tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post3544614451075423776..comments2024-03-29T03:53:01.413-07:00Comments on B/X BLACKRAZOR: Class, Multi-Class, Race, and HolmesJBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-51945000810108559032021-04-03T18:44:45.384-07:002021-04-03T18:44:45.384-07:00Check out “Flipping & Turning, Issue #3” from ...Check out “Flipping & Turning, Issue #3” from the Grogtalk guys.<br />: )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-24912118660491888582021-04-03T08:50:09.134-07:002021-04-03T08:50:09.134-07:00Halfling monks...also an interesting idea. You ma...Halfling monks...also an interesting idea. You may have just given me my next project - trying to adjust the monk class to allow for halfling racial abilities.Scroatus Malotushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15297803798888129110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-38498614319447573862021-03-24T12:13:24.828-07:002021-03-24T12:13:24.828-07:00I think that's a sensible way to approach it. ...I think that's a sensible way to approach it. Probably a bit more work than I'm interested in doing (not that I don't love to tinker and design, just that my priorities lie elsewhere...at the moment).<br /><br />I still enjoy the idea of the monk as a halfling-specific class.<br />; )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-48143293501345094672021-03-18T19:58:06.404-07:002021-03-18T19:58:06.404-07:00There are some interesting ideas in here. Some of...There are some interesting ideas in here. Some of it suggests, not "race as class" itself, but rather each race having its OWN classes. Perhaps elf priests are druids (and other races never are). Since dwarf clerics are laid out well enough in BECMI, the next thing would be to try to differentiate halfling clerics. Then (on a race-by-race basis) the same for fighters (swashbuckling elves?), thieves (more tech-based dwarves?), and mages (gnome/halfling illusionists?) Interesting stuff!Scroatus Malotushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15297803798888129110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-6940718652948006712016-03-22T15:31:08.303-07:002016-03-22T15:31:08.303-07:00@ Raymond:
OD&D (which is available as a PDF ...@ Raymond:<br /><br />OD&D (which is available as a PDF from DriveThruRPG) doesn't say all that much about the races...not nearly as much detail as Moldvay or Gygax in AD&D, for example. To me, they feel they were just tacked onto the game as a "gimme" for Tolkien fans who wanted to make like the Fellowship of the Ring in the Mines of Moria.<br /><br />Um...by which I suppose I mean: Holmes didn't "strip down" anything...they were already pretty "stripped."<br />; )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-66427794650150322672016-03-22T14:18:24.355-07:002016-03-22T14:18:24.355-07:00I keep meaning to look at the OD&D rules and c...I keep meaning to look at the OD&D rules and compare them to what Holmes did for non-human races as classes. Because I think what he did was give a stripped down of OD&D (while keeping in mind what was supposed to be coming in AD&D). So in my mind, just because Holmes didn't include all combinations that OD&D allowed doesn't mean that we couldn't apply the same race as class logic to other race-class combos and have them in our own Holmes-rules defined games. The Elf class is a great example of simplifying a character able to advance in both classes at the same time without having to track each class XP value separately. Raymondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08822838489356977527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-76815046030260755682015-11-20T11:56:46.048-08:002015-11-20T11:56:46.048-08:00I linked this post on my blog today. I thought you...I linked this post on my blog today. I thought you;d like to know. :)<br />http://rumorsofwarcomic.com/2015/11/knowledge-local-nov-13-nov-19/<br /><br />--Ditherditherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16636135891319380870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-63089246921553502292015-11-18T03:54:45.986-08:002015-11-18T03:54:45.986-08:00@ Jack:
And here I always thought dwarves lived o...@ Jack:<br /><br />And here I always thought dwarves lived off quartz and fungus beer, and were naked under their forged-steel armor. Can a subterranean species really be considered diurnal?<br />; )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-22232503502806772892015-11-18T03:47:53.546-08:002015-11-18T03:47:53.546-08:00See, to me that edit (to the published version) wo...See, to me that edit (to the published version) would be a "Gygax edit" to change Holmes's simplified version back to the complexity of OD&D. But even if it had been left as is...yeah, that would be another contradiction.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-10693987927512772402015-11-18T03:36:22.504-08:002015-11-18T03:36:22.504-08:00Are we talking Rumpelstiltskin?Are we talking Rumpelstiltskin?JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-2659729628393220812015-11-18T02:12:29.336-08:002015-11-18T02:12:29.336-08:00I have no specific objection to race-as-class in c...I have no specific objection to race-as-class in certain contexts, though I personally am not entirely sold on the "alien culture" argument. <br /><br />Regardless of the fact that they live lives much longer than humans, it's never once said anywhere that these races aren't still bound to the natural cycles of the world. Day and night are the same length for halflings as they are for humans. Growing seasons are the same for the elves in the forest as they are for their human neighbors. Members of all the races still have to eat and sleep (or trance) every day. All of the things that force us to notice the passage of time are still present for a demihuman as for a human. <br /><br />Demihumans still have to worry about growing or finding food, which almost certainly means agriculture. They have to worry about clothing and shelter, which will obey the same physical rules as any other inanimate object. Whether they want to spend their idle days mining or weaving or making art or whatever, they have to tend to their physical needs first. This is going to necessarily give them significant overlap with human cultures, with attendant diversity in career path. Specialization is for insects, but it is also sort of inevitable once division of labor becomes a thing.<br /><br />Just adding a bit of spice to the sauce, as it were. Feel free to take or leave these thoughts :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16094014880813779766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-83034014611882574692015-11-17T22:06:48.948-08:002015-11-17T22:06:48.948-08:00One other data point for the Holmes elf is the Mon...One other data point for the Holmes elf is the Monster List entry which refers to "a leader (fighter/magic-user) of 2-4 level/2-8 level ability", showing that the class don't have to be the same level. I think the 4/8 are references to the original level limits. It's also a change from what Holmes originally had: "a leader (fighter or magic-user) of 4th to 8th level".Zenopus Archiveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14069501995927451558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-41100601414346765682015-11-17T21:36:27.403-08:002015-11-17T21:36:27.403-08:00So forest dwelling dwarves of the black forest who...So forest dwelling dwarves of the black forest who work in fire-hardened wood are heretics?Sean Robert Meaneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16273566549106707316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-70842895185897872192015-11-17T17:26:58.161-08:002015-11-17T17:26:58.161-08:00@ Sean:
I like to think of dwarves as the "p...@ Sean:<br /><br />I like to think of dwarves as the "priests of Thor," myself.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-39712112318975238622015-11-17T17:26:15.994-08:002015-11-17T17:26:15.994-08:00@ Steven:
At some point, we've all got to pi...@ Steven: <br /><br />At some point, we've all got to pick a side. But let's not do it without thinking.<br />; )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-57871049783432287092015-11-17T15:57:18.904-08:002015-11-17T15:57:18.904-08:00I like what you say about dwarves...where mining a...I like what you say about dwarves...where mining and forging axes is their clerical practices. And after a hard day of religion...they go get drunk.<br />Kinda like early humans where narcotic plants, tattoos, drum music, and champions to represent them is all part of their spiritual practice.Sean Robert Meaneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16273566549106707316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-6244647473992657552015-11-17T15:09:56.217-08:002015-11-17T15:09:56.217-08:00I think I am in your camp. I like Race-as-Class, I...I think I am in your camp. I like Race-as-Class, I like Race separate from Class, I think it all depends on how Elves and Dwarfs etc work in your world and trying to say that all Elves everywhere in every game have to follow one way... well to me that's crazy.StevenWarblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12697680166430879676noreply@blogger.com