Alorian Race Brainstorm

[Deadfoe51]

YES, I have a huge problem trying to figure out their personality! While it states that they're stoic from being overwhelmed, if they grew up in regalia there's nothing to work with! At least mention that they have a similar mindset to another Neflin race.

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Before I start another rant (about a race unrelated to Drowdar), feel free to PM me via the forums or IG if you want help brain-storming or just want ideas for creating up a Drow.

I'm going to join in on everyone else advocating for Dwarves, especially since they aren't listed at all, for some weird reason. @Miss_Ortonnaise @Miss_Confined and @ElderShrub all provided input on them, so I'm going to throw in my two cents. Dwarves have a lot of potential, they're relatively similar to Ailor but suffer from a shorter stature, ugliness(supposedly, I don't think Dwarves are ugly but that's just me), and fairly low citizenship rank. Given enough love and time I think Dwarves can be renewed and given a bit more attraction, especially since they're a very traditional race. I think their culture can be expanded upon and added to in order to give them more depth and generally make them more interesting. Currently, Dwarves have a mediocre abilities as well which make them less attractive in the long-run. They can lift double their weight on their backs (for one subrace) and have doubled healing which is easily managed by other races or skills. With Orcs, Url, and other beefier races they can easily outlift any Dwarf, especially since Dwarves are really light. With magic + several experts in the school of medicine a doubled healing buff alone doesn't really make the cut when it comes to attractive abilities.

Now that I've highlighted the problems, I'll try to provide suggestions as to how some of this can be remedied. While it's generally understood that their culture, perhaps technology, and other things people mentioned is in need of fleshing out, they need a rework as whole. Perhaps adding clans, great Dwarven technologies and architecture to their lore would be a step in the right direction as others pointed out. As for abilities I think there could be a lot added to them to help fill a niche, perhaps making them fill a tankier role as Dwarves usually portray rather than better healing wouldn't be a bad idea. Sturdier bones, heavier (more similar to a full grown Ailor rather than an Ailor child), thicker skin, something that makes them walking (albeit short) walls of beard. Since most races have been getting abilities, they could easily have an ability that reflects this too. An activated ability with certain limitations to harden and toughen their skin and body for a certain time, as a rough example. I don't think making them full-blown technical geniuses with abilities in that is the way to go, Qadir already have that but certainly expanding on Dwarven technology.

I don't play a Dwarf so I'm just going off of what I've seen and have heard from others. I definitely believe they have potential but they're another race that needs a complete rework to make them more interesting and immersive rather than 'oh, they're there'. That's just my two-cents on it.

 

[Beetletoes]

I don't think making them full-blown technical geniuses with abilities in that is the way to go, Qadir already have that but certainly expanding on Dwarven technology.

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Maybe Dwarven machinery could be made more physical? Qadir stuff seems more intricate (clocks, soultech™, etc), so maybe Dwarves could have kickass boulder-crushing autohammers.

 

[Conflee]

Maybe Dwarven machinery could be made more physical? Qadir stuff seems more intricate (clocks, soultech™, etc), so maybe Dwarves could have kickass boulder-crushing autohammers.

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COUGH technology lore overhaul needs to happen please COUGH can incorporate Dwarven Tech into it and make Dwarven Engineers thing, you know. Crazy Inventory / Mad Scientist niche .

 

[Proudbucket]

After reading this topic I tried to summarize complains into a short guideline

1) Races should have a niche of their own
That is, they should be able to fulfill a task better than other races and be recognized for doing so. Otherwise the race is redundant and unnecessary.

2) Races should allow room for variation.
If two individuals of a race cannot have different worldviews or skills there is a design problem with the race. Players like different things, if a race is too restricted it will only attract a limited number of players. Try generating radically different cultures within each race.

3) Races should not depend on rare circumstances to shine.
Races should be able to shine on the setting where most rp takes place. This is not limited to physical or metaphysical stuff (e.g. water, void energies) but also other characters (e.g. a master or companion). As a rule of thumb if the thing that the race needs is not always found in the tavern the race has a design problem.

4) Characters of all races should be able to change the world in a meaningful way.
It is ok for some races to have a harder life than others but in the end all characters should have the possibility to have a moment of glory and shine. If it is impossible to conceive a character of a race leading an army, controlling a criminal gang or commanding power in some way or another there is a design problem with the race.

 

[FireViper27]

In terms of compensating players, (in my mind this works best for players who want to keep playing there maiar if they get merged with the Allar, specifically) they could be given help converting their characters into a race that's still playable rather than just rejecting those characters outright.

 

[Mapleveins]

Regarding Maraya and the possible addition of an ability mentioned in the re release post, how does limited levitation sound? Just being able to float a few feet off the ground instead of walking I feel adds to their whole "I am better than all of you" Appearance.

This image I found explains my idea visually

Spoiler: Walking is for peasants

(minus the chair) just gonna float on by with a drink in hand don't mind me

Perhaps make the public use of the ability outlawed because it's spooky, idk. Gimme some of them thoughts. If this was the wrong place for this then feel free to slap me <3

 

[GoodDreamer]

Intelligent Races​

Races such as Orcs and Url have easily understandable and applicable abilities based on their combat background as a species. Orcs, for example, are large, strong, resilient, and can rage through pain and terror. Url are less impressive but can pull off similar feats in certain circumstances. Easy to understand, easy to use, right?

Unfortunately, this ease of use is only really given to strong, combat-based races. Strongmen can claim Expert level in certain schools with minimal training and the body build is required or preferred in several other schools. Intelligence gives no such bonus. Elves, Mayara, Chein-Ji, and Allar can lay claim to great intelligence (especially Allar), but there is no system or school that allows them to take advantage of their intelligence. A Rashaq is fully capable of mastering the School of Alchemy at the same speed of any Allar, even though Allar are the most intelligent race available to players. Elves are described as intelligent and have the mental capacity to hold over a century and a half of information before they even show signs of any sort of mental decay if they are even capable of mental decay, yet an Ailor can study the School of History alongside an Altalar and master it with the same speed.

As I see it, the intelligence niche races are severely underpowered. Allar, Elves, Mayara, and Chien-Ji have no greater intellectual potential than an Ailor, Rashaq, or Orc, which makes them useless when intelligence is something they pride themselves on.

I propose that the 'intelligent' races get reductions in learning time when it comes to the Intellect Schools. Depending on how intelligent each race is, they can dedicate fewer years and still get an equal or greater education to an Ailor.

I propose that Allar learn so quickly that a player could rank up through interaction and IG schooling instead of having to advance through backstory.

I propose that the most intelligent of these races (likely Allar and Elves) can learn multiple Schools to the highest extent, with no need to limit themselves in one school to advance in another.

I also suggest, seeing as Chien-Ji, the Nelfen, and the Mayara are/were magically oriented people, that they learn magic faster than other races, with Mayara being to magic what Allar aught to be for Intellect Schools, able to learn so fast that progression can be made IG.

 

[The Golem]

Heartbroken Torrp Player here

I think that the Sa-Allar should be buffed to retain fast regeneration. It's easy to scrap them, and not a terrible idea, but I think that having a viable bodyguard subspecies would definitely multiple the Allar population. Scrawny, expert alchemists don't have their burly meatshields because they're not as enticing for dedicated warrior roleplayers. The intelligent-meatshield duo is underplayed and I think it has a lot of potential (I can confirm its amazing being someone's puppet dont kinkshame me)

I also support merging the Maiar with the Allar subspecies, because the Maiar lack much diversity. They have little culture and it would allow them to have a common racial ally. They deserve a true culture but if they were wrapped into a reptile race package, it would be alot easier to explain their Alorian history as already tied to another race.

 

[Vivo_Et_Vincam]

Being a Chi player myself, I think Chi should COMPLETELY stay the same. The Chi are great how they are. They are not meant to be a strong race, they are meant to be weak. Chi are great for players wanting to use wealth and influence instead of brute strength to gain power. In five days of playing a Chi I have gained way more power than I did with a week as an Ailor. Chi are a great race, the main problem I would say with them would be the weakness, yes, but Why does everyone have to be OVER POWERED? I like playing the underdog, and I would not like to see the Chi change at all.

 

[TinySnowcloud]

Ok, rant incoming, so I apologize. I'll keep away from bad vibes as best I can.

On the subject of the Lampar, I have had a problem for a long while (and please note I do not intend to rag on the writers. I took note of the reasoning that staff hate killed them in a lot of ways, which is very valid. I think I've an idea of why staff hates them so much, so condolences).

Since they're rewrite and subsequent renaming as Lampar, they have not, in my opinion, been capable of being rounded characters. They are currently written to lack the mental capacity to be rounded characters. They are incapable of feeling negative emotions; that's actually in the lore. They cannot comprehend why someone would ever dislike them, and even in the face of obvious danger, they're happy-go-lucky little fools. Now, on its own, this kind of basis is not unsalvageable for a prospective character. However, we must jump to the next glaring weakness they suffer from: Their terrible memories. Lampar quickly lose grasp on skills that they do not constantly keep track of. Worse, they lose track of memories - people they care for, in a handful of short years. What kind of character can undergrow meaningful changes and developments when they forget all of the hardship they've suffered?

I would argue that, as it stands, Lampar are not sentient, and any character that is a lampar is in fact a charicature. They're cute and they're dumb. They are not aware of themselves, though they may be self-aware. That's it, that's all they do. And that's fine! Y'know, I understand that cute roleplay is a form of escapism and a legit niche that some folks really enjoy and search for. The thing I don't like, however, is that Lampar are reduced to just this. I'm speculating, but I would guess the idea when Lampar and Rashaq were made was to split the cute roleplayers and development roleplayers so the two wouldn't be confused, but in so doing just another warrior race was created. Perhaps this, or another reason, was why the previous design of the Kleinfolk and Querebo were removed, but I think that these worked better. It's been stated already that the Lampar core idea will not be removed due to their high popularity, so we're stuck with them. I think the best course of action is to make them as good as they can be.

I propose that one of the two weaknesses of Lampar be removed at least. They can be naive, or they can have shoddy memory retension, but the combination is a deathstroke for any serious roleplay. Allow them to behave as something other than a child; perhaps have them be tragically aware of their flaws, but incapable of controlling their obssessive, at times thieving tendencies.

Ambition is incredibly important to a character's development. Give them the capacity to have legitimate ambitions and goals. No cookies, no shinies...Something big!

Hope I didn't rehash anything someone else said, sorry if I did! I saw "lampar" and "rewrite" and I saw my chance.

 

[Vivo_Et_Vincam]

If we have to do anything to the Ch'ien-ji, I would not suggest making them stronger, what I would suggest is to play their own strengths even better. Pretend a Chi is fighting an Orc. The orc is much stronger than the Chi, but the Chi is a lot smaller, so what should we do to put the Chi at not a huge disadvantage? You give him speed! If we have to do anything to the Chi, perhaps give them a speed advantage over other races so they can dodge and weave. Personal opinion.

 

[Havsbris_]

This idea came to me at an ungodly late time for this thread, but ideas hit like a truck when they do.

On the topic of Saivalthar/Saivalthar-Wolathar, I was brainstorming creative niches or racial designs. After a stroll through a list of different racial ideas from other games, I found the Nightborne and Forsaken from WOW to be the most inspiring.

With the designs of Saivalthar and Wolathar being mixed into a void cult design, this gave me inspiration for a completely new design.

My new design incorporates the base design of Nightborne, creating a race of half-undead, void dependant elves.

My idea for them is they're a race of living corpses, or void dependent elves, that without routine void worship or sacrifice, will slowly decay into mangled corpses.

On the decaying note, it can be reversed, but only to a point. The elf will rapidly age and their skin with decay, and in this period, with returned worship, they can revert to their healthy selves. However, once the Elf loses coherence and becomes a living corpse, no magic can revert them, and they're essentially dead.

As for racial abilities, they could retain the pain tolerance of Saivalthar, being healthier undeads.

As for another general ability, I had two ideas:

• Heightened senses including being able to see in the dark.
• Toxic blood, (@OnyxAstera idea) due to the magic, void riddled blood in their veins, it can be rather toxic and can even be made into poisons.

As for skin tones, they could have a much darker color of Maraya pastels, at near drow levels, or retain the Saivallian Pale. They could also retain the glowing eyes and maybe even the long, hanging brows of WOW elves.

Anyways. That's my late stroke of inspiration.

 

[BeetrootSalad]

The Lampar in general need a much, much stronger culture other than, 'cutesy primitive nature lovers.' It's a bit too like to elves, and feels more like an parodied and innocent version of elf culture. There are a lot of good niches for cultures, which is exactly what Lampar need. Perhaps we could give them a culture to base off of, like how the Chi'en-ji are based off Asian cultures. It fix two problems at once, fixing a part of the Lampar's lore problem and helping someone find their niche character.

 

[BeetrootSalad]

There are vague hints about the Avarr, Lovarr and Qavarr in lore, but they haven't been fleshed out. They are obviously not playable, but intended to be at some point when it's conceivable possible that we've nailed down all other races.

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I agree with this, especially since I always thought it was somewhat laughable that Ch'ien-Ji is expected to cover all of China Japan and Korea, which are all linguistically and culturally pretty distinct. I know we aren't going to get a separate race for every real life culture, but what I mean is that it seems more realistic for races to be combined.

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Wild idea, probably won't happen, stupid idea, but just throwing this out there.

People are complaining that Ch'ien-Ji are underpowered or that they can't cover all three cultures- I agree, I am one of those cultures. Why don't we make give a nod to Chinese mythology and give Ch'ien-Ji bird-related, or at least more niches? And the three main cultures could separate the said niches. (Japanese culture = Magical Ch'i build, Chinese culture = Bird warriors build, etc.)

 

[Vivo_Et_Vincam]

Wild idea, probably won't happen, stupid idea, but just throwing this out there.

People are complaining that Ch'ien-Ji are underpowered or that they can't cover all three cultures- I agree, I am one of those cultures. Why don't we make give a nod to Chinese mythology and give Ch'ien-Ji bird-related, or at least more niches? And the three main cultures could separate the said niches. (Japanese culture = Magical Ch'i build, Chinese culture = Bird warriors build, etc.)

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By bird warriors u don't mean giving them feathers correct?

I do not think the Ch'ien-ji need any differences other than the skill of speed over most races being added. Then Chi without magic could be quick offensive and agility based character. Besides, Chi being "underpowered" isn't bad. We don't need everyone on a roleplay server to be bad-A warriors who beat everyone up, be a Veilheimer if you want that, the Chi are for those who want to play a more spiritual and cultural roleplay, instead if focusing on fighting. I do not think the Chi need ANY lore change at all.

 

[Malvs]

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As someone who likes to stick with Ch'ien-Ji characters, I have to disagree with this. At the moment, Ch'ien-Ji are tightly confined to the typical mage/scholar archetype. Given the restrictions on magic, that really only leaves the scholar archetype to be played. Now that's not to say other roles aren't possible - they certainly are - but the possibilities are limited. Aside from that, information about Ch'ien-Ji culture is slim. Hardly anything exists outside of the wiki page, and even there, there isn't much to go on, especially for the religion. There are only two paragraphs about it on the wiki, neither of which go into any detail about specific religious customs. Far from enough to be portrayed in RP. Given all that, spiritual and cultural roleplay isn't possible.

Aside from that, the other Human-esque races do have their own niches, but none are as tightly restricted as the Ch'ien-Ji. Ailor can do anything. Songaskia can do anything, depending on the subrace. Qadir, despite having an intense emphasis on technology, have very few set-in-stone restrictions. Dwarves are typical dwarves, but even they aren't confined to one role. Solang and Wulong are up for removal, so they aren't really worth mentioning.

And then you have Ch'ien-Ji.

Their height is capped at 5'8". They can't get above a toned build. Their culture is entrenched in magic, but magic is off-limits for the majority of players. Information about their culture is slim. Information about their religion is basically non-existent. Astronomy is a major part of their culture, but it has very few practical uses IG (if the religion was expanded upon, perhaps astronomy would find more use). Their language is a mess, as people before me have already pointed out.

There's ample opportunity for subraces/subcultures for the Ch'ien-Ji. So many niches can be filled. The race has so much potential, and I believe that if it were expanded upon, it would get loads more attention from the player base.

But yeah. Not to sound rude or abrasive, but I definitely think the Ch'ien-Ji need major expansion.

 

[The_Holy_Raptor]

I've always wanted to play Rashaq but ran into some problems both lore wise and ooc wise, personally..
1) The lack of diversity in skin tones got me down a bit and, to be honest, yes they had their own cool niche and stuff, but ultimately they where, just cat people, with lampar, you could be, like a bunny lampar, or a rat lampar, which I think would work well for Rashaq.
2) the tribe idea was good, apart from the fact it was restricted to three basic colour coded things, and there was no real, diversity, it wasn't special, it didn't feel special, it just feels like, here's some colours, choose your favourite, go fight other colours, flesh it out a bit, combine it with avanthar, hell, even make a certain section in the slums controlled by these distinct factions!
3) Making a skin for them seemed challenging for me, especially since the only picture of one on the wiki is in black and white, so I couldn't really tell what I was, meant to skin, y'know?
4) alpha's where special permissions, which for me, was a big No No, such a big part of being a Rashaq was building up a family, controlling area's, and because they took in any race to their pride, essentially a forum post explaining the specifics of your particular tribe, would have been nice.

 

[InDogsWeTrust]

The problem:
Saivalthar and Wolathar aren't unique enough to be their own race
The Saivalthar andniche has been eliminated by the magic rework.

According to the post:
"Their general theme concepts and abilities will be merged into a Void-Worship cult with 100% certainty, so the races will cease to exist separately."
Great idea! Here's who those cult-y things should be available to:

Avanthar:
They already have blue eyes, so glow-y blue eyes won't be an insane disruption. Avanthar culture already includes tattoos. Avanthar already have some racial buffs, so enhancing those wiyh void worship seems like a logical leap for at least some Avanthar to have made.
Indeed, it would make for an interesting twist on the race, who currently have the capacity of Ailor muscles. Skinny, oddball Avanthar in pursuit of occult knowledge and void worship sorts of things would be an interesting niche.

Altalar:
The Saivalthar attitude just makes sense for these guys. They also just don't have a ton of racial buffs. Giving them some boons with void worship would be neat. Maybe lifespan boost? Definitely give those boys some bark singing.

The actual worship:
Why not make it a perversion of the Pantheon? Basically, make 'em worship Estel as a powerful demon goddess and call on void essence instead of exist. This could be bolstered by the curag fields shebang! Also it provides a bigger rift between the cielothar and "normal" Avanthar and altalar to drive conflict, constranation, more backstory elements and better rp. The ritualistic sadomasochism is terrifying, awesome, and provides a good balance. In order to maintain the above abilities, the character shoulf have to accept weaknesses if they go a while without practicing— just like Witchbloods.

To sum up:
These new void cults shouldn't be one size fits all. It should affect different kinds of elves differently. Oh, and it should definitely be exclusive to the elves mentioned above. Many already have racial buffs, and don't need more. *cough* looking at you, isldar. Additionally it shouldn't make worshippers crazy or evil or as hated as say, shendar. It should be possible for void worshipping altalar and avanthar to live their lives.

 

[Lyee]

Lampar
On the subject of Lampar, making them a lot more useful could help. This could include making them naturally very good Weavers as well as being able to tell plants apart from each other easily. These could be due to their lifestyle at the Evokai islands, being much more primitive and living in the forests. Along with this, there could be two types of Lampar. Forest dwelling Klein and Mountain dwelling Rashaq. The latter would be harsher and physically stronger because of their crude habitat, and would have skills in combat via claws. Rashaq could also have abilities such as Nightvision, and be primarily nocturnal.

Making them more like Final Fantasy XIV's Lalafell could also be beneficial, giving them more of a Halfling feel rather than a humanoid mouse. Things such as Ears and Tails would be something found more in Rashaq than Klein, though could be seen on either. Giving them a more advanced society, and maybe even a political standing would make them feel a lot more important as well.

Basically they just need to be more of a person instead of an animal.

 

[Beetletoes]

Maybe Lampar could be rewritten as fauna, similar to the Thylan? They could be domesticated rodents with a knack for mimicry.