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<blockquote data-quote="Dr. Strangemonkey" data-source="post: 393111" data-attributes="member: 6533">BTW, I'm starting a thread for this jellyfish thingI have to say, that, in a perverse sort of way, playing something really alien is, in some ways, easier than playing something familiar.I mean, when I run into something like a telekinetic radially symettrical jellyfish, or even something mildly alien like a dolphin, it forces me to start thinking about what these differences mean and what sort of mindset something that different would have to have in order to deal, willingly and without going insane, with something like us.Really alien races can force you to work through issues of perception, strength, and companionship that most people might find it unnecessary to think about when it is something familiar.A lot of people, myself included, don't even think about it that much with regard to their own lives.Think about something like a ghostwise halfling from FR:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; they don't talk:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; -the sound of speech is probably cognitively dissonant for them&nbsp; &nbsp; -at the same time they can communicate with anything that understands language, they would know what a speaking race is without ever understanding the difficulty of trying to learn another language&nbsp; &nbsp; -I bet hieroglyphics would be a lot easier, pictures for words, than phonetic writing, sound for words, for them to pick up&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; they get a +2 to dexterity:&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; -what does that +2 reflect, if they get the throwing bonus you might conclude, and I think this works for a lot of reasons, that halflings have a much better spacial memory than humans do&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; -than think about how that memory might affect the images and metaphors you use&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; -or even the way you organize and describe your household&quot;The cups are eight feet to my fernig.&quot;&lt;complex halfling term for they would be at 5' o'clock if the direction I'm facing is the 12 on a western clock face&gt;&quot;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; I mean these guys are probably little spatial relations autists.&nbsp; You could probably have a halfling throw a dart, blindfold him, spin him without 'moving' him, tell him to hit the same spot, and he'll do it every time.Think of the sucker bets at bars.Once you do this, then you can't even look at ability scores without thinking about what they really mean in terms of how someone acts, speaks, and thinks.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dr. Strangemonkey, post: 393111, member: 6533"] [b]BTW, I'm starting a thread for this jellyfish thing[/b] I have to say, that, in a perverse sort of way, playing something really alien is, in some ways, easier than playing something familiar. I mean, when I run into something like a telekinetic radially symettrical jellyfish, or even something mildly alien like a dolphin, it forces me to start thinking about what these differences mean and what sort of mindset something that different would have to have in order to deal, willingly and without going insane, with something like us. Really alien races can force you to work through issues of perception, strength, and companionship that most people might find it unnecessary to think about when it is something familiar. A lot of people, myself included, don't even think about it that much with regard to their own lives. Think about something like a ghostwise halfling from FR: they don't talk: -the sound of speech is probably cognitively dissonant for them -at the same time they can communicate with anything that understands language, they would know what a speaking race is without ever understanding the difficulty of trying to learn another language -I bet hieroglyphics would be a lot easier, pictures for words, than phonetic writing, sound for words, for them to pick up they get a +2 to dexterity: -what does that +2 reflect, if they get the throwing bonus you might conclude, and I think this works for a lot of reasons, that halflings have a much better spacial memory than humans do -than think about how that memory might affect the images and metaphors you use -or even the way you organize and describe your household "The cups are eight feet to my fernig." <complex halfling term for they would be at 5' o'clock if the direction I'm facing is the 12 on a western clock face>" I mean these guys are probably little spatial relations autists. You could probably have a halfling throw a dart, blindfold him, spin him without 'moving' him, tell him to hit the same spot, and he'll do it every time. Think of the sucker bets at bars. Once you do this, then you can't even look at ability scores without thinking about what they really mean in terms of how someone acts, speaks, and thinks. [/QUOTE]

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