Playable Rhaloren race

[bricks]

Playable Rhaloren! Here's some lore-ish/background stuff I wrote, plus some ideas for racial skills and starting scenarios:

The Rhaloren are an infantile race of elves, an offshoot of the Shaloren. They have embraced their magical propensities even further than the Shaloren dared, reveling in the powers of raw magic and blight while neglecting the natural world. Their leader is the Grand Corrupter, who works from the mark of the Spellblaze, attempting to drain more energy from it. The Rhaloren resemble the Shaloren to a great extent, but their demonic pacts have given them enhanced strength. In addition, they have sacrificed their immortality for eternal youth, a gift from Urh’Rok. The Rhaloren are passable as Shaloren and can enter most areas unhindered. The Rhaloren do not consider themselves evil, but enlightened. They are the zealous magical counterpart to the Ziguranth.

Rhalorens are meant to be options for both str/mag and mag/will users. The former is a significant gap in the current set of available races. The Rhalorens’ closeness to magic has enhanced their strength, but their newfound youthfulness through submission to a demonic master has made their minds naive and their bodies unfamiliar, damaging their cunning and dexterity.

Code: Select all

+3 str -2 dex +2 mag +2 wil -2 cun 0 con
35% exp penalty
12 hp per level
Start with a shielding rune and a random attack rune.

Racial talent ideas:

Magic in the Blood - The effects of all infusions are reduced by 5/10/15/20/25%. The effects of all runes are increased by 10/20/30/40/50%.
Ageless - Remove up to X negative status effects. You also gain the ‘ageless’ status effect, which reduces all stats by Y for Z turns (to a minimum of 10) and cannot be removed.

Unlock method:
Complete Anti-Antimagic as a Shaloren Reaver or Corrupter.

Starting message:
You were once a Shaloren, and you were despised. Now you are Rhaloren, and you are reviled. To you, the Spellblaze was neither mistake nor tragedy, but the beginning of a new age. Great forces are stirring in the deepest recesses of this seemingly peaceful era, and as one of the few to embrace this new power, you have been tasked to explore the darkest dungeons and wildest forests in search of lost power.

Starting scenario:
You begin at the bottom of the Rhaloren Camp in an "Escape from Reknor"-esque scenario. A party of wilders from Zigur have discovered the camp and slaughtered your allies (perhaps you could have a Corrupter companion). You encounter the raiding party's leader, a Sand Wyrmic, near the exit. He can drop:

Code: Select all

Sandworm Skin
Infused by nature
un-ID'd name: smooth, scaly suit
second tier leather
Description:  A form-fitting suit made from the skin of a sandworm.  Years of wear against sand have smoothed the outer scales.
Can be activated for level 1 Burrow.
+5% Physical resistance
Increases willpower, strength.
Adds health regeneration.
(can you tell I just read Children of Dune?)

Changes to world interaction:
Rhaloren should be able to go anywhere that Shaloren can; the physical differences are just enough to be remarkable, but the existence of the Rhaloren is largely unknown. Anywhere NPCs reference the player race, they should instead refer to the player as Shaloren unless they are, for some reason, indifferent. (Alternatively, instead of saying "Shalore" or "Shaloren," they could refer to the player's race as "...Shaloren?")

Zigur should forever be forbidden to Rhaloren, for obvious reasons. The Rhaloren in the Mark of the Spellblaze should be friendly; the only danger there would be the elementals. The Grand Corrupter should not attack you, but instead offer the Anti-Antimagic quest as soon as he is approached.

The Crypt of Kryl'Feijan is a sticky issue. Since it's not a vital quest for completing the game, it could either be dropped, or a new scenario could arise in the same level range. If perfect symmetry is desired, it could be an encounter where you stumble upon a Halfling research complex to which the Shaloren have transported an imprisoned Rhaloren woman for research purposes. (We need more mad scientist halflings!)

I imagine there are plans for playable Rhaloren, but a search on the forums and a quick look through the development files didn't show anything.

[Zonk]

I might be wrong but I think the Rhaloren are simply meant to be a Shalore political faction - not really a different race/variant per se like with Shalore and Thalore...

[darkgod]

Yes Rhaloren are purely shaloren, they just have divergent opinions.
And they do not submit to demons either.

I might not be opposed to have them playable but the setting is not that

[bricks]

Hmm, damn. It's quite a bit harder to come up with racial skills for a political party.

[Grey]

Perhaps Shaloren Corruptors and Reavers should be Rhaloren, and would have different starting quests like those mentioned here.

[Sirrocco]

It would make for a relatively straightforward corrupter unlock (for good or ill).

Interesting idea for the racial trees though - allowing a major and bizarre quest or two that would change your race (presumably, to a race not available at the beginning of the game). You'd get back the points you spent on your racial skills, the racial effects would change, and your skill tree would be swapped out for the new one.