Ecology of the Dragonborn up

[Mallus]

This is a game played by humans! Your characters must be at least somewhat human, or you're unable to engage meaningfully with them. Sure, Dragonborn are scaly and hulkish, and are born from eggs, but they must be people, or you can't play them meaningfully. (I see this thing all the time with SF, by the way; an alien that's too alien to empathize with is not a character, it's either a plot device or a "bug".)

I raise this point every time I see that 'humans in a funny suit" line. It's seems so obvious, and yet there's a lot of resistance to it.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

You know, there's an excellent reason why the PC races aren't all that alien, and why they all play as somewhat exaggerated human stereotypes with cosmetic detailing and stat modifiers...

This is a game played by humans! Your characters must be at least somewhat human, or you're unable to engage meaningfully with them. Sure, Dragonborn are scaly and hulkish, and are born from eggs, but they must be people, or you can't play them meaningfully. (I see this thing all the time with SF, by the way; an alien that's too alien to empathize with is not a character, it's either a plot device or a "bug".)

Is this the part where someone insults your imagination had you been decrying 4e instead of defending it?

There's a difference between a humanized race and a race that's literally "People in funny customs." Dragonborn are the latter.

 

[Mallus]

There's a difference between a humanized race and a race that's literally "People in funny customs." Dragonborn are the latter.

Then explain it.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

Then explain it.

One has similarities with humans but differences, the other is a human with no differences. An example was already given. If they had actually put in the PHB and such that Dragonborn have no concept or feeling of love, that would've been a great way to set them apart from humans.

 

[Lurks-no-More]

Is this the part where someone insults your imagination had you been decrying 4e instead of defending it?

You tell me, since you made that up.

Also, you might notice that in the same post where I argued that you can't have really alien PCs, I suggested a simple way to make Dragonborn psychology more different from humans that would not render them impossible to empathize with.

For a home exercise, I ask how the Eladrin psychology and mentality is altered by the fact that they do not sleep, and that they experience true unconsciousness only as the result of trauma?

There's a difference between a humanized race and a race that's literally "People in funny customs." Dragonborn are the latter.

What is the difference, besides "I like this race and dislike this one"?

 

[Mallus]

One has similarities with humans but differences, the other is a human with no differences.

That was illuminating.

If they had actually put in the PHB and such that Dragonborn have no concept or feeling of love, that would've been a great way to set them apart from humans.

So the Dragonborn would be cold and unromantic people. A lack of love is hardly straying far past the human (and I bet they'd love filthy lucre as much as the next bipedal mammal...).

For the most part, fantasy and SF have to make do with simple inversions and negations like the example you just gave. To me, that's still well within 'funny suit' territory.

Can you name some alien characters that evade the 'funny suit' trap. That might be helpful.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

A "Hug Me, I'm From The Far Realm" t-shirt?

Can I get one of those?

 

[Leatherhead]

This is a game played by humans! Your characters must be at least somewhat human, or you're unable to engage meaningfully with them. Sure, Dragonborn are scaly and hulkish, and are born from eggs, but they must be people, or you can't play them meaningfully. (I see this thing all the time with SF, by the way; an alien that's too alien to empathize with is not a character, it's either a plot device or a "bug".)

I disagree on account of dogs and other such domesticated animals. A creature doesn't have to look like, or even fully act like a human for there to be meaningful interaction with them.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

One has similarities with humans but differences, the other is a human with no differences. An example was already given. If they had actually put in the PHB and such that Dragonborn have no concept or feeling of love, that would've been a great way to set them apart from humans.

Here's something that is very different from humans:
Dragonborn don't have long-lasting marriages or relationships. They meet for a few years, have a child, and then split up again.

You might get humans that leave their girlfriend if she gets pregnant, but that is outside the standard norms. And it certainly doesn't happen systematically, we usually enter relationships with the hope to have something for life.
Dragonborns are a society of single parents by choice (maybe even "nature").

 

[Leatherhead]

Here's something that is very different from humans:
Dragonborn don't have long-lasting marriages or relationships. They meet for a few years, have a child, and then split up again.

You might get humans that leave their girlfriend if she gets pregnant, but that is outside the standard norms. And it certainly doesn't happen systematically, we usually enter relationships with the hope to have something for life.
Dragonborns are a society of single parents by choice (maybe even "nature").

Oh don't go into what is "normal" for humans to do, nobody can agree on that. As a counterpoint, consider the divorce rate of the United States.