Basic Fantasy RPG Forums

Giving certain cultures or sub-sets of Humanity certain bonuses (and/or penalties) has its own issues. If your cultures or specific ethnicities have mirrors in the real world, then you may cross into grey areas of perceived bigotries. For instance, lets say there is a region that evokes similarities to savannas and jungle environs, where darker skin tones prevail. If you decided to issue a bonus to Endurance and a penalty to Intelligence to those of that heritage... I can tell you that some (or a lot) people will take offense.

So, what I am saying is to tread very carefully in this respect, at least if the plan is to share the material. My inclination is that all races of humanity should be equal in their representation. Otherwise, if those subtle differences are needed... then why not use some truly different races (like dwarf, elf, others, etc) to achieve that goal, without such potential to offend.

It could be cool to have an initially only-human setting, and then have the players, after a long time, find an elf for the first time, for example. Make it something alien, intriguing.

SmootRK wrote:Giving certain cultures or sub-sets of Humanity certain bonuses (and/or penalties) has its own issues. If your cultures or specific ethnicities have mirrors in the real world, then you may cross into grey areas of perceived bigotries. For instance, lets say there is a region that evokes similarities to savannas and jungle environs, where darker skin tones prevail. If you decided to issue a bonus to Endurance and a penalty to Intelligence to those of that heritage... I can tell you that some (or a lot) people will take offense.

Nah, not really. This is a game. And the ranges of abilities are 3 to 18, with 18 being relatively rare, as is 3. The normal range is between 8 and 14, I think. Most, even with negatives on stats will still fall in this range. If one race can be stronger with more endurance (CON) another can be weaker and less intelligent.

Its not a game or numerically thing, it is about making some humans have lesser intelligence or being weaker than other solely on their origin...

SmootRK wrote:Giving certain cultures or sub-sets of Humanity certain bonuses (and/or penalties) has its own issues. If your cultures or specific ethnicities have mirrors in the real world, then you may cross into grey areas of perceived bigotries. For instance, lets say there is a region that evokes similarities to savannas and jungle environs, where darker skin tones prevail. If you decided to issue a bonus to Endurance and a penalty to Intelligence to those of that heritage... I can tell you that some (or a lot) people will take offense.

You may be right. However in the Elder Scrolls, the race Redguard are dark-skinned and have exactly this: a buff to Endurance and a penalty to Intelligence. Of course, Intelligence does not have a role-playing effect, it is just a measure of magical ability. Thus, I have not heard many complaints about them.

Actually if you play Intelligence right as a character, it has a big effect on role-playing. INT of 3 is incredibly dumb. Why an 18 is incredibly intelligent. Players rarely play their stats (INT WIS CHA) in role-playing. The hard part is playing an Intelligent character, when the player is not that bright LOL

parejf63 wrote:Actually if you play Intelligence right as a character, it has a big effect on role-playing. INT of 3 is incredibly dumb. Why an 18 is incredibly intelligent. Players rarely play their stats (INT WIS CHA) in role-playing. The hard part is playing an Intelligent character, when the player is not that bright LOL

I am talking about the Elder Scrolls video games. Of course tabletop is quite different!

I am working on a setting where Halflings are "Kelts" and Dwarves are "Bulgars", I imagine people will be OK with this but who knows.

I've seen it done quite effectively where elves were "woodkin" and dwarves were "stonekin", and both were really just races of human being, but with small differences to their stats, and their cultures were different.

turtleman wrote:I am working on a setting where Halflings are "Kelts" and Dwarves are "Bulgars", I imagine people will be OK with this but who knows.

I'd say the later your time period, the less certain people will be OK with it.