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So, I'm working on a Robot-fighting Bloodrager concept for an Iron Gods game. My initial concept was an abyssal blooded Gnoll, the result of some of of the spillover from the Worldwound (already got permission from my GM).
However, it occurs to me, that if my character was a member of one of the existing tribes presented in the Numeria book, I might mesh better with the story.
So, my question is, without going into spoilery details, would I be better off being part of an existing tribe, or am I fine being a lone wolf, so to speak.
I don't believe that there are any Gnoll tribes active in Numeria.
However, I don't think any of the existing tribe would be open to adopting a Gnoll member.
In any event, the Numerian tribes don't play nearly as much of a role in the AP as one might expect (they are a factor in Book 5, but even there they are a minor one).
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Yeah, I haven't seen anything about Gnolls in Numeria, but given the desert climate and it's proximity to the Worldwound, I think it's plausible that a Gnoll tribe may have migrated north.
Also, I did figure that a standard human tribe would not adopt a gnoll member, so if I did want to be part of an existing tribe, I'd have to change my concept. Hence the question.
Thanks for the information about the tribes. Id have hated to change my concept only to find it didn't matter.
So, I'm working on a Robot-fighting Bloodrager concept for an Iron Gods game. My initial concept was an abyssal blooded Gnoll, the result of some of of the spillover from the Worldwound (already got permission from my GM).
However, it occurs to me, that if my character was a member of one of the existing tribes presented in the Numeria book, I might mesh better with the story.
So, my question is, without going into spoilery details, would I be better off being part of an existing tribe, or am I fine being a lone wolf, so to speak.
I would strongly suggest that if you haven't already, download and read the Player's Guide to the AP.
Yeah, I haven't seen anything about Gnolls in Numeria, but given the desert climate and it's proximity to the Worldwound, I think it's plausible that a Gnoll tribe may have migrated north.
It's been a while since I GMed anything in Numeria, so correct me if I'm wrong, but if I remember correctly Numeria is far from being a dessert. It's so far up north that it should be more vast plains and even Tundra.
Yeah, I haven't seen anything about Gnolls in Numeria, but given the desert climate and it's proximity to the Worldwound, I think it's plausible that a Gnoll tribe may have migrated north.It's been a while since I GMed anything in Numeria, so correct me if I'm wrong, but if I remember correctly Numeria is far from being a dessert. It's so far up north that it should be more vast plains and even Tundra.
It's not that far north. It would be closer in climate to "southern" Canada.
It isn't desert so much as wasteland. A lot of Numeria is still blighted by the toxic waste from the Rain of Stars even after thousands of years.
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Any given place can have only so many local species/cultures before it starts to look like a zoo with no planning to it. In the case of Numeria the main species are: human > orcs >> dwarves (especially in Chesed, the original Jormurdun diaspora; see Returned To Sky for example) >> ratfolk >> androids. There are of course trace amounts of elves, halflings etcetera but they're niche.
There's a couple of Darklands entries in Numeria, which explains the orcs; as well as Belkzen being near. And there's one orcish village. But apart from that humans dominate the surface. These humans are in the 6' to 7' tall range already and like their earthbreakers, so it's a bit harder for orcs and gnolls to muscle in on the "brute" ecological niche :P
The 'Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars' book has a good two-page spread on the main seven tribes, which is fairly spoiler-free too. And it's a book your GM certainly should have because it's gorgeous and gives nice background to the setting.
The tribes don't feature very heavily in the AP, but then it's rather focused on one main storyline. It could certainly be embellished by the GM, there's enough seeds for more barbarian sidequests. Again the Numeria book is great for the GM.
I agree with Ascalaphus, by choosing to be a member of a Numerian tribe,
you are making it easy, even logical,
for the GM to develop story aspects directly relevant to you, and that won't even be pandering to you,
but will be enriching the Numerian experience for all players, your tribal background just being the catalyst.
Honestly, the Gnoll concept doesn't sound very solid, the land is not a desert, it is cold plains,
and "migration" would mean a naval voyage thru the most densely civilized part of Inner Sea... for what?
IMHO that concept would work better as Human from Sarkorian Kellid tribe corrupted by Demons,
or just be a local Numerian tribesman who has Abyssal corruption stemming from that invasion.
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This wasn't the conversation wasn't the one I intended to have, but whatever.
The Gnoll concept works just fine, as Gnolls live all over Avistan, in fact, it is specifically mentioned in the "Classic Monsters Revisited" that they thrive in River Kingdoms and Galt, both of which are darn close to Numeria.
As to why the Band would travel north, in my concept, it is because they wanted to be close to the Worldwound to gain some of Lamashtu's power. Although they found the worldwound a bit too dangerous even for them, they were there long enough for one of their children to be born infused with demonic energy, resulting in my Abyssal Blooded Bloodrager to be born.
For the record, I have read Numeria, Land of the Fallen Stars, and I have seen the tribes. My question was, if I decide to be a member of those tribes, would it matter at all in the AP, which it sounds like it won't.
If you decided to be a member of those tribes, it matters in the sense that those are human barbarian tribes (maybe some half-orcs present), not gnoll tribes. And they certainly wouldn't mix.
Whether it would matter if you're a member of one of those tribes or not...no, not really.
As to you being very defensive about the gnoll thing, it's obvious that you want the bonuses to strength and con and don't like people telling you that it's probably reasonable for a gnoll to be present in the party since gnolls are normally CE anti-civilization Lamashtu worshiping monster. Gnolls also don't even speak common naturally, so you can't even talk to your adventuring party without an investment in int.
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As to you being very defensive about the gnoll thing, it's obvious that you want the bonuses to strength and con and don't like people telling you that it's probably reasonable for a gnoll to be present in the party since gnolls are normally CE anti-civilization Lamashtu worshiping monster. Gnolls also don't even speak common naturally, so you can't even talk to your adventuring party without an investment in int.
As far as this being a min-max choice, Gnoll is probably the worst min-max option out there. Hell, I could have probably talked my GM into playing a full blooded orc if that's what I'd wanted to do and that would have given me a +4 strength. The Gnoll isn't even broken. The ARG version has fewer RP then any of the core races. Could have played a Naga-ji, gotten the bonus to Strength and Charisma, and that would have been a way better bloodrager. Also, if I was gonna get the most out of the Gnolls attributes, why not just go straight barbarian? Again, way better choice mechanically speaking.
No, I want to be a gnoll cause I've always liked gnolls. Even back when I had to take 3 racial levels to play them. And an Anti-Civilization creature is EXACTLY the kind of player character that works perfect for this game about Barbarians fighting monsters. I'm not even gonna be evil. My character will have left his tribe to try to put an end to the Robot menace once and for all.
And the language handicap is the easiest handicap to overcome in the game. 1 skill point in linguistics, BAM, you can talk just fine with the party. I'd argue that's a million times less annoying then a deaf oracle.
My question was, if I decide to be a member of those tribes, would it matter at all in the AP, which it sounds like it won't.
Well, it COULD matter, but by being a gnoll you eliminate any chance of that happening, at least in my opinion. Being a member of the Black Horses, for example could be very interesting, lead to challenging choices and tough decisions to make.
When I read your description, it doesn't make to much sense to me, as I in my opinion, gnolls don't belong that far north and I can't imagine the reigning Numerian tribes tolerating a gnoll tribe among them. Most other posts seem to agree to some extent that a gnoll is a great fit.
That being said, as your GM allows the choice, just ask him, because he seems to bend the setting a bit for you. So maybe one of the Numerian tribes tolerates your tribe and you raid under their "flag".
It's far from the worst choice. Bonuses to strength and con are really solid. Yes it would be better if it were strength and charisma, but honestly a bloodrager doesn't need that much charisma. You're never going to be amazing at spell casting, 14 charisma is really all you want to start with. Gnolls don't have a penalty to charisma and they get a +2 bonus to natural armor. There is nothing about being a gnoll that is a bad choice for being a bloodrager or barbarian. Gnoll isn't necessarily broken, but it's also a relatively optimized choice for what you want to play of a race that isn't normally available and isn't a good "player race" for fluff reasons. Orc is obviously a badchoice for a bloodrager because of the penalties to all mental stats.
We obviously have some very different opinions and are never going to see eye to eye, so I'm not sure there is any point in having further discussion about it.
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That being said, as your GM allows the choice, just ask him, because he seems to bend the setting a bit for you. So maybe one of the Numerian tribes tolerates your tribe and you raid under their "flag".
I may not have explained myself very clearly. I knew from the getgo that a Gnoll being part of a human tribe was not going to work. So my question was if I should change my concept to Human in order to be a member of a one of the Canon tribes, such as a the Black Horses. Or if it's not worth it.
I may not have explained myself very clearly. I knew from the getgo that a Gnoll being part of a human tribe was not going to work. So my question was if I should change my concept to Human in order to be a member of a one of the Canon tribes, such as a the Black Horses. Or if it's not worth it.
That being said, as your GM allows the choice, just ask him, because he seems to bend the setting a bit for you. So maybe one of the Numerian tribes tolerates your tribe and you raid under their "flag".
In my opinion, it's 100% worth it and has the potential for an awesome payoff. To me, your Gnoll choice could be replaced with Orc, Half-Orc or whatever and it wouldn't change much in terms of narrative and overall plothook. Being of a Numerian tribe could end up being epic.
My suggestion is to craft story around human tribesman exposed so much to numerian fludis that mutated in gnoll-like creature ( technical Gnoll, but better suited to story. Maybe GM let you take mutant template that fits for story?).
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I think a reason not to pick gnoll is that you will quite likely never ever run into another gnoll in the whole campaign.
If you went with human Kellid, and made some hints to the GM that you'd like him to play around with that, it would be quite easy to develop it a bit more. Just because it's not in the "RAW" part of the AP doesn't mean it'll be hard to adapt. The Black Horse tribe is especially interesting; the younger generation of that tribe is starting to feel that their nominal king, Kevoth-Kul, has essentially abandoned them. That's got RP potential because you're eventually going to his place to "sort some stuff out".