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Old 03-24-2013, 01:18 AM   #11
Luke Bunyip
 
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Default Re: Wanted: Disads for Underclass Dwarves

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Originally Posted by tanksoldier View Post
Plenty of alcoholics have no significant income. They buy booze instead of food, instead or rent, instead of clothes.
The PCs are teenagers/twentysomethings, in what is effectively an orphanage. Consider it similar to institutionalised state care. The only RL lens I have for this is the local Juvenile Detention Centre. Two things:
  • they get their food, lodgings and clothing provided for them, and
  • the kids don't just wander around by themselves, and adults don't just wander in and offer alcohol or drugs to them. Given their circumstances, the only thing which the teens etc have to trade is not money, but sexual services.

I am not that interested in developing a setting where some of the characters are effectively potentially child prostitutes, especially as one of the players will be the 13 year old son of a mate of mine.

I apologise if the above seems harsh, but I trying to present a mechanism for care for the children which is better than them just living on the street. I've down that in my illspent youth, and I don't feel that I want to present a version of it in a game.

And in case you feel that I am painting an idyllic society for dwarves, I can see room for a criminal class, with thieves, gambling, and drug dealing. In actual fact, for later ventures into this setting, I can see former thieves having an active role.

So, to sum up: yes, in the course of time, alcoholism would be valid, especially if a dwarf becomes adept at looting, scavenging etc.

Just not yet...
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Old 03-24-2013, 03:47 AM   #12
Peter Knutsen
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Default Re: Wanted: Disads for Underclass Dwarves

Quote:
Originally Posted by Luke Bunyip View Post
The PCs are teenagers/twentysomethings, in what is effectively an orphanage. Consider it similar to institutionalised state care. The only RL lens I have for this is the local Juvenile Detention Centre. Two things:
  • they get their food, lodgings and clothing provided for them, and
  • the kids don't just wander around by themselves, and adults don't just wander in and offer alcohol or drugs to them. Given their circumstances, the only thing which the teens etc have to trade is not money, but sexual services.

I am not that interested in developing a setting where some of the characters are effectively potentially child prostitutes, especially as one of the players will be the 13 year old son of a mate of mine.
Plenty of troubled teenagers in state-run care homes use alcohol or other drugs.

And at least here in Denmark, children and teenagers in such care homes are given an allowance, probably based on the thinking that if they have no money to spend as they wish (i.e. on top of the money that the state spends on their housing, care, food and clothes), then they're dangerously likely to get involved with prostitution or crime. Some do spend those money on beer or breezers, or on drugs or huffable canned substances, but others spend the money on toys, candy or movie tickets.
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Old 03-24-2013, 05:45 AM   #13
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Default Re: Wanted: Disads for Underclass Dwarves

Look...

I'm not going to let any of the PCs be alcoholics or drug addicts. Up thread there have been a number of suggestions which I've incorporated into my draft template.

If any of you want to run a campaign with a bunch of alcoholic or drug addict PCs, knock yourselves out*. I'm planning on running a one-off game with a bunch of players pretending to be young dwarves investigating an abandoned mine.

I could say more, but given that I've just edited out a couple of hundred words from this post, on the grounds of decorum and relevancy, I will leave it at that.

*As in "good luck with that" or "hope that is fun for you" or a similar euphemism which is akin to "I'm doing it this way, you can do it your way".
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Old 03-24-2013, 05:53 AM   #14
Luke Bunyip
 
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Default Re: Wanted: Disads for Underclass Dwarves

Quote:
Originally Posted by Luke Bunyip View Post
I apologise if the above seems harsh, but I trying to present a mechanism for care for the children which is better than them just living on the street. I've done that in my illspent youth, and I don't feel that I want to present a version of it in a game.
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Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen View Post
Plenty of troubled teenagers in state-run care homes use alcohol or other drugs.
Peter, with all respect, could you please consider what I said above, especially the portion I have highlighted. The setting is not the streets of Detroit, Copenhagen or Sydney.
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Old 03-24-2013, 04:01 PM   #15
Luke Bunyip
 
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Default Re: Wanted: Disads for Underclass Dwarves

And if any of you are thinking "Bunyip's being unrealistic", I agree. In medieval society, being orphaned was akin to a slow drawn out death sentence.

But... this is about gameplay. The nearest metaphor I could come up with after a think and a sleep was Battlemechs. Whenever someone posts here about how cool mechs are, and how they want to run a game with them in GURPS, I feel obligated to point out the power/weight/energy density issues which would dog a battlemech, not to mention the tactical realities. Or most of the steampunk genre... it's a bucket of fun and frivolity, but it is not very realistic.

So my apologies if I did come across as being grumpy, as I was. The aim of the game is a fun adventure poking the unknown, and surviving an encounter with it. That is what I am trying to facilitate.
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Last edited by Luke Bunyip; 03-24-2013 at 04:02 PM. Reason: Making it real, removing the word 'virtual'.
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Old 03-24-2013, 07:14 PM   #16
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Default Re: Wanted: Disads for Underclass Dwarves

To be fair, Dwarven civilization need not correspond exactly to historical TL3 or 4 societies, so having some state/church/whatever-run orphanage that keeps the kids off the street and has some means of keeping drugs and alcohol out isn't that unrealistic. If the adult dwarves have access to magic (not sure, don't know your setting), it's even easier to believe.
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Old 03-25-2013, 06:44 AM   #17
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Default Re: Wanted: Disads for Underclass Dwarves

You could add the master of the orphanage as a combined Patron/Enemy. While he looks out for his charges and protects them from unscrupulous outsiders, he's a very strict taskmaster and is unsparing with the stick for any dwarflings found shirking their duties, stealing cheese from the larder, or planning an "adventure".
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