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Re: (TFT) Skill, knowledge, tricks and talents

From: Michael Taylor <MichaelTaylor1@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: (TFT) Skill, knowledge, tricks and talents
Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2001 21:15:19 -0500

Message text written by INTERNET:tft@brainiac.com
>Ty,

   One day a player pointed out to me that most of the starting humanoid
races have some advantage but humans don't. "Why would anyone play a human 
he asked?"  <


Michael says:

A couple of thoughts. Please take them as just the simple open discussion
points they are inteneded:




3. There are "social disadvantages" that aren't necessarily reflected in
the rules. For example, a party of mixed races wandering into town might
not raise any eyebrows, but a party of dwarves or elves might attract a
different kind of attention. Dwarves are short, Elves sunburn easily.
Hobbits have chronic athletes foot that they dont like to mention. Why
aren't they reflected in the rules? Because every GMs campaign is
different, and the game isn't really about that.

4. These aren't "advantages". They are just cultural differences. Elves
have very low birth rates and live in forests, so they train alot of
scouts. They live outdoors, therefore they tend to be better runners.
Dwarves are warlike and fight with axes. Plus their culture uses tools all
the time. Halflings throw apples at each other as children. Humans have
cultural differences also. They are the dominant race. They tend to have
the highest percentage of wizards. They're taller. Every race has
something.

5. Humans have the advantage, "people aren't predjudice against them
because they aren't human".

6. These advantages are also offset by the other racial/cultural
characterists. Dwarves are greedy, elves are afraid of bugs, hobbits are
timid, etc.


I pulled Michaels above items because they seem to follow my thinking too.
I handle this seeming generosity to other races, by making the Human race the dominant race due to its great population and its relative stability.
Each race has its language, but HUMAN is the common tongue. Each race does its own business, but HUMANs have the corner on the Business world. Humans go everywhere, do everything. And they often do it beyond what the other races would tolerate.
Elven Miner? Dwarven Sailer? Hobbit CastleBuilder? Orc Courtesan? Lizardman Bootmaker? Gargoyle Accountant? You might get one or two of these as 'outcasts' in a country of that race. But humans would have hundreds of these, form a user group by it and be accepted by the community. 

An example of differences in viewpoint:
Dwarves are clever at making mechanical innovations, but they are tradition bound and won't use any new design until its been tested for 100 years. Stupid humans don't know any better, take a 1 month old design and implement it into production. Many disasters, but many successes. The dwarves are both disgusted at the human technical skills, but are also amazed at their quick adaptability. 

I would handle the inequality by subtle but definite cultural advantages.

Hail Melee,
John Paul




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