┌─── ∘ November 2025 Newsletter ∘ ───┐
Goldleaf/Harrowing, Season of Autumn, Year 1641

Pixel Art by Mich-Spich on Reddit

	“The final day of Summer gives way to the harvest season; the stockpile that will last until next Vernus. When the food is reaped, stored and sealed, and the plants begin to dry and crispen from lively green to bright orange, red and yellow.”
	- Standard Calendar, from The Compendium

 Autumn is coming to a close, and winter is on its heels!

This month's newsletter comes with an exclusive sketch by the wonderful @adamunavailable ! Depicting the typical garments of a distinguished Valkian gentleman.

One new addition to this newsletter is an Avalore-themed word search! This month’s theme is “Constellations”! As with the crossword puzzle, the first person to DM a screenshot of the solved puzzle to @Moony will be awarded 2 XP! 

Word Search

Just as before this newsletter comes with the newly beloved crossword! The first person to DM a screenshot of the solved puzzle to @Moony will be awarded 2 XP! This month’s crossword was submitted by Auf! Thank you Auf!

Crossword

° New & Upcoming

Build Updates

Upcoming Builds

• The Undercity is in its final stages of development! I hope everyone is excited to get some dastardly and dubious roleplay!
  • Over time, it may even be expanded upon!
• Progress on Albern’s Crossing is underway - the area will feature around seven (7) rentable houses for players to live their countryside dreams out!
• Players can also get excited to visit a new and improved Kawatare Shrine!
• Here are some teasers for the Undercity and renewed Albern's Crossing...

Community Updates

Community Team

• The team would like to thank @Lovely for her service on the team as she moves on from our Mentor and Community teams!
• The team would like to welcome @adamunavailable to Community! We look forward to working with him! We also are happy to welcome back @2kelp !

Lore Updates

Lore Team

• We're looking forward to working with new Lore team members. The newest members are @Nerdocalypse, @Captain_Cynical and @FeyOnToast !

Upcoming

• There will be an expansion to the Bestiary following the release of the Undercity! Our Flora and Fauna team is going to be adding five new creatures that inhabit the depths! Prepare to run into them if you choose to explore…
• The Fables rework is still underway and going very well! The Fables and Systems team are confident in their current pace. A special shoutout has been made to @D_K for the contributions he's made! 
• An expansion to ghosts is still underway! Thank you @Waffleheart!
• The lore aspect of Vampires is near-finished! Pending posting and implementation into the world.

Compendium

• The lore expansion for the Stonerunner Subculture is now updated on the Compendium! Players can read all about it through the Stonerunner Culture page and the Amafells page! For additional questions regarding this feel free to direct them towards @Tomtomgags and @NOS402 !
• The lore expansion for the Fireborne Culture is also now updated on the Compendium. Players can see all the changes on the Ashlands and Fireborne Culture pages. For additional questions regarding these updates feel free to speak to @Moony !
  
  

Systems Updates

Combat Update

• There have been many additions and tweaks to the combat system! For the full list of changes and additions, refer to the 2nd page of the Systems Changelog. Otherwise, here’s an overview:
  • Maneuvers have been added! Special attack actions that allow for more variety and decision-making in combat, able to Grapple, Pull, Shove or Topple opponents!
  • The Thievery skill is no more, with Finesse taking its place as a more general-use skill for fine motor control and interaction with maneuvers, feats and new weapon requirements!
  • Feats have been updated, some additions allowing new and unique approaches to builds, others building on what was already there and tweaks to preexisting ones!
  • As for Weapons…
    • Arcane Staff has been removed as a template, RIP. It’s now divided into Staff, a mundane, two-actions dexterous weapon and Spellblade, an arming sword equivalent with very little feats synergy but better odds at hitting defending targets. Any characters that wielded Arcane Staffs are welcome to pick one of these two templates for it instead!
    • Shields have been updated, with Small Shield becoming the more offensive and versatile option compared to Large Shield’s impenetrable defense!
    • Unarmed damage now scales with a character’s Athletics score, to a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 4!
    • There are now rulings on Improvised Weapons and Non-Proficient usage of weapons and armour!
  • Lastly, Death Mechanics have received another rework, bridging the gap between low and high-Fortitude PCs. Critical State’s modifiers have been simplified and reduced, and the Belief-dependent Bleedout state has been added, the final step before character death… Keep these mechanics in mind when DMing combat encounters, and say thank you to your healers!

Arcane

• Arcane Rework:
  • Work has finished on the Arcane update from the Systems team’s side! All spells are finalised and actively under full review, so far cantrips are all approved!

Fables

• Fables rework is in progress! The systems team is hard at work alongside fables lore on updating existing feats, such as Phoenix and Equinox and the Spirit of the Fire Dragon alongside introducing some for the previously-teased Lady Luck!

Vampires

• The mechanics of Vampires have been finalised!

Technical Updates

In-Game

• Bugfixes:
  • There have been no bugfixes this month.

° Player Events & Projects
Player-lead events and projects of Avalore, curated by the editor and Community Team to feature for the month.

Player Events

The Southern Reach Grand Tourney, organised by @Insert!

https://avalore.net/forum/topic/1609-%7C-southern-reach-grand-tourney-%7C-november-%7C/#post-6248

° Player Photos
Players are able to submit photos through our Photo Album forum (via our Discord server) to be featured in our newsletter, and even used as promotional material for Avalore!

Cemetery - @Insert

A Trek to the Marshland - @Akme/MUST

Fey Visitor - @Megladon

Sleeping Giant - @Akme/MUST

Challenging the Oathbound - @dogshitfartelectric @Insert

Town Hall - @Insert

Some Sort of... Whimsical Creature - @Megladon

Training with the Mist-Stepper - @Insert

Something in the Way - @Megladon