Rp becomes a mechanic [Archive] - Wizards Community

Rp becomes a mechanic [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Gravmyr
01-16-05, 12:13 PM Well it's been a while since I lost my 2nd edition material in a move but in the end I seem to remember that in that edition others that considered your race aggresive or any thing else suspicious had their attitude automatically downgraded one level. In the new material it seems that races that would be looked upon as such instead have their charisma reduced. Am I right in that a completely rp repercusion has become a mechanic?
Gravmyr
01-16-05, 01:15 PM Along with that little change they seem to be heading toward including more mechanics for other RP elements. I was looking through Shining South the other day and noted that some if not all the PrC's presented required that you be from a certain region so that you could access them.

Some may think that I'm arguing against this but I am actually just trying to get a feel for everything that is Rp based in FR that has an impact on mechanics. I like the fact that every little rp choice you make in the Realms has an impact on what you can do in the future. This all came to a head in a CO thread that has been closed but I would like to know what players in the Realms think of this heavy RP requirement.
BrianCritchley
01-16-05, 02:25 PM ropleplaying should be at the discretion of the GM.as heavy or light as he wants it
ManinDarkness
01-17-05, 12:47 PM There is still attitude in the game, and the Rp still affects it. They needed that CHA reduction to reflect the race's attitude in the skills. And a character region is mechanic, not really a RP requirement, but a DM is encouraged to give RP requirements to PrC's.
Gravmyr
01-22-05, 10:16 AM Wouldn't giving them a negative modifier to attitude rolls or the automatic downgrade of said attitude go more toward showing a lack of positive fealing of other races toward that race? By giving them a negative in charisma they are saying that no-one in that race, no matter what their circumstances, can ever be as outgoing/congenial as the member of another race. Not only that you put a limit on charisma based casting which should really have no interplay with whether or not they can speak without another race automatically looking poorly upon them but you are putting a cap on certain skills that are cha based. For instance I want to play a half-orc that looks mostly normal, almost indistinguishable from a standard human, upon seeing him is a dwarf, elf, or standard human going to know he is of orcish descent? Short answer probably not. Now we have him make a sorc party face, he is specializing on working on those skills and changing his own patterns to better fit in. Why should he not cast as well as say a human sorc and why should he get a negative based upon lineage that he is apparently turning his back on and most people wouldn't recognize?

But I digress. I'm simply looking for other things than attitude that have gone from a rp cost/benefit to a mechanic. Looking at my books it seems that leadership has gone from rp to a whole mechanic. I'm looking for anything else that seems to have gone this way. Any suggestions on things people feel have gone that way or know of a good resource to plumb to locate a few would be greatly appreciated.
Sammael_the_Chosen
01-22-05, 04:53 PM For instance I want to play a half-orc that looks mostly normal, almost indistinguishable from a standard human
By RAW, this is not possible. I would certainly let you spend a feat to accomplish this (and waive the Cha penalty as an added bonus), but it's not what the designers intended.

If you want a dwarf that's as charismatic as an elf (for example), you can increase your Charisma through level-based stat increases. This is more than 2nd edition ever allowed - if you recall, every race had a "racial ability maximum," so dwarves could never (short of magical means) have a Charisma above 17 (IIRC). 3.x does away with this restricion, merely restricting the ability at the beginning.

Also, leadership was hardly a matter of role-playing in 2nd edition, as it was an in-built mechanic reserved for characters of 9th level and above (which 99% of people using Skills & Powers never took anyhow).
Gravmyr
01-22-05, 06:39 PM I understand what you are saying and my examples being poor but are there any mechanics that you can think of that are essentially developed from RP?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Gravmyr 01-16-05, 12:13 PM	Well it's been a while since I lost my 2nd edition material in a move but in the end I seem to remember that in that edition others that considered your race aggresive or any thing else suspicious had their attitude automatically downgraded one level. In the new material it seems that races that would be looked upon as such instead have their charisma reduced. Am I right in that a completely rp repercusion has become a mechanic?
Gravmyr 01-16-05, 01:15 PM	Along with that little change they seem to be heading toward including more mechanics for other RP elements. I was looking through Shining South the other day and noted that some if not all the PrC's presented required that you be from a certain region so that you could access them. Some may think that I'm arguing against this but I am actually just trying to get a feel for everything that is Rp based in FR that has an impact on mechanics. I like the fact that every little rp choice you make in the Realms has an impact on what you can do in the future. This all came to a head in a CO thread that has been closed but I would like to know what players in the Realms think of this heavy RP requirement.
BrianCritchley 01-16-05, 02:25 PM	ropleplaying should be at the discretion of the GM.as heavy or light as he wants it
ManinDarkness 01-17-05, 12:47 PM	There is still attitude in the game, and the Rp still affects it. They needed that CHA reduction to reflect the race's attitude in the skills. And a character region is mechanic, not really a RP requirement, but a DM is encouraged to give RP requirements to PrC's.
Gravmyr 01-22-05, 10:16 AM	Wouldn't giving them a negative modifier to attitude rolls or the automatic downgrade of said attitude go more toward showing a lack of positive fealing of other races toward that race? By giving them a negative in charisma they are saying that no-one in that race, no matter what their circumstances, can ever be as outgoing/congenial as the member of another race. Not only that you put a limit on charisma based casting which should really have no interplay with whether or not they can speak without another race automatically looking poorly upon them but you are putting a cap on certain skills that are cha based. For instance I want to play a half-orc that looks mostly normal, almost indistinguishable from a standard human, upon seeing him is a dwarf, elf, or standard human going to know he is of orcish descent? Short answer probably not. Now we have him make a sorc party face, he is specializing on working on those skills and changing his own patterns to better fit in. Why should he not cast as well as say a human sorc and why should he get a negative based upon lineage that he is apparently turning his back on and most people wouldn't recognize? But I digress. I'm simply looking for other things than attitude that have gone from a rp cost/benefit to a mechanic. Looking at my books it seems that leadership has gone from rp to a whole mechanic. I'm looking for anything else that seems to have gone this way. Any suggestions on things people feel have gone that way or know of a good resource to plumb to locate a few would be greatly appreciated.
Sammael_the_Chosen 01-22-05, 04:53 PM	For instance I want to play a half-orc that looks mostly normal, almost indistinguishable from a standard human By RAW, this is not possible. I would certainly let you spend a feat to accomplish this (and waive the Cha penalty as an added bonus), but it's not what the designers intended. If you want a dwarf that's as charismatic as an elf (for example), you can increase your Charisma through level-based stat increases. This is more than 2nd edition ever allowed - if you recall, every race had a "racial ability maximum," so dwarves could never (short of magical means) have a Charisma above 17 (IIRC). 3.x does away with this restricion, merely restricting the ability at the beginning. Also, leadership was hardly a matter of role-playing in 2nd edition, as it was an in-built mechanic reserved for characters of 9th level and above (which 99% of people using Skills & Powers never took anyhow).
Gravmyr 01-22-05, 06:39 PM	I understand what you are saying and my examples being poor but are there any mechanics that you can think of that are essentially developed from RP?