Joshua Randall said:
I know at least 9 other people have a copy, as mine is #10.
My mom owns the other 9.
Joshua Randall said:
Would you, as a player, want to be a PC in the Valus? I'll withhold my own answer for a while.
Hell, I'd like to answer this, as I've never been a player in the Valus - always been on the "evil side" of the DM screen.
I'm assuming, based on your question, that you would
not want to be a player in the Valus. You may or may not be surprised to know that this very concept was raised before the book was published. I realized that no one in the Valus liked one another - elves were arrogant, dwarves provincial and crude, half-orcs savage, halflings concerned only with smuggling illicit wares into and out of communities, burrow gnomes reclusive, roven too busy slaughtering gnolls on the Weedsea (and being slaughtered in turn), trulls too alien, etc.
Even humans, for the love of d20, didn't get along with one another or their demi-human/humanoid friends. Carriks are ticked that Rhelmsfolk had successfully gained their independence years ago. Luc Valusians worry about an impending invasion by the Apians and Basilicans. Gordians fight everyone, just for fun. And, hell, Rorns are cannibals. We won't even talk about Genns and the Aradeeti.
And it wasn't just a hodge-podge of angry mortals. Even the
gods disliked the creatures living and dying on the Valus. As the book states, a Risen God grants his clerics divine gifts for purely selfish reasons. (Or, at least, most Valusian sages would concur with this point). A god's power is loosely based on the number and strength of his worshippers; he
wants to aid his clerics because their devotion, in turn, helps him in his heavenly struggle against his fellow deities. It's more complicated thant his, of course, but that's the general gist of it.
Based on that quick-and-dirty, one might think it'd be impossible for a heterogenous adventuring party to be a cohesive team.
But it's not. Adventurers can be the exception to this rule. They can be a very bright beacon in a fog-shrouded world. I'm not trying to get overly dramatic here; I really think there's an opportunity for PCs to shine. Heroes just aren't common within the Valus, so when one more comes along - they're marked.
Incidentally, I think this exceprt from the book addresses the very sort of thing you've mentioned.
Valus said:
There is but one thing greater than my hatred for the horadrel Serian par Dindandilion. I have traveled with him for two years now. The rest of our group has come and gone, many have died, others have retired. But Serian, damn him, always seems to remain. When we climb mountains, I sweat and he sings. When we flee from terrors, I sprint and he glides. When we fight our enemies, I stumble and he dances. The bastard even raises his pinky finger heavenward when drinking.
He is an arrogant ass. He refuses to pay his share, and sometimes won’t even sit with me in the common room. He makes me discuss the terms of our payment whenever our patron is lowborn. He steals the few tavern girls I manage to entice to my table.
At last count, he bailed me out of jail seventeen times. He saved my life thirty-one times – and that’s not including those nights when he escorted me down alleyways after I had become fall-down drunk. When my mother was dying to the wasting sickness, and I had no coins to buy a priest, one came anyway. I blame the horadrel whenever I hear my mother cursing me on those few times we return to Restan, though he just sneers and ignores me.
I mentioned there is but one thing greater than my hatred for the horadrel Serian par Dindandilion, and that is my love for him.
- Rive of Restan, Carrik adventurer
So, I guess, my answer would have to be: I would like to be a player in the Valus...but I'd much rather be a DM.
JoeGKushner said:
Just wanted to note that I've received a copy of it and will hopefully have something either before or after Gen Con.
Remember, JGK, I have three kids to feed.
In all seriousness, if anyone's heading to GenCon, look me up. Just head to the DWP booth (2025?). Look for a tall, handsome guy. He'll be wearing a nice shirt and jeans. Pretty big arms, chiseled good looks, square chin.
That ain't me. If you look down a bit, you'll see he has some poor S.O.B. in a headlock. That's me. Come say hi.
Here's wishing all of you happy and safe weekends,
D