near extinct.2. They have an extremely anti-social nature which makes elves look friendly.
3. They are able to change shape(Not clear about this one but I read something about it in my DLCS.).
...It seems that all these green martian look alikes will do is disrupt the game, especially if my one player that is known for his power gaming and bad role playing chooses to play one.
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Originally posted by Serena DarkMyst
They certainly dont disrupt the game. That being said, any character can be disruptive to a game with a bad player behind them...Perhaps rather than disallowing a great character race, you may rethink who is playing in your game
I disallow any +ECL race that takes away from what I am trying to accomplish in my game. I have also dropped players that take away from other player's enjoyment of the game.
The Irda race being extremely anti-social does nothing for a game that is centered on a fellowship of adventurers. It seems like they are just beefed up with powers and attitude, hence leaving the door open for bad role players to get even worse.
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Originally posted by True_Blue
I currently have a player running an Irda and there really isnt any problem. Shapechanging 3 times a day isnt very overpowering to me, just means they can look like other races...really not a big deal. And the spells they know are really weak, so who cares. I guess I just don't see them as powerful.
Do you normally allow characters with a +ECL in your games ?
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Originally posted by LordofIllusions
green martian look alikes
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As I said before, the Irda really dont have anything disruptive to a game that i've noticed. I've seen a lot worse in other worlds.
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Dude...its not the race that promotes the bad roleplaying...its a bad roleplayer. The race is rife with roleplaying oppurtunties....Just because they are antisocial and have a small population doesnt mean that they are a bad race to rp. The kender came close to total genocide too....I mean...Malys killed a whole boatload....probably many more than were on the tiny island that got wasted in the Summer of Chaos.
ECL+ characters arent a bad thing either...just an option for someone creating a character for a higher level party....As long as they are balanced with the other players abilities there should be no problem.
And no + ECL characters are not bad when you are starting with a higher level party but when you always start PC's at 1st level then it becomes a problem.
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Originally posted by LordofIllusions
Aren't they like green or blue ? I know they have some crazy aquamarine tone or something like that.
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They're blue.
Originally posted by LordofIllusions
1. They are
Irda have always been rare. Now they're even more so.
Just because they're near-extinct in the Age of Mortals does not mean that they are prior to that era. Some people still play in the War of the Lance, Chaos War, Cataclysm, Third Dragon War, and various other eras.
2. They have an extremely anti-social nature which makes elves look friendly.
I wouldn't describe them as "anti-social". I would describe them as being private.
Anti-social has connotations of being hostile, disruptive. antagonistic, disrespectful, and rude (based on the definition at dictionary.com).
Irda just prefer solitude. Certainly, I think that's something we can all relate to.
3. They are able to change shape(Not clear about this one but I read something about it in my DLCS.).
Egad, an interesting racial ability! Why, that would make them great rogues, and the rare irda in the Age of Mortals may find a place in the Legion of Steel.
...It seems that all these green martian look alikes will do is disrupt the game, especially if my one player that is known for his power gaming and bad role playing chooses to play one.
~~~
I've played an irda in the past, and it did nothing to disrupt the game. This was even in 2nd edition, prior to the concept of level adjustments.
Irda have several cool things going for them. They're rare descendents from the original ogres. They're extremely graceful and beautiful - even moreso than elves. It's a dark beauty, giving them the look like they are as cold and lovely as sculpted marble. When Solinari is in High Sanction, irda who are away from the irda isle are called to their island home. Mechanically, they've got spell-like abilities and can change shape.
Irda are immensely fun to play. I highly recommend them.
Originally posted by Dragonhelm
Egad, an interesting racial ability! Why, that would make them great rogues, and the rare irda in the Age of Mortals may find a place in the Legion of Steel.
Agreed, I was just thinking yesterday how amazing they would be as Legion Scouts.
Originally posted by Dragonhelm
Irda are immensely fun to play. I highly recommend them.
I've been tinkering with the idea of creating an Irda as my next character. So you didn't find the shapechanging to be too overwhelming? I once played a 1st level Fey'ri sorcerer in a one-shot adventure and was able to create all kinds of havoc with the city guards hunting me by switching bodies left and right, but their shapechanging isn't limited to a number of times per day.
And no + ECL characters are not bad when you are starting with a higher level party but when you always start PC's at 1st level then it becomes a problem.
Eh not really, when I started my last campaign I told my players that I'd allow ANY race presented as a PC race in the Dragonlance Campaign Setting, or Age of Mortals, and yes we were starting at first level.
Is this a problem? Not particularly. Even though I don't have savage species I've seen enough monster level progression tables that it wasn't hard for me to whip up one for the Centaur player (later I found one online that was near identical so I'm proud of myself) and Draconlance.com already had Draconian monster level progressions posted. Right now everyone's second level, those without ECL races are gaining their class abilities and those with ECL races are just gaining their monster abilities.
Before anyone comes at me with 'What RP justification is there for the lack of abilities' simpley make them a bit younger, they're maturing. The Kapak is a nieve runaway from Teyr actually, I gotta give my player credit for fleshing that out... it'll be interesting if Keys of Destiny or one of the following books takes the group to Teyr...
Simple solution. Would I have allowed an Irda? Had anyone wanted to play one, yes, I would have just whipped up a progression table.
Originally posted by Kai Lord
So you didn't find the shapechanging to be too overwhelming?
Not at all. Mind you, this was in the 2nd edition days, and the DM limited me to something like 4 forms. I think I learned one at every 3 levels, or so.
Adriani (my irda) was a wizard first and foremost, so his focus was on his magic. He was also a historian. I updated him to 3e, and gave him a couple of loremaster levels.
Obviously, this is a case where the DM put limits on the character to keep things balanced, and I role-played the character in such a way that shapechanging was not something he focused on. He mainly used the ability to hide his true heritage. My focus with Adriani was on his magic, since irda have a strong connection to magic.
Where you would probably get into trouble would be with someone playing an irda rogue, especially if that player does so with the idea of playing pranks, or generally causing havoc.
Even at that, equipment and clothing do not change. The form a character has to take is humanoid. You can change shape only 3 times per day. Funny enough, I think that was also our old house rule.
Irda have any number of roles they can play in a party. They're highly attuned to magic, so it would be fitting for one to be a White Robe (as they're drawn by Solinari to their homeland), or even to be a sorcerer. Having one study at the Academy of Sorcery would be interesting.
You could go the route of a rogue, becoming a master of disguise. Combine this with sorcery, and you would have an interesting spellfilch.
The Legion of Steel would be an interesting path as well. They would make great Legion Scouts or Legion Sorcerers.
I think what happens at times is that people sometimes focus so much on the race's abilities, they lose sight of the role-playing possibilities. Certainly, this is often the case with kender, which is why they are abused so often, and so many gamers who aren't Dragonlance fans dislike them.
In my own case, I could have abused the shapechanging ability had I wanted to, even with the DM-imposed limits. However, I chose instead to focus on his magic.
So, has anyone else here played an irda? Got any stories to tell?
Originally posted by Dragonhelm
Not at all.
That's cool. Great feedback. The only other misgiving I have about playing an Irda is that you almost *have* to spend 99% of the time (or more) disguised as a human or elf (or dwarf or whatever). You just don't see Irda walking around Ansalon in their true forms. You couldn't really go anywhere on the continent without causing an uproar of some sort.
So basically it seems they'd feel like you're just playing a human or what have you with shapechanging and minor spell abilities since you'd have to spend so much time in that form. Was that that the case for you? Did you really *feel* like you were playing an Irda or was it more of just being a human or elf who happened to have this secret true form that no one ever saw.
Originally posted by Kai Lord
You just don't see Irda walking around Ansalon in their true forms.
Which is why it is my personal opinion that there are more irda out there than what the authors let on.
Originally posted by Nived
Is this a problem? Not particularly. Even though I don't have savage species I've seen enough monster level progression tables that it wasn't hard for me to whip up one for the Centaur player (later I found one online that was near identical so I'm proud of myself) and Draconlance.com already had Draconian monster level progressions posted. Right now everyone's second level, those without ECL races are gaining their class abilities and those with ECL races are just gaining their monster abilities.
Hey, i have a player who just joined who's a centaur(I hate to deny a first-time player something like that), but it's ECL is higher then the party's level. Do you think you could post your centaur monster class or something? I don't have enough experience to do it myself quite yet(although I'm studying the Draconian monster classes ffromt he Nexus for my other new player who's a bozak Draconian named Kang, the son of a bozak draconian named Slith, who's the son of a bozak draconian named Kang. I think you see where I'm going with this. The party kender calls him Junior).
Originally posted by Kai Lord
That's cool. Great feedback. The only other misgiving I have about playing an Irda is that you almost *have* to spend 99% of the time (or more) disguised as a human or elf (or dwarf or whatever). You just don't see Irda walking around Ansalon in their true forms. You couldn't really go anywhere on the continent without causing an uproar of some sort.
So basically it seems they'd feel like you're just playing a human or what have you with shapechanging and minor spell abilities since you'd have to spend so much time in that form. Was that that the case for you? Did you really *feel* like you were playing an Irda or was it more of just being a human or elf who happened to have this secret true form that no one ever saw.
Excellent points, Kai Lord. You touched upon some things I wanted to mention.
You do have the problem where you have to be disguised much of the time. My character had two forms he would often go by - an elf and an old man. The old man was modeled after the human who raised him.
In the case of Adriani, he was born the night of the Cataclysm, but his parents didn't survive. He was found by a kindly old man who raised him. Adriani discovered his shapechanging abilities on his own, and also discovered a knack for magic. He grew up not knowing what exactly he was. He would later find out that he was an irda.
When he joined the group, he often hid his true nature. Once he got to know them and was comfortable, he would travel in his true form. Whenever they encountered someone, he would switch to one of his disguises. Occasionally, he would switch to his true form to give someone a fright. ;)
To me, it felt like I was playing an irda (albeit with the background story). There may have been the occasional time that I felt like I was playing a human, but those were few and far between.
The ECL in my game is an Ogre Cleric of Kiri-Jolith and because I still haven't gotten the full hand of 3e experience and the extra levels I just have him roleplay more stuff. This ogre (Gragrak) is very wise & very strong but, has an intelligence of 5 and the player is very good with sticking within the roleplaying aspect of that.
After a brief detour we are beginning to run the first chapter of Key of Destiny (attempting too anyway, as I've been out of D&D awhile and the others are EXTREMELY new to DragonLance).
Just remember and remind players and such that DL has always been about the roleplaying and isn't about min/max and the really good players won't let you down.
Originally posted by LordofIllusions
Aren't they like green or blue ? I know they have some crazy aquamarine tone or something like that.
Blue. But martian lookalikes? I might not be the authority when it comes to what martians look like, but the irda, for some reason, don't strike me as martian lookalikes.
Unless, of course, being blue makes you look like a martian.
Originally posted by The White Sorcerer
Blue. But martian lookalikes? I might not be the authority when it comes to what martians look like, but the irda, for some reason, don't strike me as martian lookalikes.
Unless, of course, being blue makes you look like a martian.
Martians are red, or green with two pairs of arms. Everybody knows that.
The bestw ay to explain Irda culture is that they are highly xenophobic. They really do fear outsiders, and those which wander in disguise across Ansalon are the least xenophobic of their kind. Even they have a hard time of it.
Cheers,
Cam
Originally posted by LordofIllusions
The Irda race being extremely anti-social does nothing for a game that is centered on a fellowship of adventurers. It seems like they are just beefed up with powers and attitude, hence leaving the door open for bad role players to get even worse.
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It is worth remembering that the Irda of Taladas, the Mischta, are not extinct, and are in fact quite populous ( about 2,000 dwelling on the island of Selasia, detailed in Otherlands.) Unlike Ansalon Irda, they are quite sociable and form family units / friendships easily enough, so it doesn't stretch the imagination too much to have one interacting with other adventurers quite normally. Just come up with a reasonable premise for a high ogre from Selasia to be travelling Ansalon, and you have a perfectly workable Irda PC concept.
Originally posted by Twilight Herald
It is worth remembering that the Irda of Taladas, the Mischta, are not extinct, and are in fact quite populous ( about 2,000 dwelling on the island of Selasia, detailed in Otherlands.)
...or at least, they were quite populous around the time of Legends. Now however? Hmm.
Cheers,
Cam
Originally posted by Cam Banks
...or at least, they were quite populous around the time of Legends. Now however? Hmm.
Cheers,
Cam
Don't tell me you have inside information about the current status of my beloved Mischta? I'm itching to find out whether anything nasty happened to Selasia during the Age of Mortals.
Originally posted by Twilight Herald
Don't tell me you have inside information about the current status of my beloved Mischta? I'm itching to find out whether anything nasty happened to Selasia during the Age of Mortals.
Didn't nasty things happen to everybody?
Cheers,
Cam
I haven't had any players use irda yet since for now I'm keeping them out until I know what part the irda will play in the age of mortals. I have had players use Bakali, Minotaurs, and even a were-tiger once(that won't happen again).
I think that for a race to be called disruptive it must somehow be a serious hinderance to the party. If a player were to be playing... a balor, that would be disruptive as people would scream and run when the balor approached a town. It would also lead to knights scouring the countryside for this demon. The party would be almost completely incapable of completing any mission without leaving the balor behind.