Digest Number 139

From: Andrew Barton <AndrewBarton_at_...>
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2000 18:56:23 -0400


> Taking your example of 'Lightning Sword', you obviously believe at least
some of the following things to be true about lightning: it's a something formed of electricity, something that can light fires, something that can arc across the sky, something that could blind or stun the eye, and it's something that is very, very fast. Since your character, I assume, believes similarly, then these are all valid interpretations of the word 'lightning'.

The character doesn't believe the one about 'electricity' - in ancient and medieval cultures that's the name of an effect which allows you to make things stick to each other after rubbing them on amber. It belongs in the Stasis affinity.

The character's cultural assumptions aren't necessarily the same as the players. More importantly, player cultural assumptions vary an awful lot between players, for example:

> Oh. I guess I don't necessarily include quickness or instant-ness in
my definition of lightning. Perhaps it's from playing too much Diablo, where one can create long duration Lightning Walls, and the Charged Bolt spell makes little fragments of lightning that wander around for a while.

Diablo-players evidently form a different culture from some of us.

Anyone who's been to one of Jack Cohen's lectures knows that a lot of associations which seem standard to us are anything but. ' What is an Owl?' he'll ask, and the audience shouts out 'Wise'. 'Fox?' 'Sly!'. Then he points out these are associations we're taught as children, and many other Earth cultures use different ones. I think it's Native Americans that see the fox as the exemplar of bravery.

So, Hero Wars feat names are liable to mean different things to each group of players.

Does it matter though? As far as I can see, only if you're indulging in that well known contradiction in terms, competitive role-playing.

Andrew

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