Thanks for the various responses on this from several people, BTW.
Alex Ferguson objects to X-ray trolls (and for good reason):
> Say I want to assassinate some troll or other, and hide a weapon under
> my clothes. Troll spots it 50 yards away with his X-ray Darksense, and
> runs off to his Mommy. Boring, boring, Sidney.
Why in the world is the troll taking the time and effort to bother
scanning you, which IMO is a laborious and time consuming process? If a
human takes the time and effort, they can probably spot the dagger, too.
Now, if the troll is already tipped off, that's one thing...
Yah, IMO a troll can do amuzing things with Darksense. But most of it is difficult to do, takes a lot of time, etc.
And note for purposes above: let's say that there troll is looking for very dense materials on your person (a metal dagger, say). Great! IMG, the troll is "screening out" less dense items, so your body is much less discernable. Carry a poisoned glass dagger, or a wooden stake, or something less dense that blends in with your body/possession. Walk up while he's scanning for metal and stick it in him. Lots of ways to hide stuff from a troll, some of which a human could easily spot. (Like, say, paint the hidden panel blue).
IMO a troll can see (very rough) densities, sees texture, can see hollow things, and can see around corners a little bit (by refraction). Considering what they lose re: eyesight, doesn't seem too obscene.
> I suspect this literalistic notion of DS has all sorts of other Very
> Silly consequences no-one's been shameless to think up yet.
Damn the shame! Full speed ahead!
10 Very Silly Benefits of Darksense
10. Handy for the "ball and three cups" game. 9. One heck of a Flipper imitation. Squeeeeksquirmsqeeeeeee... 8. Make informed decision between "what's behind the curtain" and "what's
in the box."
7. Ability to easily detect breast implants. 6. See if your kid had been sneaking treats before dinner. 5. Spot incoming He111s over the Channel. 4. Freak out SSBN EW officers. "Ping, ping, ping." 3. Figure out secret identities of masked RW superheros, & blackmail 'em. 2. Really Annoy the Crimson Bat with hypersonic squeals for the 1/10th of
a second before it eats you.
But best of all --
Jamuz Troll's Bogus Lunar Adventure:
> Lunars _are_ Dara Happan maniacs, or strongly influenced thereby. The
> typical gut reaction of a lowlander to a Dijidelm Monster is on roughly
> the same order as a Sartarite would feel about a Scorpion Man.
When the lynch mob arrives, Jamuz screams "Argh, argh, help, police! Rule
of law, rule of law!" until the cops show up. *Hopefully*, they do. And
protect me, rather than join the mob. Depends on how Lunar law & cops
work, I freely admit.
While admitting that everywhere there's lynch mobs awaiting a troll (or sundry other races, cultures and religions) I still think they get a better shake under the Lunars. As Pam Carlson noted, the Laws of Hammurabbi were pretty detailed -- the Laws of the Moonson are probably even more detailed, and there's likely a section dedicated to "Dangerous Nonhumans." Within, the (probably circumcised) rights Jamuz the Troll has are explictly stated. As long as I don't go beyond those, and I don't pull stupid stunts like stroll into a Shargash temple, I *should* be okay.
In Sartar, some drunken bastard of a chief can lop my silly head off if it strikes his whim, because as an outsider I've got no rights at all.
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