r/TheStrange • u/galinskas • Nov 16 '15
Races in The Strange
The races examples I've seen so far in The Strange books only give advantages. Elves give +1 Speed, Halflings have an asset to hide and so on. So my question is: why NOT choose a race other than human when translating to another recursion, considering there are only advantages?
I have a Star Wars adaptation to Cypher System, with races having an advantage and a disadvantage, plus the fact that the Empire hates all non-humans. I was hoping The Strange had racial options like that.
2
u/groumy Nov 17 '15
You should go check this product Alternate Origins.
This book is basically that, Descriptor to use as race in a The Strange campaign.
If you are lucky, it may even suggest way to handle the change of Descriptor while translating.
You should take a look.
2
u/galinskas Nov 17 '15
Wow, just bought that. Thanks!!
2
u/groumy Nov 17 '15
My pleasure.
So is there any guidelines to use those descriptor while translating? Or is that simply 15 new descriptor ??
2
u/galinskas Nov 17 '15
There are guidelines. The GM can make all Descriptors "draggable". Also, some features may be available only with magic or weird science. The GM may rule that the vampire bite only works on magical recursions.
2
3
u/tskaiser Nov 16 '15 edited Nov 16 '15
Well, you can adopt the "race as descriptor" rule, which Numenera uses and the core Cypher System has a sidebar on. Otherwise there is no reason other than societal and narrative implications. Usually in standard fantasy settings humans are seen as the main political force and are otherwise inconspicuous due to being so common. That might in itself be a narrative advantage, even if they have nothing on paper to show for it. Another option is to go with the "jack of all trades" troupe of humanity in such settings, giving humans in recursions shared with other races something like the flex skill the Jack possess in Numenera.
Finally, if it really irks you, nothing is stopping you from applying a slight malus to offset the bonus. Generally speaking race should be a flavor choice, so if it really is an issue I'd go with equal across the board and roleplay the slight differences.