RE: (TFT) TFT: Bowyer, Slings, Handicaps, & Crazy Egor's

["Gadda, Charles A" <charles.a.gadda@lmco.com>]

Oh, you noticed that, too? That did occur to me soon after I sent it out; I
refrained from sending a follow up to see what others may say.

This whole talent set is a bit more complex then you may realize ...

"Flintknapping" covers entirely too much ground - from the most primitive
pebbles with a single edge chipped to sharpness, to the very complex
"microliths" and beautifully delicate flint daggers one sees in the
Neolithic - even into the Bronze Age. It might make more sense to split this
into two talents - a Flintknapping I at IQ 7 and Flintknapping II at IQ 8 or
9. Both would cost 1. The first talent would allow the making of only crude
tools, while the second would allow the more sophisticated artifacts to be
built (it would be a prerequisite for making arrowheads, daggers, Aztec
Maquahuilts, etc.) I tried to reflect that in the higher IQ rolls, but maybe
that won't quite work.

Regarding primitives, such as Neanderthals, Indians, Aborignes, etc. keep in
mind that "primitive" does NOT equal "unintelligent" or "stupid"  Their
material culture in no way reflects their level of intelligence - nor should
it be assumed that we are of "superior" intelligence simply because we have
jet aeroplanes and communicate with one another via computer ... The
difference is that we've got a good TEN millenia worth of accumulated
scientific knowledge over those poor sods ... does change things a bit.
Without it, we'd be MUCH worse off then they were.

If one looks carefully at what they created, they often made masterpieces
within the confines of the materials they worked with (stone, bone, wood,
hide, etc.) Their houses and tools were every bit as sophisticated as the
materials they used would allow - and required a great deal of craftsmanship
to make.

Consider Stonehenge - not only did the construction require an enormous
amount of skill and effort, but it was capable of very precise astronomical
observations. The builders may have been primitive, but they were sure smart
enough to build a fairly sophisticated observatory without the aid of ANY of
the tools we would consider "essential" to such a project - no higher
mathematics, computers, magnetic compasses, or even an abacus! The
astronomical alignments alone would challenge any person today working under
the above handicaps, and would be a spot of work to accomplish even with
computers, et al. And don't forget the engineering feat of bringing the
stones into place, sometimes from 100's of miles away, let alone assembling
them...

My point? "Primitives" are often rated as having a "lower" intelligence,
when nothing could be further from the truth. Neanderthals get really bad
treatment - "IQ 7" is something of an insult to those poor offshoots of Homo
Sapiens. Poor blighters!

In reality, anthropologists have determined that Homo Sapiens Neanderthalus
was probably as smart as we are, judging from cranial capacity, though they
were handicapped in at least two areas:

(1) There appear to be physiological impediments to speech, which may well
have limited their ability to communicate with one another. This may have
stunted any technological advancement.
(2) For some reason, they never seemed to grasp the concept of a projectile
weapon. They always appear to have engaged their prey in close quarters
combat, even such large and dangerous animals as Cave Bears and Mammoths,
with all of the attendent injuries and fatalities one may expect. Indeed,
their skeletal remains often show signs of injuries similar to those
sustained by people involved in Rodeos and other activities that involve
"roughhousing" with large animals. AFAIK only Homo Sapiens Sapiens (fully
modern humans - "us", in other words) used projectile weapons such as
slings, spear throwers, and bows. Who knows, perhaps Neanderthals were
nearsighted?

I'd make Neanderthals as follows: ST 12, DX 7, IQ 7 with 8 points added
anywhere, and a cap of DX 10 and IQ 10. May not use missile weapons. This
all may not be quite right, but it gives a starting point. The caps on DX
and IQ give a pretty good reason why they lost out to modern humans, but
they do start powerful (34 points - with a real heavy emphasis on ST).

Any other suggestions out there?

> Uh...this pretty much makes it impossible to have neanderthals with bow,
> much less indians or aborignes.....
> 
> I'd actually make the both Bowyer/Fletcher and Flintknapping only cost 1
> IQ
> point as well, the keep them realistically within reach of these
> peoples...
> 
> Just a thought....
> 
> Michael
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