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Race Has No Mechanics. What do you play?
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<blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 9642147" data-attributes="member: 2629"><p>Agreed to an extent, but disagreed to an extent as well. Individual mechanics should not be seen as individual, but instead seen in terms of how they contribute to a whole "mechanical picture" that defines the biology of the species/race/heritage.</p><p></p><p>Darkvision is a key example. So many races have darkvision. It isn't special. It is essentially more significant when a species/race/heritage doesn't have it rather than the norm of them having it. However, the reason each that has it does have it is part of the definition of the overall picture. Thus, I don't mind that the basic rules give it out like candy.</p><p></p><p>Cards on the table - I don't like the singular "special vision" approach of D&D as my preference, though. It is ok, but I like to do more. I hold true to roots from older editions and my games feature: Darkvision, Low Light Vision, Infravision, Ultravision (very limited use), Tremorsense, Sonar, Blindsight (which has mechanical differences from sonar - silence doesn't kill it for example), Devil Sight, True Sight, and a half dozen others that are campaign specific (one example - an ability to see soul auras). Each vision type is different and has significant mechanical impacts which can be tricky for a DM to manage. For example, Infravision works at any range and inherently has problems dealing with well lit areas. Some creatures can switch between normal and infravision, but it creates widely different mechanics for beings with those characteristics. Orcs and half-orcs can select between having only infravision, only darkvision, infravision that can switch to normal vision, infravision that can switch to darkvision, or only normal vision. You can't have all three. My 'wild' orcs tend to have only infravision and be night hunting tribes. My underdark ones have only darkvision. Most PCs choose to switch between normal and one of the other two options. If the PCs anticipate a monster having Infravision and utilizing it, they may find a light spell can blind their enemies and give them a huge advantage in combat.</p><p></p><p>These mechanical differences give my monsters very different feels. Goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, orcs, kobolds, gnolls, etc... are all very different. Different tribes add different cultures on top of the mechanics - giving impact to both nature and nurture - but there is a definite identity element coming from the nature of each being based upon the abilities given, or evolved, within them.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jgsugden, post: 9642147, member: 2629"] Agreed to an extent, but disagreed to an extent as well. Individual mechanics should not be seen as individual, but instead seen in terms of how they contribute to a whole "mechanical picture" that defines the biology of the species/race/heritage. Darkvision is a key example. So many races have darkvision. It isn't special. It is essentially more significant when a species/race/heritage doesn't have it rather than the norm of them having it. However, the reason each that has it does have it is part of the definition of the overall picture. Thus, I don't mind that the basic rules give it out like candy. Cards on the table - I don't like the singular "special vision" approach of D&D as my preference, though. It is ok, but I like to do more. I hold true to roots from older editions and my games feature: Darkvision, Low Light Vision, Infravision, Ultravision (very limited use), Tremorsense, Sonar, Blindsight (which has mechanical differences from sonar - silence doesn't kill it for example), Devil Sight, True Sight, and a half dozen others that are campaign specific (one example - an ability to see soul auras). Each vision type is different and has significant mechanical impacts which can be tricky for a DM to manage. For example, Infravision works at any range and inherently has problems dealing with well lit areas. Some creatures can switch between normal and infravision, but it creates widely different mechanics for beings with those characteristics. Orcs and half-orcs can select between having only infravision, only darkvision, infravision that can switch to normal vision, infravision that can switch to darkvision, or only normal vision. You can't have all three. My 'wild' orcs tend to have only infravision and be night hunting tribes. My underdark ones have only darkvision. Most PCs choose to switch between normal and one of the other two options. If the PCs anticipate a monster having Infravision and utilizing it, they may find a light spell can blind their enemies and give them a huge advantage in combat. These mechanical differences give my monsters very different feels. Goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, orcs, kobolds, gnolls, etc... are all very different. Different tribes add different cultures on top of the mechanics - giving impact to both nature and nurture - but there is a definite identity element coming from the nature of each being based upon the abilities given, or evolved, within them. [/QUOTE]
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