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DougRed4
Rear Admiral
Joined: 18 Jan 2013
Posts: 2259
Location: Seattle, WA
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 Posted: Fri May 02, 2014 12:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Mikael Hasselstein wrote: | I like a race which I can connect to a common RW stereotype (and I don't mean a negative stereotype, though eyes and beholders, etc.), which I can then play to the hilt. For example, one of my favorite characters - Louw Wynstra - the old Duro navigator (see my avatar) is played like the stereotypical cranky old black man, many of whom I've known, loved, and gotten a kick out of. (I dunno, maybe I'm a racist, but the archetype appeals to me.)
So, why does Duro translate to old black man.... I don't know. It's that they're basically the same as humans, but green, in a humanocentric world. |
But your avatar looks like Darth Helmet from Spaceballs, not a Duros... 
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Dromdarr_Alark
Commander
Joined: 07 Apr 2013
Posts: 426
Location: Boston, MA
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| Posted: Fri May 02, 2014 6:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Jedi Skyler wrote: | | garhkal wrote: | | For me, when making a character alien, i try to match up what species i take with what concept i am going for. Like say i am doing a techie. You of course have Jawas and verpines, but often i also go for other less 'seen techie' races like Ugnauts or Slussi. |
If you're looking for tech-savvy races, don't forget Anomids. At character creation, they get an extra 6D in skill dice; these are supposed to be used for skills under Technical, but CAN be used for other skills...at double cost. I've used Anomids for a number of my slicer characters, and they work out really well. Plus, Anomids have their own sign language, made very unique because they have six fingers on each hand; if taught to the other members of a party, they can be kinda like the 'windtalkers' used in WWII; their language was NEVER cracked by the Axis powers. |
This seems to fit the powergaming paradigm, where you want a species that will make your character the best it possibly can be at whichever stats you want to focus on.
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garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14034
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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| Posted: Fri May 02, 2014 11:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Dromdarr_Alark wrote: |
This seems to fit the powergaming paradigm, where you want a species that will make your character the best it possibly can be at whichever stats you want to focus on. |
Maybe that's why i never looked to take them. Cause i try to not be a powergamer.
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Corise Lucerne
Lieutenant
Joined: 02 Jan 2014
Posts: 78
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 9:45 am Post subject: |
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| Dromdarr_Alark wrote: |
This seems to fit the powergaming paradigm, where you want a species that will make your character the best it possibly can be at whichever stats you want to focus on. |
Alternatively, it could be viewed as probability. If an entire species is known for just having higher than average baseline skills in an area, it's more likely that they'll enter a certain profession.
My favorite example of that are Entymal pilots. It's just a natural thing for many of them to do based on who they are.
Anyways, I typically choose my character's race based on the background of the setting and the make-up of the rest of the party itself. Every once and a while, I'll choose a species just because I want to see what it's like.
I'll admit that while I'm learning/getting used to playing a certain type of skill-heavy character (slicer, etc) I'll often pick a species that has a bonus in that area, not because I'm powergaming per se, but because it'll lessen the chances of me making a skill-related failure in an area I'm not super familiar with. I like to think that this allows me to learn new areas of the star wars setting without unduly penalizing my party (as if I were attempting to play a straight Gamorrean diplomat...).
Many species can be played to fit many roles rather well, so after I get something like that done, I'll try playing it with more of a character that fits the setting better even if the character doesn't get any racial bonuses.
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cheshire
Arbiter-General (Moderator)
Joined: 04 Jan 2004
Posts: 4834
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| Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 10:40 am Post subject: |
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Not uncommonly I look to the group to see what would be most interesting.
For example, take this last group setup. My wife almost always plays a felenoid species of some sort. Why? I suppose she just likes cats. There's only so far I'm willing to explore that. So, she picks Tagorian. I decided that I wanted to play a character who really didn't want to be a part of the party in the first place. So, I had to pick another character with whom I had an obligation. It made a very simple setup to say that my character was my wife's character's brother and mom made me "go along to look after her." (Despite the obvious flaw in logic that my wife's character has become a VERY competent Jedi.) But apparently there are unexplored family issues.
Anyway, all this to say I picked a species based on someone else's choice. Brother/sister kind of requires that we're the same species, and my roleplaying decisions meant that I should acquiesce in some way to another person's choices. In the end, I'm really happy that I've gotten to play a character that has had to evolve through problems of not wanting to be there, accepting that he's going to be forced to live in close quarters with other species, that hostility towards everyone has gotten him nowhere, and the fact that his whole purpose for being there is slowly becoming moot.
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Dromdarr_Alark
Commander
Joined: 07 Apr 2013
Posts: 426
Location: Boston, MA
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| Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 2:39 pm Post subject: |
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| cheshire wrote: | Not uncommonly I look to the group to see what would be most interesting.
For example, take this last group setup. My wife almost always plays a felenoid species of some sort. Why? I suppose she just likes cats. There's only so far I'm willing to explore that. |
It's best to leave that one be....
| Quote: |
Anyway, all this to say I picked a species based on someone else's choice. Brother/sister kind of requires that we're the same species, and my roleplaying decisions meant that I should acquiesce in some way to another person's choices. In the end, I'm really happy that I've gotten to play a character that has had to evolve through problems of not wanting to be there, accepting that he's going to be forced to live in close quarters with other species, that hostility towards everyone has gotten him nowhere, and the fact that his whole purpose for being there is slowly becoming moot. |
One of my players did that. She only chose to play a human because she needed a connection to the party, and that connection was that she is the ex-girlfriend of the first human in the group.
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"I still wouldn't have a roll for it - but that's just how I roll." |
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Jedi Skyler
Moff
Joined: 07 Sep 2005
Posts: 8440
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| Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 8:45 pm Post subject: |
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| DougRed4 wrote: | | Mikael Hasselstein wrote: | I like a race which I can connect to a common RW stereotype (and I don't mean a negative stereotype, though eyes and beholders, etc.), which I can then play to the hilt. For example, one of my favorite characters - Louw Wynstra - the old Duro navigator (see my avatar) is played like the stereotypical cranky old black man, many of whom I've known, loved, and gotten a kick out of. (I dunno, maybe I'm a racist, but the archetype appeals to me.)
So, why does Duro translate to old black man.... I don't know. It's that they're basically the same as humans, but green, in a humanocentric world. |
But your avatar looks like Darth Helmet from Spaceballs, not a Duros... |
His avatar on Roleplay Realm is his Duros navigator. He must have had a brain cramp.  |
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Jedi Skyler
Moff
Joined: 07 Sep 2005
Posts: 8440
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| Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 8:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Corise Lucerne wrote: | | Dromdarr_Alark wrote: |
This seems to fit the powergaming paradigm, where you want a species that will make your character the best it possibly can be at whichever stats you want to focus on. |
Alternatively, it could be viewed as probability. If an entire species is known for just having higher than average baseline skills in an area, it's more likely that they'll enter a certain profession.
My favorite example of that are Entymal pilots. It's just a natural thing for many of them to do based on who they are.
Anyways, I typically choose my character's race based on the background of the setting and the make-up of the rest of the party itself. Every once and a while, I'll choose a species just because I want to see what it's like.
I'll admit that while I'm learning/getting used to playing a certain type of skill-heavy character (slicer, etc) I'll often pick a species that has a bonus in that area, not because I'm powergaming per se, but because it'll lessen the chances of me making a skill-related failure in an area I'm not super familiar with. I like to think that this allows me to learn new areas of the star wars setting without unduly penalizing my party (as if I were attempting to play a straight Gamorrean diplomat...).
Many species can be played to fit many roles rather well, so after I get something like that done, I'll try playing it with more of a character that fits the setting better even if the character doesn't get any racial bonuses. |
That's exactly why I chose Anomids for techs; Verpines are kinda cliche', and I didn't know much about Anomids before I specifically went looking for tech-savvy races. I've used them not only for slicers, but also used one for the Chief Engineer on a capital ship.
Plus, they present a possible role playing wrinkle: as a race, they're generally pacifistic. There is a certain percentage of the population that is starting to come out from under that general belief, especially once the Empire has taken over, and they differ from the majority in several ways, including the way they dress. It therefore gives one the possibility of running a character that, even though they find themselves thrust into battle, doesn't agree with fighting in general, and therefore becoming a possible situation the rest of the party has to then deal with. |
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16178
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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| DougRed4 wrote: | | But your avatar looks like Darth Helmet from Spaceballs, not a Duros... |
But people pick avatars for all kinds of reasons. I picked mine early in the morning before I drank my coffee, and it looked the closest to how I felt.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
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garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14034
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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| Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 12:15 am Post subject: |
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What species is that?
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16178
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 12:45 am Post subject: |
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| garhkal wrote: | | What species is that? |
Before I've had my coffee? Nobody has survived long enough to classify it.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
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garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14034
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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| Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 5:36 pm Post subject: |
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LOL... Must come from the planet "needus caffinius"
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16178
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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| garhkal wrote: | | LOL... Must come from the planet "needus caffinius" |
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
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lurker
Commander
Joined: 24 Oct 2012
Posts: 423
Location: Oklahoma
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| Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 5:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Dromdarr_Alark wrote: |
| cheshire wrote: | Not uncommonly I look to the group to see what would be most interesting.
For example, take this last group setup. My wife almost always plays a felenoid species of some sort. Why? I suppose she just likes cats. There's only so far I'm willing to explore that. |
It's best to leave that one be....
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Rgr on that!
I may be a oddity here, but I, if given the choice, always play a human ... Why ???
First, I know too little about the EU to pick a race that fits what I want, the SW world, and the party's needs. If I try and find a race other than human I start to power game it, which I hate sooooo I revert to human and go with it.
Second, back in the day when I did most of my SW role playing (at my first duty station) there were 4 of us the played together a lot (there were 2 - 3 others that floated around the group and played off and on) One of them was the classic socially underdeveloped role player. His only friends on base were the three of us that along with him were the core players. Even then unless we were role playing, forcing him out to eat with us, or he was at work, he stayed locked in his room completely alone. That is bad on its own, but now to why that makes me avoid other races ...
His favorite race was a tie between cats and twi-lek, and they were always female ... every time ... and there was always the underlying issue of him being female ... After 3 years of that. I just tied playing any other race than human with causing underlying tension in the party. So, I default to playing a human.
Third, humans are just inherently better
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DougRed4
Rear Admiral
Joined: 18 Jan 2013
Posts: 2259
Location: Seattle, WA
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| Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 1:52 pm Post subject: |
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| crmcneill wrote: | | DougRed4 wrote: | | But your avatar looks like Darth Helmet from Spaceballs, not a Duros... |
But people pick avatars for all kinds of reasons. I picked mine early in the morning before I drank my coffee, and it looked the closest to how I felt. |
But I was responding to a post where Mikael wrote "the old Duro navigator (see my avatar)".
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Currently Running: Villains & Vigilantes (a 32-year-old campaign with multiple groups) and D6 Star Wars; mostly on hiatus are Adventures in Middle-earth and Delta Green |
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