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1 year ago ::
Apr 04, 2012 - 4:35PM
#31
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Date Joined:
Jan 15, 2009
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For instance, Tolkienian orcs are a wholly corrupt race; demons are as well.
So I just imagined those scenes where the orcs muttered about just wanting to go home but were forced by the dark lords leutenents to continue fighting ... or the whips in use to make sure they did, or the line where an orc was charging the elf/dwarven forces hoping to avenge the death of his "father". Tolkein snuck in bits of not so black and white if you were looking carefully.
You did not imagine them; rather, you exaggerated and misinterpreted them .
Oh not really I assumed he wanted to be home so he could bully and batter those lesser rather than be bullied and battered by those greater. And avenging a parental death could as easily be an excuse but if it is, then he feels a need for an excuse? indicates more complexity than the corrupted indicates.. though revenge is not a nice motive its understandable.
Either that or I assumed they were symbolic of the german people being pushed in to battle by Nazis.
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1 year ago ::
Apr 04, 2012 - 7:42PM
#32
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If it were me, I would completely AXE the eladrin. Talk about an unneeded race with absolutely no frame of reference to draw upon. The eladrin of yore were nothing like these high elves, and it seems WotC only chose the name "Eladrin" to sound like an elegant more fairy type elf.
Ditch Eladrin....Oh, and ditch wilden too...talk about an afterthought....
"If it's not a conjuration, how did the wizard
con·jure/ˈkänjər/Verb
1. Make (something) appear unexpectedly or seemingly from nowhere as if by magic.
it?" -anon
"Why don't you read fire·ball / fī(-ə)r-ˌbȯl/ and see if you can find the key word con.jure /'kən-ˈju̇r/ anywhere in it."
-Maxperson
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1 year ago ::
Apr 04, 2012 - 8:11PM
#33
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Date Joined:
Dec 12, 2011
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but there's no good reason to make Orcs, Goblins, or Kobolds inherently evil.
Well, they were not inherently evil previously (at least in 3e), either. The "Usually" in the alignment denotes a general cultural predisposition or legacy from the race's origin. While over 50% of the race may gravitate towards that alignment, they are not restricted to it. Even beings that are inherently ("Always") an alignment are capable of deviating from that alignment in rare circumstances.
Playtest or get off the playtest boards.
---
I want justice for the voice that can't be heard
Vindication for every suffering and hurt
Let retribution hold dominion over earth
--Nemesis, VNV Nation
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1 year ago ::
Apr 04, 2012 - 9:53PM
#34
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Any free-willed being can choose its own behavior. It doesn't matter who their creator was. They are sapient. They have free will. They have free choice.
I like this. I especially like how it allows any free-willed being to be an evil SOB exactly because they do have free choice - I am not evil because I have to be or because someone is forcing me but because I want to.
The War of the Spider Queen books did it well.
Pro DnD Member of the Axis of Awesome Fighters: Using socks to kill monsters since 2012 DnD Next: Now with more then 4 minutes of Roleplay per gaming hour Spoiler:
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"If you can't make an interesting human fighter, then you aren't ready to play anything else yet" Edymnion
"The idea of resting up between encounters to fill-up on hit points and spells struck my meta-gaming nine-year-old as a distinct possibility. "Are you mad?" says my seven-year-old "This place is full of monsters!" "jamesgrahamuk
All characters have a story. Spoiler:
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Sometimes that story is short and sometimes it is long. They can be tragic, comic or absurd. Some teach. Some are just to fill the empty spaces in our lives. Rarely it is a transcendent fugue only half remembered but wondered at. And frequently: "it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." -William Shakespeare
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1 year ago ::
Apr 05, 2012 - 7:08PM
#35
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Date Joined:
Nov 18, 2008
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I think the core races, humans, elves, dwarves and halflings are overdone and hence boring now. I know 5e will have them and that's fine. I want to play anything but these races and I'd like to have options available. I am a fan of classic greek myths and was estatic when the Minotaur became available for use in Living Forgotten Realms. I am also a big fan of african animals and the hyena is among them, so when Gnolls became available, I was excited as well. My point is, not everyone is content with the core races. Also, D&D has stereotyped races like gnolls, minotaurs, orcs and drow as always being evil. Therefore, having them as a player race is unexceptable and many players I know have subscribed to this and have a "no evil races" rule in their homegames and in organized play, they will avoid playing a character from that race.
My hope is that 5e will allow these alternative races in the core game and hopefully, in organized play as well.
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1 year ago ::
Apr 05, 2012 - 7:49PM
#36
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But when monsters evil monsters like gnolls goblins can be a player race it's just to much.
There's no such thing as an evil race. Genetics have nothing to do with personality.
In fantasy, there is such a thing as an evil race. For instance, Tolkienian orcs are a wholly corrupt race; demons are as well.
Tolkien's orcs were also a created race, as in not naturally occurring. However, Tolkien remains a prime example of fantastic racism. Notice that the "pretty" races are good while the "ugly" ones are evil. Also notice that the good ones were all caucasian too. Making an entire race evil justifies slaughtering them all and taking their stuff, which is the traditional backbone of D&D. There's nothing wrong with playing that way or pretending that absolute racial alignments makes sense, but using absolute racial alignments as an excuse to deny others the opportunity to play other races is not a good thing.
Why Mechanics-Alignment Integration is Bad
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so why even play a fighter if you can play the paladin the exact same way behaviorally and get added power to boot. "Paladin" is about accepting better game-enhancing mechanics at the price of more rigid in game behavior.
Really? So it goes something like this?
Fighter: "I want to be a paladin."
NPC: "Really?"
Fighter: "Yes."
NPC: "Very well." Starts reading from a holy book while still in-character "Do you accept having to choose and stick to the lawful good alignment, eventhough neither of us actually knows that it exists or what it is?"
Fighter: "I do."
NPC: "Do you reject good game balance because you accidentally rolled a high Charisma?"
Fighter: "What?"
NPC: "I don't know what it means either."
Fighter: "Oh. Umm, ok I do."
NPC: "In the name of all that is metagamey and broken, accept these better game enhancing mechanics."
Fighter: "These what?"
NPC: "Just get out there and try to fulfill a million different people's notion of good while not violating and part of any of them."
So the system is designed such that every single hit needs to be described to avoid confusion? Here's a scenario. The players are nudists, everybody in the world are nudists, it's not weird, it's totally normal in this land. They are naked and they fight drakes taking damage throughout, but healing up with surges. Later they meet the guy who raised the drakes.
Part 1: I didn't describe any of the hits. What does he see?
Part 2: Lets say I described the drakes as biting the players, yet they healed up. What does he see?
D20 Modern Toon PC Race.
Mecha Pilot's Skill Challenge Emporium.
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1 year ago ::
Apr 05, 2012 - 8:06PM
#37
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I'm sure if Tolkien was Chinese he would've made the good guys Chinese looking and the bad guys would still be ugly buggers.
Orcs are not an allegory for the dark skinned peoples of the world, that is seriously the most idiotic thing I have ever read anywhere in my entire 24 years and 5 months of existence. (This is not directed at MechaPilot's post specifically.)
It's not racism, it's just natural human magical thinking rooted in our deepest most primitive fears. Even African cultures have myths about dark and ugly demonic beings.
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1 year ago ::
Apr 05, 2012 - 8:16PM
#38
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Date Joined:
May 17, 2009
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Orcs are not an allegory for the dark skinned peoples of the world, that is seriously the most idiotic thing I have ever read anywhere in my entire 24 years and 5 months of existence.
Sounds like you get out too much.  Spend some more time on the internet, or heck, even just these boards, and it shouldn't be long before you see stuff that seriously recalibrates your scale for idiocy.
Seriously, though, you should check out the PbP Haven. You might also like Real Adventures, IF you're cool. | Knights of W.T.F.- Silver Spur Winner | |
4enclave, a place where 4e fans can talk 4e in peace.
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1 year ago ::
Apr 05, 2012 - 10:58PM
#39
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Date Joined:
Dec 12, 2011
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Orcs are not an allegory for the dark skinned peoples of the world, that is seriously the most idiotic thing I have ever read anywhere in my entire 24 years and 5 months of existence.
Sounds like you get out too much. Spend some more time on the internet, or heck, even just these boards, and it shouldn't be long before you see stuff that seriously recalibrates your scale for idiocy.
Congratulations! You, sir, have won 1,000 internets. 
Playtest or get off the playtest boards.
---
I want justice for the voice that can't be heard
Vindication for every suffering and hurt
Let retribution hold dominion over earth
--Nemesis, VNV Nation
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1 year ago ::
Apr 05, 2012 - 11:15PM
#40
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Date Joined:
May 18, 2002
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Wasn't Sauron and the orcs and all that supposed to be a big rip on the Kaiser and his "huns" or somesuch?
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