The Role Of The Maraya

[soapboxstage]

The problem with a medium sized heavily armored race like the Dakkar is that they are inherently overpowered in RP combat situations. Let me quote a passage from the Dakkar lore page:

"Dakkar armor is practically impenetrable to arrows, swords, spears and even heavier weapons like crossbows and voulges. The only weapon capable of breaking their armor is a sledgehammer."

That is insane in any combat scenario; and, for the purposes of that durable combat niche, the Zu-Allar fit and the Orc aren't that terribly far off either. No, I don't think that the solution for the Maraya's lack of a place is to simply make them a tanky bruiser when such things exist already.

Click to shrink...

I don't know that was just an idea, and I wasn't saying we turn the mayaria into them, just that we bring back the bug people

 

[The Unknown]

From what I've seen and recently played the largest problem with the Maraya is that they have little to no way of actually forming lasting relationships with those outside of their own race...
Unfortunately, given their current implementation Maraya are essentially forced into blatantly disregarding anything that isn't one of their own race. I think that this particular line of lore ruins their species entirely: "There is no notable dissension from the Great Purpose, as the world of law from the Tohn Sona, the only usable item from their forgotten past, is undisputed."

Click to shrink...

I disagree- while it's true that it's difficult to create positive, lasting relationships as a typical Maraya, it doesn't anywhere actually say that they have to be condescending and annoying all the time. The Tohn Sona says that they need to enslave everyone in the long term, but that's pretty much all it says. Maraya that sit down and think about this could quite easily realise that Regalia is far too powerful to conquer, and that the best place to start is with an alliance (they are the greatest power in the world after all). It's not a very good idea to insult your potential allies, right? While a Maraya will always be strange in some way, and have some sort of difficulty with social situations, they're not nearly as socially set-back as, say, the Zu-Allar.

Honestly a simple work around would be to simply make the "Great Purpose" less of a unidirectional idea.

Click to shrink...

I do agree with this! Perhaps there could be added a few different interpretations of the Tohn Sona, or general directions that they've taken it. Make it more flexible.

While a point addition could be useful, I still think that Maraya cannot be fixed with purely a proficiency boost. They could be made into a workable race in this way, I think, but if the goal is to fix all the problems in one fell swoop and bring it up to the standard of the Url, Allar or Kathar, more substantial content needs to be added in order to make the race feel more unique. Interpretations of, changes to and clarification on the content of the Tohn Sona could be an interesting alternative to a slaving-based race, though it would also be less interesting I think. That's just taste, though, and ideally we would have both.
Either way, if the symbiotic slaving idea that's been discussed earlier was taken up, that could easily fix the relationship issue, as it would add a potential for Maraya that feel pity for, or a need to protect, the lesser races (due to their emotional connection to their 'slaves'). Even Maraya that are particularly bouncy and charismatic - though the darker twist would always be present.

As far as purpose and the Tohn Sona goes, I think it could be cool if there were short-term vague goals to guide characters that are even just mentioned briefly in the Culture section. Trying to take over the slums, going into politics, working to aid the scientific community, setting up businesses (monopoly-style, with the help of slaves) and taking up arms to claim the slums are all valid directions for characters, and I think this should be hinted at, as the race is so polarised in its mindset that it is difficult to see the options at times.

I feel like we've been building up ideas through debate on this thread, so I'm gonna pop my favourite idea right here as a sortof tl;dr. That way, I can also feel less pressured to argue for it and instead devote time to helping develop potential alternatives.

NICHE: Communal RP - more bluntly powerful than Allar systems, but with no in-built political backing and a mysterious, folklore-type feel.
PURPOSE?: As far as a purpose for the race would go, I think the current 'enslave everything' is good (but only in the context of this idea; empathy for lessers needs to be possible in order to open up more possibilities for character interaction).
DESC: Maraya would be given the ability to enslave other races and grant them sizeable buffs (depending on the pre-stasis age of the Maraya, picked from a mutator tree). The slaves would be willing, and there would be little tension - more of a cooperation where the Maraya take the coordinating role (eliminating the issue with slave rp being wildly unpopular). Because different Maraya would be able to buff their slaves in different ways and different slaves would have different skills, contrasting and complimentary niches would be created and the forming of Communes would be encouraged to pool their power and make an impact. This tendency to group together to pool power could be easily and briefly added to culture or trivia.
AESTHETIC (less important): It'd be cool if Maraya were allowed to be as bugly or as un-bugly as they want to be. This could be worked in to the powers, or not; it's just to add variety and allow that alien aesthetic to be used again.
Clothing/cultural dress should be expanded upon. As beautiful fairy people that emerge from the jungle to snatch up unsuspecting Allar, folklore could be drawn upon for some aspects (or folklore could be edited in to fit with their appearance and culture).
PROFICIENCY: Maraya wouldn't benefit much from the Mastigo Whip proficiency here, apart from perhaps in specific branches of the slave power tree. Unarmed proficiency seems more appropriate and versatile, as they are noted to be excellent martial artists (and unarmed could be more often used).

 

[ETrees]

I disagree- while it's true that it's difficult to create positive, lasting relationships as a typical Maraya, it doesn't anywhere actually say that they have to be condescending and annoying all the time. The Tohn Sona says that they need to enslave everyone in the long term, but that's pretty much all it says. Maraya that sit down and think about this could quite easily realise that Regalia is far too powerful to conquer, and that the best place to start is with an alliance (they are the greatest power in the world after all). It's not a very good idea to insult your potential allies, right? While a Maraya will always be strange in some way, and have some sort of difficulty with social situations, they're not nearly as socially set-back as, say, the Zu-Allar.

Click to shrink...

You make quite a valid point here, one that I hadn't thought of.

The idea of making their slavery more symbiotic seems interesting. What if they were to be a race that would enter into a kind of master/slave relationship that was mutually beneficial. Like, the Maraya would initiate it and as it went on the recipient would get some form of skill or power benefits but would progressively become more and more subservient to that Maraya's commands. Of course this would have to have some sort of caveat allowing for it to be broken, perhaps just isolation, but it could help to explain why the Meriac were so powerful. They didn't have to deal with the problems of internal dispute because they were unified and the slaves below them were content in their position.

I think the ultimate way to make such a scenario favorable for the player base would be to ensure that the 'enslaved' individuals still possess their autonomy except they cannot refuse their respective Maraya's orders. In turn the enslaved individuals would become part of the larger Marayan society. (This would allow for other RP to occur if one side of the pair was offline.)

An implementation like this, could lead to some interesting RP by trying to stay close enough to a noble or other person of power for a long enough period of time in order to solidify the aforementioned slave bond. It also kind of ties in the aesthetic of the alluring alien fairy that draws you to your imprisonment willingly.

 

[Drahydra]

AESTHETIC (less important): It'd be cool if Maraya were allowed to be as bugly or as un-bugly as they want to be. This could be worked in to the powers, or not; it's just to add variety and allow that alien aesthetic to be used again.
Clothing/cultural dress should be expanded upon. As beautiful fairy people that emerge from the jungle to snatch up unsuspecting Allar, folklore could be drawn upon for some aspects (or folklore could be edited in to fit with their appearance and culture).

Click to shrink...

This might actually be an easy fix. Depending on the depiction from real world folklore, as well as fantasy, some fairies are seen as having insect traits, the most famous of which being a pair of gossamer wings. But you could choose to have a Maraya that had cricket legs, or chitinous arms, or torsos, or whatever else. This would add further to the race's customization (as it currently has one of the biggest customization options in Massive's races period). Letting Maraya choose to have as many insectile traits as they wanted would not only add to the "Fairy" theme, but also give people a bug race to play, and separate Maraya from just looking like a more colorful Kathar. It's a win-win-win.

 

[The Unknown]

You make quite a valid point here, one that I hadn't thought of.

The idea of making their slavery more symbiotic seems interesting. What if they were to be a race that would enter into a kind of master/slave relationship that was mutually beneficial. Like, the Maraya would initiate it and as it went on the recipient would get some form of skill or power benefits but would progressively become more and more subservient to that Maraya's commands. Of course this would have to have some sort of caveat allowing for it to be broken, perhaps just isolation, but it could help to explain why the Meriac were so powerful. They didn't have to deal with the problems of internal dispute because they were unified and the slaves below them were content in their position.

I think the ultimate way to make such a scenario favorable for the player base would be to ensure that the 'enslaved' individuals still possess their autonomy except they cannot refuse their respective Maraya's orders. In turn the enslaved individuals would become part of the larger Marayan society. (This would allow for other RP to occur if one side of the pair was offline.)

An implementation like this, could lead to some interesting RP by trying to stay close enough to a noble or other person of power for a long enough period of time in order to solidify the aforementioned slave bond. It also kind of ties in the aesthetic of the alluring alien fairy that draws you to your imprisonment willingly.

Click to shrink...

Exactly. And you're right - autonomy would be very important. We wouldn't want being a slave to impact the other character's personality too much, but we also wouldn't want them to take the power and then immediately kill the Maraya master.

This might actually be an easy fix. Depending on the depiction from real world folklore, as well as fantasy, some fairies are seen as having insect traits, the most famous of which being a pair of gossamer wings. But you could choose to have a Maraya that had cricket legs, or chitinous arms, or torsos, or whatever else. This would add further to the race's customization (as it currently has one of the biggest customization options in Massive's races period). Letting Maraya choose to have as many insectile traits as they wanted would not only add to the "Fairy" theme, but also give people a bug race to play, and separate Maraya from just looking like a more colorful Kathar. It's a win-win-win.

Click to shrink...

I hadn't actually thought of Maraya that have insect bits to them, as opposed to just overall mutation. I prefer that idea by a mile, and am coming to like the fae-folk aesthetic more and more. And yes, that could potentially work as a fix without needing the slavery as an addition. I think cultural clarifications and minor additions would probably still be needed here and there (adding more subtlety to and clarification on what the Tohn Sona says, for one), but a purely aesthetic and cultural update could be a very viable alternative to a whole slavery rewrite doodad.