For instance, Baboons:
I seem to remember an article, published some time ago in Tales of the Reaching Moon, that really got me into the idea. For our current campaign I wanted to play a baboon but the narrator (b&$t&?d!) wouldn't let me - something about not liking them. Maybe you could get hold of that article? I'll see if I can (with permission, of course) get you a copy.
I wish I had it to hand, it's in Tales #2 called 'Baboons' by Lewis Jardine p16-18. Four pages! Lovely.
I'll not try to better Lewis' article but I can say that; baboons are stonger, faster and more spiritually aware. Their ancestor worship is stronger than the other races (except trolls).
I have played in many many (wonderful) games that included baboons, ducks(>spit<), centaurs, telmori(!), wind children, minotaurs (excellent fun!). These games have been excellent entertainment, very exciting and have led to an abject hatred of ducks!
One campaign had a minotaur, a baboon and a duck in the same party. It was
based in Prax, around Pavis in the time (obviously) when the Lunars were in
occupancy. We got into a situation where (the rest of the party were humans)
we had to hide from a Lunar patrol. Now, the three non-humans had absolutely
no chance of concealing themselves (out in the plains) and decided that
they'd masquerade as a band of wandering minstrels, hoping to distract the
patrol's attention away from where the others hid! The scene was
side-splittingly hilarious: neither the baboon, the minotaur or the duck
could sing (past making awful bestial moos, grunts or quacks) but their
players presented a trio of sincere minstrels who appeared to believe they
were really good! The poor Lunars didn't know how to react: the din was
terrible but they attempted to present the benevolent facade of the empire
in the same way a friend would do after an excruciatingly bad public
performance. "Erm, it was very, er, nice! Mr Baboon," "Grunark!" "Sorry -
Grunark, how long have you been playing the bongos?".
We (the humans, hidden in the long grass) were nearly discovered whilst
trying to control our laughter! The players of the non-humans took advantage
of the human's prejudices and deceived them into leaving without discovering
our position. You can imagine the scene when the patrol returned to the
barracks...
"So, did you encounter anyone on our wanted list today, lads? That
mismatched band of Orlanthis and beastmen, for example?" "No, Sir. We did
however encounter possibly the worst group of minstrels ever!" "Oh yes, what
were they like?" "Ah, sir, well it was a duck, a baboon and a minotaur -
they were awful! I had to keep the men from laughing out loud!" "So, three
wandering beastman minstrels yes?" "Erm, yes sir..." "And at the top of our
most-wanted list are a group of Orlanthis that associate with three
beastmen..... you're on report sergeant!" "Sorry sir."
Your players probably think that a story starring baboons would have a relatively small scope and therefore feel that they'd be quite limited in the roles on offer. Maybe it would be a good idea to get them to 'try it out'? Once they get their characters created and they start to play them (even maybe before) the normal reaction is to get attached to them. The human mind searches for ways to overcome obstacles; and often develops a strong emotional connection to the tools we use to do that. (the connection can be negative too, so they may discover that they hate them). You could give your group a general idea of the stories you have in mind and assure them that the cliches of 'butt sniffing baboons' and 'slimy newtlings' are not 'all she wrote'. Accentuate the cooler aspects. You don't have to have them encounter human prejudice until much later in the stories.
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Tracy [mailto:bachelornewtling_at_...]
Sent: 05 December 2002 02:37
To: HeroWars_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: ALERT!! New Thread - Non-human Campaigns.
Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone has managed to successfully run a non-human Gloranthan campaign. Anyone?
Uz would be easier.. .everyone likes to eat their foes, but I want to know if anone has run games with lesser or weirder races.
For a few years I've had ideas for running Baboon, Beastmen and Newtling games, but my potential players have just poo-poo'd the idea. "I don't want to be a butt-sniffin' 'Boon... don't wanna be a slimy Newt', etc".
I don't want my ideas to be reduced to one-shots, which seems likely. Just
think of the great quest of a bunch of Baboons trying to retreive their
"sacred magic fang" from some outlander trader. A spiritual quest and
overland journey of some young baboons to their foes base in Apple lane...
surely it deserves more respect.
Why don't gloranthan players respect the 'lesser' races?
Pete
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