Gameplay and storytelling
One of the best things about Illyriad, in my opinion, is that it’s a long term game played over weeks and months, that requires patience, planning, and deliberate execution. Of course, the flip side of that is that, at any given, moment, you might not have anything particularly exciting to do. This is the best part. Bear with me.
There are, at last count, over one thousand dwarves playing the game, one thousand seven hundred elves, and another two thousand seven hundred humans*. Only about six hundred orcs, but still a substantial crowd to get lost in. What makes your character different? Are you a six foot tall dwarf? A bloodthirsty orc shaman? A shemeing elven trade-lord? This is when you get to decide, even if only to yourself.
Read the faction descriptions here: http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/#/Alliance/Faction
Besides being good reading, they show the breadth of story options available to players. There are warmongering elves and pacifist elves, marauding orcs and reclusive orcs, jungle dwelling human savages and a council that controls most of the civilized world, dwarves that dwell underground and dream of reclaiming their lost mountain fortresses and...
Well, all dwarves are pretty much the same. It’s a known issue. But that’s the great part. You can Be the Change. You could be Illyriad’s first teetotaling, clean-shaven dwarf assassin.
Another thing you’ll notice in the faction descriptions is that many of them are not entirely of one race. Your cities don’t have to be either. Well, mechanically, they do**, but not in the realm of imagination, which is where the best parts of the game get played out. Throw in a significant minority race or three, and find ways to represent this within your commander and city names.
If you’re really feeling adventurous, pick a non-playable race (Knolls, or Gnomes, for instance), pick the closest playable one, and just play it out. I won’t judge***. I’ve seen it done, with pretty fun results.
Also, check out the traveler’s tales. There’s some pretty interesting fiction in there, written by players about their own characters and cities. It’s a great way to get inspired. I’ll leave some of my favorites at the end.
And to be perfectly clear, there is absolutely no need to write out any sort of narrative or document about this. Nobody needs to know the story but you. I would bet that, even just in your head, having a story will increase your engagement and enjoyment of the game. But once you get into it, you may just find yourself wanting to share.
http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/steel-dominion_topic4175_page1.html
The cast and narrative of Steel Dominion, by BlindScribe. Focused on one character, but really contains the stories of his whole alliance. Pretty cool idea.
http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/descent_topic3007.html
Just the one scene from a character’s past, but still manages to tell, or at least hint at, the bigger story.
http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/the-tale-of-tallica_topic2334.html
Polar opposite. A semi-historical account of a character and his followers.
http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/lashka_topic2756.html
Great story, in a lot of ways. I really love how it shows her character's motives and goals. Also a reminder that the Illyriad forums used to have a black background. Highlighting the text should solve the visibility problem.
*Humans being the superior race will be a recurring sub-theme of this blog, and indeed most of the Illyriad experience.
**This is actually something I hope changes at some point. Just in case anyone with influence of future development happens to be reading this. *cough*
***And since I spent over an hour considering how the abundance of Iceheart ore in my region affected my fictional civilization’s culture, I’m really in no position to.
