The Echker

The Echker are the most populated race of Evrenstride.  They are goblin like in appearance, but for the most part share human skin tones.  The average height of an adult Echker is 5'5".  They have rounded noses and the earlobes are stretched pointing behind them.  Within the bottom of the ear to the end of the pointed lobe is a hollow bone that picks up nearby vibrations.  This aids them in being very aware of their surroundings.  A great survival advantage as the Evrenstride holds a variety of hidden dangers.
The most unique thing about the Echker is that depending on their main diet in youth, their adult appearance is very different.  "You are what you eat" is very true for them.

The general Echker is as described above.  They had a variety of foods when young.

Echker that in youth ate only meat grow up with a craving for flesh and blood.  Their teeth become long razors, their bodies thin and quick, geared for the hunt.  Some even turn to cannibalism

Some Echker are born of darkness.  They are known as Cave Mongers.  Living underground, they only had insects and fungi to consume.  As they grow, their vision fades, their nose grows to compensate lack of sight with a great sense of smell.  Most are albino and more squat in appearance than the standard Echker.

The strangest Echker are those hungry for treasure.  Ever see a child never hungry for normal food, but constantly putting random objects in their mouth?  This what what these Echker children did.  They no longer consume meat or plants, but eat coins, gems, and metal.  Their jaws are wide with thick solid teeth for crushing.  Crystals grow from their back, their skin is hardened and they move slower than most due to the added weight.

The Echker society is one similar to our own.  They have families, build homes, and create full communities.  Their government is under a loose monarchy.
The Echker's technology is not very advanced.  They have no electricity and have not produced anything similar to gun powder.

For the most part their economy is a simple bartering system.  The do have a currency in the form of coins stamped with a symbol related to their kingdom although it is not as widely used as we humans spend money. 

There are three major kingdoms of Echker:
Hernald - Symbol: Alchemical bottle with a ribbon tied around the bottle's neck
Rich and prosperous kingdom run by Queen Titch Hernald.  Their wealth came from trading medicines that others could not acquire or create.  The queen is very protective of her people and the kingdom her family has built.

Rumstarn - Symbol: Face of a roaring beast
King Verst Rumstarn rules with an iron fist.  This is a young, but quickly growing kingdom.  Might is right in the kingdom and the majority of the population has been inducted into Rumstarn's military in some form or another.

Javiece - Symbol: Half moon with an eye filling the empty space
King Larn Javiece and his Queen Seris rule together. The smallest of the three kingdoms.  They rule what is also known as the Roaming Kingdom.  The main cities are on a floating island that moves slowly about the Evrenstride.  It's rumored that at the center of the island hidden under a great tower is a travel way and a source of orange waters that bestow magic upon those that drink it.
The three kingdoms are constantly at odds with each other, Rumstarn being the main agitator wanting a quick expansion.

Journal of Reginald Owen Part 2

This is the journal of Reginald Owen - Banker, Hunter, and now Grand Adventurer

October 8th, 1928

I still can't get over the fact that I ate a blue beast yesterday. 

The reality of my situation did not set in until I awoke this morning.  I don't know if it was shock, or if I thought it was a dream.  Whatever the case for my denial, I truly have found myself in a different world. 

Nerstom and I shared stories last night, too many to write about.  The most interesting thing he spoke about was the travel ways.  Apparently, all over Evrenstride are hidden spots that take you from point A to point B much quicker than any other way of travel.  He said most can't tell where they are, but his people just seem to know when one is near.  Some of the travel ways are connect to home, the human world and others like me have gotten lost here.  To my dismay, Nerstom said that those are only a one way trip.

I was pleased that my Ajax would still start, even if there were too many trees around to actually drive it anywhere. I didn't want to leave my precious car, but if there were other people here, other humans, I had to find them.  I made a makeshift bag out of my coat and some twine and packed up what few things I had in the car: some tools, a few notebooks and pens, a canteen, my hunting rifle and a half box of rounds. 

More will come later little journal of mine.  Nerstom is taking me to a river so we can follow it to his village.  I hope the rest of his people are as kind as he.

Levels? We don't need to stinkin levels!

So, a little talk for the actual game system itself.
There will be no levels, no classes.

The things that define your character and what it can do are
Race - standard in many RPGs, what your actually are
Attributes - There are 3 - Body, Mind and Spirit.  They also act as 3 separate set of health levels.  Things can do damage to the Body (swords - stabbity), to the Mind (mind bullets, pew pew) and to the Spirit (evil corruption, fear, etc... spooky stuff)
Skills - This is a skill based system, so skill are most important.  How good you are in given fields or tasks
Abilities - Attacks, powers, spiffy movement things.  What you can do beyond normal skill use
Characteristics - Good and bad things.  Can give skill bonus or minuses, or added abilities or things that make life a little more troublesome for your character.  Wide range of things, simple good one would be Ambidexterous, able to use both hands without penalties.  More in depth bad example would be Haunted - The GM can bring in a ghost from your character's past to muck things up a bit.
At the moment there are 5 character races.  Each give you a base stat line of Attributes and a Characteristic.
Each race also has 4 varities.  These varities alter the Attributes slightly, give some skill modifiers, and also 1 or 2 more characterisitcs.  Either 1 positive, 1 negative, or a characterisitic that has both good and bad things about it.

I am going to go more in depth with the races later, each in their own post.
Instead of gaining experience to reach the next level, experience will be used to purchase new skills, abilities and characteristics.  Also experience can be used to upgrade or expand your Focus Die pool (more on that later)

I'm trying to decide how best to go about describing aspects of the system in this blog.  Any questions on the system or setting, just ask.

First! and stuff

Hello one and all.

Adding another project to my list.  This is for Evrenstride, a fantasy setting that I am creating to go with a tabletop rpg system I am writing.

The game system is leveless - skill based with a unique mechanic i'm currently just calling Focus Dice until I can think of something better (unless Focus Dice stick).  With experience points you will be able to upgrade and expand a separate dice pool used to fuel and enhance abilities.

The setting is the Evrenstride.  A world existing outside normal time and space, but is very close to the Earth that we know.  Even though it is a Fantasy setting, the standard Elves, Dwarfs, Orcs, Kobolds, Dragons, etc... do not exist.  I am creating new creatures to inhabit the world.  I hope to give it a bit of a fairy tale feel, but keeping with some biology that actually makes some sense.

Keep watch to this blog for info about the setting and game system.