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Variant Humans for Human Only or No Class Restriction Campaigns
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<blockquote data-quote="Igwilly" data-source="post: 7155901" data-attributes="member: 6801225"><p>My opinion:</p><p>I both love and dislike the concept you presented. I’ll explain you why.</p><p></p><p>First, I don’t think class-race-level restrictions are that much bad. The idea of every race being able to become any class, be a reasonable choice, and race choice still mattering is an illusion I lost quite some time ago – and it was not in 2e. But that’s another story.</p><p>Anyway, I don’t exactly think humans get the short end of the stick because I like to play in high-levels, where humans usually are better and other races start to feel the trade. I’m pretty generous with XP so that won’t take long. Ok, some changes should be made so that demi-humans don’t feel completely left behind, and they should enjoy some of their glory. The “better now, worse later”/”worse now, better later” idea is not one I like but – up to a certain point – it’s a fair trade in AD&D 2e’s balance (at least the concept of balance that existed). Fully changing that is something worth of a new edition, and not even 3e actually eliminated that.</p><p></p><p>About your idea: it isn’t bad, and I’ve already seen similar ideas. However, dividing human sub-races by region – whenever they’re specific or general – relies on culture to actually get those bonuses and penalties; and that’s when they lose their purpose.</p><p>Races don’t get their bonuses by culture, but by natural ability. Dwarves are good fighters but bad spell-casters because of their natural aptitude: they’re better at hitting things and survive being hurt than studying long hours for complicated spells. Culture only shows the natural tendency. The same-but-opposite thing happens to elves. Sometimes it can be difficult to see that: bonuses to specific weapons and such may challenge that belief, but, honestly, it’s a fantasy world and it doesn’t have to operate under the same laws of Physics – just for using magic, the world is already a lot different. I think the idea of elves being naturally better at swords (or similar situation) is an understandable one. Not an airtight scientifically right idea, but understandable in such context.</p><p></p><p>However, changing the concept a little bit appears a new idea. One which, in my opinion, is a very good one: Fictional human sub-races. Not those based on culture, but truly human variants, which are much like humans, but with a few things different.</p><p>In (oh the irony) scientific terms: if the human race is, well, the Homo Sapiens Sapiens species, and demi-humans are a group of different but related Homo species, human sub-races would be much like Neanderthals: a related sub-species*.</p><p>Example: the Al-Bhed in Final Fantasy X/X-2. They look like humans, they think like humans, and can even have children with humans, but a few qualities set them apart – such as their greater ability with technology and their hair growing speed.</p><p>Another example: every time I play or see art from Chrono Trigger, I get a big impression that Ayla actually has a monkey tail: something more “modern” humans have not. I can easily imagine a new human sub-race, which was more prevalent in ancient times, and has much the same aptitudes as Ayla – and her monkey tail, too.</p><p></p><p>I still didn’t work a lot on it, but this would involve giving some benefits, traded by some drawbacks. It probably would look a lot like the sub-races presented in the racial Complete Handbooks, although I didn’t see them by myself. Level and class limits might be used, but I don’t think it’s strictly necessary.</p><p>* No relation to whatever concepts of “race” or “ethnicity” of humans exists in the real world. I’m talking about fantasy races here.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Igwilly, post: 7155901, member: 6801225"] My opinion: I both love and dislike the concept you presented. I’ll explain you why. First, I don’t think class-race-level restrictions are that much bad. The idea of every race being able to become any class, be a reasonable choice, and race choice still mattering is an illusion I lost quite some time ago – and it was not in 2e. But that’s another story. Anyway, I don’t exactly think humans get the short end of the stick because I like to play in high-levels, where humans usually are better and other races start to feel the trade. I’m pretty generous with XP so that won’t take long. Ok, some changes should be made so that demi-humans don’t feel completely left behind, and they should enjoy some of their glory. The “better now, worse later”/”worse now, better later” idea is not one I like but – up to a certain point – it’s a fair trade in AD&D 2e’s balance (at least the concept of balance that existed). Fully changing that is something worth of a new edition, and not even 3e actually eliminated that. About your idea: it isn’t bad, and I’ve already seen similar ideas. However, dividing human sub-races by region – whenever they’re specific or general – relies on culture to actually get those bonuses and penalties; and that’s when they lose their purpose. Races don’t get their bonuses by culture, but by natural ability. Dwarves are good fighters but bad spell-casters because of their natural aptitude: they’re better at hitting things and survive being hurt than studying long hours for complicated spells. Culture only shows the natural tendency. The same-but-opposite thing happens to elves. Sometimes it can be difficult to see that: bonuses to specific weapons and such may challenge that belief, but, honestly, it’s a fantasy world and it doesn’t have to operate under the same laws of Physics – just for using magic, the world is already a lot different. I think the idea of elves being naturally better at swords (or similar situation) is an understandable one. Not an airtight scientifically right idea, but understandable in such context. However, changing the concept a little bit appears a new idea. One which, in my opinion, is a very good one: Fictional human sub-races. Not those based on culture, but truly human variants, which are much like humans, but with a few things different. In (oh the irony) scientific terms: if the human race is, well, the Homo Sapiens Sapiens species, and demi-humans are a group of different but related Homo species, human sub-races would be much like Neanderthals: a related sub-species*. Example: the Al-Bhed in Final Fantasy X/X-2. They look like humans, they think like humans, and can even have children with humans, but a few qualities set them apart – such as their greater ability with technology and their hair growing speed. Another example: every time I play or see art from Chrono Trigger, I get a big impression that Ayla actually has a monkey tail: something more “modern” humans have not. I can easily imagine a new human sub-race, which was more prevalent in ancient times, and has much the same aptitudes as Ayla – and her monkey tail, too. I still didn’t work a lot on it, but this would involve giving some benefits, traded by some drawbacks. It probably would look a lot like the sub-races presented in the racial Complete Handbooks, although I didn’t see them by myself. Level and class limits might be used, but I don’t think it’s strictly necessary. * No relation to whatever concepts of “race” or “ethnicity” of humans exists in the real world. I’m talking about fantasy races here. [/QUOTE]
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