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I, too, have a vampire idea. But given that there are already two vampire races (the Nightkin and the Nosferatu) I might take out the "blood/life force stealing" aspect so that it is no longer vampire instead, given that characteristic is probably more or less the only thing that makes it "vampire".

edited 27th Aug '12 6:15:26 PM by IraTheSquire

Maybe the idea could be worked into a clan, variant?

Could be, though it will be very strange to have a clan that is distinctively different the others.

Just have the clan's leader/creator have a special pact with Andurial or maybe create another person for them to get their power from. I can't help but think there wouldn't be another demon/person who might want to undermine him.

edited 27th Aug '12 10:20:00 PM by Vyctorian

I was going to go for man-beast deal buuuut.... huh, maybe I shouldn't.

There is also Baton, he's a neutral/good deity but I'm sure he'd deal with vampires if he thought it could save them/prevent Andurial's summoning.

Sample Elf Cultures (And Breeds) Mordekai and Vamniir

It should be stated that elfin kind is diverse in the extremis, due to the over abundance of genetic manipulation, splicing and infusion that happened with the original Elf people. Each looks so different to be mistaken as a different race, as to practically be so, but share a common origin and are so small and disparate that a single culture can encompass whole breeds.

Mordekai

A wondering nomadic breed of the Elf, quite strange like any of the Elf breed. They are hairless and are possessed of slightly leather grey skin. They have no eyes and only holes for ears, although above these holes grow a horn each, a mystical nod to their heritage no Elf can shake. When they speak, it must be through gritted teeth as the only way to speak is to unhinge their jaw and reveal a wide maw full of razor sharp teeth.

Their skin is marked with naturally occurring 'slices' that look like ritualistic scarring, being intricate and beautifully designed, often with noticeable imagery, each unique to each Mordekai. It is thought this natural occurrence is mystical and the 'tattoos' are an expression of the Mordekai's inner self and it slowly grows as the Mordekai matures.

Mordekai are born with a Racial 'Gift' that is sexually dimorphed. Female Mordekai, for the most part, are Juggernauts while males are Sorcerers, with exceptions.

The various tribes wander the world and every now and then a settlement will be established. The Mordekai feel they lack a central cultural identity and take to trying to adopt local customs and language. Their own shared language is made for long distance communication, whale-like shouts with different tonal reverberations to indicate meanings, subtleties that can get lost when volume is lowered.

They live a little less then the normal Human life-span.

Vamniir

A young Vamniir looks almost completely like a young Sylvan with lots of normal Human traits. He will have the more plain earthen colors of a Human's skin and hair and eyes but also have long pointed ears and long pointed canines. Well, that last one is more vampiric.

Vamniir are still carry the Elfin mastery of Elegant Biomancy as well as inherit inclination to Greater Biomancy. They are filled with so much Life, accounting for their longevity as well as their bestial madness and transformation. As the Vamniir grows into his racial inheritance, he becomes more and more like a beast, transforming into a hunched over baboon-wolf-beast-man. As well as this form being naturally strong, it is also a Juggernaut.

Young Vamniir already have a taste for blood of non-Vamniir; a craving, not a need. It becomes more intense as they age although Vamniir culture instill strict self-control that has plenty of time to be laid out before that happen. By middle-age, a good hundred years in, they have reached the 'peak' of this transformation and are barely restrained berserkers. The teaching of self-control continues.

As the middle-aged Vamniir learns better self-control, reigning in the wild magic that fuels his body, he will begin to transform back until he looks like a young Vamniir again. With his powers focused and control, the elder Vamniir is even more powerful then before.

The few major concentration of Vamniir seem to mostly worship Rorygono and Darlian and related gods, with rogue groups turning to Aezylantha and Amniel.

With Elegant Biomancy, occasionally the Vamniir will transform a non-Vamniir into one of them. Only a few are genetically compatible enough to survive this, Humans mostly and still only a few of them.

edited 28th Aug '12 7:26:45 AM by God_of_Awesome

Order of the butterfly -

The order of the butterfly is an organization of pact users who have a pact with Cerohaeter a powerful butterfly gift-spirit.

They are similar to the concept of paladins, though also very different. They are knights who have sworn to multiple oaths and in exchange for keeping these oaths they are allotted certain boons and powers, but also restrictions.

The oath cannot simply be taken by anyone, one must first prove themselves worthy via trials of mind, body, and soul. One must put the value of innocent life above all, even you're own life as well as swear never to kill a living creature no matter how evil the deeds they've committed are. They are often tested with illusions and tests of survival, they are never allowed to take tests that are actually lethal but they are never told this.*

Along with these trials they also must swear to multiple oaths, many of which are backed by magic which prevent them from going against the oath unless they forsake their pact.

In addition to the never harming innocents/killing guilty they are also required too.

• Never cast magic or have magic willingly cast on them that would aid their efforts*
  Note, they can have magic cast on them that would hinder them but outside of self-punishment there no need for this.
• Never exit a building without permission
• The harming of innocents extends to animals, they may eat meat but they must not be the one who killed it or ordered it killed.
• They must not casts any magic not allotted to them by Cerohaeter, they also must not have any magic cast on them that would help them in any way.
• They cannot used guns, bows, crossbows or any other weapon.
• They cannot use magical or blessed items unless they were blessed by Cerohaeter.
  • Not an oath but related: They are weakened in the light of the moon, and have none of their powers during that time.

In exchange for following these rules they gain these gifts:

• The ability to turn into a swarm of butterflies.
• In sunlight they experience quicker healing, superhuman strength, speed and agility.
• Their Weapons and touch is naturally holy.
• They have a limited-flight/gliding via summoning dust wings.
• Only age in direct exposure to moonlight.
• Animals are instantaneously friendly to them, often they won't attack them unless they were attacked first, even if ordered to.
• They can speak with animals and plants
• Their movement is unaffected by light armor

They're powers are limited at night so Cerohaeter can have more people in the order, though the restrictions still apply.

I've had this for a while but since the topics come up again these are my Spiritual Antithesis to vampires. They are not made to combat vampires but they share many of the same traits, strengths and weakness but in reverse of how they are typically seen. That and unlike vampirism it is willing in all cases but is something which must be worked for and proven.

Not a P.C. group, then. By the by, getting permission to exit a house is a lot more unreasonable than getting permission to enter. Yes, I know it's supposed to be another way that these guys are anti-vampires, but it's so wildly impractical as to be damn-near impossible.

It's that way on purpose outside of being different from vampires, both as a discouragement to enter places (i.e. stay in nature) and as an insurance if one of them ever goes rouge and is captured that they cannot escape and disgrace their name any further.

edited 28th Aug '12 6:01:47 PM by Vyctorian

Sample Sylvan Culture Refegar and Jilkausu

Due to their closeness to the Aether, Sylvan are characterized by a tendency to widely varied and abnormal psychology. Primarily Sylvan cultures then have displayed widely varied and abnormal systems.

Refegar

There is no punishment for crime except death among the Refegar but this highly systemized and measured. Every citizen of Refeg is assigned a set amount of points at entrance into society, either by immigration or birth. Every crime, and every public service, is assigned a point value, negative and positive respectively, which modifies a citizen's score. Reach 0 and the citizen is put to death.

Later on in the history of Refeg, other tier were put into place, punishments assigned for dipping below a certain level although never an actual punishment so much as a loss of rights to a fair trial. That is, the more points you lose, the more easily you can lose points, resulting in a downward spiral into the gallows. Theoretically, this is meant to prevent citizen from committing a ton of crimes but stopping just short of a death sentence.

Further, public offices have prerequisites of ascending to a particular score tier. This has caused corruption at the higher levels as they have greater hand in deciding the value of crimes and services. Through their history, the lower classes have been spurred to revolution to rework the system but the Refegar have never abandoned the point system.

Jilkausu

Jilk is home to a particular and strange mating ritual among its Sylvan people. Particularly, the Jilkausu have a mating season, lasting all of Spring and then reverting back to normal in the summer. The particulars of it though is not that the Jilkausu Sylvan become aroused during the mating season, they become heterosexual. For the rest of the year, they are homosexual.

The Jilkausu are digamous, having two partners, a same-sex partner and one of the opposite sex. Usually, these will arrange in groups of four, one's partner's other partner's other partner is also your other partner. This is primarily encouraged to avoid confusion and these closely knit groups form friendly family units that live and raise children together. More or less or done different is allowed but considered odd. What is absolutely expected is that an inclusive unit is formed and within that unit who's who's partner at what time is defined and deviating from that is considered adultery.

The record was a unit consisting of 14 males and 13 females and the organization was a systematical nightmare.

Loads Of Different Sorts Of Elves =/= Race Doesn't Mean As Much As Culture.

I like what they're doing, and I have plans to do some like this myself. Just slap on the justification that when two elf types breed they get an elf child back and not a human child, that in addition with the come trait of the aging and it works, plus in the Meta- these could be examples and GM/DM's could have an elf-creating guide attached to help ease GM/DM's into race creation... I might actually just create a few non-difference description cultures to act as a kinda template for that.

edited 30th Aug '12 12:37:40 PM by Vyctorian

They are just Sylvan dominated cultures.

Hi folks, sorry for the long absence, Isaac didn't affect us much but I have been busy at the machine shop. Still I hope to contribute more often now.

New Ballot:

• Black Empire Facts: Democracy, Grimholme and the Garl'gezmond Crime Family
• The King In The Silver Cloak
• The Curses
• Time-release potions
• Cerberus
• The Eastern Dominion Outcroppings
• Pyre stake & Ash Vampires
• Elena's Dragons
• Sample Elf Cultures (And Breeds) Mordekai and Vamniir
• Order of the butterfly
• Sample Sylvan Culture Refegar and Jilkausu

as usual, please let me know of oversights, wrong links etc.

• Black Empire Facts: Democracy, Grimholme and the Garl'gezmond Crime Family - Yes to all 3
• The King In The Silver Cloak - edit. I like it but I feel I need more info to approve it
• The Curses - Yes, I want to build characters with these flaws.
• Time-release potions -yes
• Cerberus -no
• The Eastern Dominion Outcroppings -yes
• Pyre stake & Ash Vampires -yes
• Elena's Dragons -yes
• Sample Elf Cultures (And Breeds)
  • Mordekai -yes
  • Vamniir -yes
• Order of the butterfly -yes
• Sample Sylvan Culture:
  • Refegar-yes
  • Jilkausu - edit

I'm-a be honest about something. I tend to vote yes on everything and that's because while I may not be wowed by something or particularly excited by a thing's inclusion in the setting but my general assumption is that something has no reason not to be included. It may rub me the wrong way later, at a second glance and then only then will I have step up and speak out against it. Until then...

Black Empire Facts: Democracy, Grimholme and the Garl'gezmond Crime Family Yes

The King In The Silver Cloak Yes

The Curses Yes

Time-release potions Yes

Cerberus Yes

The Eastern Dominion Outcroppings Yes

Pyre stake & Ash Vampires Yes

Elena's Dragons Yes

Sample Elf Cultures (And Breeds) Mordekai and Vamniir Yes

Order of the butterfly Yes

Sample Sylvan Culture Refegar and Jilkausu Yes

edited 11th Sep '12 7:20:39 PM by God_of_Awesome

Black Empire Facts: Alphabet, Legalese and Spirit of the Law

Alphabet

The State Alphabet, known as the Imperial Alphabet, the Black Alphabet or 'Lonquin', is based on a Dwarfin alphabet used by the Korknomortese and the Machine Empire. The original version, known as 'Hylonquin', attempts to and is updated to create a symbol for every single syllable sound possible. Lonquin goes for the much simpler task of creating a symbol for every single letter sound possible. It currently has 29 letters and the concept of letter changing sound or being silent is foreign to a Black Imperial.

This is of course in contrast to Hrod's first language is riddled with silent and changing letters and thought that was disorderly and chaotic. It pissed him off. He enforced this new alphabet which he thought made a lot more sense.

Legalese

Hrod also enforced the usage of a completely foreign language for usage in law. Based on a dead language, updated as necessary, it was from a Sylvan people, the Esio. Esioin was a precise language made by a people who despised ambiguity. It has no such thing as words that can be mean for than one things, same with any phrases.

Translations are provided.

Spirit of the Law

At the same time as adopted 'Legalese', Hrod also adopted the practice of attaching to any law made a note describing the purpose, intent and general spirit of the law.

Black Empire Facts: Democracy, Grimholme and the Garl'gezmond Crime Family: Yes

The King In The Silver Cloak: Edit- need more details

The Curses: Yes

Time-release potions: Yes

Cerberus: Yes

The Eastern Dominion Outcroppings: Yes

Pyre stake & Ash Vampires: Yes

Elena's Dragons: Yes

Sample Elf Cultures (And Breeds) Mordekai and Vamniir: Yes

Order of the butterfly: Edit- I'm not sure about the idea of anti-vampires esp. when they have nothing to do with the vampires in the setting

Sample Sylvan Culture Refegar and Jilkausu: Yes

The exact point of them is to be the anti-vampire without being directly against the vampires.

I get that bit, but I'm talking about them having zero association with vampires.

Like I said intentional.

Just because it's intentional doesn't mean anyone has to like it. It tends to be intentional when I hit someone with a four-foot piece of steel; their ribs are no less sore than if it had been accidental.

edited 14th Sep '12 2:01:25 PM by Exelixi

Also, I like The Law of Conservation of Detail even in a role playing setting, particularly when gods are involved.

edited 14th Sep '12 7:07:27 PM by IraTheSquire

My votes:

• Black Empire Facts: Democracy, Grimholme and the Garl'gezmond Crime Family: Yes
• The King In The Silver Cloak: Yes
• The Curses: Yes
• Time-release potions: Yes
• Cerberus: Yes (it’s an unusual take but I like it)
• The Eastern Dominion Outcroppings: Yes
• Pyre stake & Ash Vampires: Yes (pretty original)
• Elena's Dragons: Edit- love the ideas, but not sure why Elena would make them
• Sample Elf Cultures (And Breeds) Mordekai and Vamniir: Edit- these should be their own races, not Elf subspecies
• Order of the butterfly- Edit- they are a little unbalanced (too many restrictions and powers)
• Sample Sylvan Culture Refegar and Jilkausu- Edit-these don’t feel like they belong on a fantasy world, but could be adjusted.

Collation tomorrow.