What is your favourite Val family?

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  • November 1, 2013 at 7:30 pm #251884
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Mine is certainly val’Borda, probably followed by val’Holryn or val’Emman.

    With a sweep of his…

    Hat

    November 6, 2013 at 10:32 pm #251976
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Mine would be the Val’ because like the Val’Borda they can but are much more…. graceful.. about it I would say.

    never mind the fact that they can which was previously limited to which just makes them so much cooler..

    November 6, 2013 at 11:45 pm #251986
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Mine also is val’, although the varied rulings on val progeny played merry heck with my background for the first year or so.

    My second favourite is val’Dellanov. So much history to live down to… \":twisted:\"

    November 8, 2013 at 9:52 pm #252084
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Mine also is val’, although the varied rulings on val progeny played merry heck with my background for the first year or so.

    My second favourite is val’Dellanov. So much history to live down to… \":twisted:\"

    heck the first character I ever made in the system (when I was testing it out) was a val’Dellanov

    February 21, 2014 at 4:50 pm #257215
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I love Val. By far the best race in the new system. IMO

    All the Val families have something going for them. Flavor, story points (both current and possible), or Bloodline Talents.

    val’Borda, val’Emman, val’Virdan, val’Ishi, val’Mordane, val’Ossan, val’Sheem, val’Mehan
    shadow, fire, fire, undead, undead, water, prophecy, demons
    I find all these families have great flavor. I can’t imagine picking any of the families and building a character and personality that I wouldn’t enjoy, by embracing your families dispositions and tendencies. Some of them have had great story points in the past like the Sword of Heaven, or the corruption of prophecy by the Silence. But there is a lot of possibility for future exploration of any of these families.

    val’Dellanov, val’Abebi
    These two families have some very powerful Tier 1 Bloodline powers, because these powers increase the higher your blood rank. Some people don’t care about languages or knowledge, but you can’t deny that these two families make it worth while to get all their Bloodline Talents.

    val’Inares
    They have the single best Bloodline Power, Path of the Stars.
    Ansharan Portals were a huge thing the last campaign, and being able to drop their price from 5000gp to 500gp was so helpful. In the new campaign they haven’t come up. But we have a long way to go. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they came up again. True their big secret is revealed but Yig was up to something when she joined the PoM. So I don’t think the val’Inares are off the hook yet.

    val’Assante, val’Tensen
    These are the two weakest links. Their powers aren’t the greatest. But also I’ve found I’ve grow tired of them as characters. These two families were the core of the civil war in the old campaign. In the new campaign while Milander was leading the Crusade and their were plenty of Hurrian worshipers. I felt it was more of a val’Ossan show. If the new Arcs (tiers 3, 4, 5) start focusing on Almeric (combining the val’Tensen family) or Coryan (Calmemnon’s return) then these two families are back on center stage. But until then they just have potential story points with weaker powers.

    My personal favorite is val’Mehan. I like magic as a tool. I like the possible connection to the SK. I like that some of the most powerful beings (Infernal Lords) on Arcanis may balk at Sarish because they are not controlled by him, but they know he’s still a God while they are not. I like that they gather secrets some for knowledge’s sake, some for specific purposes (how to trap a valinor). I like the Talents they get, you can become a great caster by taking them. I like that they come from a family is not trusted but there are good people who are just trying to help everyone. I love how everyone is hoping Sarish has a trick up his sleeve to prevent Oblivion. Finally I like that they get to handle a very dangerous tool (infernals) and they must focus on not falling to corruption by that tool.
    “There is a difference between you and me. We both looked into the abyss but when it looked back at us, you blinked.”

    February 22, 2014 at 12:21 am #257241
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Val’Emman is certainly one that sticks out to me. That started in the old D&D days because they (Val’Virdan at the time) were the first I’d seen bring back infravision, which i always thought was both logical and cool. It has stayed with me and migrated to the Emman side of the family as their family story is very compelling to me.

    In the new iteration of the game I’ve found the outcast wanderer nature of the Val’Inares appealing. As I’ve learned more about them it has made me want to play one on the cusp of transformation.

    Val’Borda appeal to me as well. I’ve always seen them in a light similar to “The Operative” from Serenity. They are the ones doing horrible things to make the world a better place.

    Val’Ossan and Val’Tensen have that elemental feel I like, though their powers seem more lackluster or not quite fitting the concepts I come up with for them. Though I still dream of the day the adventures have some major bodies of water and I can use a Val’Ossan to full effect.

    February 22, 2014 at 4:37 am #257255
    PCI_Admin
    Keymaster

    I’ve got a Val’Mordane, but that family was chosen for it’s apparent prominence at the nexus of Least Popular and Least Useful. \":lol:\"

    Val’Emman, I suppose. All the ferocity and martial prowess of the Val’Virdan, none of the baggage.

    February 22, 2014 at 5:05 am #257257
    frootsnax
    Participant

    Val’Emman, I suppose. All the ferocity and martial prowess of the Val’Virdan, none of the baggage.

    \":P\" None of the baggage?!?

    That’s almost enough to knock me over with a feather. It is true that the val’Emman lack a stronghold in the perennially morally a challenged climate of Canceri – You do miss some baggage there. And you would have the missed the “best” parts of Erdukeen exuberance in the occupation of … again morally challenged … Canceri in the last campaign. Still!

    There are barely more twists and turns in a bag of snakes than the ups and downs of the relations between the val Emman and the val Virdan. And in that history the val’Emman have been the persecutors as often as the persecuted. Maybe more…thevalEmman have historically been much more likely to be working with other authorities than taking principled stands.

    No baggage? Look more closely under the fancy red cloak.

    February 22, 2014 at 5:46 am #257258
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Definitely val’Emman for me. Their backstory certainly is part of the reason, but mostly I’m just a fan of their bloodline powers. I’ve always been drawn to high mobility builds (although for some reason neither of my current characters are high pace), and their powers certainly lean in that direction. It seems like any system I play I’m also drawn to fire worshippers for some reason, so that is another plus. I’ve always been interested in the ‘cleansing flame’ aspect of Nier.

    I’m excited to be rebuilding Crash val’Emman as a result of the Kickstarter. I’m curious to see how true I’ll be able to be to the original character…and of course I’m looking forward to seeing the ‘crunch’ in the new book, for that purpose. This is off topic for this thread however. I vote val’Emman.

    February 22, 2014 at 6:36 am #257259
    PCI_Admin
    Keymaster

    Val’Emman, I suppose. All the ferocity and martial prowess of the Val’Virdan, none of the baggage.

    \":P\" None of the baggage?!?
    *snip*

    The Val’Emman stood with The Rebels.
    The Val’Emman have no tradition of raiding and slaving.
    The Val’Emman were no part of the return of the Sword of the Heavens.

    That is, for a Val family, incredibly clean hands. As far as I’m concerned, any Val’Emman I deal with have no relation to the family that oppressed the Val’Virdan.
    That history is dead. It’s fortresses are pillaged. It’s lands are salted. It’s cities are in ruins. Besides the Mentagi, no element or person of it’s culture remains. There is literally no material connection between the Val’Emman who locked collars around the throats of their kin, and the ones running an inn in Enpebyn.
    Right or wrong, the Val’Virdan were correct in thinking they’d exterminated their cruel siblings once and for all until that strange expedition into the Corlathians.
    So, no. None of the baggage.

    They have an impossibly rare chance too start over, and Phaia certainly prays they make the best of it.

    February 22, 2014 at 3:53 pm #257267
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I think the val’Virdan may disagree with you on the whole “never slaving” thing \";-)\"

    February 22, 2014 at 7:16 pm #257273
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I made a val’Dellenov because I liked them so much from the first campaign and their world history. They did some awesome political/fundamental control things in the first couple years of the original campaign arc.

    I’m an outdoorsy person so that ‘nature’ aspect of their deity was also appealing. The rules of the system make the spear one of the more interesting weapons, and that really fits thematically for the character concept I was coming up with, a warrior that can be effective in most all environments, one that has some very ‘feral’ aspects.

    I also think the val’Del powers are fantastic for a warrior type, unarmed is such a fantastic melee mode for so many reasons/situations.

    Lastly (but not least), the role-playing options for me came together nicely. Being a pretty high-rank bloodline powered male in a female dominated ‘family’ has some interesting options.

    February 22, 2014 at 9:31 pm #257281
    PCI_Admin
    Keymaster

    I think the val’Virdan may disagree with you on the whole “never slaving” thing \";-)\"

    Then as usual they’d be picking a pointless fight because either A) it’s only my perspective or B) I’m not wrong.

    February 23, 2014 at 2:39 am #257297
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Then as usual they’d be picking a pointless fight because either A) it’s only my perspective or B) I’m not wrong.

    Whether this is a player or character vantage point, the answer here is A, because you are, in fact, wrong. It’s pretty much the reason the entire line was almost exterminated.

    February 23, 2014 at 5:39 am #257311
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    All Val lines carry baggage, though in all fairness the val’Emman of modern time carry far LESS in the minds of others. It should be noted, however, that the reputation the val’Virdan got for their recklessness and hot-headedness has been traced to the val’Emman which were masquerading as val’Virdan. As such, while they haven’t done much (officially) recently, they still DO have a reputation.

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