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Demihumans of Color and the Thermian Argument
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<blockquote data-quote="Scott Christian" data-source="post: 8356366" data-attributes="member: 6901101"><p>It's all silly. All of it. Both sides of the argument.</p><p></p><p>Representation matters, especially in the art of the game. The science behind melatonin and skin color is accurate until Inuit, Athabascan, and twenty other groups of humans are looked at. No doubt, evolution on a fantasy planet is a super fun thing to play using mental gymnastics. It's a past time many world builders do. And as much as millennia-environment matters, so does technology and mode of travel and diet. </p><p></p><p>And then there is magic and gods. Lots of gods. Could a god choose to make a race immune to evolution? Sure, why not. It's a fantasy world. Could a god choose to make a creature with just green skin? Sure. </p><p></p><p>I think one reason some people still enjoy the Tolkien ideal is this: The races are more like species. They are different. How? (And here is the punch) Some are actually better than others. But, in a game that insists everything is balanced and even, that opportunity does not exist.* Therefore, what we are left with is people arguing about diversity of halflings or elves, when it is incredibly apparent that both sides can be right. Want your elves in the desert to be shaped by the forces of nature? Go ahead. Give them darker skin. Want your elves to be born of divinity and immune to nature's effects? Go ahead, give them gold or silver or white or purple or black skin. </p><p></p><p>* There is a way around this in D&D. You could have the longer living races simply be a higher level; a product of their long lives. Hence, the average dwarf is 4th or 6th level. The elf is 10th or 12th. But, now I'm just being silly. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Scott Christian, post: 8356366, member: 6901101"] It's all silly. All of it. Both sides of the argument. Representation matters, especially in the art of the game. The science behind melatonin and skin color is accurate until Inuit, Athabascan, and twenty other groups of humans are looked at. No doubt, evolution on a fantasy planet is a super fun thing to play using mental gymnastics. It's a past time many world builders do. And as much as millennia-environment matters, so does technology and mode of travel and diet. And then there is magic and gods. Lots of gods. Could a god choose to make a race immune to evolution? Sure, why not. It's a fantasy world. Could a god choose to make a creature with just green skin? Sure. I think one reason some people still enjoy the Tolkien ideal is this: The races are more like species. They are different. How? (And here is the punch) Some are actually better than others. But, in a game that insists everything is balanced and even, that opportunity does not exist.* Therefore, what we are left with is people arguing about diversity of halflings or elves, when it is incredibly apparent that both sides can be right. Want your elves in the desert to be shaped by the forces of nature? Go ahead. Give them darker skin. Want your elves to be born of divinity and immune to nature's effects? Go ahead, give them gold or silver or white or purple or black skin. * There is a way around this in D&D. You could have the longer living races simply be a higher level; a product of their long lives. Hence, the average dwarf is 4th or 6th level. The elf is 10th or 12th. But, now I'm just being silly. ;) [/QUOTE]
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