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Unearthed Arcana: Gothic Lineages & New Race/Culture Distinction
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<blockquote data-quote="mockman1890" data-source="post: 8182901" data-attributes="member: 6796162"><p>It's a fair question. Possibly...!</p><p></p><p>It <em>is</em> kind of unfair how humans get all the (Forgotten Realms) 'cultures' in the 5e PHB and the other races usually are monocultures (or 2- or 3-cultures if we consider, say, different kinds of halflings to be cultural distinctions).</p><p></p><p>With regard to the "races /=/ monoculture" thing, though, it kinda depends on how close-up you look at a fantasy/SF 'race', doesn't it? I mean, I can think of several games and settings that generalize about a 'human racial culture', generally either something like "they're rapacious capitalists!" (some SF settings) or "they're the new exciting adventuresome race on the block!" (D&D). Humans can 'be' whatever generalization is necessary for the theme of the setting/story, and this could apply to any other fantasy race too. Who wants to be the person who sees a movie where the message is "humans are terrible destroyers of the environment" (or whatever) and is there nitpicking "#notallhumans"</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>So you're acknowledging dwarves and Vulcans (and other fantasy/SF races) can have minds that are fundamentally different from human beings... (which I would agree with). But yet it's not OK to give them different INT or WIS stats? > _ <;; And it's not OK to suggest that they'd have general 'racial cultural tendencies' as a result of differences that aren't merely historic but fundamentally biological/'racial'?</p><p></p><p>I mean... this isn't intended as some big 'gotcha' but.... you literally just referred to how dwarves have "different muscle structure, different bone structure"! My point being, like I said -- it's impossible to talk about 'fantasy races' like you would responsibly talk about real races. If you can accept that it's OK to imagine creatures with different bodies, then it's OK to imagine them with different cultural tendencies, different aptitudes, etc.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="mockman1890, post: 8182901, member: 6796162"] It's a fair question. Possibly...! It [I]is[/I] kind of unfair how humans get all the (Forgotten Realms) 'cultures' in the 5e PHB and the other races usually are monocultures (or 2- or 3-cultures if we consider, say, different kinds of halflings to be cultural distinctions). With regard to the "races /=/ monoculture" thing, though, it kinda depends on how close-up you look at a fantasy/SF 'race', doesn't it? I mean, I can think of several games and settings that generalize about a 'human racial culture', generally either something like "they're rapacious capitalists!" (some SF settings) or "they're the new exciting adventuresome race on the block!" (D&D). Humans can 'be' whatever generalization is necessary for the theme of the setting/story, and this could apply to any other fantasy race too. Who wants to be the person who sees a movie where the message is "humans are terrible destroyers of the environment" (or whatever) and is there nitpicking "#notallhumans" So you're acknowledging dwarves and Vulcans (and other fantasy/SF races) can have minds that are fundamentally different from human beings... (which I would agree with). But yet it's not OK to give them different INT or WIS stats? > _ <;; And it's not OK to suggest that they'd have general 'racial cultural tendencies' as a result of differences that aren't merely historic but fundamentally biological/'racial'? I mean... this isn't intended as some big 'gotcha' but.... you literally just referred to how dwarves have "different muscle structure, different bone structure"! My point being, like I said -- it's impossible to talk about 'fantasy races' like you would responsibly talk about real races. If you can accept that it's OK to imagine creatures with different bodies, then it's OK to imagine them with different cultural tendencies, different aptitudes, etc. [/QUOTE]
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