Empire of Blood: Preview 1

[Raesene Andu]

Attached to this message is the first preview of the my Adurian expansion (pdf version only). This preview is an except from the first 1 1/2 pages of the rulebook (minus the introduction and title page), which doesn't give much away, but does list all the human and non-human races and the ability adjustments of the non-human races, so you can get something of an idea of what I have planned.

Now that I'm finally getting some work done on this project, I should be able to post a couple more previews over upcoming weeks. The first will look at the new PC races, while the next one will look at the new classes, especicially the new Shadow Sorcerer class, which will be a little different that most spell-caster class currently around at the moment.

As you may be able to tell from the way I've set out the character creation process, there will be a few differences with Aduria over Cerilia. One, there will be no varient rules, everything will be set down as is, and if you don't want to use a rule, you don't, and if you want a different rule that one in the Aduria rulebook, you make one up. Also, PCs are assumed to all start play as scions, rather than given the choice. Bloodlines will be determined randomly, there will be no level adjustments for bloodline (but will be for some of the more nasty races such as the wermics).

In many way, the Adurian Campaign Setting will be designed for me and my style of gaming. It will still be very usable, but all of the rules and classes inside will designed the way I like them :) Of course, this only applies to the rulebook, the other parts of the expansion (Atlas, Monster Manual) will be usable in any standard BR campaign.

Anyone playing in my current pbem will be getting a preview of the Atlas material, especially the northern regions. I will also be posting information on selected realms from northern Aduria sometime in the next 6 months or so, with the first release looking at Broken Cape, the rough mining town on the Sere Coast, and I may even release an adventure based in that town (level 1-3).

It is a long term goal of mine to complete an Adurian expansion looking at all of Aduria much as Birthright has been done already. At this time (combining all my previous work on Aduria) I have roughly 10-15% of the final rulebook complete or semi-complete, and about 30% of the Atlas introduction (lot less of the realm descriptions) finalised, so still some work to do. So, I'd appreciate people's comments (good or constructive) about this preview and what they would like to see in future previews. I will still work on the expansion regardless of what everyone thinks so far, but encouragement is always welcome (it in turn, encourages more work to be completed).

[tcharazazel]

You sadist... you just give us a little preview of the races... just their stat changes...

So far it looks good its very clear, concise and easy to follow :) Just can't wait to see what the other aspects of the races are like. I recall that you had the Ssarak, the snake people, on youre website though. I thought it was a very cool race.

I like that you added the monk and holy warrior to the common classes. Is the shadow sorceror a new class? Just don't recall seeing it. Will you list all the appropriate prestiege classes to the setting?

Also, for bloodlines: It would make sense that the majority would be Azrai, with the others being much less common, which I bet you already are figuring.

[Raesene Andu]

Unfortunatley, none of the rest of that chapter had been formatted yet. :) If I waited until tonight before posting, I could have included another 2 pages, including the introduction to the races section and the description of the Asla, both of which are now formatted and complete. In fact, most of the races are now complete, so I'll post a couple in the next preview (probably the quala and djin as I don't think I've posted much about those two so far). The description of the Ssarak on my website is much the same as the version that I went with, just a few cosmetic changes (they are more humanoid now, lost the snake-like tail).

The djin are my current favourite of the races at the moment. When you start playing them as a PC race they are little different than Genasi, but as they age they grow more powerful, so if you play the same character over hundreds of years you start getting new powers and abilities. The Elder Djin (thousands of years old) are truly powerful beings. I should stress, however, that they are not genies, like those in other settings, the have a very BR story behind their creation and presence... The quala are fairly cool too, not necessarily from a game mechanic side of things, they are fairly unremarkable there, but rather from a culture side. The fact that they mature in 5 years, but only live for around 30 years makes them different than all these long lives races hanging around everywhere. If you play one you only get roughly 20-25 years of life, or only 100 domain turns.. :)

As for the classes, Holy Warrior, Priest, and Shadow Sorcerer are all new classes. I don't want to release too much about the Shadow Sorcerer yet, as that is the most radical of the classes, but lets just say that he has a very different way of casting magic that normal. Holy Warrior is similar, but not identical, to Champion from Arcana Unearthed. Priest is a modified version of cleric.

Prestige classes currently in various stages of completion include Blood Hound, Disciple of Azrai, Freedom Fighter, Holy Slayer, Serpent Priest, Legionary, and Merchant-Adventurer.

Disciple of Azrai is definitely the most powerful of the prestige classes, but not much use while Azrai isn't around. Should he return, well then that's another story all together. Much of the story behind my Adurian expansion is the influence of Azrai over the continent, the various prophecies that predict his return, and the groups that are working towards that day.

I could go on, but I must sleep as I have work tomorrow... eight hours of non-d&d relating things... how will I survive.

[marcum uth mather]

any more info?