Svirfneblin broken?

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Vincent
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Svirfneblin broken?

Post by Vincent » Wed Mar 20, 2019 3:29 am

Hello there. A friend of mine recently rolled a svirfneblin and chose to start in Brogendenstein. You would think considering the race's neutral alignment and the fact he started in Brogendenstein like a normal gnome would spare him the difficulties drow, duergar etc might face on the surface. Instead, Captain Laurick refuses to sail him anywhere and whenever he dies on Surface, he spawns at one of the many entrances to the Underdark (despite setting his spawn location to the Arcane Tower). Is this really intentional behaviour? It seems like a gaping oversight. Starting at Brogendenstein surely insinuates you want to play primarily on the surface, but it seems he'd have a much easier time in Andunor. I realise svirfneblin herald from the Underdark, but as the option to start within the Great Grotto is given, it only seems pragmatic to give them the same treatment as any other gnome.

xanrael
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Re: Svirfneblin broken?

Post by xanrael » Wed Mar 20, 2019 4:05 am

Keep in mind, from the wiki:

"Light-Sensitive Race, They are the oldest of the Underdark dwelling races, and as such have evolved to dwell exclusively in that world. While they may travel on the surface they are expected to role-play extreme trepidation about such an unfamilar environment. In bright daylight they suffer extreme physical discomfort, and will find their senses impaired by the experience."

This is different than some of the tabletop stats for deep gnomes who for several editions of D&D were one of the few non-monster PC UD races that lacked the light sensitivity drawback, but they're had the light sensitivity drawback on Arelith for years.

Also says something about surfacers being naturally distrustful of any races from the UD and thus causing deep gnomes grief.

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Ork
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Re: Svirfneblin broken?

Post by Ork » Wed Mar 20, 2019 5:37 am

Make sure your friend binds to a respawn stone somewhere on the C&P server. My guess is he died on the C&P server instead of the Surface (where he has a bind location), and was respawned in Andunor.

Infinite Solutions
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Re: Svirfneblin broken?

Post by Infinite Solutions » Wed Mar 20, 2019 7:56 am

The Great Grotto is still the underdark just connected to Brog. Starting there doesn't make them a "normal gnome" but it makes their ties closer to the Earthkin Alliance than to Anundor at least in the beginning.

As part of the Earthkin Alliance svirfs are able to move about Bendir Dale and Brog freely (because a decade of in game events brought them there) but that doesn't make them welcome or easily able to travel everywhere else on the surface. Not being able to use Laurick is reflective of that as well as the warnings if they get to close to Cordor.

On the other hand as a UD race they can use the Hub and Treadstone Locks portals and have some other nice advantages. They're not broken but they are a peculiar challenge and probably not a great choice for a surface-only character. Though they can be a good one for an outsider type who can interact both above and below.
Ork wrote:
Wed Mar 20, 2019 5:37 am
Make sure your friend binds to a respawn stone somewhere on the C&P server. My guess is he died on the C&P server instead of the Surface (where he has a bind location), and was respawned in Andunor.
If they start in the Grotto they should respawn there but occasionally this does not work correctly and they're sent to Anundor. The svirf should bind in the Grotto too and be sure to get some portal destinations ASAP.

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