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No More "Humans in Funny Hats": Racial Mechanics Should Determine Racial Cultures
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<blockquote data-quote="Faolyn" data-source="post: 8445353" data-attributes="member: 6915329"><p>You didn't need to buy Tasha's. And you don't need to use it in your game. It's <em>optional.</em></p><p></p><p></p><p>Really? I've never known a single person who thinks that playing a strong elf is less of an elf, or that a smart orc is less of an orc. I can't imagine anyone thinking this, unless they believe so strongly in racial stereotypes that they would be happier playing a game where race <em>is </em>class. </p><p></p><p>Also, IMO, if a PC's link to your setting's culture is weakened by changing where they stuck that +2, then that means your cultures were not even remotely well-defined in the first place.</p><p></p><p>There's dozens of worldbuilding guides online to help you, with Patricia Wrede's list of questions being perhaps one of the most well-known. If you want to have stronger cultures in your setting, cultures that actually <em>mean something to the players, </em>then come up with a short list of things that differentiate that culture from the others. For instance: common expressions, minor rituals, actions or sayings that are seen as rude, major taboos (including forbidden foods), things that are normal to these people do that <em>others </em>see as taboo (such as lizardfolk who eat other sentient beings), typical gestures, ways of showing (dis)respect to different people, creatures, or objects. You probably need about 2-4 unique things on the list per PC race--not many, just enough to be different. Then hand that list to the players. </p><p></p><p>You can do the same for racial quirks as well. Like the thing in MTF, I believe, about elves changing sex, or how in the Realms, halflings got high off of cheeeeese. Maybe gnomes are the only people with striped hair, so anyone you see with striped hair is a gnome or has gnomish ancestry. Maybe most or all orcs have oddly-shaped birthmarks, which orcish culture then ascribes great meaning to in the way that people who believe in astrology ascribe great meaning to your birthdate. Maybe dwarfs can't get drunk, but the caffeine in a cup of hot chocolate is enough to keep them awake and fully alert for hours.</p><p></p><p><em>That's </em>how you get PCs with links to their race and culture. Not through an artificial game mechanic.</p><p></p><p></p><p>You seem to think that the only reason to want a floating ASI is powergaming. So I imagine you believe that people who play fixed ASI halfling rogues or orc barbarians or tiefling warlocks are <em>also </em>powergaming, right? Unless your goal is to promote racial stereotypes rather than presenting actual people and cultures.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Faolyn, post: 8445353, member: 6915329"] You didn't need to buy Tasha's. And you don't need to use it in your game. It's [I]optional.[/I] Really? I've never known a single person who thinks that playing a strong elf is less of an elf, or that a smart orc is less of an orc. I can't imagine anyone thinking this, unless they believe so strongly in racial stereotypes that they would be happier playing a game where race [I]is [/I]class. Also, IMO, if a PC's link to your setting's culture is weakened by changing where they stuck that +2, then that means your cultures were not even remotely well-defined in the first place. There's dozens of worldbuilding guides online to help you, with Patricia Wrede's list of questions being perhaps one of the most well-known. If you want to have stronger cultures in your setting, cultures that actually [I]mean something to the players, [/I]then come up with a short list of things that differentiate that culture from the others. For instance: common expressions, minor rituals, actions or sayings that are seen as rude, major taboos (including forbidden foods), things that are normal to these people do that [I]others [/I]see as taboo (such as lizardfolk who eat other sentient beings), typical gestures, ways of showing (dis)respect to different people, creatures, or objects. You probably need about 2-4 unique things on the list per PC race--not many, just enough to be different. Then hand that list to the players. You can do the same for racial quirks as well. Like the thing in MTF, I believe, about elves changing sex, or how in the Realms, halflings got high off of cheeeeese. Maybe gnomes are the only people with striped hair, so anyone you see with striped hair is a gnome or has gnomish ancestry. Maybe most or all orcs have oddly-shaped birthmarks, which orcish culture then ascribes great meaning to in the way that people who believe in astrology ascribe great meaning to your birthdate. Maybe dwarfs can't get drunk, but the caffeine in a cup of hot chocolate is enough to keep them awake and fully alert for hours. [I]That's [/I]how you get PCs with links to their race and culture. Not through an artificial game mechanic. You seem to think that the only reason to want a floating ASI is powergaming. So I imagine you believe that people who play fixed ASI halfling rogues or orc barbarians or tiefling warlocks are [I]also [/I]powergaming, right? Unless your goal is to promote racial stereotypes rather than presenting actual people and cultures. [/QUOTE]
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