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11-11-2020, 09:38 AM | #11 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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Re: Elves as "closer to nature and lower-tech" - give them a revulsion to metal?
Elves could maybe buy some of their IQ and DX with an Accessibility limitation (Not if wearing metal, -30%)? We don't really have a good system for touching a material giving you a condition - it's something that's lacking.
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11-11-2020, 10:18 AM | #12 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: Elves as "closer to nature and lower-tech" - give them a revulsion to metal?
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11-11-2020, 10:44 AM | #13 |
Join Date: Apr 2019
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Re: Elves as "closer to nature and lower-tech" - give them a revulsion to metal?
I've posted this before in a similar thread about possible ways of thinking about how an Elvish culture might work, but here it is again:
John Lanchester's "The Case Against Civilization" https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...t-civilization I think magical elves would rely on natural abundance and self-reliance; they wouldn't be interested in structures that supported strict hierarchies because their communities would be radically egalitarian and wouldn't suffer from many of the hardships associated with scarcity. It's a pretty interesting article. |
11-11-2020, 12:04 PM | #14 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: Elves as "closer to nature and lower-tech" - give them a revulsion to metal?
But magic provides effective tech level (ETL). If elves have magic that grants them the benefits of TL11, then they have ETL 11, regardless if they have metallurgy or not. The Nature modifier should apply in cases of ETL as well as TL, as ETL is just as unnatural as TL.
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11-11-2020, 01:58 PM | #15 | |
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Central Europe
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Re: Elves as "closer to nature and lower-tech" - give them a revulsion to metal?
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"It is easier to banish a habit of thought than a piece of knowledge." H. Beam Piper This forum got less aggravating when I started using the ignore feature |
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11-11-2020, 02:07 PM | #16 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Elves as "closer to nature and lower-tech" - give them a revulsion to metal?
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
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11-11-2020, 02:09 PM | #17 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Elves as "closer to nature and lower-tech" - give them a revulsion to metal?
Quote:
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
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11-11-2020, 05:18 PM | #18 | |
Join Date: Jan 2015
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Re: Elves as "closer to nature and lower-tech" - give them a revulsion to metal?
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It makes sense that such elves would develop an alternative "technology" that coexists with nature and thus doesn't penalize their magical abilities. However, if they can so easily replace normal technology with their natural one, then the -10% mundane countermeasure modifier is not really limiting them, so it wouldn't be worth the point break. On the other hand, if such natural technology is more expensive than normal one (which would make sense, as it's likely to preclude mass production) then it arguably might work. By the way, I wouldn't rate porcelains as high TL for this purpose, at least not if the elves has some sort of magic-powered kiln instead of using coal. |
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11-11-2020, 08:23 PM | #19 |
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Central Europe
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Re: Elves as "closer to nature and lower-tech" - give them a revulsion to metal?
Well, any version of Tolkienesque elves takes some bits from his works and mixes them in with others. For example, there is a d20 setting where due to a curse elves have very short lives (and very few versions use Tolkien's philology or his Catholic theology). And there is the bit in one of the books or appendices about how the Elves who stay in Middle Earth may fade away. But I think its fair to call versions of "tall, fair, long-lived, keen-eyed, clever at crafts and magic, live in woods or in hidden cities" elves Tolkienesque, whereas modern pop culture dwarves have many fathers.
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"It is easier to banish a habit of thought than a piece of knowledge." H. Beam Piper This forum got less aggravating when I started using the ignore feature |
11-11-2020, 09:46 PM | #20 |
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Hmm, looks like Earth, circa CE 2020+
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Re: Elves as "closer to nature and lower-tech" - give them a revulsion to metal?
If you imagine elves as having a lower TL than others, I would think you would pretty much have a choice of one or more of the following:
Historically, "cold iron" was believed to be harmful to or to repel beings such as fairies (which were often considered the same as elves). In GURPS terms, this could be covered by variations of things like Dread, Revulsion, Weakness, possibly Susceptible depending on the setting. One of these and Vulnerability to iron could be a justification for elven society forbidding or at least strongly discouraging its use. And there are sometimes low tech ways of dealing with things that work just as well as higher tech. For example, I live in the country, and keep ants out of the house and snakes and wild animals away from my front door by using methods that could be done at TL 2 and below. And there can be the issue of, "If I can take care of it with a few words and a wave of my hand, why would I want your machine?"
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GURPS Fantasy Folk: Elves My first GURPS supplement Top 12 Clues You're a Role-Playing Old-Timer My humorous (I hope) article that also promotes SJGames/GURPS Kerry Thornley: Dwarf Planet Eris, Discordianism, and The John F. Kennedy Assassination Without Thornley, there would never have been the Steve Jackson Games edition of Principia Discordia |
Tags |
elf, elves, low-tech, worldbuilding |
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