ALVATIA: Main Page

From RPGnet
Jump to: navigation, search

Alvatia: Realm of Fantasy

Alvatia is a 'low magic' fantasy campaign, set in a culture not too different from 14th Century England. Players can explore the many islands of Nyranim, encountering adventures as they go – sometimes unexpectedly. As they gain influence, they may control the fate of manors, counties, or entire nations – and gain allies and enemies.

The players may be serfs, mercenaries, nobles, artisans, sorcerers, clergy or any of a host of professions and social classes. They might become heroes, saving the people from grasping despots or terrible monsters; villains, gathering power and fortune before making an attempt on the throne; or merely ordinary folk, trying to survive and eke out a living.

Initially, players will be refugees from a plague-ridden continent to the East, to give a convincing reason for their ignorance of Alvatian customs, politics and affairs. Players may belong to clans, guilds, societies or religious groups; as players (or actors) gain followers, income and power, their status in these groups, and in the Kingdom, may increase. When a character (player or otherwise) swears fealty to another, each receives some benefits.

The Kingdom of Alvatia covers about 11,000 square miles, and has a population of over half a million. Within Alvatia, folk build castles, huts and walled towns; they raise crops, build homes, craft weapons, and sell their wares; they ride horses, sail ships, and climb trees; and they fight with swords, bows, spears and other weapons. The feudal nature of society is itself sometimes a benefit – or a hindrance – to the success of a player.

The possession of, and legal rights to, property will be (as much as possible) governed within the 'reality' of the game. A character might clear some land in the forest, build a hut, plant a field and declare him or herself the owner by some 'homestead right;' if nobody disputes this, he or she remains the de facto owner. Feudal lords (who may be players) may bestow, or reclaim, lands; squabbling lords may seize lands by force of arms. Within the cities exists a more 'modern' system of property titles: houses and building lots can change hands for a sack of silver.

Various forms of magic exist, some openly but most covertly. These range from the 'hedge' magics of the peasants, to high and scholastic wizardry. Artifacts of ancient power, herbs with subtle effects, and items needed for powerful rituals.