To all the genasi, celestials, tieflings, spagetti monsters

[Zanniej]

I once solved this issue by making a dwarf that was obnoxious, racist and foul mouthed. He wasn't evil, he just thought that many others were.

Some of the most fun I had on this server.

My dwarf sees a tiefling talking with an elf
"Pah, demonkind runnin' loose an' all that nowadays"
He says in passing ... elf comes in to defend the tiefling
"Bloody knife-ear defendin' demonkinds?! Now I've seen it all!"

It's easy to maintain racism that way ... you're such an unlikeable PC that everybody you're racist to will react accordingly

... I miss that toon

[Winterborne]

I like that approach. There's a certain threshold I think when roleplaying intolerance or racism where it works best when it's ridiculously over the top.

It's harder for people to find a parallel to the intolerance in the real world when you are being an almost cartoonish hate machine, and as a result even when the character is being wholely awful, it is much easier for -players- to laugh and be like "Oh, you" about it and have fun, which is what all this is supposed to be about anyway.

[Steve]

The problem with Zanniej's dwarf anecdote—which is not to say Z-man is a problem, so just don't go there...—is that intensity of such RP as "rascist" interactions is dismissible, when it is provided or instigated by "throwaway" Characters.

Random dwarf on the Tradeway tainting a teifling...who cares?!? It has no long term, meaningful RP effect behind it—it is, just like so much Internet talk blah blah: trolling.

For perspective on what I'm saying, just imagine if the Dukes declared Tieflings demonkind??!! How would that go to affect the Holy Churchs of Baldur's Gate, as well, the way that Gate Guards or the Fist interact with Tieflings. It would be FUNDAMENTAL, and far reaching, because the type of character behind the Character, making the remarks/claim/assumption.

Take even any choice PC that has serious street cred behind them, and longevity, making such remarks. Oh, let's see...how about Luke Darius and the Darius crew. How would THAT group, claiming all Tieflings demonkind at base level, sway the RP?!

I guess what I am saying is, things like Tolerance is Treason used to have far reaching MEANING for this Server, and was an RP force that directed the Server in a fundamental way.

Petty rascist taunting by random characters is just a forgettable event. Even Tsidkenu showed an example where there is no reason for any PC to give a shit about "rascist" or condemning words—the background environment does nothing to support these attempted meaningful actions by PCs.

What I think Players forget is that D&D is a human-centric game/world, where the farther you get from being Human, or were the Being is a distorted form of Human—half-orc for example—the greater animosity that appears.

Forgotten Realms may be storied with a plethora of examples of misfits, black sheep and oddballs come together to perform heroic feats against personal and public odds, but lest we forget, those Characters struggle to the point of terror and death...and it is that analogy to suffering that may be experienced in real life by us misfits, weirdos and oddballs, that makes us THINK all is possible and to RP for an all-inclusive heroics.

But down on the ground, it's quite an ugly, dirty affair...and unfortunately, the background environment is incredibly static and suffers fools to such and extent that eye-rolling to do much RP experienced, is more the norm.

But of course, there is always this: it's just a game!! Lol.

[MrPsion]

I am personally ok with high wisdom characters rising above racism. I am not ok with average wisdom characters rising above racism. I prefer for those high wisdom characters to be accused of foolishness, weakness and even ulterior motives by those who aren't wise. The average wisdom character should have unquestioned opinions that are in line with what everyone else thinks and specifically in line with the viewpoints of those they trusted in their youth to explain how the world works. People who are not wise tend to never question those viewpoints... ever. It's unthinkable to them without some very real experiences that force them to wake up.

I emphasize wisdom vs intelligence because the US founding fathers were clearly very smart. This shows in their colonial and post-colonial essays. They all agreed on the then-unthinkable, super-enlightened idea that a (then) modern and powerful nation could operate sans monarchy, yet you've got people like Pinckney who wrote some things re: people who aren't white that I honestly do expect to get banned for posting. I also emphasize wisdom vs intelligence because hubris has been the downfall of many otherwise super smart mages.

My Half Orc has been dealing with racism but there has been no conflict as a result of that racism. Those four Dwarves who were so wary and ready for a fight when I approached them at FAI? You're cool. All those people who are surprised and even skeptical when my PC wants to discuss magic? Also cool. The random guy who happened upon a Dwarf and my PC adventuring together in a dungeon and was basically like... wtf? Definitely cool.

Since this thread is about Planetouched specifically, I'll also point out that my Half Orc is a Grumbar Shaman who believes that encountering Earth Genasi is a hugely important omen, that they carry within them a shard of Grumbar's realm beyond, and that enlightenment can be gleaned from even their most simple words and actions. Despite evidence to the contrary that has come up in RP and despite my character's own moderate wisdom, I choose to portray this fundamentally erroneous bias in his thinking and I do get some good RP out of it.

[NeOmega]

high wisdom in the sword coast would mean: a: never trust a tiefling, and b: always be on guard when around an orc in the wild. (if outnumbered by guards etc, they can be civilized, and are more trustworthy than teifling, because teifling can be conniving, whilst orcs have a hard time planning a good checkers strategy) this would be through experience, (if foolish in youth to think your trouble maker teifling friend was really good at heart), and overwhelming evidence, anecdotal and history. orcs and teifling are not human. This is not human racism, it is evil creatures with motives that do not mesh with the desire to build a community. to even call it "rising above racism" means you do not understand that racism against orcs and teiflings is *completely* justified. A good teifling and good orc is a snowflake character, and good drow, are literally 1 out of 25,000 or so i'd guess. very, very rare. and not because of cultural upbringing or bad parenting or differing points of view, the drow are evil because they are a twisted race.

and this is not a misunderstanding/ war of territory, lke it is between lizardfolk and men, it is a war that extends to the planes between good and evil. real good and evil, not existentialist good and evil.

[Hoihe]

High Wisdom depends on what your alignment is.

• For Good, refer to the Code of Harpers for what Good thinks on racism.

  All beings should walk free of fear, with the right to live their lives as they wish.

  Lathander, Ilmater and Tyr also support this ideology. Lathander as "Redemption", Ilmater as "Mercy" and Tyr as "Judge on action, not background."
• For Neutral, whatever increases your chances of self-preservation (so wariness). (e.g.: This person is different from me, I don't know what to expect.)
• For Evil, whatever benefits you the most (so tribalism and hate).

As for wisdom vs intelligence. Intelligence is the ability to critically think and analyse, to create information. Wisdom is the ability to glean data from the least likely positions, to make important connections to get more data.

Those with higher intelligence, given the sufficient experience (and thus enough data), will, if Good aligned, rise above "racism." With low wisdom, they'll need a lot of exposure and samples to gather the sufficient data needed to draw a conclusion. However, with higher intelligence they can work with fewer data to get the information needed.

Those with higher wisdom require smaller exposure, as they can produce more data from less samples. They still need the intelligence to review said data. But since they can acquire more data more easily, it's easier to compare and thus critically think.

This is supported by the fact that wisdom influences information GATHERING skills, while intelligence influences information RETENTION(Knowledge) and APPLICATION(Craft,Spellcraft) skills.


For the record - alignments are descriptive, not prescriptive. Good aligned characters can be wary, as it doesn't explicitly describe an anti-good action. However, a neutral individual adhering to Harper-like ideals will find themselves leaning towards good as a consequence, and a good aligned character displaying hatred and tribalism will find themselves less pure of ideals (can still remain good if they remain within limits).

[NeOmega]

you can not threaten or hurt a teifling or orc, and still put absolutely no trust in it. i

i see teiflings kind of like tweakers, they can be cool,sometimes, but you never know when they are going to be really bad, and you can always sense them. strangeness and instability is in their blood.

i see orcs like belligerent drunks. they have to be cajoled and careful with, or they might get violent. they are less likely to get violent when they are outnumbered or having a good time, but you always have to be wary of them. violence is in their blood.

both of these do not require you killing them on sight, or threatening them or any of that, but even good, wise peoples of the realms *know* this about either if they have had enough contact.

in fact, id say if i were a guard, id be keeping my eyes on a teifling more than an orc. the orc isnt going to try to steal, or play a trick, its just liable to get or start a fight

[Wolfshear]

I identify as a laser raptor.

[Endelyon]

I identify as a laser raptor.

Laser raptors will be added in BGTSCC 3.0.

Please look forward to it.

[NeOmega]

I identify as a laser raptor.

Laser raptors will be added in BGTSCC 3.0.

Please look forward to it.

no need to say please.

also, the leather bikini chaingunner needs to be added, for balance.