Re: Backstory skills

From: Jane Williams <janewilliams20_at_...>
Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:56:27 +0000 (GMT)

a lot of things where I have no idea what point he's trying to make, unfortunately.

> Jane Williams
>
> > Certainly not if
> > it means giving a Heortling sage the same
> spear&shield ability as a warrior!
>
> I wonder why not, if said warrior obviously
> disdained use of that weapons
> combo to the extent that he doesn't outshine the
> next best farmer?

Huh? Well, *if*, yes, but a warior who can't use the basic weapon combo of his culture is a pretty weird warrior.

> My
> Chernan and Hevduran apprentices would be astonished
> that they are not
> supposed to form the second ring of defenders if
> their expedition was
> attacked, much like the fyrdmen at home.

I'm sure they are. That doesn't mean they'll be any good at it. Certainly not as good as the bodyguards - as you say, *second* line of defence. So what point are you making?

> You don't use an
> > ability as lead by choice if it's just something
> > you've grown up with, not something that's part of
> > your job, but you know the basics. Any non-drivers
> on
> > the list? RR? I bet you still know what I mean by
> a
> > hand-brake turn. And you probably know what needs
> > doing to start a car and move it ten yards
> forwards,
> > even if the attempt would be slow and painful.

> There are kids out there who know more about
> starting a car (especially
> without the proper keys) than I ever will, but still
> my driving skills,
> faulty though they may be as accidents proved, will
> stand me a lot better
> in critical situations than theirs because of even
> more critical situations which I mastered unscathed.

Well yes. And? Again, what point are you making? So you're an adult, at some point in your early adult life you spent HP on some driving lessons and a licence. So you know more about it than the basics.

> On the matter of weapon skills, there are gender,
> cult, class restrictions to be considered.

Sometimes, yes. CA initiates for instance.

> DH as a single homeland can only
> work if supplemented by
> subculture modifications to that homeland.

Agreed - that's what I just said, I think. One of the few places where male and female really are two separate cultures, each with their own keyword.

> > So your average Heortling woman gets a gender
> keyword
> > that includes things like "endurance", "patience",
> > "able to give birth", "able to suckle a child".
>
> You forgot "coldhearted" or "rational"

Oh ffs, did you really imagine I'm going to list the lot???? Of course that's not a complete list! I haven't got a week to write it!

> > Heortling men would get a gender keyword that
> would
> > include "strong", "boastful", "able to father a
> > child", "bearded".
>
> I tend to disagree with "strong" as being the norm,

You don't think men are, on average, stronger than women?

> But then I believe in defining a character by his or
> her back-story, and
> keywords serving mainly as a guide how they came
> about.

That's my prefered method, but it's a long way from what the rules suggest.  

> Childhood expertises can be astonishingly high
> skills, and aren't
> necessarily forgotten as adults.

Whcih is why they're there in the homeland keyword.

> Parent (and other cohabiting adults') occupations
> will be reflected in a
> character's abilities, even if said character never
> pursued that career.

Exactly. They may have no interest in it as an adult, or even as a kid, but they absorbed the knowledge. If the parent's occupation isn't the cultural norm, I'd want to add a low-level keyword to reflect that, but I don't think the rules as they stand allow for it. Instead, given communal living, they reflect the *majority* of the adults they grew up with.

> Boldhome is special with regard to the open spaces
> (along with Old Pavis),
> but especially the dwarf-made parts of the city will
> be closer to 20th
> century Manhattan than 14th century London.

And comparison with ancient Rome might be worth a look. Yes, it's smaller, but there are similarities.

> Much of the "open land" in Boldhome will be
> slanted...

To put it mildly.

> I will have to look
> up a couple of pictures of the "Hoellental", a high
> valley just below
> Zugspitze, which might give a good impression of the
> "arms" of hinter Boldhome.

For a community with steep slopes, how about Mont St Michel, on the north French coast? Not that I know much about it, but it's more the right size and steepness than most other "cities" mentioned so far.

> Many city-dwellers know next to nothing about food
> preparation. Real urban
> accomodation won't have hearths where cooking is
> done; instead, prepared
> food is bought from the numerous "fast food" sellers
> and taken along.

See the Lindsay David books for a look at how this worked in Rome.                 



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