Re: [DL] Stigma (was announcement).

[Allan Seyberth <darious@darious.com>]

At 11:35 PM 1/10/2002 -0600, you wrote:
 >> You can could call a new disadvantage Stigma and it
 >> can cover things like being jewish, black, chinese,
 >> indian, or a half breed who might have to put up with
 >> racists, with the value of the hinderance varying
 >> based on the location of the game. Things like
 >
 >If you go
 >somewhere friendly to it (like modern gays to Sanf Francisco, for instance),
 >I'd make it matter less while you're there.  After all, if it wasn't
 >something society as a whole (or at least a siginficant portion of the
 >general populace) thought ill of, it wouldn't be much of a Hindrance.

Sounds a lot like Ferner to me.  :)

"'Ferners' are outsiders in the culture central to your adventure or 
campaign.  USUALLY (emphasis mine), the outsiders are Mexicans, Indians, or 
Chinese folks who have a difficult time adapting to the white man's 
language AND WAY OF LIFE.  (emphasis mine).  An Englishman who insists on 
bad mouthing the 'democracy' or a Chinese railroad worker who speaks little 
English are likely to be shunned by most folks on the frontier."

Hmm... an Englishman who just happens to hold with different ideas than the 
norm of the folks he's hanging around with. . .

"Sometime whites are the ferners.  If your Marshal is running a campaign 
centered in the Sioux Nations, those who don't know the Sioux's practices 
and traditions will find themselves the subject of prejudice."

Well - it's not a WASP centric based hindrance, but one based on 
circumstance and "differentness" from the base society.


"As long as your character can communicate well in the culture he's in and 
doesn't go out of his way to prove himself and outsider, he will likely 
suffer little prejudice and you need not take this hindrance.  Foreign 
characters may sometimes suffer from individual intolerance, or course."

Your point exactly, Nick.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm convinced to use this hindrance for 
homosexuality, or any other set of circumstances that would give someone 
difficulty working within the core game's societal bounds - raised by feral 
wolves, a devout Mormon or Jew in the Bible Belt, a staunch and irresolute 
Confederate with a deep accent up in New York State, etc.


-------------------
Allan Seyberth
darious@darious.com
Deadlands fan site - http://www.darious.com/

A wicked Hero will turn his back to an innocent coward.
                 -Poor Richard's Almanac 1734