Mirco-Blog ~ The Thing I Like About Elves & Dwarves

 If you've read my Gobins post (or know me at all), you'll know I really don't fuck with Fantasy Races all that much. I'll play the Warhammers and I enjoy the OSE game I'm in right now, but by and large it's something I'm just not into. Problematic usages aside, Fantasy Races are just something that don't hugely appeal to me. When I go to art or play a main draw is exploring the human experience (or alternatively the human experience through a warped super natural lens[*1]), something I find a lot harder to do as Blorpo the Sea Dwarf with night sight and water breathing. Now I understand the word "fantasy" is used for a reason, and a lot of such races are usually drenched in allegory to try to explore something fundamental, but it's just never been for me really. Likewise I definitely get the appeal of being a silly little guy with different abilities and exploring being something outside the human experience. I don't dislike it by any means, but I'm usually pretty neutral on it at best.

HOWEVER, there is one truly fantastical element these Fantasy Races add that I do adore, one that touches on that most human experience: Aging. Back when Frieren was first getting translated into a manga the pitch of "An elf coming to terms with the fact that the rest of her previous party-mates are dying of old age" was sensationally tantalizing, and often the manga delivered (I am admittedly way behind, but the first few volumes are stellar). Another recent breakout hit in the fantasy genre, Dungeon Meshi, deals with similar themes. Dying and aging are primal fears, but outliving the people you love? That's something even more complex we all have to reckon with.

If we're to keep with the Prophet of Roleplay Gary's teachings (that strict time records must be kept) then this disparity in aging can actually bring quite a bit of nuance to a game. Just today Prismatic Wasteland posted Don't Fear the Reaper and it really got me thinking on these lines.[*1] What's interesting about a system where your character improves as they age, but also inches closer to death, is that it gives the passage of time, and especially time skips, far more potency. Perhaps the party decides to skip ahead a month bringing everyone closer to their birthdays (and thus some good good free XP) and finishing off some downtime projects, but it also brings certain characters closer to death than others.

It feels like there's some untapped potential in a campaign that's designed to have roughly a year pass per 1-2 sessions, ensuring a good smattering of deaths happen to the short-lived races before the game's end. Either way, I think these systems are very cool, and to me would be the most compelling element of Fantasy Races... That said it could also be cool to have an all-human campaign with similar aging mechanics, but rare magics that may reverse the process. Maybe the fountain of youth clears all you "Die of Old Age" bubbles and now that's a quest with even more urgency... Food for thought...

[*1 : Y'all know I love vampires and werewolves and humans transformed into monstrosities...]

[*2 : I promise this blog isn't just a reaction blog, it's just very easy to react to Warren's posts.]