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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ForceUser" data-source="post: 1755789" data-attributes="member: 2785">Thanks for the input and the interest! Eriador is the Eurocentric continent that is currently the stomping grounds of my player group. It is everything standard D&D is, but I place an emphasis on imitating actual medieval cultures, as opposed to the somewhat anachronistic cultures typical of published D&D settings. For example, instead of the made-up fantasy races seen in most D&D sourcebooks, I use human groups based on the Germanic Celts, the Norman French, and the Romano-Italians. I can't stress enough how helpful Expeditious Retreat Press's A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe was in understanding feudalism and everyday life in the Middle Ages.I actually use Forgotten Realms' Magic of Faerun as my source for crossroads & backroads. The aelfborn's racial ability to detect such hidden Faerie byways is actually an adaptation of the 0th-level spell from MoF called detect crossroads. I thought it would be neat thematically to simply allow the aelfborn and the faen (another fey race I allow, from Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed) to be able to sense the crossroads innately due to their heritage.A Faerie crossroads, for those not in the know, is an entrance to a hidden path called a backroad, which is invisible to mortals most of the time and allows a traveler to cross vast distances in the wink of an eye - sort of like a teleport, but without transversing another plane. Also, the crossroad is stationary and guarded by a fey creature of some sort, who may or may not be friendly to mortals. Most guardians require some deed performed - a song, a dance, or something more serious (read: a Diplomacy check) - before they allow a mortal to pass their crossroads. Fey creatures, on the other hand, are always allowed to pass unhindered. This benefit applies to both aelfborn and faen. Druids and bards often know a bit about Faerie crossroads, but only the wild fey know everything. Backroads are one-way only. Thus, it's significant that certain player character races have an ability to ascertain the location of the hidden crossroads - characters in the know have a free and easy way to cross long distances quickly, even at low levels, and since it's impossible to tell when a backroad leads before you step across it, every journey is full of possibility. In other words, it's a great DM tool for providing exciting adventures that enhance the mood of the setting.1) Yes, they stack and that's intentional. I considered the possibility that giving a +2 Cha bonus and a +2 to Cha skills was too much, but using the Player's Handbook as my guide, I noticed that halflings have a +2 to Dex and a +2 to Move Silently, so I'm okay with it. Aelfborn are intended to be quite charismatic, which is often their best tool for survival.2) & 3) Interesting points. Perhaps I'll design an aelfborn racial paragon class that allows them to gain some small benefits from their fey deformities.4) I am firmly in the camp of "any race + any class" as a DM. That said, I note where appropriate in my campaign gazetteer that certain races favor certain classes and vice versa. If a player wants to try an aelfborn Celestine cleric, by all means, give it a shot! Such a character would almost require a dramatic background to explain the unusual combination, and I am all for character concepts that draw the players into the game world.As for the sensitivity to cold iron, I didn't want to limit my fey players from metal entirely, simply because I didn't want to limit their choices so severely. Steel, iron and other metals have no inherent discomforting effect on the fey, but cold-forged iron is deadly. This seems to add a mystical element to cold iron, and I feel that can have a dramatic positive effect on the game. I call my homebrew setting FIONAVAR, as homage to one of my favorite fantasy writers, Guy Gavriel Kay. It is merely a hodge-podge of my favorite elements of the various D&D settings and my favorite fantasy authors' works. Stylistically it is quite modular in design, with entire parts ripped whole cloth from other settings. The overall theme could be said to be "dark medieval fantasy with an historical bent." The three greatest influences on the mood and tone of my setting would have to be Eberron, Ravenloft, and the aforementioned Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe. Thrown into the mix for good measure are elements from such writers as J. K. Rowling, Stephen Brust, Michael Moorcock, Caleb Carr, C. S. Freidman, H. P. Lovecraft, Anne Rice, Mark Frost, and the Warcraft design team at Blizzard Entertainment.</blockquote>

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