Level Up (A5E) 13 weeks to go…

[FitzTheRuke]

The only complaint I had is that they were still using things like clubs when they should totally be using vibro-axes or stuff like that.

I disagree on that last part. I think there's a danger in sci-fi-ing them up too much. IMO another way for us to stop looking down our noses at "primitive" people is to stop thinking of them as inferior for being what they are. (If that makes any sense - I don't think I'm explaining it well). At any rate, I mean, there's nothing wrong with wielding a club. It's a useful tool.

It's too bad that it's hard to model the thing that is the best about simple weapons: You can quickly, easily, and cheaply arm and train a lot of warriors.

 

[Timespike]

I disagree on that last part. I think there's a danger in sci-fi-ing them up too much. IMO another way for us to stop looking down our noses at "primitive" people is to stop thinking of them as inferior for being what they are. (If that makes any sense - I don't think I'm explaining it well). At any rate, I mean, there's nothing wrong with wielding a club. It's a useful tool.

It's too bad that it's hard to model the thing that is the best about simple weapons: You can quickly, easily, and cheaply arm and train a lot of warriors.

Also: who's to say that the "club" isn't a wrench, prybar, or something similar? Lots of heavy, unyielding hand tools out there.

 

[Timespike]

I don't picture them being all the way into sci-fi either, but I definitely wanted them to have telegraphy. I can't remember if that made the final lore entry or not.

 

[Timespike]

I assume that means that those of us who read through the monster playtest doc are also released from the NDA.

I really liked the redesigned grimlocks! I loved that they were weird tech-based, and I'm having great fun imagining what their cities are like, considering they'd be designed for and by blind people (even if they have blindsight, they still can't see in the way most others can, and their architecture and design would reflect that).

The only complaint I had is that they were still using things like clubs when they should totally be using vibro-axes or stuff like that.

Yeah, it's interesting to think about the implications there. They can still have books, thanks to braille-like writing, but things like signage will be radically different. Thinking about it myself now, I wonder if they'd go barefoot and the "signs" would be that same writing, but larger-scale and placed on the streets? You'd "read" where you were or what was nearby with your feet.

 

[Faolyn]

I disagree on that last part. I think there's a danger in sci-fi-ing them up too much. IMO another way for us to stop looking down our noses at "primitive" people is to stop thinking of them as inferior for being what they are. (If that makes any sense - I don't think I'm explaining it well). At any rate, I mean, there's nothing wrong with wielding a club. It's a useful tool.

That's very true. However, the description in the playtest was for a bone club (I'd forgotten that bit until I looked at the doc again just now). Even a wrench, as @timespike said (and I admit I hadn't thought of at the time), would be more appropriate than that!

 

[Timespike]

Continuing the architecture thought - that could also lead to some very interesting spiritual architecture. Imagine reading an entire scripture text one line at a time with your feet as you climbed some stairs it was inscribed on.

 

[Timespike]

That's very true. However, the description in the playtest was for a bone club (I'd forgotten that bit until I looked at the doc again just now). Even a wrench, as @timespike said (and I admit I hadn't thought of at the time), would be more appropriate than that!

I think you can still justify some of the lower-tech stuff as efficiency and lack of waste. Remember, just about everything requires more work underground. "Yeah, this knobby femur is solid enough to do some damage. That's one less thing we have to try to carve out of the walls down here."

I also wouldn't be surprised to see the "furniture" like the stocks on their firearms made out of bone or some kind of tough mycelium. Wood is pretty hard to come by underground.

 

[Faolyn]

I think you can still justify some of the lower-tech stuff as efficiency and lack of waste. Remember, just about everything requires more work underground. "Yeah, this knobby femur is solid enough to do some damage. That's one less thing we have to try to carve out of the walls down here."

Bone's pretty weak, though. Unless they have something (magic or tech) that would harden it.

 

[Timespike]

Bone's pretty weak, though. Unless they have something (magic or tech) that would harden it.

Or it's the bone of some durable fantasy beast. I would imagine bulettes have pretty dense bones, and you could definitely find them down in the layers of the world that grimlocks inhabit.

 

[Faolyn]

Or it's the bone of some durable fantasy beast. I would imagine bulettes have pretty dense bones, and you could definitely find them down in the layers of the world that grimlocks inhabit.

Also true. I need to rethink bone clubs, apparently!