The Ridiculous Time Pressure:
Let's shoot for a finished product by Monday. That means you want to get submissions in ASAP! Rar! Whip-cracking!

The purpose of the contest:
See the new "invoker" page under "Classes" in the sidebar for an example of what we'd like to see. Assume that your audience is someone who is clicking on the page to see what the "best" class is, and has no idea what your class even does. Minimize prerequisite knowledge wherever practical-- the ideal page would make sense to someone who has no idea what a MUD even is.

Discuss strengths a lot, and weaknesses a little. Ideally, your page will leave the reader excited to play your class, but at least minimally aware of what their blind spots will be. Don't actually claim a class is the "best", because not only is that useless fluff, but your reader is probably going to click on more than one class!

The Prizes:
We're trying to give the site a facelift and involve the playerbase without breaking the bank. If you want to help, but don't feel like writing material, feel free to buy one or more PBFs and earmark them as "Contest Winner's Choice!" Once we have the class pages rewritten, we'll make a decision as to who chipped in the most, and let them name PBFs they'd like published.

Standard boilerplate:
1) Carrion Fields reserves the right to clip, edit, dissect, mangle, fold, staple, merge, reject, re-word or otherwise alter entries based on user and staff feedback, in order to get the best final product possible.

2) All submissions become the property of Carrion Fields, LLC. We will credit all contributors on this forum.

3) Be respectful of the work of others. Any submissions found to be someone else's intellectual property will be rejected immediately, and the submitter possibly disqualified from future contests. Create, don't copy!

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

You’re walking through the woods, enjoying the lovely spring day, the tinkling brook peacefully drifting nearby, the leaves rustling in the pleasant breeze, not a care in the world, when all of a sudden BAM!!! someone steps out from camouflage and ambushes you, putting you in a world of pain! Before you can even react he has hit you with a quick serpent strike, or charged at you like a bear to knock you down and keep you from fleeing, or called a swarm of mosquitos to bite you viciously. Quicker than you can imagine, you’re dead, and your corpse has been butchered into tasty steaks.

Who is this killer of the natural world? This denizen of forests, deserts, mountains, caverns, and all places wild? He is the Ranger, and in the world of Thera at Carrion Fields, he is a force to be reckoned with. A ranger is a natural kingdom warrior, a fighter most at home in the wilds and less so in civilized places like cities and roads. Adept at fighting in natural terrain of all types, rangers satisfy the cool calculating calm of the player seeking a patient stalker as well as the lust for instant and exciting action. Like a true warrior, most rangers can dual wield weapons, offering excellent power in straight up combat.

But a ranger is not a ranger is not a ranger, and no two will be exactly alike. Each ranger at cf has not one but two major decisions to make upon creation, choices that allow the player to pick and choose exactly the type of character most desired. Smear mud on yourself and strike savage blows while slipping away from your foes’ grasp. Shriek a deafening howl to shatter your enemies’ morale as you rebound from the cave wall and strike back. Sit back and speak to the winds, calling forth your kin among the bears, a true and loyal companion. Cast a net on the open sea and pull in your prey. Only rangers can do these things, and it needs only you to create one right now.

First, choose your terrain. Are you a desert mercenary, guarding caravans and sultans in the sand? Then Bedouin is for you. Do the deep caves and caverns of the world below the surface appeal to you? Caverndwellers were designed for you. Love the crisp air and scraggly beauty of the hilltops? You were born to be a mountaineer. Mariners, Plainsrunners and Marshdwellers round out the terrain choices with water, plains and swamps, allowing you a diversity found nowhere else.

But you’re not done yet, you get to specialize your very own ranger even more, by choosing your expertise. Perhaps you want to be a forest mage, using your years of life in the wilds to educate yourself in the ways of nature magic? An animist does exactly that. Or maybe you’ve always wanted to be the hunter, firing your bow with deadly accuracy. Then a hunter you shall be! Perhaps wanderlust grips your soul, with an undeniable urge to see the world in all its wonders, both beautiful and grotesque. Explorer rangers are uniquely adept for such travels. Beastmasters and Savages round out the list, offering unprecedented variety in character building.

As a ranger, you enjoy great special benefits, such as pathfinding, allowing you to cross terrain with the ease of crossing a dancefloor, while most others must tire quickly, and spend valuable seconds negotiating their more difficult steps. You will be hearty as you grow, because rangers are among the highest in hit point gains per level. And you will be able to heal yourself in natural settings by gathering potent medicinal herbs. Few if any are as resilient and capable of surviving alone as the ranger!

But just as in nature, all things must be balanced, and a ranger is no different. Chief among the ranger’s weaknesses is the difference between being in the wilds and being in civilized places. Step outside your natural setting and you will find that you fight less well in all regards, and some of your abilities simply do not work at all. And one of the great strengths of all rangers, the ability to conceal in camouflage, is rendered useless when walking in plain sight on the streets of the cities and roads. Also, like many fighters, rangers are not as well taught in the ways of magic as true mages, and so will need to rely on outside sources for basic but important support such as the ability to see the invisible, or a potion to send you home or teleport away from a fight gone bad. And last but not least, like many of the fighting classes, the ranger has little in the way of damage reduction as part of his arsenal of abilities, and so must often seek help from others, or use patience to strike at just the right time....

>You’re walking through the woods, enjoying the lovely spring
>day, the tinkling brook peacefully drifting nearby, the leaves
>rustling in the pleasant breeze, not a care in the world, when
>all of a sudden BAM!!! someone steps out from camouflage and
>ambushes you, putting you in a world of pain!

Two and a half line sentence is too long to read. I suggest breaking it down to three sentences. Also, the BAM!!! was disrupting the sentence structure. Whether to keep it or not is up to the Imms. As for the end, we can use the list of options what ranger does in the form Tim, Bob or Joe instead of Tim, or Bob, or Joe. With these modifications, it takes the form:

You’re walking through the woods, enjoying the lovely spring day. The tinkling brook peacefully drifts nearby and the leaves rustle in the pleasant breeze. You are without a care in the world, when all of a sudden, someone steps out from his camouflage and ambushes you, putting you in a world of pain! Before you can even react he has hit you with a quick serpent strike, charged at you like a bear to knock you down and keep you from fleeing or called a swarm of mosquitos to bite you viciously. Quicker than you can imagine, you’re dead, and your corpse has been butchered into tasty steaks.

Second chapter. There is more than one ranger in CF, so a ranger. My gut tells me that it's in Carrion Fields, Graatch put at, but I'm not changing it to the text since I'm not sure. Imms choose whichever is more appropriate. I feel that a the effect of wilderness hours should be mentioned in this chapter. I'll take a stab at that, but it might need more iterating for the final product

Who is this killer of the natural world? This denizen of forests, deserts, mountains, caverns, and all places wild? He is a ranger, and in the world of Thera at Carrion Fields, he is a force to be reckoned with. A ranger is a warrior of the wilds, a fighter most at home in the wilderness and less so in civilized places like cities and roads. Adept at fighting in natural terrain of all types, rangers satisfy the cool calculating calm of the player seeking a patient stalker as well as the lust for instant and exciting action. A ranger gains much of his power from his familiarity of the wilds, and woe is the ranger who spends his time in Taverns or cities instead of wilderness, for he will forget the ways of the wilds and thus lose much of his power.

Third chapter: Why use confusing expression to say that no two rangers are alike? A ranger is ranger, even though rangers are different. Also, why advertise expertises before you've mentioned what it is?

No two rangers will be exactly alike. Each ranger at cf has not one but two major decisions to make upon character creation.

Chapter 4= OK.

>First, choose your terrain. Are you a desert mercenary,
>guarding caravans and sultans in the sand? Then Bedouin is
>for you. Do the deep caves and caverns of the world below the
>surface appeal to you? Caverndwellers were designed for you.
>Love the crisp air and scraggly beauty of the hilltops? You
>were born to be a mountaineer. Mariners, Plainsrunners and
>Marshdwellers round out the terrain choices with water, plains
>and swamps, allowing you a diversity found nowhere else.

Chapter 5. Here, I find it useful to refer to the major decisions way of presenting this in chapter 3, similarly to chapter 4, which starts with first. Adding Graatch's advertisements of expertises I clipped from chapter 3 to this part is worth considering.

The second major decision is choosing your expertise. Perhaps you want to be a forest mage, using your years of life in the wilds to educate yourself in the ways of nature magic? An animist does exactly that. Or maybe you’ve always wanted to be the hunter, firing your bow with deadly accuracy. Then a hunter you shall be! Perhaps wanderlust grips your soul, with an undeniable urge to see the world in all its wonders, both beautiful and grotesque. Explorer rangers are uniquely adept for such travels. Beastmasters and Savages round out the list, offering unprecedented variety in character building.

Not mistakes or poor choises that catch my eye in quick glance in the rest of the piece.

A shapeshifter is the master of their own body. Able to change their form into a large assortment of animals from two of five paths, the shifter is able to adjust themselves for many different situations. These paths include offense, defense, utility, water and air and the shifter can select to have knowledge of two seperate paths or be a master of one.

The prime stat of a Shapeshifter is Intelligence, and some of their abilities are: slow, haste, stone skin, enlarge, reduce and shapeshift.

Some of the forms attainable by the most powerful shapeshifters are: tiger, panther, armadillo, diamondback, hyena, orangutan, owl, golden eagle, dolphin and shark.

All races may become shapeshifters except for the Giant races, Duergar, Dwarves, Wood-elves, and Orcs. Felar may become shapeshifters, but can not focus upon the Water and Air foci, due to their roots.

Strengths of the shapeshifter class include:

• Air forms grant quick travel across the land of Thera unmatched in speed by any other method.

• Water forms are the kings of the sea, pure engines of destruction though limited to only the water.

• Utility forms possess certain abilities such as camouflage, long distance running or foraging, letting even the most basic of these forms be useful to an adventurer at the pinnacle of their strength.

• Offense forms and Defense forms are unrivaled in their domains. Offense forms throwing either large amounts of damage in large amounts of hits and Defense forms being able to either dodge most strikes thrown at them or to take the blows with but a scratch.

• Shapeshifters possess the abilities of breathing in the water, flying and other such spells which make them great for exploration. These versatile characters can make some of the best explorers.

• Adventurers of the Shapeshifting guild whom possess exceptional abilities in roleplay and player killing may be granted a quest form. Quest forms possess abilities that far surpass even the most powerful of the average forms, making them quite sought after. Let it be noted that the best way to NOT receive a quest form is to ask an Immortal for it.

• Shapeshifters are decently gear-independent, making them great for the new adventurer. Even without a single piece of armor or a weapon, a shapeshifter can be a formidable foe.

• Shapeshifters are skilled with the uses of staves, wands and scrolls, allowing them a wider variety of spell use through these magical objects.

Weaknesses of the shapeshifter class include:

• An inability to speak with others while in a form, aside from common gestures.

• The transformation to form requires a large amount of mental energy to substain form. Because of this spells such as haste, stone skin and pass door will not remain intact for a young shifter as they change. Spells such as water breathing are so strenuous that even the most advanced shifter cannot retain this magic. Certain spells such as haste, stone skin and pass door can be recast through enlivening, though they will last for a shorter period of time.

• Forms, aside from those of the water path and some of the utility path, are unable to venture into the waters of Thera, as they cannot hold their breath and the magic of water breathing is too strenuous to continue in form. Water can still be passed over through an enlivened spell of flight.

• Shapeshifters will find themselves hunted by those associated with the Battlerager cabal. Even the most inoffensive shapeshifter will find he has a group of enemies seeking his blood.

I'm still working through the class stuff as I get time in inspiration. The remaining entries (possibly in part or after I fold, spindle, and mutilate them some more) will still see the light of day on the web page sooner or later.

I know the "contest" has ended, but I've been meaning to put up some more stuff and have been swamped by other stuff, but if I get chance (and it isn't already done) can we all feel free to lend our writing skills?

Lightmaged: You got the skill, we've all seen the roles, where you at? I thought for sure you'd at least get the shapeshifter one.

.

Per the fiat of Supreme Contest Dictators Nep and Valg, we've decided everyone who wrote one up wins big valuable prizes, with grand prize to Larcat!

We got a total of 10 PBFs donated to the pool by Rodriguez, Sandello, and Death_Claw, so we'll split them up thusly:

Larcat: 4
Death_claw: 2
Graatch: 2
Tac: 2

Email me from your usual addresses, and name any names you'd like to see published, or let me know you'd like to save them for later.

Current output from 'grave', subtracting the already-published (remember that hundreds of older characters are available also):

BATTLE <46 Felar Thi> Asoa
None <42 Human War> Ajaxus
None <47 Human Bar> Aldreth
None <51 Human Shf> Annaeia
FORTRESS <51 Dwarf Pal> Astinax
NEXUS <51 H-Elf Bar> Balim
SCION <51 Human Tra> Criles
EMPIRE <50 Human Bar> Djawsin
NEXUS <51 Human Thi> Dravon
None <51 Human Con> Ernam
None <51 Gnome Shf> Fuddo
BATTLE <51 Felar War> Gharral
None <44 Svirf Ran> Ghognai
NEXUS <49 Gnome Shf> Ghaeldrine
None <49 Arial Asn> Hendo
None <44 Min War> Hrolk
OUTLANDER <40 Cloud Ran> Jargurakht
NEXUS <46 Human Asn> Jeade
FORTRESS <47 Arial Sha> Jiarjliu
EMPIRE <51 Fire War> Khrob
None <51 D-Elf Hea> Kirslamix
OUTLANDER <51 Felar Ran> Kazee
None <44 Human War> Kelgana
SCION <43 Human Nec> Lintral
NEXUS <51 W-Elf Ran> Mallias
NEXUS <45 Human Con> Merosann
BATTLE <51 H-Drw Thi> Maldovar
None <51 Felar Thi> Myrakie
TRIBUNAL <40 Svirf War> Okmoktur
FORTRESS <51 Human Asn> Orzetrion
FORTRESS <51 Felar War> Phryxal
None <51 Felar War> Rhajhea
None <44 Felar War> Rist
None <47 Arial Ran> Savarso
FORTRESS <51 Human War> Tohgrugr
NEXUS <46 Svirf Hea> Thnadri
FORTRESS <49 Human Bar> Verhdandian
OUTLANDER <41 W-Elf Dru> Vargraye
None <42 Svirf Thi> Vantle
OUTLANDER <41 Gnome Dru> Valthorn
None <51 Felar Ran> Zmiulan


valguarnera@carrionfields.com

Valthorn -- There you go Magus
Kevmorn
Gharral
Vargraye


I'll probably do some more help-pages if those were useful.

Other winners, please log in so I don't have to verify that it isn't some other doofus (Guest)ing as you.

Yay, Actual Larcat!

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

I'll use them in the future. Thanks.

.

No one else wants to post?

I've been ill lately, haven't gotten around to finishing my conjurer submission.

I'll hold onto mine for my own evil insidious purposes. Muahahah.

Knights in shining armor, defenders of the downtrodden, dragon slayers and righteous avengers. Paladins are the heroes of fantasy, history, and myth. Their power and resilience is legendary, but the path they walk is fraught with danger and adversity. Do you have what it takes to go down in legend as a Hero?


The strengths of the Paladin class include:

Extreme offense or extreme defense. Paladins can dedicate themselves to either the use of shields or two handed swords and maces. Shield dedicant paladins are exceptionally tough to kill, as they have very good melee defense and a variety of combat options via angel’s wing. Two handed paladins may only wield one weapon, but the sheer offensive might that they wield in melee is both awesome and varied. Shield dedicants can still lay on the pain with their powerful supplications such as wrath, and two handed dedicants still have decent survivability with the damage-reducing prayers of their gods.

Toughness. Paladins all learn the word of recall, and have the ability to remove curses and damnation. This enables them to always have some ability to get out of a scrape if their battle prowess has failed them. Paladins can also cure blindness, which makes several of the common tactics employed by their enemies less effective. Coupled with their ability to sanctify cursed rooms, this make paladins hard to pin down.

The Code. Paladins must follow the CODE of their guild. This gives a certain ease of roleplay for a Paladin, despite the restrictions it places one under. Though many types of Paladins walk the lands, from soft spoken, polite elven heroes to brash dwarven templars, all have a consistency of action found in few other classes in Thera.

Empowerment. A Paladin must be empowered under one of the Spheres, and it is common for them to follow one of the religions in Thera. This coupled with the Code gives a player a clear roadmap to base their role-play on. Woe be the Paladin that betrays their vows, however.

The Virtues. Paladins who exemplify the teachings of their god, and the tenants of their Guild may be blessed with the powers of one of the sacred Virtues. Virtues give a Paladin a varied skill set, and often give them abilities that few classes have access to. Your power reflects your adherence to your role, making a well played Paladin both fearsome and respected.

Paladins are trucks, skilled in melee combat, cloaked in the protections of their Immortal patron, and wielding powerful offensive supplications. What they lack in subtlety, they make up for in raw power and survivability. A Paladin, true to his faith and guild, is never to be trifled with.

Disadvantages of the Paladin class include:

As empowerment and the Code are advantages when playing a Paladin, so to are they a disadvantage. The class is not for someone who wants complete freedom of action. No character is held to a higher standard of roleplay-based restrictions that Paladins are, and to fail to live up to these restrictions can result in a great loss of power for the character.

Paladins rely on their prayers as much as they rely on their melee prowess, however they do not learn the skill TRANCE, making mana management of prime importance to a Paladin. To be caught mentally exhausted and not shrouded in the sanctuary of their god often spells death for the Paladin. Paladins can run and gun, but when playing one, you must pay attention to how much longer you can go before you will need to recuperate your mana.

Absolute reliance on their shield or two-handed weapon. A two-handed Paladin who is denied their weapon, or a shield-dedicant who is denied their shield often find themselves dead quickly. Skills such as DISARM, STRIP, WEAPONBREAKER, GRAPPLE, SHIELDCLEAVE, and OFFHAND DISARM are much more dangerous for a Paladin than they are for a melee character that learns the skill DODGE. A Paladin who nears the pinnacle of his guild is well served to find equipment based solutions to these problems.

No comment from you for days.

What's the story?

I offered to set up a contest, and did. Once I get a chance to discuss things with Daevryn, we'll hand out some PBFs.

What story are you looking for?

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

Zealots of the faith, holy ascetics, and vile priests of dark gods: the Shaman walks the lands shrouded in the protections of his divine Patron, laying horrific afflictions upon the enemies of the faith. Rob the unbelievers of their sight, scald their veins with horrific diseases, cause the strongest of warriors to become as weak as babies, strike down your enemies with holy vengeance, and cause the very flesh to rot from your victims. The shaman is the embodiment of his God's power: he has the ability to defeat any foe and no one finds slaying him easy.

The strengths of the shaman include:

Nearly unsurpassed maelidictive abilities. For any foe the shaman has an option. He can prevent magical and divine transportation in more ways than anyone else, making escape difficult. He can rob his foes of both their mental energies and their ability to move in a variety of ways. The can force warriors to drop their weapons with more ease than any other class, and has the unique ability to kill nearly anyone by sapping their constitution via the rot commune. Shamans have an offensive arsenal that is nearly unsurpassed.

Shamans are built like bricks. They have exceptional damage reduction via holy protection and sanctuary. Few people will find that they can damage a shaman quickly. Common command denial techniques such as bashing and bearcharging are rendered ineffective due to their ability to shroud themselves in a protective shield. The can mend their own wounds with healing prayers. Additionally, they can cure themselves of blindness, disease, and poison: three of the most common and debilitating maladies in Thera. If all of this fails them, Shamans can pray for their god to send them to their hometown with a Word of Recall, giving them an effective last ditch panic button in the event that they are beaten in combat.

Because of this combination of maelidictive offense and self healing, Shamans are the masters of war by attrition. A shaman kills via a thousand cuts, and has the ability to wear down a foe that is unmatched. Shamans also have the ability to dish out the pain with their direct damage supplications such as demonfire and fatigue.

Shamans are one of the few classes that retain the ability to locate any object, and can also identify any object. Additionally, shamans can summon forth their foes and other creatures to fight on their terms, or reclothe and rearm. This utility combined with their toughness and offensive versatility means that Shamans are anything but one dimensional.

Shamans are unique in their ability to dispel both communes and spells, making them invaluable in group versus group combat. Groups that include a healer often have little fear, but if they see an enemy group that includes a shaman, suddenly the surety of their position is in question. Healers, druids and paladins all fear shamans more than they fear nearly anyone else.

Shamans must ask an Immortal for their power, meaning that their lives will be watched closely. Preach the faith well and smite your enemies with success, and you will be rewarded with the powers and favor of the divine.

Weaknesses of the shaman include:

As the favor of your God is a great blessing, so to is insighting his wrath. A shaman who does not uphold the tenants of his faith will find himself stripped of his powers and in great danger.

Shamans cannot inherently fly, and so can be tripped with ease. A shaman will want to find an outside source of flight, and use it often so as not to be easy picking for opportunistic thieves and assassins

Shamans cannot effectively command-deny their opponents. Shamans win most of the fights they encounter, but often will find foes slipping through their grasp at the last moment. This can be counteracted by having an expansive knowledge of Theran geography and relentlessly hunting down your foes. Alternatively, having a warrior or assassin about to lag your foes means sure death for nearly anyone.

Shamans have powerful supplications, but foes that equip themselves to effectively save against communes and spells will often foil a shamans ability to maelidict them. A shaman who cannot wear down his foe via those supplications will often find himself running for the hills. This can be offset by a shamans ability to curse and damn his foe, weakening his ability to resist his offensive communes.

"New payment options w/ Iron Realms"

Bash! Chop! Stab! Jab! Impale! Pummel! Entwine! Disembowel!

Blood and guts, ready for violence at any moment, these are the hallmarks of a warrior. Always wanted to be the hero with the magic sword? The last one standing in a knife fight? The barbarian with an axe and mace crushing all before her? If you can imagine that warrior, CF allows you to BE that warrior.

The warrior is the master of personal, in-your-face combat, capable of learning every weapon type and even no weapon at all but knuckles and fists. No other class teaches how to use every weapon, and thus no other class can take advantage of its opponents’ inability to parry a sword or axe, a polearm or staff, a spear or flail. Warriors are one of the few classes to learn how to dual wield weapons, doubling the potential for your death dealing blows. And warriors are the only ones taught to deliver up to a fourth attack every round of combat, with each weapon. You are a killer, plain and simple.

But just as no two killers are the same in the real world, in the Carrion Fields each warrior can be different from the next. The mercenary for hire? Warrior! The crazed magic-hating berserker with two axes and an attitude? Warrior! Jack-the-Ripper’s second cousin with a love of slicing and dicing the ladies? Warrior! Champion of the weak and oppressed, a freedom loving force for good? Warrior!

And the thrill of combat rides high with the warrior, never growing old, as CF warriors are as diverse as the players’ imaginations:

Choose your weapon!

The warrior can go beyond mere weapon proficiency, and choose two weapons as specializations, one early on at level 20 and a second later at level 40. There are eight different specializations: axe, mace, sword, polearm, staffs and spears, whips and flails, daggers, and hand to hand. Like to make your opponent bleed? Specialize in daggers and hurl one through his chest, or in spears, and impale him through the chest! Want to make her drop her weapon from weakness? Pick maces and boneshatter her body, or in axes and whirl your axe points into his. Worried you will be hit first? Learn the nuances of the polearm and chargeset the attack.

Choose your legacy!

When you have advanced to the 44th level and again at the 48th, you will be allowed to choose a legacy, a special training giving you even more versatility. Think your axe doesn't parry well enough for you? Learn to put up the Ward of Blades. Feel like bashing down your enemies like a falling mountain? Choose to Greet the Avalanche. Need to hold onto that weapon even when riddled by holes and shattered bones? Fist of the Titan will help. There are thirty six (36) legacies, and every warrior gets to pick two. Spend your life trying to play all combinations and you’ll be old and gray before you finish!

Anytime is a good time!

Warriors can be lethal at every level, and with a minimal of additional preparation. The warrior is uniquely suited to just diving right in and stirring things up. See your enemy walking down the eastern road? Jump him! You don’t need to zap a wand or take a long time to prepare yourself, you’re good to go with your two weapons and a cool head. YOU are the weapon, and all you need is your ability and your skills to take a go at anyone, anytime.

As a warrior you will be one of the healthiest of all classes, gaining more hitpoints per level than any other class. Your high movement gains per level will enable you to catch your running victims. For many types of warriors, you will dishing out the damage faster than almost anyone else, winning fights where your enemies commands are denied through your lagging moves. And as a warrior you will have several utility options unavailable to anyone else, able to dash up to someone and start an attack quickly, or retreat from combat in a direction you choose rather than flee mindlessly. And nobody takes advantage of cowardice better than you, with a parting blow to any who can’t match your power and flees in fear!

But be careful!

The warrior spends almost all of his time perfecting his physical abilities, and so has little understanding or use for the magical or priestly powers, and these can be potent indeed. Your enemies will often be able to elude you with a simple spell of word of recall or teleport, or to stand up to you with their damage-reduction abilities like invoker shields, sanctuary, barrier or stone skin. And if you don’t take care to keep your body strong and fit, most often through the clothing and equipment you will to gather, all your training and skill with that sword will be useless when you drop it from weakness, or take great harm from the potent damage abilities of mages, communers and bards. Sometimes even a warrior needs to look before she leaps!

nt

I don't know. I think we're getting bogged down in detail. A class page isn't a tutorial on how to play a class, or what someone should be doing with the character they create of that class. A class page is something to get someone really excited to play it, to try some of the stuff out and see what it is like. It's already pretty long. I'd be wary of turing it - or any class page - into something that is more properly placed in a helpfile, or better yet really, game playing experience.

The more we add of what you describe, the more it becomes a manual or text book for *how* to play the class, and not an advertisement so you *want* to play the class.

Just my .02.

And nothing I say should be construed to mean I do not welcome commentary. I do. Very much. Thank you for posting on it.

n/t

I futzed with this a bit more (whether that's an improvement or not is anyone's guess) and tossed it up. Probably I or someone will add in hyperlinks where appropriate at some point.

Well look at that.

I like the paragraph you added.

Nice to see a finished product.

Glad to have been able to help.

I noticed that nobody on your end did the hyperlinking for the words that trigger helpfiles. I see that you did it for the conjurer and other class pages. Probably should do the same for the warrior page, or at least that's what was intended, to be more helpful and consistent.

Should toss a couple <h2> or <b> tags on that sumbitch.

How about throwing in a brief log for each class which showcases them whooping some ass. Since CF has no graphics, you can't exactly show a video at the start of the game (which all graphical games generally have...'cause it looks cool). Eh, this is an iffy idea, but if I were a newbie and just browsing the site, I'd want to see what actual gameplay looked like.

Perhaps an easy to access log section that would advertise a few select battle logs of different classes playing to their strength.

Ever wonder who would win in a fight between a shark and a tiger? How about the classic mongoose vs. cobra? How do you think YOU would fair in such a contest? Now imagine that instead of regular animals, these are magically enhanced super beasts, and you are approaching what the SHAPESHIFTER class on Carrion Fields is about.

Where others need weapons, or spells, or prayers to their gods to compete, the shapeshifter needs only his FORMS. Armed with claws for natural weapons, or the shell of an armadillo as natural armor, they gain only their health from the items they wear.

Shapeshifters get access to WANDS, STAVES, and SCROLLS. That means you can turbo charge yourself into an uber beast of epic proportions. Whether it be inciting a holy FRENZY or throwing up a BARRIER to deflect attacks, these potent skills can increase the survivability and deadliness of your animal forms.

But what can an animal do? Lots! From running faster than any adventurer, to dodging any skill or spell, the animal forms of the shapeshifter have many unique talents unavailable to anyone else. Want to fly above the land as a golden eagle, spot your prey, and swoop in for the kill? Only the shapeshifter can.

There are many diverse forms that fall into 5 general categories: Offensive, Defensive, Air, Water, and Utility. The choice may seem simple, but because your forms are chosen at random, no two shapeshifter will play alike, even those with the same SHAPEFOCUS.

For those rare shapeshifters who excel at all aspects of the game an even greater reward may await. Quest forms are rare and powerful, but the promise of the displacer beast, or ice drake, or even the lightning fast cheetah brings some players back time and time again to this versatile class.

Of course, even the most appeasing of shapeshifter will be hunted by the BATTLERAGERS for wielding their magics, and shifter forms are particularly vulnerable to maladies such as BONESHATTER or HAMSTRING as their armors cannot protect them from the effects of these crippling blows.

1) Shifters as relatively non-gear-dependent for many purposes. I.e. you'd probably rather have a shifter groupmate with no gear than a warrior groupmate with no gear.

2) Shifters as not/less bothered by many things that are hard on other magi. E.g. deafen, tiger claw, gag, manacles...

3) Unique difficulties of in-form communication.

4) Spells are cast as a human(oid)... so you've got your I can use utility stuff and my spells more, and your I'm shifted and down to business mode.

5) Some shifters (defense in particular) as great for group-based exploration of really high-end areas.

6) Maybe some rough explanation of the "extreme" nature of off/def foci. I.e., you could build the most pure-offense warrior you could, and that guy still almost certainly tanks better than lion. You can build the most pure-defense warrior you could, and that guy still throws more damage than anaconda. Plays to a bit of a different style than warrior.

7) Shifter as generally good at dealing/avoiding damage but often lacking in maledictive / command denial power?

8) Shifters as differently-bothered by things that hinder other meleeish characters. I.e., lions don't have wrists and can't drop weapons. Maybe also mention of shifting trauma.

A shapeshifter is the master of their own body. Able to change their form into a large assortment of animals from two of five paths, the shifter is able to adjust themselves for many different situations. These paths include offense, defense, utility, water and air and the shifter can select to have knowledge of two seperate paths or be a master of one.

The prime stat of a Shapeshifter is Intelligence, and some of their abilities are: slow, haste, stone skin, enlarge, reduce and shapeshift.

Some of the forms attainable by the most powerful shapeshifters are: tiger, panther, armadillo, diamondback, hyena, orangutan, owl, golden eagle, dolphin and shark.

All races may become shapeshifters except for the Giant races, Duergar, Dwarves, Wood-elves, and Orcs. Felar may become shapeshifters, but can not focus upon the Water and Air foci, due to their roots.

Strengths of the shapeshifter class include:

• Air forms grant quick travel across the land of Thera unmatched in speed by any other method.

• Water forms are the kings of the sea, pure engines of destruction though limited to only the water.

• Utility forms possess certain abilities such as camouflage, long distance running or foraging, letting even the most basic of these forms be useful to an adventurer at the pinnacle of their strength.

• Offense forms and Defense forms are unrivaled in their domains. Offense forms throwing either large amounts of damage in large amounts of hits and Defense forms being able to either dodge most strikes thrown at them or to take the blows with but a scratch.

• Shapeshifters possess the abilities of breathing in the water, flying and other such spells which make them great for exploration. These versatile characters can make some of the best explorers.

• Adventurers of the Shapeshifting guild whom possess exceptional abilities in roleplay and player killing may be granted a quest form. Quest forms possess abilities that far surpass even the most powerful of the average forms, making them quite sought after. Let it be noted that the best way to NOT receive a quest form is to ask an Immortal for it.

• Shapeshifters are decently gear-independent, making them great for the new adventurer. Even without a single piece of armor or a weapon, a shapeshifter can be a formidable foe.

• Shapeshifters are skilled with the uses of staves, wands and scrolls, allowing them a wider variety of spell use through these magical objects.

Weaknesses of the shapeshifter class include:

• An inability to speak with others while in a form, aside from common gestures.

• The transformation to form requires a large amount of mental energy to substain form. Because of this spells such as haste, stone skin and pass door will not remain intact for a young shifter as they change. Spells such as water breathing are so strenuous that even the most advanced shifter cannot retain this magic. Certain spells such as haste, stone skin and pass door can be recast through enlivening, though they will last for a shorter period of time.

• Forms, aside from those of the water path and some of the utility path, are unable to venture into the waters of Thera, as they cannot hold their breath and the magic of water breathing is too strenuous to continue in form. Water can still be passed over through an enlivened spell of flight.

• Shapeshifters will find themselves hunted by those associated with the Battlerager cabal. Even the most inoffensive shapeshifter will find he has a group of enemies seeking his blood.

I'll do a bit rewriting of this. Comemments in cursive.

>A shapeshifter is the master of their own body. Able to
>change their form into a large assortment of animals from two
>of five paths, the shifter is able to adjust themselves for
>many different situations. These paths include offense,
>defense, utility, water and air and the shifter can select to
>have knowledge of two seperate paths or be a master of one.

I'd put this chapter into form:

Shapeshifters are magi who study the alteration of their own bodies. They are able to take an animal form or shift their bodies partially. Shapeshifters can study two of the five shapefoci of forms, one as major and one as minor. The available shapefoci are utility, offense, defense, air and water.

>The prime stat of a Shapeshifter is Intelligence, and some of
>their abilities are: slow, haste, stone skin, enlarge, reduce
>and shapeshift.
>
>Some of the forms attainable by the most powerful
>shapeshifters are: tiger, panther, armadillo, diamondback,
>hyena, orangutan, owl, golden eagle, dolphin and shark.
>
>All races may become shapeshifters except for the Giant races,
>Duergar, Dwarves, Wood-elves, and Orcs. Felar may become
>shapeshifters, but can not focus upon the Water and Air foci,
>due to their roots.

I think that the last comma is unnecessary

Same in latter, let's consistently say shapeshifter instead of shifter in an official context. And the use of singular or plural, preferably keeping same. Also, why not say peaceful instead of inoffensive in the last chapter? You could start that chapter with "As magi, shapeshifters are hunted by the Battlerager cabal..", thus giving it a reason.

The conjurer possesses the ability to bring forth beings from other dimensions and bind them to serve him. Known for their scrying ability as well as the powerful minions they loosely control, this mage is capable both in utilitarian and military concerns. Alignment plays a strong role in the sorts of beings a conjurer will be able to best make use of and some even make use of creatures called nightgaunts which can be sent out to kidnap an enemy for the conjurer, bringing their battered and beaten form before the conjurer for a fight on the conjurer’s terms.

Strengths of the class include :

• Conjurers vary by their choice of servitors. Benevolent servitors such as the darkness-battling angels and healing archons best serve those who are inherently good. Malevolent servitors such as the fierce magic wielding demons and maledicting devils tend to get along better with those whose morality is close aligned with their devious natures. Those whom walk the path of neutrality tend to get most favorable use out of the inherently neutral elementals, which are being that come directly from the elemental planes for which they are named after.
• Conjures possess the ability to use familiars, which are creatures closely attuned to the conjurer. The conjurer can utilize a familiar’s abilities to perform varying tasks, depending on the familiar and can send their familiars into many dangerous places where they themselves would be harmed if they went. A conjurer can see through the familiar’s eyes and each familiar has a different subset of abilities, possibly granting the ability to scout from the skies or ability to see thieves and assassins skulking in the shadows.
• The scrying ability of conjurers is so great that they can even remotely watch and eavesdrop on others, which no other profession may do. This can grant them immense tactical and information gathering advantages.
• Archons grant good and neutral aligned conjurers excellent defensive abilities, both healing and protecting them from damage as well as curing them of blight and disease. This allows a conjurer who has an archon bound to withstand a lot more punishment than many other professions.
• Demons and devils grant an evil or neutral aligned conjurer profound offensive abilities. Demons are capable of dishing out immense physical damage, while devils are known for their powerful crippling abilities, such as the ability to stop priests from communing or wither away the muscles of warriors.
• Servitors are more independent than many other servants in the world of Thera. It is not unusual for angels and demons to re-engage enemies even after they’ve fled, making it difficult for an enemy to fight the conjurer directly.
• Elementals have several utilitarian abilities, such as an earth elemental’s ability to block exits by shifting into a wall, or a water elementals ability to ferry a conjurer across oceans. These abilities extend the range of abilities a conjurer may employ, granting them a wide range of useful resources to draw upon.
• Conjurers are trained in all of the device magic skills, such as scrolls, staves, and wands. These magical devices augment their already considerable magical arsenals.
• Conjurers are the only profession capable of taking someone from very far away and bringing them to them against their will. Though nightgaunts are wicked creatures they are a strong offensive ability that conjurers alone possess.

Of course, those whom bargain with beings of immense power should be prepared to face the consequences :

• The servitors of the conjurer are not always enthused with the process of being forced to come to Thera and forced to serve. If improper steps are taken or they become immensely displeased, they may break their bindings and assault the conjurer, possibly killing him. Demons especially demand sacrifices for their service and will assault the conjurer if they are not paid their ransom.
• The process of conjuring is very time consuming and conjurers will spend a lot of time in the process of gathering their servitors. When a conjurer is without her servitors, she can be very weak in battle. Servitors comprise a large portion of the classes power which leads to dependence upon them.
• Conjurers without archons can be fragile in melee combat. They do not inherently possess protection from bashing and tripping and other command denial attacks and are not apt at dodging or parrying. This can lead to nasty bouts with some of the more melee oriented professions if the conjurer is not careful.
• Conjurers will find themselves hunted by those associated with the Battlerager and Outlander cabals. Even the most inoffensive conjurer will find he has two groups of enemies seeking his blood.

>The conjurer possesses the ability to bring forth beings from
>other dimensions and bind them to serve him. Known for their
>scrying ability as well as the powerful minions they loosely
>control, this mage is capable both in utilitarian and military
>concerns. Alignment plays a strong role in the sorts of
>beings a conjurer will be able to best make use of and some
>even make use of creatures called nightgaunts which can be
>sent out to kidnap an enemy for the conjurer, bringing their
>battered and beaten form before the conjurer for a fight on
>the conjurer’s terms.

I think I'd leave nightgaunts out of the summary and list them as a strength.

Also, one thing that I don't feel comes across here is that any alignment/ethos can conjure anything. Angels work great for an evil conjurer... as long as you know exactly what you want to do with it and make sure it happens and is over with quickly.

>Those
>whom walk the path of neutrality tend to get most favorable
>use out of the inherently neutral elementals, which are being
>that come directly from the elemental planes for which they
>are named after.

This isn't really true, unless you mean to say that neutral conjurers get better use out of elementals than other servitors because none of angels/archons/devils/demons super love them.

>• Conjures possess the ability to use familiars, which are
>creatures closely attuned to the conjurer. The conjurer can
>utilize a familiar’s abilities to perform varying tasks,
>depending on the familiar and can send their familiars into
>many dangerous places where they themselves would be harmed if
>they went. A conjurer can see through the familiar’s eyes and
>each familiar has a different subset of abilities, possibly
>granting the ability to scout from the skies or ability to see
>thieves and assassins skulking in the shadows.

Good, familiar's definitely a good point to bring up.

>• The scrying ability of conjurers is so great that they can
>even remotely watch and eavesdrop on others, which no other
>profession may do. This can grant them immense tactical and
>information gathering advantages.

Possibly toss mention of contact other planes in there as well? I don't know how you do that in a general sense except to say they can identify the precise properties of items better than anyone.

>• Archons grant good and neutral aligned conjurers excellent
>defensive abilities, both healing and protecting them from
>damage as well as curing them of blight and disease. This
>allows a conjurer who has an archon bound to withstand a lot
>more punishment than many other professions.
>• Demons and devils grant an evil or neutral aligned conjurer
>profound offensive abilities. Demons are capable of dishing
>out immense physical damage, while devils are known for their
>powerful crippling abilities, such as the ability to stop
>priests from communing or wither away the muscles of warriors.
>

What about angels?

I don't know if it completely comes across that angels/demons are like the fighters primarily and devils/archons are casters primarily, but I'm also not sure how crucial that is.

I think it's worth conveying somehow that the servitors have a mind of their own. You don't tell an archon to heal you, it just does it. That's cool because they can be smarter than you as a new player, and it's cool because they can still operate even when you're lagged, but it's also uncool because you can't just order your devil around even when you know better than it does. Somehow I think all of that should come across.

>• Servitors are more independent than many other servants in
>the world of Thera. It is not unusual for angels and demons to
>re-engage enemies even after they’ve fled, making it difficult
>for an enemy to fight the conjurer directly.

Oh. And here you take a stab at that, but I think it needs a little more.

>• Elementals have several utilitarian abilities, such as an
>earth elemental’s ability to block exits by shifting into a
>wall, or a water elementals ability to ferry a conjurer across
>oceans. These abilities extend the range of abilities a
>conjurer may employ, granting them a wide range of useful
>resources to draw upon.
>• Conjurers are trained in all of the device magic skills,
>such as scrolls, staves, and wands. These magical devices
>augment their already considerable magical arsenals.
>• Conjurers are the only profession capable of taking someone
>from very far away and bringing them to them against their
>will. Though nightgaunts are wicked creatures they are a
>strong offensive ability that conjurers alone possess.

Maybe contrast with summon?

>Of course, those whom bargain with beings of immense power
>should be prepared to face the consequences :
>
>• The servitors of the conjurer are not always enthused with
>the process of being forced to come to Thera and forced to
>serve. If improper steps are taken or they become immensely
>displeased, they may break their bindings and assault the
>conjurer, possibly killing him. Demons especially demand
>sacrifices for their service and will assault the conjurer if
>they are not paid their ransom.

It's probably worth saying in some fashion that conjurers are one of few classes that frequently encounter significant danger from their own class abilities. I'm not sure this quite gets there?

>• The process of conjuring is very time consuming and
>conjurers will spend a lot of time in the process of gathering
>their servitors. When a conjurer is without her servitors, she
>can be very weak in battle. Servitors comprise a large portion
>of the classes power which leads to dependence upon them.
>• Conjurers without archons can be fragile in melee combat.
>They do not inherently possess protection from bashing and
>tripping and other command denial attacks and are not apt at
>dodging or parrying. This can lead to nasty bouts with some
>of the more melee oriented professions if the conjurer is not
>careful.

Devils also cast fly and protective shield and stuff.

>• Conjurers will find themselves hunted by those associated
>with the Battlerager and Outlander cabals. Even the most
>inoffensive conjurer will find he has two groups of enemies
>seeking his blood.
>

Yeah after I posted it I realized Nightgaunt was a bit redundant. I'll revise it tomorrow. I didn't want to throw everything out there (about devils casting fly, for instance), because I didn't want it to be too wordy, but maybe I can reorganize it a bit better.

It probably still needs more hyperlinks, but I did what I could with the time I had to work with.

I've been messing around trying to find a decent java telnet client, since our current connect stuff doesn't even work in IE7

I need to spruce up the web page behind it, but: http://www.carrionfields.com/zulg/telnet

So long, and thanks for all the fish!

I can't test it from work, but yay!

He sure does.

I'm not a huge fan of the way its focus works, but I haven't gotten around to trying to wrangle its java to fix that yet. Still better than what we have right now.

If any of you ever get the motivation, you should consider coding a full java client with rudimentary aliasing savable in cookies. Would ease the pain of new players either searching for a good client or buying one. Hell, if you went far enough you could probably sell ad-space in the client to bring extra income in for CF. You should also consider ad space on this website as well. It may not rake in the dough, but it'll be more than nothing.

>If any of you ever get the motivation, you should consider
>coding a full java client with rudimentary aliasing savable in
>cookies.

I did consider this, but at least for myself put it in the "can't someone else do it?" column. I'd rather throw my CF coding time at something I enjoy more and like to think I'm better at, being adding/fixing stuff to make the game more fun for old and new players alike.

Unless my memory fails me, Jagaub coded a java client with aliases and some other nifty stuff. Perhaps he'll volunteer his work...

There's an opensource Java client already out there:

http://www.jamochamud.org/index.html


I've been using it for a couple years now. I'm sure with minimal effort, one could modify that code for any purposes necessary.

Bash! Chop! Stab! Jab! Impale! Pummel! Entwine! Disembowel!

Blood and guts, ready for violence at any moment, these are the hallmarks of a warrior. Always wanted to be the hero with the magic sword? The last one standing in a knife fight? The barbarian with an axe and mace crushing all before her? If you can imagine that warrior, CF allows you to BE that warrior.

The warrior is the master of personal, in-your-face combat, capable of learning every weapon type and even no weapon at all but knuckles and fists. No other class teaches how to use every weapon, and thus no other class can take advantage of its opponents’ inability to parry a sword or axe, a polearm or staff, a spear or flail. Warriors are one of the few classes to learn how to dual wield weapons, doubling the potential for your death dealing blows. And warriors are the only ones taught to deliver up to a fourth attack every round of combat, with each weapon. You are a killer, plain and simple.

The thrill of combat rides high with the warrior, and never grows old, as CF warriors are as diverse as the players’ imaginations:

Choose your weapon!

The warrior can go beyond mere weapon proficiency, and choose two weapons as specializations, one early on at level 20 and a second later at level 40. There are eight different specializations: axe, mace, sword, polearm, staffs and spears, whips and flails, daggers, and hand to hand. Like to make your opponent bleed? Specialize in daggers and hurl one through his chest, or in spears, and impale him through the chest! Want to make her drop her weapon from weakness? Pick maces and boneshatter her body, or in axes and whirl your axe points into his. Worried you will be hit first? Learn the nuances of the polearm and chargeset the attack.

Choose your legacy!

When you have advanced to the 44th level and again at the 48th, you will be allowed to choose a legacy, a special training giving you even more versatility. Think your axe doesn't parry well enough for you? Learn to put up the Ward of Blades. Feel like bashing down your enemies like a falling mountain? Choose to Greet the Avalanche. Need to hold onto that weapon even when riddled by holes and shattered bones? Fist of the Titan will help. There are thirty six (36) legacies, and every warrior gets to pick two. Spend your life trying to play all combinations and you’ll be old and gray before you finish!

Anytime is a good time!

Warriors can be lethal at every level, and with a minimal of additional preparation. The warrior is uniquely suited to just diving right in and stirring things up. See your enemy walking down the eastern road? Jump him! You don’t need to zap a wand or take a long time to prepare yourself, you’re good to go with your two weapons and a cool head. YOU are the weapon, and all you need is your ability and your skills to take a go at anyone, anytime.

But be careful!

The warrior spends almost all of his time perfecting his physical abilities, and so has little understanding or use for the magical or priestly powers, and these can be potent indeed. Your enemies will often be able to elude you with a simple spell of word of recall or teleport, or to stand up to you with their damage-reduction abilities like invoker shields, sanctuary, barrier or stone skin. And if you don’t take care to keep your body strong and fit, all your training and skill with that sword will be useless when you drop it from weakness, or take great harm from the potent damage abilities of mages, communers and bards. Sometimes even a warrior needs to look before she leaps!

but I like yours a lot better than mine...

Wow. This so isn't how a warrior writeup I'd do would come out, but this has great energy.

Some more specific comments:

>And warriors are the only ones
>taught to deliver up to a fourth attack every round of combat,
>with each weapon.

I think I'd phrase this more as "you get more attacks" and less on specifics.

>The thrill of combat rides high with the warrior, and never
>grows old, as CF warriors are as diverse as the players’
>imaginations:

I think the diversity/customization of the warrior class is a really important point to hit, but to some degree I feel like you get bogged down in the minutae of it. You present a dizzying array of choices (and, we have a dizzying array of choices, to be fair) but I think it would be hard for a genuine CF newbie to pick out of this that, for example, an arial whip/dagger with Balance and Whispers is going to play incredibly differently from a fire axe/mace with Trapping and Chilling.

Maybe it's also worth conveying in some way the wide variety of roles that a warrior can be, too. Dude who patrols the streets of Hamsah for the Sultan? Warrior. Crazed magic-hating berserker with an axe? Warrior. Depraved initiate of the Scarab cult who likes cutting people? Warrior. Champion of the common folk who takes on the evil and oppressive with two swords and a bucket of sass? Warrior. Etc.

I think it's also worth conveying in some way:

1) Not for all builds, but generally warrior wins or is well set up in the "what would happen if you both walked away from your keyboard?" race that is command denial.

2) Warrior, as far as I know, gets more HP/level than any class and is tied for most MV/level, all other things being equal.

3) Something about skills like drive and dash and parting blow that are warrior uniques. Not talking about those specifically necessarily, but like, think about what powerful abilities those can be to control a fight in ways other classes usually don't.

4) Gear dependence to a degree. Not that a warrior with moderate gear can't beat a warrior with good gear, but probably a warrior with no gear can't beat either of those guys. Similarly, most warriors are going to need to think about how they're going to get magic from outside their class to see invis, fly if they need to, etc.

More as I think of it.

>Wow. This so isn't how a warrior writeup I'd do would come
>out, but this has great energy.

Out of curiosity, along what lines would yours be?

>
>Some more specific comments:
>
>>And warriors are the only ones
>>taught to deliver up to a fourth attack every round of
>combat,
>>with each weapon.
>
>I think I'd phrase this more as "you get more attacks" and
>less on specifics.

I considered that but chose to go the way I did because it seemed in other write-ups, including yours for invokers, you used a lot of actual skill names, which were click-able to go directly to the helpfile. So, I emulated that format and tried to use the actual names of warrior skills rather than characterize them. I understand why you might make the change you suggest, but query whether there is more benefit to the newbie by hearing and being able to look up the specific skill, rather than just hear a bit of what it does here. It's probably a 51/49 proposition either way.

>
>>The thrill of combat rides high with the warrior, and never
>>grows old, as CF warriors are as diverse as the players’
>>imaginations:
>
>I think the diversity/customization of the warrior class is a
>really important point to hit, but to some degree I feel like
>you get bogged down in the minutae of it. You present a
>dizzying array of choices (and, we have a dizzying
>array of choices, to be fair) but I think it would be hard for
>a genuine CF newbie to pick out of this that, for example, an
>arial whip/dagger with Balance and Whispers is going to play
>incredibly differently from a fire axe/mace with Trapping and
>Chilling.

I'm not sure you want (or at least I didn't look at this as a means to) a newbie to come here and get the sort of information that tells him or her how an arial whip/dagger will play out compared to the fire sword/axe. My take on a class description page is (was?) to provide a general idea of the class in the most inviting and exciting way possible, with enough links in it to let the newbie delve into greater detail if wanted, but if not to give them a real electric shock jolting them into desire for a character of that class. I wanted to introduce a few legacy names (I picked those randomly) just so that they could understand what a legacy was, which is important, I think.

>
>Maybe it's also worth conveying in some way the wide
>variety of roles that a warrior can be, too. Dude who patrols
>the streets of Hamsah for the Sultan? Warrior. Crazed
>magic-hating berserker with an axe? Warrior. Depraved
>initiate of the Scarab cult who likes cutting people?
>Warrior. Champion of the common folk who takes on the evil
>and oppressive with two swords and a bucket of sass? Warrior.
> Etc.
>

I gave a tip of the hat to that in the opening paragraph, but perhaps it needs to be tied to something in-game as you suggest.

>I think it's also worth conveying in some way:
>
>1) Not for all builds, but generally warrior wins or is well
>set up in the "what would happen if you both walked away from
>your keyboard?" race that is command denial.

Good point.

>
>2) Warrior, as far as I know, gets more HP/level than any
>class and is tied for most MV/level, all other things being
>equal.
>

Good point.

>3) Something about skills like drive and dash and parting
>blow that are warrior uniques. Not talking about those
>specifically necessarily, but like, think about what powerful
>abilities those can be to control a fight in ways other
>classes usually don't.
>

Good point.

>4) Gear dependence to a degree. Not that a warrior with
>moderate gear can't beat a warrior with good gear, but
>probably a warrior with no gear can't beat either of
>those guys. Similarly, most warriors are going to need to
>think about how they're going to get magic from outside their
>class to see invis, fly if they need to, etc.
>

Alluded to that with the last paragraph of magic, but not on the other side, as you describe. Good point.

>More as I think of it.
>

If I have time later I'll revise accordingly.

>Out of curiosity, along what lines would yours be?

(Incidentally, that's not necessarily a bad thing.)

I think I've touched on a lot of the stuff I'd have had in... I think I also probably would have gone along the line of, here's some things that all warriors are good at... and here's some examples of kinds of warriors that would be good at specific things. I mean, you can build a warrior who's a really good tank or is hard to kill. You can build a warrior who just throws a lot of damage. You can build a warrior with a ton of maledictive power. You can build a warrior who's great at getting weapons out of people's hands one way or another. Etc., all depending on the choices you make. I'm not sure how to bring those kinds of tradeoffs and options into general enough terms that MUD newbies could understand them, but that's some of the idea.

>I considered that but chose to go the way I did because it
>seemed in other write-ups, including yours for invokers, you
>used a lot of actual skill names, which were click-able to go
>directly to the helpfile. So, I emulated that format and
>tried to use the actual names of warrior skills rather than
>characterize them. I understand why you might make the change
>you suggest, but query whether there is more benefit to the
>newbie by hearing and being able to look up the specific
>skill, rather than just hear a bit of what it does here. It's
>probably a 51/49 proposition either way.

This might be a do as I say not as I do thing. I can admit that possibility.

One thing I think we have to be conscious of is people reading this who don't know the basics of why certain things are good. In retrospect, I did this somewhat with the invoker writeup draft that's up... i.e., sure you can freeze your surroundings with conglaciation, but why do I care?

In the context of this, for example, do I care if I can break someone's bones or make them bleed? Why is that good? Or, why is it better than something else that sounds good? We all know this stuff and take it for granted.

>One thing I think we have to be conscious of is people reading
>this who don't know the basics of why certain things are good.
> In retrospect, I did this somewhat with the invoker writeup
>draft that's up... i.e., sure you can freeze your surroundings
>with conglaciation, but why do I care?
>
>In the context of this, for example, do I care if I can break
>someone's bones or make them bleed? Why is that good? Or,
>why is it better than something else that sounds good? We all
>know this stuff and take it for granted.

I considered that as well and here was/is my thinking: this is a class page, the point of which is to entice a player to want to play this class as opposed to any other (at least while he/she is reading this one, obviously they should feel that same pull when they read every one of the class pages), and to me what makes someone want to play something is not the detail of why X skill is good, but rather how cool it sounds. Sure, I can say "You can use your skill to make someone's str drop 5 points and dex three points, which will reduce dual wield weight and inventory capacity" but that's not going to lure me into a fantasy playing game character nearly as much as "You can bleed him like a stuck pig or shatter his bones with your big crushing mace!"

By keeping the skill names in the text, as we discussed, it allows the reader, if he/she wants, to go look at it a bit more, and follow the chain to things like strength loss, weight, dex, etc. But if they don't want to, they've seen and read something here that makes them want to try it out. I think the focus should be on something being cool, not on why it's useful in the game in any detailed way.

That being said, I intend on finding some time tonight to revise according to your comments and my replies, looking for a happy medium. Nobody else really replied so I don't have much else to incorporate.

If I have time over the weekend I might take a stab at a first draft for the shaman class. I'd do paladin but I've only played shield and while I know enough about the two handers to probably get something out, I don't want to write about it if I don't have recent first-hand experience.

Okay, I tried to follow Neps form for voker's, but some of this is disjointed a bit more than I'd like. That, and orcs suck.

_________________________________________________________________

The BERSERKER is orc of fearful physical power. Specializing in raw (ENHANCED DAMAGE) brute (BERSERK) force (WARSHOUT), this creature MARCHES a path of obliteration and devastation across the land. Eventually an orc can become CHIEFTAN of the orc tribe, gaining support (ASSEMBLE HORDE), TRIBUTE, and the power to rule all other orcs.

Strengths of the berserker class include:

# Berserks gain abilities, such as WAR BANNER, which not only strike fear into their enemies, but inspire the orc to even greater acts of savagery (SAVAGE FEEDING) than ever before. Relying on physical strength first second and third, an orc will OVERRUN the unprepared with the sheer might of their blows.
# The berserker's ability to crush (CRUSHING BLOW) their opponents into the dirt and BASH them to the ground makes them masters of punishing opponents and keeping them in one place for their blows to land. They can take this advantage even further by PINing their foes to the ground, or kicking them when they are down (CHEAP SHOT). No opportunity to exploit a weakness goes unmissed when a berserker is on the warpath.
# Where other classes rely on finesse or intelligence, the orcs ADAPTS to further strengthen their fearsome abilities. No other adventurer can as effectively DEMORALIZE their opponent as an orc, and their ability to keep an adversary from executing their strategies is key to their success. They possess greater ability to incite "command denial" (THIS NEEDS A HELPFILE) than any other.
# An orcs TOUGHNESS helps to make them the most durable and fastest recovering creature alive. They can even heal by drinking the blood (EXSANGUINATE) of the hated elves to recover faster. SCAVAGING and brutal nothing takes a beating and keeps on going like an orc.
# Orcs are inherently cowardly creatures though, willing to HIDE and wait for opportunities, or FALLBACK behind allies so as to avoid punishment. They can even ENSLAVE their kin to further shield themselves from harm. This penchant for cowardice keeps them alive and searching for the weak to prey upon.

Of course the cunning berserker also must account for those areas which they do excel at:

# While the berserker is nearly unmatched in offensive power, their ability to defend themselves is highly dependent on their ability PARRY the weapons of an opponent or DODGE their blows. While this orc is willing to trade pain on themselves for damage to their victim, even they run out of health eventually.
# The cunning, vile, orcs have few allies, and will be hunted by the FORTRESS OF LIGHT, OUTLANDERS OF THAR-ERIS, and even fellow orcs in the fierce competition to rise to the top of GRINNING SKULL.
# Orcs thrive on striking at the opportune moment, so they might find themselves outmatched by a prepared foe, or surprised by those who can avoid their vision.

>Okay, I tried to follow Neps form for voker's, but some of
>this is disjointed a bit more than I'd like. That, and orcs
>suck.

This looks like ####, so I'm going to clean it up a bit...

Also (for my reference and others who may be helping) I'm trying to identify 6 strengths and 3 weaknesses.

Strengths: Physical Offense(first), Lagging Ability(second), Health/Recovery(fifth), Orc Village, Adaptability(third), and Fearfulness(fourth).

Weaknesses: Orc Village, Poor Defense, Few Natural Allies
_________________________________________________________________

The BERSERKER is orc of fearful physical power. Specializing in raw (ENHANCED DAMAGE) brute (BERSERK) force (WARSHOUT), this creature carves a path of obliteration and devastation across the land. Eventually an orc can become CHIEFTAN of the GRINNING SKULL orc tribe, gaining support (ASSEMBLE HORDE), TRIBUTE, and the power to rule all ther orcs.

Strengths of the berserker class include:

# Berserkers are first and foremost about striking powerful physical blows. They gain abilities, such as WAR BANNER, which not only strike fear into their enemies, but inspire the orc to even greater acts of savagery (SAVAGE FEEDING) than ever before. Relying on physical strength first second and third, an orc will OVERRUN the unprepared with the sheer might of their blows.

# The berserker's ability to crush (CRUSHING BLOW) their opponents into the dirt and BASH them to the ground makes them masters of punishing opponents and keeping them in one place for their blows to land. They can take this advantage even further by PINing their foes to the ground, or kicking them when they are down (CHEAP SHOT). No opportunity to exploit a weakness goes unmissed when a berserker is on the warpath. Their abilities to keep an adversary from executing their strategies is key to their success and they possess greater ability to incite "command denial" (THIS NEEDS A HELPFILE) than any other.

# Where other classes rely on finesse or intelligence, the orcs ADAPTS to further strengthen their fearsome abilities. Whether it be the path of a blood shaman (MUNDUNUGU), the masachistic (MASOCHISM) Shig-Ru, the cowardly (COWER) Skuggra, or the BRUTE FORCE of the MAMLAUK, an individual orc can choose the path that most suits them.

# No other adventurer can as effectively DEMORALIZE their opponent
as an orc berserker. Be it through BULLYing weaker opponents, or breaking the will (WILLBREAKER) of their foes, and orc will grow stronger as their opponents fear grows. Even their ability to go into a berserking fury (FURY OF THE CLAN) will incite terror in the most seasoned of adventurers.

# An orcs TOUGHNESS helps to make them the most durable and fastest recovering creature alive. They can even heal by drinking the blood (EXSANGUINATE) of the hated elves to recover faster even by SCAVAGING from the dead. Nothing takes a beating and keeps on going like an orc.

# All orcs belong to the GRINNING SKULL village. Here they will ENSLAVE allies to FALLBACK behind during combat, or HIDE from those who would hunt them. The village provides for the orc in many ways...

(Dunno if this one belongs)
# Orcs are inherently cowardly creatures though, willing to HIDE and wait for opportunities, or FALLBACK behind allies so as to avoid punishment. They can even ENSLAVE their kin to further shield themselves from harm. This penchant for cowardice keeps them alive and searching for the weak to prey upon.

Of course the cunning berserker also must account for those areas which they do excel at:

# The village giveth, and the village taketh away. While a very dangerous place for non-orcs, the orc village is also a single point of failure for those times when an orc must run away. When everyone knows where you live, hiding from enemies can sometimes prove a difficult task.

# While the berserker is nearly unmatched in offensive power, their ability to defend themselves is highly dependent on their ability PARRY the weapons of an opponent or DODGE their blows. While this orc is willing to trade pain on themselves for damage to their victim, even they run out of health eventually.

# The cunning, vile, orcs have few allies, and will be hunted by the FORTRESS OF LIGHT, OUTLANDERS OF THAR-ERIS, and even fellow orcs in the fierce competition to rise to the top of GRINNING SKULL.

(Don't know if this one belongs)
# Orcs thrive on striking at the opportune moment, so they might find themselves outmatched by a prepared foe, or surprised by those who can avoid their vision.

I'd like to start by saying that I think any good orc writeup probably could incorporate some of the ideas of Valg's infamous Orctoberfest ad. I think he really makes Orcs sound distinctive and fun there, and I generally consider it to be the best CF ad ever written.

>Also (for my reference and others who may be helping) I'm
>trying to identify 6 strengths and 3 weaknesses.
>
>Strengths: Physical Offense(first), Lagging Ability(second),
>Health/Recovery(fifth), Orc Village, Adaptability(third), and
>Fearfulness(fourth).

Other things I'd consider throwing in:

1) Limited Stealth. Sure, orc hide isn't super versatile, but there's something to be said for being able to hide somewhere while you sleep up if you want to.

2) Terrain. Maybe (1) gets rolled into this too, I don't know. But basically the idea that the orc has some preferred terrains (swamps, caves, orcvillage) and has some extra stuff they can do in those terrains (set snares, hide, bloodthingy, etc.)

Below, I think you're kinda skill-name-drop and link happy. In my opinion it's more crucial to get across the strengths and weaknesses and coolness of the class than point to a bunch of skills... I mean, we've got the list below.

>The BERSERKER is orc of fearful physical power. Specializing
>in raw (ENHANCED DAMAGE) brute (BERSERK) force (WARSHOUT),
>this creature carves a path of obliteration and devastation
>across the land. Eventually an orc can become CHIEFTAN of the
>GRINNING SKULL orc tribe, gaining support (ASSEMBLE HORDE),
>TRIBUTE, and the power to rule all ther orcs.

I think I'd talk more about the whole chiefing dynamic... it's unique to orcs and I think it's pretty cool.

># Where other classes rely on finesse or intelligence, the
>orcs ADAPTS to further strengthen their fearsome abilities.
>Whether it be the path of a blood shaman (MUNDUNUGU), the
>masachistic (MASOCHISM) Shig-Ru, the cowardly (COWER) Skuggra,
>or the BRUTE FORCE of the MAMLAUK, an individual orc can
>choose the path that most suits them.

Here I'd go more towards Valg's descriptions... i.e., Shig-ru as more being berserkery, Skrugga as sounding like something you'd want to play.

I'll work on some sort of combinatron of what I have and what Valg wrote. His is better written, but I'll see what I can mash up. Hey, I never claimed to be a good writer, but that's what drafts and editor input is for.

The BERSERKER is an orc. An ORC is a berserker. Specializing in raw brute force, this creature carves a path of obliteration and devastation across the land. All orcs belong to the GRINNING SKULL village. On one hand, you automatically have a cohort of other orcs with significant common interests and enemies. On the other hand, it's a motley heap of backstabbing goons with pea-like brains, led by the orc whose only qualification for governance is that he killed the last sap who became Chieftain.

(This paragraph is still a little weak, even with Valg's stuff at the end.)

# Successful orcs know that if you hit people repeatedly with large, heavy objects enough, they will stop hitting you back, thus obviating the need for such trivialities as defense. That second arm isn't for some sissy shield. It's for holding a second large, heavy object. Berserkers are first and foremost about striking powerful physical blows.

# Other professions lack an orc's pragmatic approach to life. They lack an appreciation of the finer points of biting people in the face (SAVAGE FEEDING), among other things. While the fine art of BASHing an opponent to the ground, PINing them there with your weapon, and then taking a CHEAP SHOT into some of their more tender bits might escape other more refined fighters, there is no such oversight in the orc. These abilities to keep an adversary from executing their “more finely tuned” or “finesse” strategy is key to the orc's success and they possess greater ability to incite "command denial" (THIS NEEDS A HELPFILE) than any other adventurer.

# Be it by hiding non-pointy objects by ingesting them and later regurgitating them, drawing the blood out of corpses for later consumption, or the proper use of swamp leeches an orc's TOUGHNESS helps to make them the most durable and fastest recovering creature alive. Hungry? SCAVAGE from the dead, no need to worry if it has been in the sun too long, or isn't fit to eat according to some lesser creature. Nothing takes a beating and keeps on going like an orc.

# The orc village provides you the type of lovely real estate that an orc thrives in, namely caves and swamps. Concealing yourself is not only handy for self-preservation, but it often lets you clock people in the back, which is a very good angle from which to clock people. Especially if they just walked into one of the traps you set. Also, there will be plenty of weaker orcs lazing about, just waiting to be enslaved so they can volunteer their neck to save yours.

# While less enlightened races may interpret (incorrectly) an orc's priority toward self-preservation as cowardice the orc knows that hiding behind others in combat isn't just smart, it's the best kind of smart.

# Orcs have few, if any, reliable allies outside of their village. The most unsavory of villains will occasionally permit them to stand nearby, but at a safe distance. A laundry list of other groups views orcs as somewhere between "an abomination to be purged from the lands" to "an abomination to be avoided". They will be hunted relentlessly by the FORTRESS OF LIGHT OUTLANDERS OF THAR-ERIS, and even fellow orcs in the fierce competition to become CHIEFTAN of GRINNING SKULL.

# What of the Orc who has risen above the rabble? They may join one of the factions within the Village:

Mamlauk: This is about as close as close as the Village has to a standing army. Mamlauks gain an array of skills dealing in the fine arts of hitting people with especially heavy weapons. Four-pound swords are cute for children, but no self-respecting Mamlauk would clean his ear with one. Well, maybe sometimes.

- Mundunugu: While Tremblefist isn't about to teach the rest of you knuckleheads how to be a true shaman (he knows how chief-dom works), his Mundunugus learn a number of rituals, mostly dealing with setting things on fire, making handy stuff out of dead people, and consuming blood in large quantities.

- Shig-Ru: While all orcs are berserkers, Shig-Ru are berserkers. Hitting a Shig-Ru sounds like a good idea, but it mostly just makes them angrier. (You wouldn't like them when they're angry.) If you disarm their weapon, you should make sure there isn't a nearby corpse, lest you suffer the ignominy of getting clubbed to death with a leg. Shig-ru hobbies also include kicking or charging smaller opponents clear out of the fight.

- Skrugga: Skruggas are mostly known for standing behind the three categories of orcs listed above. No one can cower, whine, and duck quite like a Skrugga. This is not to say that they are harmless, but rather that they are more about kicking you while you're on the ground. They also have multiple abilities which are handy in running for their lives, which is handy given their reputation.

.

Things in all caps I would think would be helpfile linked.


*****************************************

Druids are priests of nature, in tune with the cycles of the earth, the moon, and the weather. The denizens of the wilds aid Druid's in their lives, and even the earth itself will strike against those whom the druid battle. As a Druid learns the mysteries of nature, their power grows. A druid at the height of his power causes fear in any whom are not at one with the wilds. Druid's require EMPOWERMENT under one of the SPHERES in order to walk their wild path in Thera. Because of their adherence to the cycles of nature, druids must remain NEUTRAL in regards their moral choices in Thera. Woodelves are aspecially adept with the secrets of druidic lore.

The strengths of the druid include:

Druids are exceptionally self sufficient. They know the hidden trails of the wilderness, and this ability at PATHFINDING allows them to travel further and faster than anyone but a RANGER. They can find water anywhere with in the wilds, they can forage for food, and drawing both upon the spirits of nature, and their knowledge of HERBAL MEDICINE, they can heal themselves of nearly any disease or malady in the lands. As they grow in power, they can even call upon the wilds to provide their entire party with a HEROS FEAST, healing all they travel with.

Druids can call upon a variety of fearsome allies to fight alongside them. Druids can infuse a staff with the spirit of a snake using the ability SERPENTINE STAFF. They can awaken the slumbering spirits of the very trees to fight at their side using their knowledge of LIVEOAK. Druids can call upon a nearly endless variety of specialized forest companions including the nimble Pixie, the fearsome Wolverine, and the mystical Forest Witch to aid them when they invoke the CALL OF THE WILD.

Druids are very difficult to kill. In addition to their healing powers, Druids can cover their bodies in a tough CARAPACE, reducing the damage from some blows. They are protected againt all weapons made of metal, and against all forms of elemental damage. They can avoid many common forms of COMMAND DENIAL by causing an ARMOR OF THORNS to sprout from their flesh, and can avoid being TRIPPED with their ability to FLY. When the going gets tough, they can assume a TREE FORM, blending in with the surrounding forest, or utilize the secrets of the FOREST HAVEN to quickly escape their foes.

Druids are fearsome foes, any whom have been rended asunder with a spray of THORNS, burned with a handfull of FIRE SEEDS, or struck with a SUNRAY or MOONBEAM know this. But a druid's offense is not mere brute force. They can sap an enemies ability to move by ENTANGLEling them, or causing huge thorns to pierce their feet with SPIKE GROWTH. Druids can quickly sap the mental reserves of their foes by infesting them with maelidictive SPORES, and weaken and slow their opponents by planting a malicious seed in them using THORN HEART. Druid's can prepare the very ground they fight upon by causing a BRIARTANGLE to sprout from the earth. At the height of their power, druids can call upon the divine HUNT to smite their foes, denying them the ability to use any means of magical or divine transportation whatsoever.

Druid's are one of the most versatile classes in Thera. Their abilities wax and wane with the PHASES OF THE MOON, and with the turning of day and night. Moreover, they can choose how they wish to focus their power by FORAGING FOR HERBS. A druid can, by this method, near the raw destructive power of an INVOKER, have damage-reduction surpassing nearly anyone in Thera, heal themselves or their group with the effeciency of a Healer, or infuse their forest allies with the power of a CONJURER'S servitors. An intelligent druid chooses his method of battle, and is a match for anyone.

Druid's are one of only two classe who can shift their shape, and at the pinnacle of their power can FLY across the skies of Thera as a majestic CONDOR, or battle upon the ground in the shape of a mighty BEAR.

Though powerful and versatile, Druid's have weakness including:

Outside of the wilds, a Druid is denied many of his abilities. Additionally, as the MOON waxes and wanes, druid's abilities so to wax and wane in power. A Druid must choose the ground he fights on, and vary his tactics in accordance with the cycles of nature.

A Druid can at any given time do one or two things exceptionally well based on the HERBS he has FORAGED for. However, the other abilities a druid posesses will not be as powerful, and so the life of a Druid is a constant balancing act. He must choose between offense and defense, healing prowess and utility, never doing all things well, but at any time doing some things exceptionally.

A Druid's connection to nature means he cannot wear metal armor nor bear metal weaponry. However, given time to prepare such equipment, a druid may TRANSMUTE METAL TO WOOD.

Much of a Druid's power comes from the allies he calls from the wilds. Abilites such as PULL, DRIVE, SUMMON and NIGHTGAUNT which separate a Druid from his allies are exceptionally dangerous.

I think to a degree you need to dumb this down a bit more. I'll interject some specific commentary below.

>Druids are priests of nature, in tune with the cycles of the
>earth, the moon, and the weather. The denizens of the wilds
>aid Druid's in their lives, and even the earth itself will
>strike against those whom the druid battle. As a Druid learns
>the mysteries of nature, their power grows. A druid at the
>height of his power causes fear in any whom are not at one
>with the wilds. Druid's require EMPOWERMENT under one of the
>SPHERES in order to walk their wild path in Thera. Because of
>their adherence to the cycles of nature, druids must remain
>NEUTRAL in regards their moral choices in Thera. Woodelves are
>aspecially adept with the secrets of druidic lore.

I think I would perhaps skip talk of empowerment here and maybe mention it under both strengths and weaknesses below. Strengths being like, high immteraction character usually, all the various advantages of communing vs. casting, etc.

>Druids are exceptionally self sufficient. They know the hidden
>trails of the wilderness, and this ability at PATHFINDING
>allows them to travel further and faster than anyone but a
>RANGER. They can find water anywhere with in the wilds, they
>can forage for food, and drawing both upon the spirits of
>nature, and their knowledge of HERBAL MEDICINE, they can heal
>themselves of nearly any disease or malady in the lands. As
>they grow in power, they can even call upon the wilds to
>provide their entire party with a HEROES FEAST, healing all
>they travel with.

I think I would have taken pathfinding and run in a mobility advantage direction more (possibly along with, say, refresh, birdform, and water breathing) but this isn't wrong per se.

>Druids can call upon a variety of fearsome allies to fight
>alongside them. Druids can infuse a staff with the spirit of a
>snake using the ability SERPENTINE STAFF. They can awaken the
>slumbering spirits of the very trees to fight at their side
>using their knowledge of LIVEOAK. Druids can call upon a
>nearly endless variety of specialized forest companions
>including the nimble Pixie, the fearsome Wolverine, and the
>mystical Forest Witch to aid them when they invoke the CALL OF
>THE WILD.

I think talking about the pet power of the class is worth a paragraph, yeah. Maybe emphasize in some way that druids can get different CoWs based on where they go and stuff, again giving them all this versatility etc.

>Druids are very difficult to kill. In addition to their
>healing powers, Druids can cover their bodies in a tough
>CARAPACE, reducing the damage from some blows. They are
>protected againt all weapons made of metal, and against all
>forms of elemental damage. They can avoid many common forms of
>COMMAND DENIAL by causing an ARMOR OF THORNS to sprout from
>their flesh, and can avoid being TRIPPED with their ability to
>FLY. When the going gets tough, they can assume a TREE FORM,
>blending in with the surrounding forest, or utilize the
>secrets of the FOREST HAVEN to quickly escape their foes.
>
>Druids are fearsome foes, any whom have been rended asunder
>with a spray of THORNS, burned with a handfull of FIRE SEEDS,
>or struck with a SUNRAY or MOONBEAM know this. But a druid's
>offense is not mere brute force. They can sap an enemies
>ability to move by ENTANGLEling them, or causing huge thorns
>to pierce their feet with SPIKE GROWTH. Druids can quickly sap
>the mental reserves of their foes by infesting them with
>maelidictive SPORES, and weaken and slow their opponents by
>planting a malicious seed in them using THORN HEART. Druid's
>can prepare the very ground they fight upon by causing a
>BRIARTANGLE to sprout from the earth. At the height of their
>power, druids can call upon the divine HUNT to smite their
>foes, denying them the ability to use any means of magical or
>divine transportation whatsoever.

This paragraph I don't think is very good for the purpose at hand. It's basically a list of druid offensive spells with some description of their effect but without really explaining in broader terms. If I was a real newbie I don't think I could make that much of this that would compell me.

>Druid's are one of the most versatile classes in Thera. Their
>abilities wax and wane with the PHASES OF THE MOON, and with
>the turning of day and night. Moreover, they can choose how
>they wish to focus their power by FORAGING FOR HERBS. A druid
>can, by this method, near the raw destructive power of an
>INVOKER, have damage-reduction surpassing nearly anyone in
>Thera, heal themselves or their group with the effeciency of a
>Healer, or infuse their forest allies with the power of a
>CONJURER'S servitors. An intelligent druid chooses his method
>of battle, and is a match for anyone.

I think the versatility point is important to hit for this class although I don't think I would have hit it quite the same way.

>Druid's are one of only two classe who can shift their shape,
>and at the pinnacle of their power can FLY across the skies of
>Thera as a majestic CONDOR, or battle upon the ground in the
>shape of a mighty BEAR.
>
>Though powerful and versatile, Druid's have weakness
>including:
>
>Outside of the wilds, a Druid is denied many of his abilities.
>Additionally, as the MOON waxes and wanes, druid's abilities
>so to wax and wane in power. A Druid must choose the ground he
>fights on, and vary his tactics in accordance with the cycles
>of nature.

I think you can state the moon thing as a strength as easily as a weakness and I probably would... also better explain that you're not just getting stronger and weaker, but stronger and weaker at different things.

>A Druid can at any given time do one or two things
>exceptionally well based on the HERBS he has FORAGED for.
>However, the other abilities a druid posesses will not be as
>powerful, and so the life of a Druid is a constant balancing
>act. He must choose between offense and defense, healing
>prowess and utility, never doing all things well, but at any
>time doing some things exceptionally.

Again, I think this could be stated as strength vs. weakness. You want to play super healer? Gather the rights herbs and you can. You want super damage spells? Etc.

>A Druid's connection to nature means he cannot wear metal
>armor nor bear metal weaponry. However, given time to prepare
>such equipment, a druid may TRANSMUTE METAL TO WOOD.
>
>Much of a Druid's power comes from the allies he calls from
>the wilds. Abilites such as PULL, DRIVE, SUMMON and NIGHTGAUNT
>which separate a Druid from his allies are exceptionally
>dangerous.

I don't think the loss of the mobs is necessarily as big a deal as you do, but you've probably logged more time playing high level druid than I have.

I think I'd be tempted to mention the semi-unpredictable nature of the druid's DR spells... i.e., if someone comes at you with an elemental metal weapon, you could have a ton of DR, but if it's a bone slashing weapon you might just go straight down. You don't really know in coming at a melee character if you're going to take a lot of damage or very little unless you somehow have prior knowledge of their gear.

Will you be unqueuing submissions so that other authors can chip in on an individual submission (with the bulk done by another person) with tweaks and whatnot?

As of the last time I checked my email, the PBF prize pool for the biggest contributor is no longer empty. Thanks, Rodriguez!

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

Thanks to Sandello and Death_Claw, we have a pool o' PBFs available, possibly enough to reward several/all entrants!

Still a lot of classes to go!

valguarnera@carrionfields.com