Re: [BNW] Languages (was Weak Powers)

["Steve Crow" <crow_steve@hotmail.com>]

>From: Chris DeKalb <theseus@linnaean.org>
>
>In Comics there was a Translater in the New Universe line of comics, I 
>think he was
>called "Babel" (for obvious reasons) and led a group of international 
>heroes.  In
>that role, where most of the characters spoke different languages,  he was
>incredibly useful.   He also had strategy and leadership skills to help out 
>as
>well.  (unfortunately I can't remember the name of the group at the 
>moment...they
>went up against Psi-Force as I remember...)
>

There was also Cypher of the New Mutants.  Note that A) he really didn't 
have much to do, B) his powers weren't that dramatic or vital to the 
storytelling, and C) they eventually gave him other powers (through Warlock, 
as I recall).

>That being said, I think the Translater will probably fall in the same 
>category as
>the Hacker and the Genius...very, very important NPCs, but not terribly 
>great PCs.
>But the stats are there if you have a player who really wants to play one.
>

Well said!  Except (and again just based on personal observation) 
translation in a RPG is an "invisible" mechanism, one that players don't 
want to deal with except to expect it as an _occasional_ (as opposed to 
ongoing) challenge.

One other potential problem, which I touched on earlier, is the fact that 
anyone can potentially understand _any_ language.  As long as you forfeit a 
success, you can try and understand _any_ language you're exposed to.  
Swahili?  No problem.  Chinese?  Sure, I'll take a helping.  Eskimo?  
Gotcha!

That's at least one of my problems with Translator (although it's not unique 
to BNW - anyone remember the Language skill in Torg...?  :) ).  It points 
out the general silliness of language rules in the game.  You can make an 
unskilled roll to understand _any_ simple conversation in _any_ language.  
I'm unskilled in Russian, Chinese, Swahili, Japanese, and Eskimo...but my 
odds of understanding someone speaking a conversation in any of those is a 
_lot_ less than someone in BNW rolling a 10+ on 2-4 d6.  In fact, my odds 
are...well, 0%.  ;)

Don't know about you, but all the players I've had tend to notice this kind 
of thing.  So much for a "realistic" game.

>Just my two cents,
>Chris DeKalb
>Delta World head honcho...cdekalb.tripod.com
>
>
>
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---

Steve Crow

"Logic merely enables one to be wrong with authority."

Check out my website at:  http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/4991/

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