Introducting myself, and Ruvoka!

Setting
#1

Can’t believe I just discovered this site. Loved Dark Sun since it first showed up on shelves. I’ve got a lot of catching up on Dark Sun website, etiquette, lore etc to do here.

Here is one I’ve got for Ruvoka. They were introduced in the second monstrous manual. They were elemental beings, that were very humanoid. There was a theory that they were ascended druids. The different kinds of Ruvoka (tied to each of the four elements) each had an unique name. They were super secret about who there were, what their agenda was, their habits, their goals…

Okay, aside from combat stats and probably not cool with defiling, we know jack all about them. If they were planning to do more with this, why no mention in the expanded 2nd box set? Or in ANYTHING else, in any edition? Where they just trying to fit it all on one page?

I am working on my own Dark Sun campaign right now. I do personally enjoy creating things within the limits set by established lore. So the first step, there ANY lore for them that I have overlooked? I didn’t even see any in the Terrors of Athas expansion material this site so generously provided.

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#2

Hi Andrew, to paraphrase the X-Men comics: Welcome to the Arena. Hope you survive! :wink:

When it comes to the Ruvoka, I’d assume nothing was done with them in the revised 2nd Ed Campaign Setting as TSR died before they could explore things further. That’s an assumption. Judging from the similarities with the Ukoven half-elementals of Euripis (an island in the south of the Silt Archipelago in the extreme SE of the revised setting maps) there could be some connection with those half-elementals (which I’ve always used as Genasi in 3.X).

Athas dot org does have Ruvoka in 3.X - they’re in the Legends of Athas supplement, Epic Monsters section, p.117 onwards. Long story short, they’re an acquired template that a druid can attain through use of a ritual (details given in the LoA product). As you need to be able to cast 9th level divine spells (so a 17th lvl druid in 3.X) and the template gives you a +6 level adjustment, even the weakest Ruvoka will be a CR23 monster.

Hope that helps and again, welcome to the madhouse! :wink:

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#3

Welcome Andronicus!

It’s been quite calm lately, but it can be very active as well.

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#4

Welcome! I was not aware of Ruvoka :scream: :scream:

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#5

I’ve used them a couple times in adventures. In my head cannon, I’ve got the Druids split between Wandereres and Guardians.

Wanderers travel the world, were supposed to be the teachers and communication link between Guardians and were the ones that felt the brunt of the SMs hunts.

Guardians are the Grove Masters of the world, they watch over a specific area, sometimes working with villages nearby and taking apprentices to replace them.

They each advanced a bit differently depending on if they also picked up psionic levels as they advanced. Ruvoka were druids of both types (but more often Wanderers) that felt affinity for a specific element rather than an area or even species found in the world. They tended to be more similar to Clerics but unlike most Clerics who looked to the elements often as a source of power to be bargained with, Ruvoka were more pure in their devotions similar to those clerics on the path of becoming an elemental themselves.

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#6

Thank you much! I am looking through the forum to see how I can contribute.

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#7

Thank you much! I am looking through the forum to see how I can contribute. Seems the Ruvoka was a bit obscure. The answer seems to be in the Legends of Athas.

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#8

Oh I am sure I’ll survive in the arena. I’m looking at the match card and I’m apparently to fight someone named “So-Ut the Rampager.” tosses card over shoulder Sounds like a push over.

I’ll be honest, I’m pretty disappointed by the answer. That makes them another prestige class, not the elemental faction I was envisioning. I’ll have to dwell on that. As I said, I like working within the box, taking as much lore into account. I find it aids my creativity. I am well aware I can step out of it any time I want.

The Ukoven, always struck me as a little goofy. The fact they wither when away from their island…

Thanks so much for the help!

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#9

I’ll be honest, I’m pretty disappointed by the answer. That makes them another prestige class, not the elemental faction I was envisioning. I’ll have to dwell on that. As I said, I like working within the box, taking as much lore into account. I find it aids my creativity. I am well aware I can step out of it any time I want.

Thanks so much for the feedback. It was a tough nut for me to crack.

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#10

For what it’s worth, I like the treatment Athas dot org gave Ruvoka - being a template you can acquire gives an element of agency to an otherwise distant and vague being. However, I think the Ruvoka speak to a wider problem with Athas, namely the lack of any detail on the Athasian (Para)Elemental Planes.

Earth, Air, Fire & Water covered clerics, but the details of elemental politics or the inhabitants of those planes was never addressed. It’s not really come up in my campaign, but in my head canon, Genies are incredibly rare on Athas’ elemental planes - they aren’t the significant power blocs that they form in more standard D&D settings. Elemental Lords (and how many of them are former Athasian clerics) and Ruvoka could fill that gap.

The only decent treatment of the planes I’ve seen came from @Rajaat99 back in 2019/20 - see his excellent blog Adventures under the Dark Sun for more info.

And apologies for hijacking your thread @AndronicusVII!

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#11

No apologies needed! Hijack away!

I do need to emphasize that the folks at Athas.org have done awesome work. My issue was not with the quality of the work, or their vision. It’s simply unfortunate that in this case, theirs and mine clashed. That’s all.

The whole role of elementals and para elementals… that’s another kettle of fish.

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#12

Ahh, seems I was unclear. It’s not a prestige class at all. I use the template from Athas.org, it’s simply the fluff around them. Since they are druids who choose to be closer to an elemental plane than the Athasian Nature and I have a bit of detail around how druids got to where they are today, I simply melded the concept into the additional backstory information.

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#13

Thank you, that does make sense. However, the issue remains. They aren’t a race or monster that I could productively use in my original concept. By applying a template to a PC or NPC you have just that. They are an individual character first, elemental thingie second. Still, I want to reassure you, it’s still great work. It simply doesn’t line up with what I was looking for. That’s all.

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#14

Welcome! I’m always happy to meet a fellow Athasian!

Genasi are a good way of handling them in 3.X. simply adding an elemental subtype to any aberration, animal, beast, magical beast, plant, or vermin works as well.

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#15

I’m guessing you’ve already found this post on Ruvoka/Ukoven.
(and welcome! :smiley:)

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#16

Thanks for the warm welcome!

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#17

As I contemplate the Elemental Planes of Athasian cosmology, the ruvoka surely come to mind.

These enigmatic beings, divided into sub-types that parallel the nature of the druid from which they evolved, are unique to the Dark Sun setting.

We know nothing beyond their sparse entry in DS MC 2, but very interestingly, they seem to bear arms and armor indicative of a unified and advanced culture. The Brajeti, the earth/air ruvoka, for example, dress in bronze armor and carry bronze swords and shields. Such arms and armor cannot easily said to be the products of an elemental planar culture devoid of advanced manufacturing.

What cultures might we find in the Elemental Planes of Dark Sun? Even if we accept genies (despite the original boxed set canon, I hesitate on incorporating them in game), I find the thought of efreet citadels and marid underwater palaces distasteful for Dark Sun. But the very weapons and armor of the ruvoka speak to some cultural backdrop of which they are apart. Are there forges on the Athasian Elemental Plane of Earth to forge a brajeti’s sword? Who are the weavers of the white clothing of the ethilum?

The question of the cultures of the Elemental Planes of Athas are important. Especially if you ascribe explanation of deities of the past at least in part to great elemental beings, it could be very illuminating to know if they were in any way masters of elemental societies, or if they were mostly but the loudest roar in a land of lesser lions.

I speculate that being evolved from actual living druids, ruvoka brought with them elements of their own culture from Athas. It is odd to imagine that they would form into distinct orders based on the elemental combination they reverenced during their mortal lives (and that there would be enough 18th+ level druids to form orders) but perhaps not completely irrational. Of rare souls that would travel in such Planes of Existence, it is not unlikely that they might have found each other, and made some order among themselves, so that the elemental spirits might recognize them more readily.

Whatever the case, ruvoka are surely fascinating beings, and a very interesting addition to the campaign setting.

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#18

Welcome fellow Athasian.
Except for the MC2 entry, there was only this from the Planescape MC
http://mojobob.com/roleplay/monstrousmanual/

One story of the origin of the ruvoka tells of a mortal prime named Garat who traveled to the Elemental Plane of Fire and accidentally wandered into the palace of Calif Alibashal, a powerful efreeti lord. Rather than being angry, the calif was amused by the intruder, and decided to inflict upon the sod the irony that he so enjoyed.

“Little mortal, I have summoned you,” the calif lied. “Now you must grant me one wish.”

This announcement surprised and worried Garat, yet he was canny enough not to contradict the efreeti. “Wise and wondrous Calif,” the prime said, bowing low, “grant me the pleasure of hearing your request.”

The efreeti lord smiled a toothy grin as his jest took form. “Ah, little man, I wish you to bring me the head of Baashizar, my rival.”

“Your words are wise and your wish is just. With your leave, I shall make your desires reality.” With that, Garat departed from the palace, fully intending to give it the laugh and never return. But he suddenly became curious. The efreeti was obviously playing a joke, but what would he do if Garat actually fulfilled his wish? The mortal came from the prime-material world of Athas, after all; he knew he was a strong and capable warrior and a clever spellcaster. He decided that he’d try.

Garat traveled many days across the plane of Fire to the lair of the efreeti known as Baashizar, then found his way through the lord’s traps and guardians. Suprising the efreeti at his own dinner table, Garat leapt at Baashizar and a terrible battle ensued that lasted for many hours.

Days later, Garat appeared again at the palace of Calif Alibashal. He held the head of Baashizar aloft. “Great and powerful Calif, as you have spoken, so have I done. Your wish was my command!”

Alibashal was so surprised and impressed that he called the mortal before him. “You are far more capable and loyal than I had dreamed, little man. Unlike the geniekind who are summoned to your worlds and forced to grant the wishes of others, you have done so willingly and efficiently. That is something worthy of respect. For your deed, I grant you immortality and life forever here in my realm. Further, those like you who follow in your steps shall gain homes throughout all the elemental spheres. We shall welcome such as you as our own.”

Garat, then, became the first of the ruvoka. And from then on, supposedly, mighty druids from tile Prime (a great many from Athas) journeyed to the Inner Planes and adopted them as their homes.

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#19

What a wonderful conjuring, MindCosmos. Perhaps it is worth a dive, but I believe ruvoka first debuted in Dark Sun, as DS MC 2 was published in 1995, and PS MC 3 was published in '98. Besides, the Planescape versions does seem largely derivative of the Dark Sun.

Once again, it returns to Athasian cosmology, over which we all have long speculated and debated. I think it very likely the original setting designers did not really have the full answers.

I myself shy away from the Islamic derivation for Athas, though I enjoy it in traditional settings. For me, caliphs and sheikhs smack of a culture I do not seek to implant in Dark Sun. I would prefer something fresher, and more unique. The very titles of the ruvoka sub-orders are unique, and I would favor it if Islamic / Middle Eastern culture did not permeate the Athasian Elemental Planes. Surely we can be more imaginative than endless derivations from the real world.

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#20

Al Qadim. starts belting Arabian Nights from Aladdin

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