Arelith Forest - Expand!

[The Kriv]

Arelith Forest, being a great and expansive forest, doesn't feel very expansive.

It is 4 territories wide at it's southern edge. (5 if you count the ruined entrance of Benwick)

it is 4 territories long at both its western and eastern edge... with one territory each expanding outward, (Termites on the west, Shadows on the east) making it's widest part six territories... but since you can't cross east-west through the center, it never really feels like it.

It is 3 territories wide at its Northern edge...

Each individual area is pretty small, compare

Not including Myon, since it technically is 'above' the forest.

The forest pretty much exists as a circle. A perimeter of sorts. The interior of Arelith Forest isn't anything. In fact, it kind of feels like a pit under Myon, since we peer into a cavernous, bottomless void at many spots. The 'forested' parts of the Dale surrounding Burrowhome feel much more expansive than the great Arelith Forest!


Suggestions:

1) move the portal in the Southern/Shallow Wood to the Temple of Silvanus, but otherwise keep the southern and northern edges as they are.

2) push the Heartwood Grove deeper... much deeper... and give the Ranger Cabin near the portal a 'guide' in the form of a Heartwood Ranger who offers travel to the Heartwood Grove (like the Skull Crags Ranger does for travel to Guldorand) expanding distance north-south in the same way the path to Burrowhome/Bendir was expanded (north-south)

3) Characters with Druid/Ranger/Barbarian levels can access a forest path that connects the Grove with the Shrine of Silvanus, making use of their Class Ability to travel densely forested areas unimpeded... a traditional feature of these classes otherwise not taken advantage of... it would be like the portal connecting Brog with Burrowhome.. only not an actual portal.. just a 'path'... and it would be 2-ways.

This would make a natural travel path for Druid/Barbarian/Ranger to the Grove by way of Temple of Silvanus Portal (makes sense) and then uses the nature-class path to journey right to the Grove... which also puts Druid/Ranger/Barbarian non-elven in a more complimentary travel path to Elves of Myon, which benefits by pushing MORE characters through that section of the forest.


4) Traveling 'around' Arelith Forest in either Clockwise or Counter Clockwise should be a chore. And encounters in the 'center' of each path should prove a stumbling block. The Ancient Ogre kind of does this on the west, and the Boogins kind of does this on the Northeast, but there this is supposed to be a big forest!!! Well.. Big Forests have Big Dangers!

---- Main Update Suggestion ---

Expanding the perimeter would be to make room for the expansive CENTER of Arelith Forest.. but this should be twisted!!!

The center of Arelith Forest!!! Ohh... if only!!! think about the Desert Areas... where your transitions are randomized.. you never know where you are going to end up!

Now imagine that as a forest... Arelith Forest!

Groups of adventurers traveling Arelith Forest wandering around trying their best to get through it.. maybe getting lost entirely unti lthey (randomly) wander out!

Add into the mix all the interior of Arelith Forest Center being a no-rest zones! Except for maybe ONE area tossed into the randomized areas that is the "Heartwood Forest Ranger Camp" -that allows you to rest and maybe a fresh water spring... but otherwise, NO RESTING!


RP bonus... if you have Ranger/Druid levels, your transitions aren't randomized, and you can actually learn the proper path to navigate the center of Arelith Forest!

[Irongron]

I expect the entire of Arelith Forest will be remade at some point in 2019 as new tilsets become available to us.

Will likely look a bit like this...

https://neverwintervault.org/project/nw ... in-tileset