his cue and tellls them his story. They soon learn that this orc is no normal orc. For a start he clearly has a very kind, caring, good personality quite the reverse of the normal orc. He hails from the south, from the deserts and was born in the city of Tiglath. He grew tired of people hating him so he decided to prove how different he was. This then got him hated by his own kind. Another way in which this orc is exceptional is the fact he has started to learn magic. Like all of his kind he was a born warrior so he has decided to conquer the arcane arts as well. Will he win? Only time will tell.






PLEASE NOTE this means I will be away for a week starting this Saturday.

1 Translates as War Tribes. Words in elven have a lot of meanings so I will provide a translation in most cases. Eg Zartral could also be Fire Tribes, War Simple etc.

* I called this minus one as it is just a sence setter and an attempt to draw in more players.

 

[Neverwonagame3]

Jal Rekin- Backstory:
Jal Rekin was born in the Kingdom of Alvalon to minor nobility. His main personality trait from an early age was ambition, but he was the second son. The first son, Solatos Rekin, was objectively able but the dunce of the pack, and Jal came to resent him.

His dream to found a dynasty came from another trait- his great pride. Not pride in the sense of believing himself to be great, but pride in the sense of great determination to get his own way. A local aristocrat of much higher status (and, to his great annoyance, immune to his charisma) flaunted his supremacy around town, and managed to get his own way on most things (even if he was resented for it). Jal saw this as a sign of what status could bring.

When his father died, Solatos inherited the family wealth. Jal had no motivation to stay (despite his mother, who was very disappointed that he left), and so went off to try and found a dynasty he could call his own...

 

[Vertinari118]

Thanks Neverwonagame.

 

[Cannae]

Tiglath Plasser
27
Orc (Greenskin) Warrior/Mage

Coming from a mountainous desert city Tiglath was just like any other orc from that area. However, this place of which he dwelled was not reserved for orcs and has a large mass of humans and elves. He was seen as largely and outcast like many of the other greenskins that had lived within the area but he caused this all to change. He was unlike almost another other orcs, not of a malicious nature but actually was the reverse. He showed many instances where he was beneficial to the city and helped keep out the criminals from doing harm. However, this switchover has ironically enough left him as an outcast within his own race.

 

[Neverwonagame3]

Can we start RPing what happens at the village? Might pass the time until this is ready to start.