desert elf help please

[swordmaster]

hello uum i know there is a difference but what is the difference between a desert elf and a normal elf and can a desert elf be a ranger if so would it be hard to be a desert elf ranger?

[Lazloth]

The differences between city elves and desert elves are only the result of their differing lifestyles--there is only one elven race.

City elves are scattered across the settled places of Zalanthas, and have adapted to live by their wits. True to the nature of elves they also live by their quick fingers, and are usually avoided by the honest citizens of other races. Some city elves are members of tribes camped in some run- down space within its walls; others lead shiftless lives with no ties of loyalty at all.

Desert elves are nearly always members of desert tribes, and wander freely about the wastes hunting for what they need. They tend to be darker in skin colour than city elves, as well as leaner and more muscular. Elves are very long-limbed, and desert elves are runners by nature, capable of a prolonged run across most types of terrain.

Don't believe it's too IC to state that the ranger class is available to d.elves.

[Angela Christine]

hello uum i know there is a difference but what is the difference between a desert elf and a normal elf and can a desert elf be a ranger if so would it be hard to be a desert elf ranger?

Desert elves can be rangers, living out in the wastes hunting for their dinner is what they do, after all.  But on the flip side d-elfs can not be burglars or pickpockets, because those activities are difficult to learn or practice outside the cities.  There are some other minor differences too, but in general they are the same.  City elves are decended from Desert elves, their ancestors left the wilderness to live in the city, and they have adapted very well to city life.

AC

[swordmaster]

hello uum i know there is a difference but what is the difference between a desert elf and a normal elf and can a desert elf be a ranger if so would it be hard to be a desert elf ranger?

Desert elves can be rangers, living out in the wastes hunting for their dinner is what they do, after all.  But on the flip side d-elfs can not be burglars or pickpockets, because those activities are difficult to learn or practice outside the cities.  There are some other minor differences too, but in general they are the same.  City elves are decended from Desert elves, their ancestors left the wilderness to live in the city, and they have adapted very well to city life.

AC

but he said The differences between city elves and desert elves are only the result of their differing lifestyles--there is only one elven race.

[the halfling]

Decended is probably a bad word for it, all AC means is that d-elves are how the first elves use to live, then some elves started to spend more time in cities.

The diffrence in a d-elf and a c-elf code wise, is just to give that elf an extra bonus to represent their favored terrain.

Though there are many reasons why an elf might live in the cities.  There really are only two true ones.
1.  They are forced to.
2.  Or they choose to.

I generally feel that the majority choose to live in the cities.
There is more "game" in cities, more people for them to steal from then there are in the desert, which I think is the major reason why c-elf based tribes started forming to begin with.

[Angela Christine]

but he said The differences between city elves and desert elves are only the result of their differing lifestyles--there is only one elven race.

Yes, that is true.  

If you read the history files, you'll see that there was a civilization, and then some stuff happened, and then the dragon came and everything went down the crapper, and then some other stuff happened, and the dragon left, and some people started getting together to rebuild cities and stuff.  So, at this point, most of the elves were living in the wilderness and their lifestyle reflected this.  I think the cities were mostly organized by humans (the leaders of all the major towns seem to be human) and the elves were out scraping a living in the wastes.  So all elves were desert elves.

Eventually some of the tribes moved closer and closer to the settlements, to trade and rob, etc., and in time some tribes began living in the cities full time.  They didn't need to hunt game since they could scam it from the humans, and they didn't need to be able to run all day to find game or escape danger, so their children didn't develop the excellent running ability of their cousins in the wastes.  Since the were in increasingly crowded cities, it became possible and profitable to practice lockpicking and pickpocketing.

Genetically modern city humans are identical to Bushmen, Yanomamo and various "primitive" cultures, but our abilities are markedly different.  A primitive wouldn't know how to use computers, bus passes, credit cards, books, telephones or the other skills and devices that are basic to modern city life, so he would have trouble securing safe food and shelter in a modern city.  Likewise a modern city slicker stuck in a primitive environment with no electricity, telecommunications or government services, probably wouldn't know how to live off the land, to make and use their own weapons and snares, how to tell what wild plants are edible and nutricious, and which ones are poisonous, so he would have trouble securing safe food and shelter.  Some MUDs even have a Barbarian race or class to emphisize this difference, in MUD terms a human from a primitive culture and one from a technologically complex culture might be considered different races despite the fact that they are both human.  Of course you can learn to survive in another culture and environment, but usually people that have lived in that environment since childhood will be more successful than those that join it as adults.

In Armageddon, they chose not to have city humans and desert humans, so you just use common sense about what skills/class your human has based on his background.  Elves are split, the background and culture of the elf tweaks his abilities and potential in a few minor but significant ways.  Perhaps elves are just less flexible than humans, so their early upbrining defines their long-term potential more than it does for humans.

Or I could be totally wrong.  That's the thing with a discussion board, people discuss their ideas of how the world works, but ideas and discussions aren't necessarily the truth.  

AC

[Carnage]

In Armageddon, they chose not to have city humans and desert humans, so you just use common sense about what skills/class your human has based on his background. Elves are split, the background and culture of the elf tweaks his abilities and potential in a few minor but significant ways. Perhaps elves are just less flexible than humans, so their early upbrining defines their long-term potential more than it does for humans.

I think the reason for this is some subtle genetics coming into play. Genetically, d. elves are slightly different than city elves. They're -very- closely related, but there's a couple of differences, such as stronger legs. I think it would be safe to say they're like different dog breeds.

As for city humans and desert humans, there's probably no genetic differences. Maybe a different hair color is common for the different sects or whatever, but that's nothing to prompt two different races.

[swordmaster]

can someone tell me what races are availible to people when the get enough karma and how much karma is needed for a particular race?

[Lazloth]

http://www.zalanthas.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=831

1 karma - desert elf
2 karma - water and stone elementalist
3 karma - half giant
4 karma - wind and fire elementalist
5 karma - lightning and shadow elementalist
6 karma - void elementalist
7 karma - mul
8 karma - psi and sorcerer

[Delirium]

7 Karma for a mul...?  :shock:

I would think that'd come before 'void elementalist' at least...

[Lazloth]

Was changed fairly recently (last couple of months?); I believe to combat the rash of mul soldiers of death.  :wink: