 January 20, 2014 - 1:47pm | Need some ideas for your PCs to run into a primitive peoples who don't like them? Try these: http://www.cracked.com/article_16972_the-5-most-terrifying-civilizations-in-history-world.html?wa_user1=1&wa_user2=History&wa_user3=article&wa_user4=companion Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
 January 20, 2014 - 2:09pm | I think the spartans ranked too high in that list. But the Mongols and the Timurids were seriously bad news and probably deserve the no. 1 spot. One thing left out on the Aztecs is that Western observers noted a feast served to the king with 50 dishes and one of the was a human infant. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 21, 2014 - 2:02pm | Western observers could be wrong about some things about primitive people. Sometimes out of prejudice and sometimes just wanting to make them look bad so they look better. Have to be careful accepting some of these observations. One reason the Celts were so hard to classify, they didn't leave any of their own records. Here's a quick link as to what the the Aztecs did eat based on archeological evidence: http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodmaya.html Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
 January 23, 2014 - 6:03am | It is true "Primitive People" either get vilified or romanticized you can read things on the Celts by armchair writers in Greece or Rome that presents them as either Nobel Savages or Blood Thirsty Barbarians. The Celts did have some system of writing in certain areas but with the exception of a few artifacts everything was destroyed. In fact it is nearly impossible to tell an early "Germanic" tribe from a "Celtic" tribe without a few things that have survived in writing and then that is just the Language family as language family did not equal the tribe thinking they where "Celtic" or "Germanic". Or look at the stuff written about the Maya over the years for instance human sacrifice being allegory. I knew that was wrong, but anyone who questioned the guy teaching that in college classes was ignorant and racist of course, eventually all the dead bodies clearly sacrificed they kept finding won out over romanticized denial. The Maya are a lovely people today but at their height just like the Aztec, the Olmec and many others they killed countless people for religious reasons. The Aztec where not loved, had a history of stealing women from south west pueblo tribes and other tribes for sacrifice. The tribes in what is now the US disliked them, though traded with them. The mound builders here may represent some sort of cultural connection or elements to the Aztec or Maya because of some of the artifacts found clearly have the winged serpent on it. Human sacrifice was practiced by various tribes in the USA as well, reasons varied from religious to a show of wealth. The Aztec did have some domestic animals there is a duck breed for instance, and dogs both eaten by them. But the Celts probably believed the possession of heads meant it made their tribe stronger. The practice prevented the persons soul from returning to their clan/tribe thus weakening that group. And in other cultures known to practice head collecting more recently somehow the soul of the enemy becomes part of the possesors tribe and will at some latter date be reborn into the tribe that took the head or increase that tribes spiritual power on the battle field. Germanic/Norse people via their myths clearly had someone collecting heads too at one time as Odin preserves a head to be able to have that gods knowledge. The Celts also liked to gift/feed/present heads and people in sacrifice to various deities. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
 January 24, 2014 - 1:30pm | There were a lot of cultures that did (and do) some brutal things. A couple things to throw on the lists, though, would be female infanticide (as well as any deformed infant) for the Spartans (not uncommon in many cultures, unfortunately) and the particularly gorey way the Aztecs sacrificed their victims probably should have placed them higher on the list. Interesting, though, to place them in a game as a force to overcome or assist. What if an Aztec-like alien society is fighting against Sathar invaders? Interesting conundrum there. |
January 24, 2014 - 8:01pm | There were a lot of cultures that did (and do) some brutal things. A couple things to throw on the lists, though, would be female infanticide (as well as any deformed infant) for the Spartans (not uncommon in many cultures, unfortunately) and the particularly gorey way the Aztecs sacrificed their victims probably should have placed them higher on the list. Interesting, though, to place them in a game as a force to overcome or assist. What if an Aztec-like alien society is fighting against Sathar invaders? Interesting conundrum there. That is an appealing idea: crafting a moral dilema for the PCs. OTOH I know players that blissfully play evil characters and care nothing for moral dilemas but I like moral dilema. Have to make it brutally clear to the players these aliens are brutally evil in and of themself. No room for subtleness or ambiguity here. (Its been said that RPG players need the sublty of a sledgehammer.) I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
January 24, 2014 - 8:46pm | As I have said before every felony in our society was (or is) a common practice in other societies. Evil is very culturally based and the moral dilema the group faces is usually an our society vs their society problem. Take the Nazi concentration camps. Places no one wants to be since they were not very nice. BUT the United States pretty much did the same thing to Native Americans with the reservation system and the whole Wild West culture. Where the PCs fall on an issue and the "moral dilema" is the challenge for the GM. Recent example and very much SF the movie Avatar. Was every human on the planet evil? While the "Good Humans" fought hard and saved the planet for the natives, how many regular joes did they slaughter to do it? Going back to the primitive peoples the Aztecs were villified by the Spanish for their human sacrifices. The same Spanish who were still practicing the Spanish Inquisition. Which one was the Good Guys? Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
 January 25, 2014 - 9:36am | Good societies on this world are very hard to find. Societies are made up of people and people have to overcome the beast within to become good. Unfortunately when a society that humans make starts getting good and prospering the people get complacent (another trait of the beast within) and we allow those who are giving in to their beastly desires to do what they wish as long as it does not get in the way of enjoying the prosperity. We this cycle goes too far the society falls and future generations must rebuild. All to often it is war (tribal or nation) that is the method of this fall. -iggy |
January 27, 2014 - 6:09am | Dilemma: Logical, agricultural society, settled versus warrior nomadic culture. While the PCs are visiting settled group there is an attack by nomads which is repelled, a celebration feast afterwards, and the dead nomads have been cooked up "it would be wasteful to not eat the dead animals"... same species PCs can't tell nomads and settled people physically apart... Dilemma ...ew. (I can't take credit for this idea... played it once Federation vs Klingons for development of planet was full theme.) I agree iggy, though I think we as a species we fail to recognize we are territorial and many things we do we "think" is rational conscious actions when in fact we are reacting to stimuli with primitive primate drives... we deny that part of ourselves but I watch people do things all day long that Bongo the chimp does too. The difference between Bongo and us is he does not write books explaining why it was okay to hurt another chimp. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
January 28, 2014 - 5:52am | Dilemmas that can be PP or AP: Besides infentcide, there is eldercide, adult femalecide/malecide (infact my nephews Great Great Grandmother was put on an ice burg and set adrift). Also the whole gender thing... females unequal, males unequal, 3rd sex unequal. Will big magic work in the PCs favor or get an angry mob chasing them? Does soemone look like a God or a Demon... does someone match the desription in a phrophecy? One of personal favorite stories is the king on the run, guy shows up at a festival in town has no clue what it is about, gets close enough to the stage and the priests throw something in bag out to the crowd, he catches it (turns out to be the last king), now he is the king! Only problem is after X period of time, he is suppose to let them behead him! Needless to say escape becomes the desire... and the kingdom well they don't want him to escape. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
January 28, 2014 - 10:09am | Also how about this... PCs are hired to either be body guards or guides by: Travel Agency... lucky them, they get to lead the first tour group on Volturnus or Starmist or where ever. Guide/protect... Film Crew filming shows like National Graphic, Survivor type show, Survivorlist type show, or Monster Quest or Taboo type shows... Looking for Bigfoot on an alien planet... Guides for the Anthropological Study... yep college kids and professors. In all cases any NPC with a camera will set out to get those perfect shots... up close pictures of Quick Deaths, Lava Flows, etc., photos of the dangerous things everyone else is smart enough to run away from. There needs to be someone who will acuse the natives of stealing. Someone else who gets drunk and insults the locals. Someone who when told not to touch the sacred object... does. Someone who is an expert on everything. Someone who wants to find out if they are compatible with the other species and so on. Someone who goes swimming. Don't forget the guy who yells louder at the Natives when they do not understand what they are saying. Complaining prima-donas about primitive/rural conditions when they knew they where not going to be staying at the Hilton. Goal all NPCs must survive. :) "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
