Subjective sdescs

[hyzhenhok]

If I ever make another PC it will be "the really tall and large half-giant"

I seem to recall an anecdote where someone made "the tall, skinny elf," botched a pickpocket and ran off, and then a few minutes later had a templar in his head demanding that he turn himself in.

"Yeah, Lord Templar, it was the tall, skinny elf that tried to pick my pocket!"

[BleakOne]

Doesn't really bother me and I think someone's still tall, even if someone else is taller.

[Synthesis]

If I ever make another PC it will be "the really tall and large half-giant"

I seem to recall an anecdote where someone made "the tall, skinny elf," botched a pickpocket and ran off, and then a few minutes later had a templar in his head demanding that he turn himself in.

"Yeah, Lord Templar, it was the tall, skinny elf that tried to pick my pocket!"

Anyone who submits a character with the sdesc "the tall, skinny elf" deserves whatever nonsense comes their way.

[Cutthroat]

There's technically nothing wrong with "the tall, skinny elf" even if it is highly likely there are more descriptive possible sdescs than that, and the person that chose it just tried to screw around with us. It can be argued that it's intentionally deceptive if the elf isn't particularly tall or skinny compared to all elves.

An actual problematic sdesc would be something like "the hairless dwarf" or "the pointy-eared elf"... those are actual features that virtually all members of that race possess, therefore the adjective could be removed from those sdescs and they would still have the same meaning. I doubt sdescs like that get approved at all.

[Synthesis]

That's a nice, nuanced point you bring up there.  The question is whether, in the heat of the moment, the average player will reach the conclusion that "this is an elf who is tall and skinny, even for an elf," or the conclusion that "this is an elf who is tall and skinny, like every other elf."

However, given the vast number of sdesc descriptors that are available to the player, I would be immediately suspicious that the choice of these descriptors was intentional, and intended to make the character in question as nondescript as possible.  After all, if all you have in your sdesc is "tall and skinny," the mdesc that goes along with it can be exceptionally ambiguous, without technically violating any rules.

[X-D]

I've changed my mind, my next PC will be "the fat man" He will be one tenstone over the min.

[spicemustflow]

My first character was "the tall, thin elf"... facepalm

[Synthesis]

I've changed my mind, my next PC will be "the fat man" He will be one tenstone over the min.

You can be obese and still weigh less than the mean for the population if your height is also substantially below the population mean.

[Lizzie]

And another thing - while we're on the whole thin/fat subjective comparative:

Does it bother anyone else that you can't pick medium weight?

Most of the time, I really want my characters to be medium. Not slightly heavier, or slightly lighter, than medium. I want average height, average weight. Just average. But when you pick human, chargen gives you 7, 8, 9, or 10 ten-stone as options. A stone is similar to a kilogram. A kilogram is a little over 2 pounds.

So - a ten-stone would be somewhat higher than 20 pounds, probably around 25 pounds, rounded to the nearest 5.

Seven 10-stone would be 175 pounds. 8 10-stone would be 200 pounds. 9 would be 225 pounds, and 10 would be 250 pounds.

That's a pretty significant difference in proportion, from one ten-stone to another. So if I want my character to be in the middle, that'd be 212.5 pounds. Round it up to the nearest FIVE..because everyone knows 5 pounds doesn't make that much of a dent when you're looking at someone who weighs 200... and you're talking 215 pounds.

But that isn't an option. I can weigh either 200 pounds, or 225 pounds. Bigger than middle, or smaller than middle. Middle-weight is not an option. I'd like to have that extended. Maybe..just add another number to one end: your human characters can now range between 6 and 10, with 8 being smack dab in the middle. Or, from 7-11, with 9 being right in the middle.

In summary, I want the option to pick an middle-weight character.

[Talia]

So - a ten-stone would be somewhat higher than 20 pounds, probably around 25 pounds, rounded to the nearest 5.

Seven 10-stone would be 175 pounds. 8 10-stone would be 200 pounds. 9 would be 225 pounds, and 10 would be 250 pounds.

Your math is significantly off.

One kilogram is 2.2 pounds. A ten-stone is 22 pounds, not 25.

6 ten-stone = 132 pounds
7 ten-stone = 154 pounds
8 ten-stone = 176 pounds
9 ten-stone = 198 pounds

You still can't pick a precisely middle weight, and it would be nice to have greater extremes available without special app, but heights and weights are very tied into the code so it's not an easy-fix situation. You can, however, special app for heights and weights outside the normal range.

[Lizzie]

Nah, I just want to be able to pick something in the middle. I wouldn't ever special app just to get someone overly tall or overly short for their race. I don't special app anyway. Not my thing.

[brytta.leofa]

I once successfully apped: the petite, jewel-eyed half-giant.  Poor ol' Tiny did the biggest double-take; it was glorious.

(Edit: Oops, I've already bragged about this. Classy.)

[flurry]

If 'tall' were too subjective, then what about other descriptors like muscular, curly-haired, broad-shouldered, heavily-tattooed, brutally-scarred, wide-eyed, buxom, big-eared, bushy-eyebrowed, right? All of those terms describe qualities that each exist on some kind of continuum.

[Nao]

Should read the entire thread before replying.

[Ami]

I've never used tall/short etc in an sdesc but I have stated in my mdescs that the PC is short/tall and so on.

[X-D]

If 'tall' were too subjective, then what about other descriptors like muscular, curly-haired, broad-shouldered, heavily-tattooed, brutally-scarred, wide-eyed, buxom, big-eared, bushy-eyebrowed, right? All of those terms describe qualities that each exist on some kind of continuum.

All those examples are suggestive of a certain style or even personal opinion. But are less on the subjective side. None of them really require that you think of them as relative to. Cept for maybe curly-haired which has a quite definite set., having curls, the form of coils or ringlets and so is not subjective at all. 

Also, none of them, cept maybe tattoos and scars have coded backing. Which is why I stuck with only height and weight in my examples. IE, Code backed subjectivity.

Also my complaint was against redundant descriptions as well. The skinny elf, the bald dwarf, the giant half-giant, the round-eared human. Even if you spent time in thesaurus.com to pretty it up the massive half-giant is still  just the giant giant. The lean elf is still the skinny elf etc etc etc.

Of course some people might think this is a good idea because at least then if you are the type that does not use exact sdesc words when describing somebody you can truthfully state, Oh, what did the murderer look like? He looked like a half-giant...Huh, can you say more, No, he was Big and tall...well, all half-giants are big and tall...Yup, like I said, he looked like a half-giant.

Then to add in, the staff does not have good rules on the subject. If you try and app the hairless dwarf it will be turned down because all dwarves are hairless. If you app the colossal half-giant (which I've seen) You are good to go, even though all half-giants are colossal. If you app the burly dwarf you will get it, though all dwarves are burly. shrugs.

Lastly, Hey, least if I see the brutally-scarred big-eared man I have something to work with in getting some kind of picture. sdescs with more subjective terms simply give me nothing to work with, And honestly, if I cannot "see" the PC in my mind by sdesc, I am unlikely to interact much with them, not that I avoid them, but they don't stick so I don't remember they exist to interact with.

[Barzalene]

From now on I am only special apping pcs. All pcs will be outside the normal height or weight range. My sdescs will include words like biggest, and shortest. It's gonna be awesome.

[X-D]

Alright, revamp, Not the fat man, the slightly fat man.

[Zoan]

A GDBer and her friend sit down at a bar. The GDBer says, 'I have a boyfriend now.' The friend asks, "Oh yeah? Is he hot or not?" to which the GDBer answers, "Yes."

[hyzhenhok]

Alright, revamp, Not the fat man, the slightly fat man.

I don't think I've ever seen an adverb in an sdesc.

[Archbaron]

I don't think I've ever seen an adverb in an sdesc.

Same.

[Synthesis]

the horribly-scarred man

the well-tanned elf

the amply-endowed woman

the very tall figure in a dark, hooded cloak

[hyzhenhok]

the horribly-scarred man

the well-tanned elf

the amply-endowed woman

Nope. Those are hyphenated, compound adjectives. And not comparable to X-D's example, you'll note, because the adverbs are modifying verbs, not adjectives (thus creating the compound adjective). They act as a single adjective. In fact, you could argue they are more precise than most adjectives.

The comparable example would be the semi-well-tanned elf, or the moderately-amply-endowed woman, which no, I haven't seen.

the very tall figure in a dark, hooded cloak

Code generated figure sdescs are adjusted by the observer's relative height and weight. This makes sense because absolute height & weight become relevant when your comparative base (their race) is not readily apparent. For player-written sdescs and mdescs there are rules about your race being apparent, so this isn't comparable.

[Qzzrbl]

Then to add in, the staff does not have good rules on the subject. If you try and app the hairless dwarf it will be turned down because all dwarves are hairless. If you app the colossal half-giant (which I've seen) You are good to go, even though all half-giants are colossal. If you app the burly dwarf you will get it, though all dwarves are burly. shrugs.

Just thought I'd chime in here.... Sure, all half-giants are colossal-- but it's very well possible for one half-giant to be physically more imposing than another.

So in a relative sense, a half-giant can be colossal.

True with any dimension of size with most any race....

But dwarves?

There's no real way to be any more or less hairless than another.

[Thunkkin]

I think this thread has progressed far enough that I don't feel too bad with this potential derail.

I wish sdescs weren't allowed that only had eye color. If you want to be the hunch-backed, pymlithe-eyed man ... fine.

But when it's just the pymlithe-eyed man, it drives me crazy. I know this is something that beginners often do, so I do try my best not to let it bother me.

Code Select Expand


Flailing his hands in excitement, the acne-covered, gangly youth exclaims in sirihish:
     "Sarge! I saw someone fleeing the scene of the murder!"

A hint of relief in his voice, the scarred, slump-shouldered man says in sirihish:
     "Well, speak up, private, what did he look like?"

Excitedly, the acne-covered, gangly youth exclaims in sirihish:
     "He had pymlithe-colored eyes!"

The scarred, slump-shouldered man eyes the acne-covered, gangly youth for a moment.

With a deep sigh, the scarred, slum-shouldered man asks in sirihish:
     "Anything else? What was he wearing? Was he big? Small? Fat? Skinny? Tattooed?"

Bouncing up and down on his toes, the acne-covered, gangly youth exclaims in sirihish:
    "I didn't get a good look, Sarge! I just saw his eyes! Staring right at me, like. Shouldn't we go look for him?"

Rubbing a hand slowly down over his face as he shakes his head, the scarred, slump-shouldered man says in sirihish:
    "You can head to drills now, private."

Quietly, his voice cracking as he turns to go, the acne-covered, gangly youth says in sirihish:
    "I'll never forget them eyes, Sarge. Beautiful they was, and haunting. I could have gazed into thems forever ..."