So I've been working on developing a historical town for the beginning of an Early Modern Campaign setting. I was creating a town in Bohemia where the first events of what would turn into the 30 Year's War first started to brew. After a significant amount of research, I realized that many of my assumptions I had made at the beginning were just wrong. Essentially, I had 'wasted' my time and the town I was creating never existed.
So it got me thinking, why am I holding myself to a rigorous historical standard? So what if the town I made was not even close to what it was in 1618? I can still use what I have created and just drop the pretentiousness of a rigorous historical representation.
So I followed this line of thought and have been considering dropping the whole "earth" geography. I still want to create a D&D campaign based on the actual time period. Yet, I am still ambivalent.
So on one hand, I can either use real world geography and just rework it to my needs (Oh, there's no major town here? There is now!) or grab a supplement like Greyhawk or HarnWorld and just similarly rework it to my needs. Does it make much of a difference? In the micro-sense, it doesn't really make a difference. Only in the big picture, if the PCs care, is there a difference, such as, would you rather crusade for Pelor or the Counter-Reformation?
So I'm torn if I just don't want to go back to a fantasy setting that is already "spec'ed" out for use in an RPG or adapt history/earth to a fantasy game...
Or is this just gamer ADD and I need to stick to one course of action until completion?
Thursday, October 28, 2010
PDF
Saturday, October 23, 2010
S&W White Box: Recap; Session 16, 10/11/10
Been a while since we've had a recap, so let's go with...
Monday, October 11, 2010
EMP: Section 1 Characters - Human
Well, no inspiration has struck me lately regarding my racial issues, so I will go ahead and move on to Humans.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
S&W White Box: Recap; Session 15, 10/4/10
Well, this is session 15 and the last report I have up is from #12. That's how long I've been absent from the weekly gaming sessions... Plus our usual recap writers have either been busy with work or missed a session here or there. Read on, this recap is a big one. I'm sorry I missed it!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Questions...
and as usual, not enough answers. I'm still stuck on how I want to treat Half-Elves and Half-Orcs, and if/how I want to tweak Gnomes to differentiate them from Dwarves, mechanically speaking. So here's a quick brainstorming session with no resolution.
1) Change nothing. Leave the mechanics the same and integrate bi-racial characters into the lore.
2) Throw out half races all together.
3) Doing a little thievery from 3e, have Gnomes be able to cast a cantrip per day and remove their magic saving throw bonus. I am on the fence about this for a few reasons. Originality for one. More importantly, what does a race of people who are all (or nearly all) capable of casting a cantrip per day look like? What if each of us could perform some minor feat of magic every day? I sure as hell wouldn't have to go to Goodyear if my damn tire runs flat. Regardless, it does give 'flexibility' to a Gnome. Meaning, it easily explains them as a 'tinkering' race that can use magic in their crafts and other pursuits.
4) Re-imagine. Change any or all of the races in question into a new trope. Think fey "lawn gnomes," changelings, some sort of lycanthrope (Human by day, Orc/Elf by night or some other cycle), maybe mimic OD&D's Elf race/class and have a Half-Elf/Orc choose to "be" a Human/Elf/Orc per day or adventuring session. Basically, a total overhaul.
So what option is best? My ultimate goal is to help differentiate these races. Gnomes and Dwarves have very similar mechanics, Half-Elves are watered down versions of Elves, and the same with Half-Orcs. So is a chance necessary to introduce meaningful choices, or is it a moot point?
1) Change nothing. Leave the mechanics the same and integrate bi-racial characters into the lore.
2) Throw out half races all together.
3) Doing a little thievery from 3e, have Gnomes be able to cast a cantrip per day and remove their magic saving throw bonus. I am on the fence about this for a few reasons. Originality for one. More importantly, what does a race of people who are all (or nearly all) capable of casting a cantrip per day look like? What if each of us could perform some minor feat of magic every day? I sure as hell wouldn't have to go to Goodyear if my damn tire runs flat. Regardless, it does give 'flexibility' to a Gnome. Meaning, it easily explains them as a 'tinkering' race that can use magic in their crafts and other pursuits.
4) Re-imagine. Change any or all of the races in question into a new trope. Think fey "lawn gnomes," changelings, some sort of lycanthrope (Human by day, Orc/Elf by night or some other cycle), maybe mimic OD&D's Elf race/class and have a Half-Elf/Orc choose to "be" a Human/Elf/Orc per day or adventuring session. Basically, a total overhaul.
So what option is best? My ultimate goal is to help differentiate these races. Gnomes and Dwarves have very similar mechanics, Half-Elves are watered down versions of Elves, and the same with Half-Orcs. So is a chance necessary to introduce meaningful choices, or is it a moot point?
Friday, September 24, 2010
Bi-racial Characters
It is odd to think of Half-Elves, Half-Orcs, etc, as bi-racial. It is such a loaded term in our PC real world, but no one bats an eye at it when playing RPGs. Either way, that is not the main topic for this post.
I was getting ready to do a write up for Half-Elves and Half-Orcs when I realized that they both suck. What is a Half-Elf really? It is a lame concept both mechanically and stylistically. Mechanically, you get a watered down version of Elf bonuses with a slightly wider selection of classes. In the EMP campaign, they are further reduced to just sucky Elves since there are no class/race/level restrictions.
As far as style goes, the popular conception is that "they seldom fit into either society." So I guess this is the emo generation version of a role playing character despite its assumed accuracy according to what some bi-racial people probably face in their lifetimes. Regardless, it ultimately feels like fodder for campy dramatics, grandstanding, and look-at-me RPing.
Half-Orcs are actually significantly better than the hippy light Half-Elf, but they still fall down in both categories. Mechanically, they work almost the same as Elves and Half-Elves with infravision and enhanced detection rolls while only missing paralysis resistance. Their ability modifiers do differentiate them while at the same time shoehorning them into fighter roles (bonus to STR and CON, malus to CHA). So you get a "combat" version of an Elf or Half-Elf.
For style, they do get points for at least being a crossbreed with an evil humanoid. It is much easier to create something unique by smashing together two dissimilar things rather than two similar races. It takes some effort, but they can be more than just "ugly humans" or brutish warriors. Granted, you can say the same thing for Half-Elves (or any race/stereotype/trope), yet, Half-Orcs at least have a better perceived conflict between a human and orcish ancestry.
So I am left with a few decisions here. As far as mechanics go, I can leave them be and just have the roles stay the same or I can work to create a meaningful choice here. As far as style and game lore, I can work with both but the Half-Elves especially would need a solid re-imagining. Or I could just tank both races all together and get much closer to the roots of the game.
EDIT: Looking back at the rest of the races, Gnomes and Dwarves kind of fall into this sameness trap. The major difference is their class selection, again gone with this EMP campaign. Perhaps I will have to revisit these races and help differnetiate the Gnome, perhaps by taking their ability to be Illusionists from the standard rule set and converting that into something for the EMP rule set.
I was getting ready to do a write up for Half-Elves and Half-Orcs when I realized that they both suck. What is a Half-Elf really? It is a lame concept both mechanically and stylistically. Mechanically, you get a watered down version of Elf bonuses with a slightly wider selection of classes. In the EMP campaign, they are further reduced to just sucky Elves since there are no class/race/level restrictions.
As far as style goes, the popular conception is that "they seldom fit into either society." So I guess this is the emo generation version of a role playing character despite its assumed accuracy according to what some bi-racial people probably face in their lifetimes. Regardless, it ultimately feels like fodder for campy dramatics, grandstanding, and look-at-me RPing.
Half-Orcs are actually significantly better than the hippy light Half-Elf, but they still fall down in both categories. Mechanically, they work almost the same as Elves and Half-Elves with infravision and enhanced detection rolls while only missing paralysis resistance. Their ability modifiers do differentiate them while at the same time shoehorning them into fighter roles (bonus to STR and CON, malus to CHA). So you get a "combat" version of an Elf or Half-Elf.
For style, they do get points for at least being a crossbreed with an evil humanoid. It is much easier to create something unique by smashing together two dissimilar things rather than two similar races. It takes some effort, but they can be more than just "ugly humans" or brutish warriors. Granted, you can say the same thing for Half-Elves (or any race/stereotype/trope), yet, Half-Orcs at least have a better perceived conflict between a human and orcish ancestry.
So I am left with a few decisions here. As far as mechanics go, I can leave them be and just have the roles stay the same or I can work to create a meaningful choice here. As far as style and game lore, I can work with both but the Half-Elves especially would need a solid re-imagining. Or I could just tank both races all together and get much closer to the roots of the game.
EDIT: Looking back at the rest of the races, Gnomes and Dwarves kind of fall into this sameness trap. The major difference is their class selection, again gone with this EMP campaign. Perhaps I will have to revisit these races and help differnetiate the Gnome, perhaps by taking their ability to be Illusionists from the standard rule set and converting that into something for the EMP rule set.
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