Xvarts?

[demiurge1138]

Am I the only one that ever thought that Xvart = angry smurf?

I thought more "hideously deformed smurf", but that's just me.

I remember a really old Dungeon module about a tribe of xvarts living in a cliff by the sea, and it was very tongue-in-cheek. There were encounter names like "More Mindless Slaughter", that sort of thing. Seems as if even designers couldn't take them quite seriously.

Also, the first D&D game I ever played featured xvarts as baddies. So I have a sentimental attachement to them.

Demiurge out.

 

[el-remmen]

I remember a really old Dungeon module about a tribe of xvarts living in a cliff by the sea,

You mean Roarwater Caves?

 

[demiurge1138]

You mean Roarwater Caves?

Why yes. Yes I did. Love that module.

Demiurge out.

 

[diaglo]

yep - if you can hang tight for a few weeks to a month, you should be straight if you trust Sean K Reynolds to handle them well.

not sure, but i think he wrote the LGJ article that they were first featured in, so he may simply be updating here.

xvarts came from the other side of the pond first.

before they appeared in UK2 The Sentinel and the FF they were in use already.


i make them an offshoot of the genetic tree of kobolds. instead of going reptilian i make them flightless avian like.

so they are blue flightless dogmen.

 

[Zander]

xvarts came from the other side of the pond first.

before they appeared in UK2 The Sentinel and the FF they were in use already.

That's right. Xvarts first appeared in the Fiend Factory column of White Dwarf magazine where they were called Zvarts with a "z" IIRC.

The USA gave the UK D&D and in return we gave you Xvarts.

 

[Ripzerai]

The word Xvart or Zvart is a contraction of "Svart-Alfar," or dark elf. They're another (wildly variant) interpretation of the same mythological creatures from which we derive the drow, in the same way that basilisks and cockatrices are based on the same legend, and catoblepases and gorgons.

They worship a lesser god named Raxivort, who is also god of wererats, bats, and rats, and once successfully swindled Graz'zt himself.

In White Dwarf #42, they were said to revere a god named A'Gallamiull. It might be safe to say this is just another name of Raxivort's.

 

[BOZ]

xvarts came from the other side of the pond first.

before they appeared in UK2 The Sentinel and the FF they were in use already.

well, mr. semantics... what i meant was that i think SKR wrote the article in LGJ that they were featured in first, before he wrote the article for #339 that they were featured in - not that either of those places were the first place they were ever seen.

 

[naturaltwenty]

Xvarts in modules

Xvarts played an important part in the RPGA Year 1 Adventure called The River of Blood. The module caused quite the controversy due to the fact that it involved perceived child molestation by said Xvarts. Nothing was graphically spelled out but a DM could misconstrue it as such and relate it to the table. A revised version updated the text to explicitly state that no such attack(s) occurred.

Later,

Greg Volz
Natural Twenty Gaming
www.naturaltwenty.com

 

[el-remmen]

Xvarts played an important part in the RPGA Year 1 Adventure called The River of Blood. The module caused quite the controversy due to the fact that it involved perceived child molestation by said Xvarts. Nothing was graphically spelled out but a DM could misconstrue it as such and relate it to the table. A revised version updated the text to explicitly state that no such attack(s) occurred.

I remember playing in that adventure at GEN CON years ago. . . I don't see what there was to misconstue - weren't the xvarts stealing children to make changelings or something?

 

[naturaltwenty]

Threadjack apologies:

You may have played it but I ran it (multiple times - for two days straight ). Now I had no problem with this issue, the paragraphs below are from the original version. Now sex is not explicitly stated but can be implied although the revision addressed this later. I had to take a snapshot because the pdf's are copy protected.

I remember playing in that adventure at GEN CON years ago. . . I don't see what there was to misconstue - weren't the xvarts stealing children to make changelings or something?

Later,

Greg Volz
Natural Twenty Gaming
www.naturaltwenty.com