New race

[U2 fan]

Can we add tar volan as a race? I wanna play my next character there but keep the bonus of the local city. Called them tar volians or something?

[Jenlyn]

Well, there is no such race in the books, so I don't see how it would fit thematically with the game. There was discussion years ago about perhaps adding trollocs as a playable race, but it never amounted to much. You can select weaves as a focus and center yourself in Tar Valon, if that is what you are driving at, but you will have to do it as a human.

[Jenlyn]

Unless you mean a nationality rather than a race, but that wouldn't fit thematically either, as residents of Tar Valon aren't really called anything, although they probably should be, since it was kind of a city-state that answered only to the White Tower.

For a decade, I played as the Keeper of the Chronicles with several long stints as Amyrlin of the White Tower clan in the game, and each time, every Aes Sedai in the clan had to come from some other country, just like most of the Aes Sedai in the books, so we had our own individual national penalties and bonuses that the game offered us, and we just based the clan in Tar Valon by running most of our turns in the surrounding wilderness areas. If you think about it, the loyalty of both the Aes Sedai and the general residents of Tar Valon lie primarily with the White Tower and not the unimaginably beautiful, Ogier-built city itself, and I am certain that with a little effort, you can find it just as rewarding to be an Altaran (or whatever) resident of Tar Valon as my old character did.

[U2 fan]

I meant nationality, but yeah I get it's not officially mentioned in the book but still, they are a city state. I could easily be a carienen or andoran. But I want the perks that comes with being a in a "home city" and two, it just helps with my rp if I was actually born there and work there

[Jenlyn]

Well, you can do whatever you want for role play, and if you want, you can say that you have a +5% bonus vs NPCs in cities because you were born in Tar Valon . No one could disprove you, and you would still get the bonuses of whatever nation you claimed.

[Seitaarin]

It's a bit odd really when you think on it ... One of the most incredible cities, been there since shortly after the breaking, a city state since that time under aes sedai rule, never conquered despite Hawkwing, trollocs and Aiel efforts ... you'd imagine there would be a large native population in addition to all of the multiculturalism that you hear about within the tower itself. But it's never mentioned like that. Valonian I'd call 'em.

Edit: Never conquered historically that is ... until modern times, when the Seanchan met the AS civil war and the proverbial hit the fan at TV.

[Jenlyn]

But they weren't conquered, only raided. I think the Seanchan *could* conquer them though, especially with those fool oaths constraining them.

Yeah, they should have had a greater identity, maybe even a national one. It's not unprecedented, what with Mayene being a city state,, and a much lesser one than that.

Of course, the Seanchan should have spoken an entirely different language than the Randlanders, and the Sharans probably should have as well; I think it strains credulity enough that everyone on the main continent speaks the same language with only mild differences. That do be a tough pill to swallow...

[Tim]

Yeah. I went with 18 nationalities because 1) some cities don't really have "nationalities" associated with them (like Tar Valon), 2) the math worked nice for the bonuses, and 3) there's already little enough distinguishing the nationalities to justify as many as there are.

I get where you're coming from, but I need a better reason than a missing 5% bonus in 6 cities to add more nationalities and try to balance things.

[U2 Fan]

It just adds the incentives and motives of both the players and the game. I am interested in tar volan's safety and prosperity. I am not an Aes Sedai, but it is my home and its where my family is. It really is for more legitimate rp purposes. writing in my bio just isn't enough. I want the tar volan flag, and I want it to be proper. I hope that is a good enough reason, enhancing my investment in each play through, i know you work hard and have a million other projects. just this would make my experience this time so much better, and ultimately i think lead to other unique options for tar volan. like female players actually able to be aes sedai and channel. please if yah get a chance in the future i would appreciate it

[Jenlyn]

The game has had Aes Sedai and Asha'man classes in the past, but there were balance issues. You can still play a female character, select weaves as a focus, and call her an Aes Sedai.

Giving Tar Valon the status of a nation would not make it easier to defend, nor would it make it more prosperous. It would gain nothing but a title while further muddying the waters of the game. There is nothing you could do under your proposal that you cannot do now except get national bonuses for it, and he already explained why he stopped at 18 nations. Also, there is no basis for it in the books. If any city was going to get nation status, it would be Mayene, because in the books, Mayene is a true city state, while Tar Valon, as cool as it is, is just a city.

[Tim]

There's still Aes Sedai and Asha'man classes. You just need to be a channeler.

[terrisg]

I like weaves , but the aes'sedai class doesn't offer what I like for my builds...it sucks that the numbers don't allow for that nationality..or Mayeners. The man can't change math...I don't think? Rp is fun! Is it still active? I only saw some older posts...

[Jenlyn]

Jul 20, 2017 20:06:23 GMT -6 Tim said:

There's still Aes Sedai and Asha'man classes. You just need to be a channeler.

Good to know. I haven't channeled in quite awhile, and when it was dropped and replaced with Healer as a starting class, I figured it had been dropped entirely.