Maia's return

[Delexos]

Just saying.. if Maia is coming back I think a tomb down in the necropolis is going to slide open and Urthak Thunk is going to crawl out of it.. he has some major unresolved issues

[Zoberraz]

Yeah. Maia was "Elf Boss Monster" to most of the people whom weren't fond of elves. Though Maia sort of came into her own back when she was a ranger.

I remember Jaggath Tharn once backed his threats with action and decided to kill her - it was back when Marona tried to kill him: he really was throwing a hissy fit and just killing everything on his path. I think the battle lasted... 4 rounds? Having Aera'tiarcaele, Favored Enemy:Human +7 and Hide in Plain Sight while fighting inside a forest sort of helped. ^_^;

[undeadsteak]

Uhh, why can't non humans join like, the militia? *Shrug.* Theres enough factions i believe, and anyways, Sundren is a Human populated place. You'd expect things to lean toward human stuff. And lol, Favored Race: Human +7? Crazy

[Machiavelli]

Just saying.. if Maia is coming back I think a tomb down in the necropolis is going to slide open and Urthak Thunk is going to crawl out of it.. he has some major unresolved issues

I've got Torgrimm sitting on the vault somewhere as well

[Ithildin]

Uhh, why can't non humans join like, the militia? *Shrug.* Theres enough factions i believe, and anyways, Sundren is a Human populated place. You'd expect things to lean toward human stuff. And lol, Favored Race: Human +7? Crazy

What reasons do foreign adventurers have to join a militia? Militias tend to be composed of citizens of the area that can't enter into full military service because of various reason (such as having a farm to run or other things).

What reason would an elven druid have to join it? Adventuring druids or rangers exploring new lands likely would seek out the local druids and such if they are going to be entering their territory.

The other factions aren't much better for the nonhumans either, unless your a rogue or mage. Most races out there, if they are raised among their own people, likely worship one of their own racial gods, unless for some reason you were raised by a different race. So that rules just about all the church factions out except for the few odd balls of the different races out there.

Now for the other factions...


The Veritas Syndicate: Rebels, so would be locals not foreigners which rule out most races except humans.

The Exigo Syndicate: While this may have other races in it, I doubt this is a place for a protector of nature to be unless they actually are careful about how they take the resources, from the description they don't seem to be.

The Dark Advent : Necromancers.

The Kurz Cartel: Rogue group, no place for nature types there unless they are multiclassed ranger/rogues.

The Hands of Mundus: Mages

The Eboncoin Pact: Guessing Shadow Theives

Don't know about any of you but none of those factions really jump out as being a likely choice for a druid or ranger to have interest in joining unless they are humans then they might join the militia.

[Scavar]

Why do you need a faction outside of other players? You don't. I'm a ranger, I don't seem to have any problems, I've met other rangers and druids, none of them seem to have problems either. Samething with the elves.

I honestly think this is being made bigger than it really is.

[Ithildin]

Why do you need a faction outside of other players? You don't. I'm a ranger, I don't seem to have any problems, I've met other rangers and druids, none of them seem to have problems either. Samething with the elves.

I honestly think this is being made bigger than it really is.

Why have factions at all? Because they lead to more rp and give players more things to work with. I really doubt any of those people would pass up a faction that fits their characters rather then stay excluded from faction fun because it doesn't fit.

Instead of then being some random person wandering around with no goals except your own, a faction makes a character part of something bigger and has goals that others also work to achieve.

[Scavar]

No you're missing what I said among what the devs have said. I'm not saying their shouldn't be factions, but unless you have magical powers it would be impossible to have factions for everything.

I'm simply stating that not having a faction for rangers/druids doesn't destroy the ability or how much you can RP with them. Personally, my ranger wouldn't be caught dead hanging out with a bunch of other rangers and druids. Hes not into all that faction nonsense -_- It's just of my opinion from what I can gather of Sundren, that Rangers/Druids not having an actual faction, makes sense. Whether have the area on the map or not in the beta doesn't matter a diddly.

And you can still have goals larger than your own without being part of a faction that fits your class, or even your character to a limit. Factions like you said are about greater goals, which means you have to be willing to give up something of your own to some degree. Even a bunch of druids aren't going to completely agree.

There are options outside of adding faction for everything when it doesn't really match lore all that well.

[Zoberraz]

People, if you want to give credence to a Druid Grove/Ranger Outpost based factions, we pretty much have only one option: showing the staff that this would be worth it. Showing that amazing roleplay can come out of it. Basing a lot of player initiated events to give the DMs the feeling that "this shit is interesting after all". Perhaps lore in the past don't make that particular organization have all that much weight, but then it's up to us to make it look more interesting.

Scavar, I think you're entirely missing the point. The elven faction pre-wipe was one example of a faction not indigenous to the Sundered Valley which was made out of scratch with little in Sundren actually supporting it. I'm drawing a parallel to this.

Let's say that instead of the 10-15 elves we had in the Council of Voices that instead we'd all have had been clerics of Umberlee. While elves had little to support them Sundren-wise, Umberlee has a church in the setting - so, it has a focal point of interest which was invested in the setting. For 15 clerics of, I dunno, Sune... there's nothing established in the setting so its pretty normal not to expect the staff to try to appeal to the Sunites directly and help them make an organization. However, in choosing Umberlee, the players playing Clerics of the Bitch Queen would pretty much be focusing on an existing part of the setting and trying to bring it more life and hoping to bring a bigger, more organized faction.

It's hard for DMs to say no to fifteen players whom show presence, effort and united purpose. Even though Saulus might claim that Umberlee's clergy might not play a big role in the settings lore... but if there are 15 clerics of Umberlee around, let's say 5 to 10 active at peak hours... would it not make a difference?

My example of clerics of Umberlee applies just as much to the druids and rangers. My belief is that the server population has what it takes for something similar, though all the eggs aren't in the same basket (it's not a single class, but two, and it allows for more faiths and a wider alignment range). But then again, it also depends a lot on player investment in this: I remember how the Council of Voices did not get its forum until much later.

Saulus seems to have no problem being proven wrong - I mean, if we can bring something to life and impress him and the staff, so much the better! (he never said we'd get no support - just that he felt it was very unlikely) It's somewhat of a let down to see trying to promote an organization which is part of Sundren receives so little initial support (I am surprised, actually - if I'd have wanted to start from scratch, I could have gone for a lodge of berserker warriors. I really expected this to get a warmer reception if not to actually already exist). My goal is to roleplay my character's life and career in Sundren. I'd hope not to do so alone. I'd hope that I can make it seem interesting to others and that they can make it interesting for me. Hopefully, it'll turn out that way - and itll get to be fun and rewarding too... that's why I guess we are here, after all.

Note: wow, my thread's subject was totally hijacked.

[Xanderleo]

The only thing I particularly disagree with here, is the insinuation that you won't have an impact on the world unless you have a faction. Or, that you'll be "alone" if you don't have a faction based around your class or race.

It's about what your character does so much more than what group he happens to belong to. I can attest to this, as can many others.

So start up a group, organize it, and see if it can't become a more permanent thing. As so many have said before here, Sundren is in Beta, things are in flux.

[Machiavelli]

Actually Xander... you just agreed with Zoberraz there

[Xanderleo]

Not that I saw.

[Scavar]

I didn't think I was missing that point at all. I wasn't even around then so that isn't part of my experience, I am going completely off of what Sundren is right now, and what is in the Wiki.

I'm not saying there shouldn't be a faction, or that Rangers and Druids shouldn't come together for a common goal. I mean if you take you're thing with 15 Clerics of Umberlee, sure but that works for other things too. Sure Rangers and Druids don't have a faction but if you suddenly had this group of people that were active, and influencing the world by talking to people and getting involved in stuff.

Well like you said. /shrug