Re: (TFT) Variants = flavor of the age

[lifeisfun@aol.com]

I'm confused.? Are you trying to suggest a way to spec out mele characters based on a person's profession by creating a cross-over key from profession to race?? Or, are you trying to suggest that all halflings are "herders"?? 

I'd say that the different races are empowered with different statistics for evolutionary and genetic reasons, not because they tend to work specific jobs.? Clearly some jobs are right up their alleyway.? Dwarves are pretty good at mining because they're short and strong, two clear plusses for a mine worker.? But running an inventory is more of a personality based job, not really something built into a race.? Greed or attention to detail could be cultural, but it's not inborn.

Hmm.. all of that sounded really too nerdish (gnomish) in it's analysis. Maybe I should take a different tack which would serve to please the readers.? 

Yo, David!? You're being a total racist!? Where do the women fit in your picture?? Is there a homemaker based economy?? Oh, I guess no economy could be based off of such a menial task!? The categories are insulting to prootwaddles and they plan to launch a campaign to smear your name within the quarter!

Good Fortune,
Richard


-----Original Message-----
From: pvk@oz.net
To: tft@brainiac.com
Sent: Wed, 10 Sep 2008 2:37 pm
Subject: Re: (TFT) Variants = flavor of the age



I don't quite see what you're suggesting here - your example doesn't go very far 
to converting the game to something else, even on a "word value" level; it just 
takes one step, where many others would be needed to make a new cohesive sense. 
Otherwise we've just got "Reginald the (cough) Crafting based economy has the 
highest DX, so er... it, swings its broadsword at Markus the other Crafting 
based economy... Later, Srrga the Transportation based economy attempts a 
tail-sweep...".

So, one way that could go is you could make a world-domination wargame using the 
TFT combat mechanics, though it wouldn't be much of a representational match.

And THAT gets at why TFT appealed to me strongly, while D&D didn't, way back in 
the day - it's a much closer and caring representation of cause, effect, and 
proportion in low-tech combat and world and adventure design, than D&D, at least 
from our way of understanding. It suspended our disbelief for many years... 
until we started noticing and being bothered by things like the topics this 
board brings up when it suggests rules adjustments; wanting more 
unpredictability, options and details; and how powerful/invulnerable the 
long-time surviving characters were, especially with a couple of magic items. 
(Our long-term TFT games had characters who essentially broke the TFT combat 
system, because most of the established sense-making game world (mostly typical 
28-to-36-point non-magic types) had essentially no chance to make combat 
interesting for them, so much of the world was somewhat broken and not so 
interesting.) Then we got more and more interested in making the system more sa!
 tisfying to our more demanding tastes. Then GURPS came and did what we were 
doing to TFT, more efficiently, and that kept us satisfied for several more 
years, though we also kept tweaking. The only point where the tweaking really 
interfered with play was when our main TFT games seemed not a lot of fun to 
play, because most of the combats were so predictable unless something really 
o
utlandish happened.

PvK

--- david_michael_grouchy_ii@hotmail.com wrote:

From: David Michael Grouchy II <david_michael_grouchy_ii@hotmail.com>
To: <tft@brainiac.com>
Subject: (TFT) Variants = flavor of the age
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:52:49 -0500

Rules variants are the flavor of the age.


   So, rules variants are the flavor of the age.  Well I've got one.  Tell me
what you think.  Don't be shy.  You know I wouldn't.

   Change the HUMANOID RACES to read ``. . . BASED ECONOMY.``  Have all the
exact same stats and special abilities including the penalty of double exp for
some.  Use the existing cross breed rules.  Here is a conversion table.


   MEN = Crafting based economy
   ORCS = Plundering based economy

   ELVES = Recording  based economy

   DWARVES = Warehousing  based economy

   GOBLINS = Appraising based economy

   HOBGOBLINS = Handling  based economy

   HALFLINGS = Herding  based economy

   PROOTWADDLES = Advertising based economy

   CENTAURS = Hunting based economy

   GIANTS = Farming based economy

   GARGOYLES = Prospecting  based economy

   REPTILE MEN = Transporting  based economy

   MERMEN = Fishing based economy


   Or is there some important reason that combat should be adjusted before
race is take out of the game.  I really hope I'm not alone in seeing this.  It
seems incredible how many years people will spend chasing one gnat while
maintaining blindness to the whole camel.  It the day ever going to come where
what has the most meaning to us can be summed up in two words.  Word value.

David Michael Grouchy II


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