We all know Armageddon is a low-fantasy setting and all - but what is up with the current slew of PCs with near-generic sdescs?
The tall human, the black human, the average human, the short dwarf, the plain-looking woman, the dark elf, the tanned half-elf.....jeez!!!!
I guess my next pc's gonna have the be sdesc'ed : The generic, non-descript humanoid
Mdesc: You see before you a humanoid form with vaguish features, which almost remind you of everone and no one at the same time. He has eyes, ears, hair kinda darkish, legs, hands, and an average build.
I can understand that some folks might wanna just be a john-doe or a jane-doe or an amos-doe in Zalanthan terms, but please - atleast put in some discernable features in your sdesc.....at this rate, soon, the entire mud population's gonna be : A human male or a dwarven female or something along those lines....
Edited to add: Of course it is every player's right to make whatever kind of PC they want, this was more of a personal suggestion that I just had to voice. No offence intended to any of the above PCs, if they exist.
I've not seen this.
please post more in game information.
not
Actually, I think it's because I can't find that website that has the huge list of Zalanthan Colours. Sorry.
Name: Amos
sdesc: the tall, muscular man
guild: sorceror
subguild: thug
desc:
Tall and strong, from hs build this man is no stranger to hard labor. His jaw is habitually
slack, and he breathes through his mouth. His black hair is unevenly hacked off at shoulder
length. His brown eyes peer out from beneath a craggy brow and he has the scars of combat
up and down his forearms. His square jaw is covered in unshaven stubble.
The average man.
Somehow I am always able to spot him in a crowd when his face is uncovered.
the tall, muscular man <------> the besmirched, atramentous moppet
It's a fine line.
Hehe, I've noticed this as well and I love it. I'm tired of the not knowing what the fuck the sdesc even means. I don't consider my vocabularly pathetic but me having to keep thesaurus.com open in the background while I MUD is a little much!
On a derail that sort of funny:
Years ago I once played "The tall, thin elf" who was a shady bad guy. After a failed assassination I shadowed the victim only to overhear: Who did it? / It was a tall elf, he was thin.
I was promptly busted 30 seconds later via the way by a Templar for being identified as the tall.. skinny elf. o.0
Imagine my disappointment. :'(
No one is totally nondescript. On the street outside my job, I can tell fat balding executive #39 from fat balding executive #40 easily, even if they're the same height and weight, because unless they're identical twins (and sometimes not even then) they are going to have distinguishing characteristics. It might be realistic to have a nondescript sdesc, and be pretty generic-looking, but if your mdesc doesn't have at least one distinguishing feature, you're probably being a little unrealistic.
Sometimes the sdesc is the distinguishing feature:
The dark elf - a little darker than most
The tall, muscular man - a little taller than most, with noticeable muscle
The short dwarf - shorter than the average dwarf
And so on..
Seems fine by me. I mean, the tall, muscular man is a far more distinguishable characteristic than the tall, blue-eyed man.
PCs with simple sdescs are refreshing IMO. I'll take "The big man" over "The adjective-verbed, adjective-verbed man" any day.
Quote from: Majikal on June 15, 2009, 01:58:52 PM
On a derail that sort of funny:
Years ago I once played "The tall, thin elf" who was a shady bad guy. After a failed assassination I shadowed the victim only to overhear: Who did it? / It was a tall elf, he was thin.
I was promptly busted 30 seconds later via the way by a Templar for being identified as the tall.. skinny elf. o.0
Imagine my disappointment. :'(
Then put your character's more unique characteristics in the sdesc. You pulled a dirty trick by not doing so. The short, bald dwarf. The big, thick half-giant. Seriously, Skin color. Hair color. Something that isn't a given for the race already.
The people who simple say, "It was the tall, thin elf that did it!" should be shot, indeed. If it was said more like, "A skinny, like extra skinny, even for one of them sharpear fecks. Taller than most skinnies I've seen too." That I have no problem with.
YOU defined those as your character's most noticeable characteristics. If someone paraphrases it but pretty much says what your sdesc is in that paraphrase, you'd better believe you should be recognized.
Edit to add: If you want anonymity, you must conceal your uniqueness. Wear a cloak/facewrap/etc.
I think it's just a trend, like any other trend we've had. As trends go, it's not a bad one.
But yeah, I agree, there's no way you can make your character so average-looking that they become indescribable.