01-22-2021, 01:38 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Aerlith
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Prootwaddles redux
When I think about Cidri, I tend not to think about prootwaddles (probably not alone in that). But they are canon, so I've been thinking a bit more about how they may interact in various societies.
The only time I've used them in adventure is when a handful of them had been duped into becoming explosive-gem-wearing suicide bombers. Other portrayals seem to center on them being a nuisance in civilised areas. But I was thinking that might not always by the case. In some societies they might be a fully exploited underclass, handling unskilled work that the rest of society doesn't want to do. Whether they can be sufficiently trained and/or bribed to do this work is a separate issue for the GM, but it seems like someone probably would have worked out a method by now. Other cultures may have found additional ways to use prootwaddles' inborn tendencies to their own advantage. Given their origins as something of an in-joke, I'm not sure how much prootwaddles can be rehabilitated into a race that every GM will want to use. But I do think there's some scope beyond comic relief or, in my previous utilisation, outright cruelty.
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01-22-2021, 10:14 PM | #2 |
Join Date: May 2015
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Re: Prootwaddles redux
In our campaigns, the heavily-exploited underclass and frequently enslaved race tended to be the hobgoblins. They have IQ as low as 6, but not maximum 6, and they aren't just jokes with super-annoying behavior (at least, not all of them, the way Prootwaddles are).
There are a few prootwaddle communities in my original TFT campaign... which everyone made a point of avoiding going near, even more than the deadliest places. |
01-23-2021, 09:11 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Panama
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Re: Prootwaddles redux
I haven't used then but they seems good for dangerous and deadly entertainment.
Deadly arenas with a twisted touch of fun, team sports and stuff like that. They are ridiculous and no body care about them. The proodwaddles of course think they are stars. |
01-23-2021, 10:19 AM | #4 | |
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: North Texas
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Re: Prootwaddles redux
Quote:
They're fun as fodder for comedy or distraction in gameplay, but problematic (as written) from a world-building standpoint.
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01-23-2021, 11:16 PM | #5 | |
Join Date: May 2015
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Re: Prootwaddles redux
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Of course, GMs can play them how they want, treating the race description as innaccurate for their campaign as desired, and I'm sure people have put them to good use. but all my friends' desires for subhuman amusements in our original TFT campaigns were amply served by the other races, with only very rare actual appearances of an actual Prootwaddle anywhere in range or specific mention. |
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01-24-2021, 04:00 PM | #6 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: In the UFO
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Re: Prootwaddles redux
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Prootwaddles likely often are considered too stupid or harmless to worry about, so they might hear things or have access to interesting intelligence. The challenge is to realize that and get them to tell it to you. Using Shapeshifting to transform an enemy into a Prootwaddle may be an interesting "fate worse than death" to inflict on an enemy. Having survived "seven years turned into a Prootwaddle" or whatever is an interesting origin. In some cities I could see Prootwaddles as living in slums and engaging in various important tasks otherwise taboo, e.g., disposing of garbage or bodies. I could also see an interesting adventure where the PCs have some reason to interact with them (what if something was lost in the dump or they need to find a body) or where some villains (ghouls, say) are victimizing this group. Prootwaddles are presumably decent at hunting and foraging. If in a region where something they might want (e.g., narcotic mushrooms) is also of value, a local community or merchant might make the effort to employ them A seven samurai adventure in which a village of prootwaddles (perhaps who know something useful, or have a single treasure in their possession) is menaced by monsters or authorities who want to gentrify the area and somehow hire the PCs to defend them could be interesting. Penny-pinching adventurers might try to hire Prootwaddles as dungeon caddies. It probably won't end well.
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01-24-2021, 04:05 PM | #7 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: In the UFO
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Re: Prootwaddles redux
Quote:
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01-25-2021, 07:33 AM | #8 | ||
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Aerlith
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Re: Prootwaddles redux
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I can think of a couple ways of rehabilitating the race without breaking canon. One is that there is a tribe of original prootwaddles on some distant island nation which is intelligent and cultured, and that the ones encountered elsewhere are the mad and deficient who are ejected from the nation as part of an almost eugenic purity program by the leaders. Another is that the race is may be laboring under the ancient curse of a demon so that all are born mad, and a powerful wizard might be able to lift this curse and free the race one day. Thinking more about it, I do like the aboriginal prootwaddle culture notion and might work that into something...
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01-25-2021, 08:27 AM | #9 |
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Mount Bethel, Pennsylvania
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Re: Prootwaddles redux
A good scenario idea ?
While out on a adventure, the PCs need some extra help right away and the nearest village is of Prootwaddles. Take it or leave it. |
01-25-2021, 08:33 AM | #10 |
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Aerlith
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Re: Prootwaddles redux
Ha, that works! ^_^
I'm going to develop the aboriginal prootwaddle idea I mention into an adventure. A lot of material is coming to me now that I think more about it. Hopefully Steve won't object too much to what I do with his wayward children.
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