AVLIS is also an acronym which stands for Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation

AVLIS

AVLIS Is an acronym which stands for atomic vapor laser isotope separation and is a method by which specially tuned lasers are used to separate isotopes of uranium using selective ionization of hyperfine transitions....

.

Avlis is a campaign setting

Campaign setting

A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...

  designed for use with Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

developed over the past 20 years from a home-grown campaign setting, and branching into a large scale online campaign.

As a setting it is most notable for being the world used for the persistent world

Persistent world

A persistent world is a virtual world that continues to exist even after a user exits the world and that user-made changes to its state are, to some extent, permanent...

 of the same name in the computer role-playing game Neverwinter Nights

Neverwinter Nights

Neverwinter Nights , produced by BioWare and published by Infogrames , is a third-person perspective computer role-playing game that is based on third edition Dungeons & Dragons and Forgotten Realms rules. It was originally to be published by Interplay Entertainment, but the publisher's financial...

(NWN). Avlis as a persistent world spans 9 active servers and has one of the largest active player bases among such worlds.

The Setting

Avlis is a traditional setting utilizing many familiar D&D concepts, such as crystal spheres, standard cosmology in the form of the Outer Planes, and several cameos of familiar gods and goddesses adapted to this setting.

However where many traditional fantasy settings rely upon the interplay of large cosmic forces of "good" and "evil", Avlis is focused more upon the concept of individuals and their alignment

Alignment (role-playing games)

In some role-playing games, alignment is a categorisation of the moral and ethical perspective of the player characters, non-player characters, monsters, and societies in the game....

. Thus Avlis has no true "monster" races, rather each of the various races that populate the world are self-aware and evolving, with their own culture, language and nations that define them.

The Online Incarnation

Started in late 2002, the online incarnation of Avlis was among the first of the Persistent Worlds built around the Neverwinter Nights game client. Many of the core elements that make up the backbone of running NWN persistent worlds were started with Avlis, including the crucial Neverwinter Nights eXtender (NWNx) and its various plugins such as Vaultster.

The online incarnation is very much an adaptation of Living Campaigns

Living campaigns

Living Campaigns are a gaming format within the table-top role-playing game community that provide the opportunity for play by an extended community within a shared universe...

, but rather than limited to large scale events such as conventions, the persistent world concept allows for a similar degree of large scale adventures and participation on a regular basis. World history changes can be induced by player character actions and such are also reflected in the online incarnation of Avlis through area and system modifications.

Avlis is currently one of the founding member worlds of the Confederation of Planes and Planets

Confederation of Planes and Planets

The Confederation of Planes and Planets, known as CoPaP, is a group of persistent worlds in the computer role-playing game Neverwinter Nights based on third edition Dungeons & Dragons. The servers hosting the CoPaP persistent worlds are linked together using the application...

, and has been featured in BioWare's Weekly Wednesday twice, in addition to interviews with various staff members (see External Links).

Print Incarnation

An Avlis Campaign Setting Sourcebook titled "The World of Avlis" has been released as a d20

D20 System

The d20 System is a role-playing game system published in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast originally developed for the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons...

 book under the Pathfinder RPG

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is a fantasy role-playing game first published in 2009 by Paizo Publishing...

 license. Portions of the campaign setting were influenced by server events which occurred online.

Customizations

Avlis contains many features expanding the Neverwinter Nights original content, such as:

• 17 custom races (9 base races, 8 sub-races), e.g. wemic
  Wemic
  In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the wemic is a humanoid with the upper body of a leonine human and the lower body of a lion. Like centaurs, they are considered "tauric" creatures.-Publication history:David C...
  
  , world-specific fey
  Fey (Dungeons & Dragons)
  In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, Fey is a type of creature, or "creature type". Fey are usually humanoid in form, and are typified as having supernatural abilities and a connection to nature or to some other force or place....
  
   and elf
  Elf (Dungeons & Dragons)
  In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, elves are a fictional humanoid race that is one of the primary races available for play as player characters. Elves are renowned for their grace and mastery of magic and weapons such as the sword and bow...
  
   subraces;
• The inclusion of religions to build into the role one may choose to play, also implemented in nine prestige classes for the holy warriors of each of the nine greater deities of Avlis;
• Enhancements and modifications to existing NWN classes allowing more roleplaying styles, e.g. custom Barbarian
  Barbarian (Dungeons & Dragons)
  The barbarian is a playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Creative origins:The barbarian is based on Robert E...
  
   rage effects based on either of the four elements
  Classical element
  Many philosophies and worldviews have a set of classical elements believed to reflect the simplest essential parts and principles of which anything consists or upon which the constitution and fundamental powers of anything are based. Most frequently, classical elements refer to ancient beliefs...
  
   air, water, earth and fire;
• Custom systems spanning all classes, e.g. advanced magic system with expanded spell list, animal companion training system;
• Custom systems related to general in game mechanics, e.g. persistent storage system implemented in player character owned houses and shops, player character death system taking into account the character's alignment to determine the destination death plane;
• Unique multilayered crafting system spanning ten crafts, many of which are interdependent;
• Its own custom background music and more.

History

The Avlis setting was fleshed out over time by two friends, Josh Simon and Ray Johnson, and played heavily by their D&D group from 1991 - 2002. With the release of Neverwinter Nights, Josh Simon moved the setting online with the aid of another close friend, Adam Colon. Avlis as a NWN persistent world begins with Josh Simon as a team leader, Adam Colon as a lead programmer, and Ingmar Stieger - creator of NWNx - as a senior coder.

Josh Simon, Ray Johnson, Adam Colon and Ingmar Stieger are known respectively under the nicknames Orleron, Ceardan, Silk and Papillon in the NWN-related internet forum

Internet forum

An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...

s.

Avlis was one of the first persistent world

Persistent world

A persistent world is a virtual world that continues to exist even after a user exits the world and that user-made changes to its state are, to some extent, permanent...

s to open its doors to the public mere weeks after the release of Neverwinter Nights. The world has grown and expanded to include over 3000 areas to explore and immersive roleplaying to experience, representing many walks of life. Over one hundred pages of history and details about this fictional world are available on-site.

World Forge Magazine

The online incarnation of Avlis is partially funded by voluntary contributions from a portion of its players. This is largely achieved by players who subscribe to "World Forge: The Journal of Online Game Environments", an online journal which aims to give DMs and players a place to share their game settings and help each other develop them, as well as showcase fiction from amateur writers.

External links

• Avlis website
• NWVault Profile of Avlis
• Neverwinter Connection entry on Avlis
• NWVault Interview with Orleron (Avlis 6th Anniversary)
• NWVault Interview with Orleron (Avlis Profile)
• NWVault Interview with Athena and Orleron (Joining Persistent Worlds)
• NWVault Interview with Papillon/Avlis team (APS/NWNx)
• Neverwinter Nights Extender (NWNx)
• NWVault Profile of NWNx
• NWVault Profile of Vaultster