Elves ain't Meh!

[oldkat]

Various forums-sites have caused me to research the Carrion Crawler and "paralysis" more than I have ever thought about it before.

The end result: from Chainmail--elves, heroes and wizards can remove paralysis by touching a victim/or coming within 10' of him (obviously, pertaining to CM miniature wargaming)

In OD&D Gary simply "carried over" previous thoughts about alot of things into the LBBs from CM, assuming everyone would "get it" In some cases, where he was creating new mechanics or developing previous thoughts/ones, he added some new material.

When he added the Carrion Crawler, he omitted the duration, and mechanic for removing the effect; I'm going to assume that he assumed everyone else would simply "carry over" previous canon regarding the matter. (One can, of course, assume that such omission was simply an oversight. )

Getting back to the crux of it, when dealing with ghoul/carrion crawler paralysis, and playing Holmes, one is faced with the "What do I do?" conundrum. IMO, giving Elves this ability (since they are immune to ghoul effect anyway) adds a layer to their race that encourages players to consider elves as their choice of character. I like that idea.

However, I would consider either finding (or creating) something else hidden in the past to give dwarves and hobbits a similar allure, else elves might dominate the landscape.

[aldarron]

It's my understanding, and I may be drawing this from something Arneson wrote, that ghoul paralysis was caused by a kind of induced fear trauma - paralyzed with fright - that elves were simply immune to, and because of thier immunity, they could restore sense in a paralyzed victim by their touch.

Carrion crawler paralysis is different in that it is a kind of poison and effects elves as much as anybody.

Hadn't noticed that bit about wizards and heros in CM but that would seem to be dropped on purpose for D&D.

[thorswulf]

It certainly makes for a refreshing new ability. I think that hero (4th) level characters, except thieves should be able to do this. I just don't see thieves having the moral fortitude as the other classes. A hero should be able to soothe others fears, inspire courage and so on. Having a high charisma would be useful too.

[oldkat]

Aug 10, 2011 17:42:22 GMT -6 thorswulf said:

It certainly makes for a refreshing new ability. I think that hero (4th) level characters, except thieves should be able to do this. I just don't see thieves having the moral fortitude as the other classes. A hero should be able to soothe others fears, inspire courage and so on. Having a high charisma would be useful too.

Well, perhaps heroes and wizards can't remove it from others, but perhaps by 4th level they might be immune to it, like elves?

[Deleted]

Well, as Gary said, "decide how you would like it to be, and then make it just that way."

Adding some extra abilities to Elves has its appeal. I've given my hobbit PC a +2 bonus with a sling, and Dwarves are experts on excavations and earthworks.

[kesher]

I really like the idea of ghoul paralysis having something to do with the horror induced by corpse-eating former humans; it also the makes sense (to me, anyway...) that higher-level characters would become immune...

[ragnorakk]

It also makes sense (to me) if you keep the undead as former humans (which I do). A level drained elf/dwarf will die, but will not be restored to 'unlife' - that's just for human people. Granted you'll find some outlier examples (in AD&D anyway - Drow vampire in D3, groaning spirits being ex-elf maidens, etc) - Personally I like to keep the horror of the undead as a human problem.