[INTRODUCTION] Welcome to Thessir.

The World of Thessir.

Glossary -



Welcome, traveller, explorer, and lost wanderer, to the world of Thessir.  We rather hope you enjoy your stay.  But, you ask, what 'is' Thessir?

Thessir is the creation of a dedicated and passionate team of writers, builders, coders and thinkers who have been drawn together by a shared passion and by a deep basis of knowledge.  Artists, writers, coders, programmers, historians, all have come together to try and create something that is both familiar and new, and also, expansive and full enough that it will be enjoyed and experienced by a great many people.

The world of Thessir is unique, but does draw upon some established ideas.  In some cases, these ideas are much like you might find in many different fantasy or Forgotten Realms settings, but in others, it is very drastically different.  Thessir is not, and we cannot stress this enough, is NOT a part of the Forgotten Realms universe.  It does not share its deities, its settings, or its history.  What it is, instead, is a whole new world with a history all of its own that has been worked on (and is still being worked on!) by the team.

It also has different mechanics, different systems for magic and skills, and a level limit, based off the D20 system from Neverwinter Nights.  There are a whole slew of changes, which are, conveniently, found in the forums - we highly recommend that you have a look around!



So what are we offering?

Well, we're glad you asked!  What we're trying to create is a player driven world, fueled by conflict and combat.  That means, we're aiming for a dynamic, shifting society, which the players can and will influence by working together to create changes.  This doesn't strictly speaking need to be war, of course!   We are creating a comfortable, lore rich roleplay based environment, where a player can be anything from a peasant to a noble knight.   Organisations, factions, houses and conflict already exist in the world, but new ones can be created quite easily.  The setting is fluid enough that if a player based group gains traction, you can expect the DM's to offer help where they can, and the setting politics may even change as a result.  

We are working (constantly) towards creating a balanced player vs player system.  We understand player driven conflict is a very big part of a successful roleplay environment, and we wish to encourage that.  But we are also aiming towards realism as well - which is why we have a permanent death system in place.  This isn't to say, if you are killed in game you are dead permanently, but if you are not careful with your resources, and managing them, you can be killed off forever.  Be careful out there!  Nothing in the game will be unbeatable, but if you run around without thought or care, you'll be killed off quickly and if you are not patient, and thoughtful, perhaps permanently!  So, we cannot stress this enough, and we're going to underline it so you remember!


Most of all, we're trying for something a little bit different, but with a lot of enjoyment as well.  We want players to feel like they are making a difference, and we want an air of realism not just in the systems of play, but the roleplay as well.  Good roleplay will be observed and rewarded - and without favouritism.  Because no one likes that.

Some of the differences we've made have been roleplay orientated.  Inspired by such gritty fantasy as The Witcher, Game of Thrones, Dark Souls and Dragon Age, we've incorporated some of the darker realism into our themes.  Deity worship in Thessir is not limited by alignment, for example.  Each god is fluid enough in its interpretation that in almost every instance, they can be followed by an individual of any alignment.  They also have a much less direct presence in the world than in normal Forgotten Realms settings.  Some races, such as elves, actually tend towards atheism!  They instead follow philosophical paths of self expression, rather than worship powerful figures, and tend to view such things as a human affectation.  Magic fluctuates in Thessir as well - it has, for centuries been in a weaker state, but has started recently to begin resurgence.  Spellcasters, who were once quite rare, are starting to become more common, as people find it easier to tap into the power of manifestations.

There are noble houses vying for power.  Mercenary groups and thieves guilds.  Religious assassins and fanatics.  Pirate and robber bands.  Rival churches who have been at each other's throats for centuries.  What influence could the player have to change all this?  Everything.  We're giving you a world to shape and change, if you work hard enough at it.  We're a small team, and only human, but give us a chance, and we'll do what we can to keep up!

Mechanics.

Quite a few things have been changed from the core game, and the core game experience.  There are sections that will go into greater detail on this throughout the game (found here! https://thessir.forumotion.com/f17-public-module-information-mechanical-changes ), and we really, really recommend you read up on the rules, found here – ( https://thessir.forumotion.com/f18-public-rules)!  But if you want a brief explanation, here goes.

The game is limited to 15 levels through adventuring.  That means, by going out and killing various beasties and finishing quests, you'll not be able to proceed past level 15.  Once you reach that, your level progression stops.   This is not where levels end, however.  You can, through various means, progress past that point to level 20, but no higher.  Thessir will not be making use of epic levels, and reaching level 20 will be quite difficult indeed.  Why are we doing it like this?  Simply put, below level 20, the flexibility and the viability of the game and the classes involved is much, much higher, particularly in a combative sense of things between players.  Once you get past that, things become extremely difficult to balance, and the gap between levels means a lot more.  Balance alone with items would become next to impossible, and rather than have a rock, paper scissors system, we'd like to encourage flexibility and playability, to allow players to feel free to explore not just powerbuilding but also roleplay orientated builds.  

There are other limitations on levels.  Subraces, to be explored later, will be available – and there will be a great deal of them, too!  However, some of the more powerful subraces, which add a great deal of ability to the character that has them, will also limit the maximum level that a character can reach.  Some of the subraces have an additional Equivalent Character Level, or as it is abbreviated, ECL.  Most of the races with ECL require approval from the admin team before they can be implemented.  But as an example, a race with a +5 ECL will, at level  1, be the equivalent of a sixth level character experience wise.  They will also hit the experience cap at level 10 instead of 15.  This means that, while they can earn another five levels through various means, they will reach their maximum possible level at level 15.  They will never reach twentieth level and have the bonuses of their subrace.  Not all the subraces will have limits like this, and an ECL of +5 will be the highest – and extremely rare.  There is a list to come of approved subraces, and some variants on existing themes, to be explored later.

The nature of adventuring in Thessir, and this is particularly true of the dungeons we will be creating, is going to encourage intelligence, group tactics, and thoughtful, patient play.  There will be rewards worth getting however – the dungeons in particular will have high risk, but high reward.  However, if you are one to rush about and throw yourself into the fray, you're going to have trouble!  As noted, Thessir has a permanent death system, but it is, in truth, very, very easily avoidable to meet this fate if you are patient, manage your resources, and minimise your weaknesses.  Stay flexible, folks!  Everything will have a weakness, everything will have a way you can win, even if it seems impossible.  As referenced above, BE CAREFUL.  Think your way through the fight, and observe your enemy.  We'll do what we can to keep things logical.  So rest when you can, keep an eye on your spells and hit points, and keep your gear flexible for whatever situation you come across.  There will be a counter to everything, and counters on top of counters.  It's just a case of figuring out what they are!

That being said, we're still testing our way through things!  So expect a bit of leeway here and there.  There will be fine tuning, and exploration, and experimentation.  Yes, there will be times when we find something and limit it, if it is found to be too effective.  But that is merely a result of expediency – if it is a choice between lowering the power of one thing, and increasing the power of everything else, we're going to have to go with the simpler option!   We know that will at times frustrate and annoy.  But we're always going to have to go with what is best for the entire server.  And we hope you understand that such a thing is necessary – and never a personal attack or affront.  When the choice becomes between satisfying an individual's desires and creating something that the entire server will enjoy, we're going to choose the latter, as it is, frankly, impossible to cater to everyone's exact needs and wants.  What we're hoping to do is something new, something different, and something you can enjoy.  We're hoping we'll succeed!

Cosmology, Universe Setting, and Deities, and the relation to alignment.

As mentioned earlier, Thessir exists in a unique setting, and much of this is reflected in its cosmological or planar make up.

Standard DnD mechanics, such as in NWN, have a cosmology based on multiple planes which are widely varied and amorphous.  This is not the case in Thessir, which while it exists in a multiplanar setting, this setting is far removed from the Forgotten Realms setting.  There are three planes, and for the most part, by the vast majority of the population, the only known one is the material plane, or the standard one where everyday life goes on and continues.  There is, however, three other planes which coexist somewhat with the material world.  These are called the Dream, the Shadow and the Nether, and will be explored later.  The first, the Dream, is vaguely known amongst the in game world, and the Shadow as well, which is viewed as something of a bridge between the real world and the Dream.   However, the Nether is most assuredly not known amongst the common lore of the universe.  There are reasons, however, and these will be explored later, and expanded in the process.  Between these realms are the Shadows, which is somewhat more known – but only to a select few.  Again, this will be explored later.  But we're going to keep a little mystery for now!

The Forgotten Realms also have a very real and very physical approach to Deities and godly worship.  In the DnD universe, Gods are a very real and established point of fact in the setting.  Gods are not only real, they are proven to exist, and the spells of clerics and paladins reflect this.  But that is in Forgotten Realms material.  It is not the case in Thessir.

Deities in Thessir are a mystery.  Much like their real life equivalents, the presence of a true deity of any kind is very much up to not just debate but also personal belief.  As they are not in fact physically and spiritually present however, it does afford an enormous amount of leniency in regards to alignment.  As mentioned before, we wish to approach this setting with something approaching realism – up to a point, of course, as it is doubtful you would enjoy playing Bob the Peasant as he works the pig farm for his entire character life before dying of dysentery (or maybe not, who knows?).  But going back on track – realism means realistic characters.  And as history and personal experience shows, people are not exactly easy to pigeonhole.  If we are to examine Christianity, for example, you can point out Mother Theresa on one end of the scale, and on the other, Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church.  Both of them believed in the same deity, but neither one of them were very similar at all in how they viewed the world.  As it stands, in Forgotten Realms, the god an individual follows dictates the alignment.  This is because they are, as real beings, able to personally favour an individual with abilities.  In Thessir, the gods are not known to be real or false, but people are able to call on their favour regardless!  This is because it is not the deity that matters, but the belief in the deity that calls upon the magic.  But this means that the person can be of practically any alignment, but as long as they believe, they can utilise the powers of their deity.  Indeed, most of the gods created in the Thessir setting are built around the concept that anyone can pay observance to them, PURELY DEPENDING ON THEIR OWN PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE OF BELIEF AND WORSHIP.  This part is important, so we'd like you to remember it!  Who you worship in Thessir is not as important as why you worship them.  Do you follow the Great Dragon because he protects the weak, or because he allows you to hate your enemies, whoever they might be?  It is purely up to the player to focus on the part that relates to them – if any.  Keep it flexible people, and keep it realistic.  And just because someone wears the same colour cloth as you – does not always mean they are a friend!

Changes to Magic.

This is, most likely, the single biggest change to existing NWN mechanics that we'll be implementing into Thessir.  Magic, how it works, and how it is managed, is going to be very, very different from existing settings, and much of that is because of the new but familiar mechanic we are choosing to introduce into the game, of Mana.

When referring to caster classes, we are speaking of the primary spell caster classes – Cleric, Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, Ranger, Paladin, and Wizard.  Each of these classes have a mana pool, and primary stats affect how that mana pool works.  Intelligence increases the size of the pool.  Charisma affects the speed of its regeneration.  And Wisdom reduces the mana cost of each spell.  Certain spells end up costing the caster more – in particular spells with the death effect, due to their power and effect.

Mana can be restored by a potion mechanic, which will restore the mana of the caster, much like a health potion.  Mana will be tracked by an item set to the quickbar, that will show a percentage value as the mana is depleted.

Other spells are different, or have had their duration, effect, and power changed.  Some may even be removed, depending on how things go.  The exact list of changes, and the how it effects each spellcasting class, will be found here ( https://thessir.forumotion.com/t69-the-mana-system ) – if there is something missing, please be patient with us!  We'll get it fully updated as soon as we can.

Subraces.

One thing we're going to be offering for Thessir are subraces, and we'll be offering quite a few as well! Some of these, as mentioned already, will be very powerful. Some of them less so, and some will allow for all manner of factional development. However, this section is still being ratified, and will have a very substantial explanation of both the effects of each race in Thessir, their features and description, and where they fit, as well as their abilities and alterations to their ECL. They will, for the most part, be earned through effort rather than simply given out, particularly in the case of the more powerful sub races! We are also customising the origins of many quite substantially – remember, this isn't the FR setting, so things will be quite different from what players might be used to, but we're quite sure they'll still be familiar enough for them to play and adapt to easily enough. A much, much more substantial explanation will be presented as soon as it is done.