Elves, elves, elves, the immort

[prtr02@scorpion.nspco.co]

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Well, this whole subject is one of my pet peeves. I am sick of non-humans
being the center of attention in other campaign worlds, with parties of
50%+ non-humans in a world with 90% human populations. I am sick of
hearing arguments that humans should have level limits, and that some
non-humans should not. It's a game, it's written that way for game
balance. The storylines aught to incorportate the rules into the histories
for plausibility. If you want to play in a game with no humans, go for it.
But I doubt a big-time RPG would sell all that well is people didn't have
humans to fall back on as the primary race, just to have something to base
the role-play on. How do you play an entirely different race without some
kind of comparison to humanity? After all, there are no elves on
modern-day Earth.

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One of the major reasons I love BR is that it's humanocentric (is that really
a word?). Interesting RW-based human cultures go a long way when creating
detailed and interesting storylines. "Realistic Fantasy" is my cup of tea.
Everyone has a good feel, or at least a stereotype, of how to play a German
(Brecht) or Moorish (Khinasi) character. Nothing adds detail, and therefore
life, to a campaign more than the real world. This is one of BR strengths.
If you want to play a campaign where elves are common PC race, play somewhere
else. Let's not take another step toward making Cerilia a generic AD&D world
by making the Sidhe more like their counterparts in other settings.

That being said, I'll instantly prove myself a hypocrite by saying:

I'm against elven immortality- Once again *whip, whip* I don't think we, as a
mortal race can comprehend all the nuances of an immortal one. I prefer
"immortal to human eyes" ie they live 1000-2000 years. This still gives you the
story effect without the messy demographic complications. Who says Duncan
McCloud won't tip over when he's 2000? He's only 320 years old and I consider
him an immortal.

As in other settings, BR Elves are more comfortable/familiar with magic, but it is by no means commonplace among them- so says the Book o' Magecraft.
The Sidhe are more prone to become wizards than humans (it's easier for
them to qualify). However, since not many feel the call to magic (BoM again),
their population is less than 1/10th that of the humans and (most importantly)
the setting's published numbers just don't allow for a large number of elven
wizards, it turns out there's less elven mages than human ones. This is
appropriate for a humanocentric (there's that word again) campaign.

In the Taurhevial (sp?) sourcebook, it's pretty clear there are about 15
mages in the kingdom. Considerably more, by a factor of about 5, than my
previous analysis allowed. Would TSR ever publish conflicting material?
Naawww! What's a poor, bedraggled DM to do? Pick one as your canon I guess
with the ranks of the mysterious, unblooded Shidhe wizards having an
ABSOLUTE MAX of about 15 per elven realm. Using the upper limit should
actually give you more elven wizards than human ones and would increase the
number of true mages to about 13 score. This is twice the number setting was
designed for. If you double the number of mages on a scarce magic world are
you still playing BR? - or are you playing some increased power version of
Cerilia? You'll have to decide that one for yourself. We've been playing with
the original design for 3 years now and love it. I don't think we'll change.

Randax

[David Sean Brown]

> I'm against elven immortality- Once again *whip, whip* I don't think we, as a
> mortal race can comprehend all the nuances of an immortal one. I prefer
> "immortal to human eyes" ie they live 1000-2000 years. This still gives you the
> story effect without the messy demographic complications. Who says Duncan
> McCloud won't tip over when he's 2000? He's only 320 years old and I consider
> him an immortal.

Possibly as a complete aside, but have I missed something..who is this
Duncan McCloud?

[prtr02@scorpion.nspco.co]

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> I'm against elven immortality- Once again *whip, whip* I don't think we, as a
> mortal race can comprehend all the nuances of an immortal one. I prefer
> "immortal to human eyes" ie they live 1000-2000 years. This still gives you the
> story effect without the messy demographic complications. Who says Duncan
> McCloud won't tip over when he's 2000? He's only 320 years old and I consider
> him an immortal.

Possibly as a complete aside, but have I missed something..who is this
Duncan McCloud?

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Ah, sorry. I must learn to think in the world view more often. Typical
American sorry.

For those not blessed by (the mostly crap) that which is American TV. Duncan
McCloud is the Highlander of Movie and TV fame. Born in 1675 (hope that's right) He battles other immortals for power while (on TV) protecting the weak and
innocent. He can't be killed except by being beheaded by another immortal.

Most often Highlander comes into play in BR when discussing bloodtheft. Many
people like the idea of using the "Quickening" when a scion has stolen the
bloodline of another. Flashes of energy, a mysterious wind or a surge of power
are possible manfistations of the "Quickening".

Randax