What leeway do PC submissions have in filling out Layonara history?

[SteveMaurer]

Hi.  I'm very much new here.   I have a question about what assumptions that can be made when creating characters.

I've been looking at the Layonara history, and I see a lot of things either invented but not common knowledge, or not yet invented by the world creator(s).    For example, I know that Deep Gnomes are a "Deep Race", meaning that they're "stoned out of small towns and villages for nothing other than [their] looks", but not why.    The little guys are really nice, if butt-ugly.  There's no explanation what the problem is.

The reason I'm asking is because - again just as an example - before I could create a Deep Gnome PC, I'd have to come up with a reason why, in RP terms, s/he gets the reaction they do.   Some war, or misunderstanding between the races, or hell, maybe on seeing one, Layonaran humans think some wizard just animated all their lawn ornaments.   (And coming up with such an explanation would be fun for me, if the DMs don't mind too much, because I can make up some cool stuff.)    But I don't want to step on anyone's toes either, making up things for the world just as a PC.

So how does this work?   If I post a new character with some explanation in the background - Tialiar Bloodstone, direct descendant of Sinthar Bloodstone's na'er-do-well cousin, Vinny Bloodstone ("Say, cous', I know you got this whole Dragon God war thing goin' on and all, but can I borrow the horse for the weekend?   See, I got this hot date with an elven chick") - how exactly does this get resolved?   Does the DM approve it?   Is there some pre-approval?   I'd like to know before I do anything major, only to discover that our Layonara's world builder has decided Sinthar was far too sinister and angsty to have family troubles.

Written slightly tongue-in-cheek, but a serious question none the less.

[ycleption]

(Caveat: this is just from observation of how these things work, I'm not a DM or CA or anything.)

Well, layonara is chock full of tiny hamlets that have been marauded by orcs leaving only a sole survivor...
Anything large enough to be recognized in a history book probably won't fly in a character submission.

There seems to be more leeway for, say, proposing the cultural tendencies of a remote area, or defining things like that. If you're lucky, the character approvers will flag it for our Loremaster, who will say "sounds cool, its now part of world lore" and if you're not, he (or a CA, if you're trying to invent Vinny Bloodstone) will say, "sorry, doesn't mesh with lore, remove it from your submission."

[minerva]

Actually Deep Gnomes, given that most worship Beryl, are fairly well accepted if they chose to surface. The trust and acceptance issue tends to more on their side than the other races. They are rare on the surface for that reason, not that they are drummed out.
 
 Deep dwarves on the other hand are not welcome on the surface because of the history of slaving raids and associations with the other evil Deep race of dark elves who's cruelty and evil nature is well known. The fact that Deep Dwarves mostly worship the evil god Sulterio does not help their cause either.
 
 If you want to read the relations of "monsterous" races on the surface, you can do a forum search for some detailed threads as the topic seems to cycle evey 8-10 months.  
 
 
 We try hard not to overly restrict your creative juices but there are some cavaets. If you are proposing some major world altering Lore it is going to have to go past the Loremaster himself and get a nod of approval before your character gets approved. This can greatly slow down the approval process and no guarentees what you have written fits the vision for Layonara.  Some players have written Lore into the game during the approvals process but as said there are no guarentees.
 
 That said the local history of some village or hamlet on the map is likely of world changing importance. During the Dark Ages (1401-1420) many small villages disappeared from the land as people died of disease and starvations. Some cities became bigger as rural people flocked to their protections and the promise of a better life.
 
 We have a rule in place that no PC starts with priviledged status. You cannot play the son of a king or the daughter of the ruling houses of Voltrex. That does not mean that you have to be completely a commoner but your background has to explain why you do not have and never will have any advantage(s) from it. Most character rise from common roots to persue an adventuring lifestyle.  Characters may thru controlled means of CDQs (Character development Quests) and interactions with GMs in the course of quests dicscover unique things about their characters and thier history but that is in the hands of the team so that it can stay Lore consistent.

[SteveMaurer]

Actually Deep Gnomes, given that most worship Beryl, are fairly well accepted if they chose to surface. The trust and acceptance issue tends to more on their side than the other races. They are rare on the surface for that reason, not that they are drummed out.

Thanks for the clarification.  It sounds like what you're really saying is that Deep Gnomes do not really have the "Deep Race" feat; they live in the Deep, but are not hated by surface races, like Dark Elves and Deep Dwarves are.    And at least from my perspective, that would make sense.

The only issue is a character based off that understanding comes in direct conflict with explicitly published Layonaran rules, and I was simply unprepared to make such a great leap.    Usually, when creating background, I like to fill in around the edges, rather than taking such a direct oppositional stance.

[ShiffDrgnhrt]

Wait, are you saying that Deep Gnomes are hated like Dark Elves and Deep Dwarves?!  Since when?!

[EdTheKet]

That said the local history of some village or hamlet on the map is likely of world changing importance.

Minerva forgot the word 'not' I think. It's not of world changing importance

[miltonyorkcastle]

Wait, are you saying that Deep Gnomes are hated like Dark Elves and Deep Dwarves?! Since when?!

I believe he's saying that he understands via minerva's post that they're not hated on the surface, but rather that the Deep gnomes are more distrustful of surface races than the surface races are of them.