i LOVE Val'Borda

I'm actually a fan of the Val'Inares, they are so weird

I think they lynch people in Almeric for saying that!

From an author's perspective, I have a soft spot for the val'Baucisz clan. (I also had a blast playing one as my main in the original campaign.)

The mechanics leave a great mystery! How do they work? They also allow you to explore just about any mechanical concept you want. Big tank? Sneaky? Mighty wizard? Ties to the after world? There are val'Holryn who fit all those things. Also great if you want bloodline mechanics of some stripe but want to dodge the baggage that comes with it. Want val'Mehan powers but don't want to automatically be known as a scheming jerk? Maybe Val'Holryn. And they are currently the only VAL family to have a Path basically dedicated to them in the form of the knights of the phoenix (though I suppose there is also an argument that the psionic inquisitor is primarily aimed the val'Assante).

And the story! Want to reach toward a white hat in a world of grey? Follow in the val'Holryn footsteps! When things go right in the middle of a crisis, look for a val'Holryn. Like a good mystery? Like where do you come from? Val'Holryn.

The VAL Holryn family called to me the first time I played the game and I'm sure I'll continue playing them till their secret is uncovered.

Mine is certainly val'Borda, probably followed by val'Holryn or val'Emman.

With a sweep of his...

Hat

Mine would be the Val'[retracted] because like the Val'Borda they can [retracted] but are much more.... graceful.. about it I would say.

never mind the fact that they can [retracted] which was previously limited to [retracted] which just makes them so much cooler..

Mine also is val'<redacted>, although the varied rulings on val progeny played merry heck with my background for the first year or so.

My second favourite is val'Dellanov. So much history to live down to...

heck the first character I ever made in the system (when I was testing it out) was a val'Dellanov

I love Val. By far the best race in the new system. IMO

All the Val families have something going for them. Flavor, story points (both current and possible), or Bloodline Talents.

val'Borda, val'Emman, val'Virdan, val'Ishi, val'Mordane, val'Ossan, val'Sheem, val'Mehan
shadow, fire, fire, undead, undead, water, prophecy, demons
I find all these families have great flavor. I can't imagine picking any of the families and building a character and personality that I wouldn't enjoy, by embracing your families dispositions and tendencies. Some of them have had great story points in the past like the Sword of Heaven, or the corruption of prophecy by the Silence. But there is a lot of possibility for future exploration of any of these families.

val'Dellanov, val'Abebi
These two families have some very powerful Tier 1 Bloodline powers, because these powers increase the higher your blood rank. Some people don't care about languages or knowledge, but you can't deny that these two families make it worth while to get all their Bloodline Talents.

val'Inares
They have the single best Bloodline Power, Path of the Stars.
Ansharan Portals were a huge thing the last campaign, and being able to drop their price from 5000gp to 500gp was so helpful. In the new campaign they haven't come up. But we have a long way to go. And I wouldn't be surprised if they came up again. True their big secret is revealed but Yig was up to something when she joined the PoM. So I don't think the val'Inares are off the hook yet.

val'Assante, val'Tensen
These are the two weakest links. Their powers aren't the greatest. But also I've found I've grow tired of them as characters. These two families were the core of the civil war in the old campaign. In the new campaign while Milander was leading the Crusade and their were plenty of Hurrian worshipers. I felt it was more of a val'Ossan show. If the new Arcs (tiers 3, 4, 5) start focusing on Almeric (combining the val'Tensen family) or Coryan (Calmemnon's return) then these two families are back on center stage. But until then they just have potential story points with weaker powers.

My personal favorite is val'Mehan. I like magic as a tool. I like the possible connection to the SK. I like that some of the most powerful beings (Infernal Lords) on Arcanis may balk at Sarish because they are not controlled by him, but they know he's still a God while they are not. I like that they gather secrets some for knowledge's sake, some for specific purposes (how to trap a valinor). I like the Talents they get, you can become a great caster by taking them. I like that they come from a family is not trusted but there are good people who are just trying to help everyone. I love how everyone is hoping Sarish has a trick up his sleeve to prevent Oblivion. Finally I like that they get to handle a very dangerous tool (infernals) and they must focus on not falling to corruption by that tool.
"There is a difference between you and me. We both looked into the abyss but when it looked back at us, you blinked."