I'm pleased to announce our latest major release in Achaea, the overhaul
of our race system and the launch of our character customisation system!

For too long, many have been annoyed with being forced to play a certain
race for a specific benefit, choosing between roleplay and combat
advantage. We felt this was far too stifling as well, so we've developed
a new system to allow you to play how -YOU- want to. Don't worry, there
is still variation between the races as far as stats go, and they still
retain those aspects which make them unique!

This is a pretty major change, affecting all facets of Achaea, and can
be divided up into two major sections:

Races
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- Race stats have been somewhat normalised, from a base of 12, most
races have +1 in one stat, and -1 in another (reflecting the historical
strengths of the race. The exception to this is Humans).

- The former system of racial advantages and disadvantages has been
removed, and each race has a racial trait (see "Traits" below).

- At level 10, all adventurers have the ability to select a racial
specialisation, allowing them to embrace one of their racial archetypes
for their race, gifting them with an additional +2 in one stat, and -1
in another. This is fairly in-depth, so if you'd like more information,
please see HELP SPECIALISATION.

Traits
------
- A further level of customisation is now offered in the form of traits,
offering adventurers the ability to tweak their characters far beyond
the usual race and stat choices.

- Over 70 unique facets to allow an exciting array of potential
advantages for your character. These are similar to the old racial
advantages, but are available to all races.

- Cover all aspects of Achaean life, from roleplay enhancements, to
combat advantages and additional utility in crafting and seafaring.

Again, in order to keep this post at a reasonable length, I refer you to
the detailed help file on this section - HELP TRAITS.

There will be some followup posts with more details on changes that were
loaded alongside these, and further information on specific changes.

In an effort to give everyone the chance to move back to the race they
want to be, I've gifted everyone with a free race change. In addition,
I've allowed everyone unlimited trait resets for the next two days, so
everyone can try things out and find something they like.

Penned by My hand on the 12th of Daedalan, in the year 584 AF.