Extra occupation as a racial trait?
Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 6:19 am
There is a whole big story about how I thought I was writing a new campaign setting before farming Wilderlands of High Fantasy for ideas and found my whole campaign setting already written and mapped (my brain decided to let me think my memories were new thoughts instead) that provides background here, but isn't really necessary for the question at hand.
I've been adjusting the 3.5 version of the setting to be my default DCC setting, mostly by changing up the stats listed in the player's guide to things I feel are more appropriate (most varieties of human having no mechanical adjustments at all, for example).
In that process I've been considering allowing certain races an extra occupation of a limited nature: Avalonians being a mariner or a shipwright in addition to whatever else; Gishmesh also being merchants; Karakhan being animal handlers with a focus on horses and so on.
The questions I have for other judges are these:
1) With a two occupation 0-level, how would you approach the starting weapon and equipment? I've been thinking of allowing the player the choice of which they would like, or having the extra occupation not factor into the decision at all.
2) What about a second occupation (from a list of about 10 or so) being the only feature of a race? The halfling flavor text in the book mentions only that they (the common halflings, at least) focus on the skills that they feel are most valued in the city - cooking, food-service, leather working, and sometimes burglary - and yet states to use the standard 3.5 PHB stats for halflings which I don't feel fit that description at all (luck and fearlessness being their largest features in 3.5, but entirely unmentioned in their setting description).
I'm not really looking for opinions on whether an extra, bar or crime related occupation is "fair" as a trait when compared to something else (like elven sleep immunity), but more whether you as a player would hear "You get a bonus occupation from this list," and think "Cool!" or "...and?"
I've been adjusting the 3.5 version of the setting to be my default DCC setting, mostly by changing up the stats listed in the player's guide to things I feel are more appropriate (most varieties of human having no mechanical adjustments at all, for example).
In that process I've been considering allowing certain races an extra occupation of a limited nature: Avalonians being a mariner or a shipwright in addition to whatever else; Gishmesh also being merchants; Karakhan being animal handlers with a focus on horses and so on.
The questions I have for other judges are these:
1) With a two occupation 0-level, how would you approach the starting weapon and equipment? I've been thinking of allowing the player the choice of which they would like, or having the extra occupation not factor into the decision at all.
2) What about a second occupation (from a list of about 10 or so) being the only feature of a race? The halfling flavor text in the book mentions only that they (the common halflings, at least) focus on the skills that they feel are most valued in the city - cooking, food-service, leather working, and sometimes burglary - and yet states to use the standard 3.5 PHB stats for halflings which I don't feel fit that description at all (luck and fearlessness being their largest features in 3.5, but entirely unmentioned in their setting description).
I'm not really looking for opinions on whether an extra, bar or crime related occupation is "fair" as a trait when compared to something else (like elven sleep immunity), but more whether you as a player would hear "You get a bonus occupation from this list," and think "Cool!" or "...and?"