Thursday, March 1, 2012

Answering Back on Answers to The Secrets of D&D-But-Not

Hooray for Lord Blacksteel! In his response to my post about various secrets and strange goings on within the universe of my D&D-But-Not setting, Aerth, I have been inspired to elaborate and confound you all further. Kudos to me.

1) Elves don't strike me as a math-focused race anyway

No. Probably not. Well, except maybe High Elves. They are militant and study the weathers and the night sky. Maybe the Grey Elves since they are focused on understanding Magic.

2)In most other games the Orc population is out of control and needs culling. I'm glad to see your campaign world is more ecologically balanced than that.

I don't particularly like Orcs. The main reason is they are over used. The second reason is they are not a creature of folklore. Tolkien created them. Since I am not running a game set on Middle Earth, I shouldn't need Orcs. My solution was to have them be limited in number to the point of near extinction. When players ask why there are so few I answer, "Because people like you killed them all." Perspective.

3) The real question here though is whether he is in your debt. I can see a profitable business developing here recovering dwarf parts on spec and then transporting them to said location.

Possible. Dwarven honor is complex, largely for the reason this point eludes to. If a Dwarf died owing you money and he was resurrected by doesn't recall the debt, does he still owe you? The answer, as Dwarves view it, is yes. Sometimes his family will pay. Sometimes an elder or superior will place him in your service for as long as it takes to pay it back.

4) Again, math, elves - it's all pretty casual

True, though the name Half-Elf was given to the people of Corin by Humans.

5) Have any of your players tried to do this?

Tried? Yes. Succeeded? Er...once.

6) That name bothers me.

But they're sooo cute.

7)I can see players having some fun with this. Probably when they should be doing it the least.

It has resulted in very creative uses and some ridiculously painful backfiring.

8) Interesting but what does it mean in play? How does my human differ from my elf or dwarf when it comes to making and playing the character because of this?

It means a lot. Certain Cleric spells do not effect Elves as they do not have Souls or worship gods as Humans understand them. Not having a Spirit means there is nothing to communicate with after passing. It is also why there are no Elven undead on Aerth and why Dwarves can come back from the dead more easily then others.

9)This sounds like a justification for some serious misbehavior - at least among a few players I know. And probably myself as well.

How so? Mostly it's used for dramatic story telling. There was the tale of an Elven Woman, a mother, who rushed to the battlefield after learning her only son had been badly injured. While being healed, the enemy instituted a surprise attack and the Elf Warrior's mother was killed by arrows right in front of him before he could react. It wasn't that long ago that this happened. He sees it happen again every night before 'waking'.

10)I like this one and have used it some myself. Variable-strength gods gives you more flexibility in a long-term game and explains why all those clerical types are running around.

Exactly!

11) Have your players had to deal with this before? I'd like to hear about that.

I will tell the tale of one PC who fell to Aerth via falling star in an upcoming post. Weapons of Star Metal and wishes have been obtained a number of times over the years.

12) I had "The Well of the Worlds" in one of my 3E campaigns. Sadly no one ever found it.

What?! Gah. That's too bad.

13)...and the insect-winged ones are called "bugaloos" I suspect...

Hmmm. I shall think on it.

14) This seems more folklore-ish than most and I like it. I usually keep mine as the top end of the big ugly humanoid food chain, but this is a nice change. Practical side: If I'm a Ranger and take "Troll" as favored enemy, do I get that against all three types?

My world is very, very folklore-ish or folkloric as I once heard the term. My Elves, my Dwarves and many other elements are strongly based on stories I've read and collected on folklore, myth and local legend from many parts of the world.

The answer to your question is yes, generally a Ranger will get the Favored Enemy bonus against all the Troll types is he or she chooses Troll as their arch-nemesis. Note however that Favored Enemy gives you more then combat bonuses in my campaign but also lets you in on some cultural stuff for yout chosen opponent. Depending on where your PC hails from some bits of information may be less well known then others.


15) Well of course that's what THEY would say!

And they might be right in a manner of speaking. ~_^

Have any more questions about the D&D world by that guy who doesn't generally like D&D? Please feel free to ask! I may be amused, and as such, inclined to answer in a mostly serious manner.

AD
Barking Alien





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