| From: | Dustin Wood <cukoo@*****.NET> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Interesting Idea |
| Date: | Wed, 13 Sep 1995 16:17:09 -0700 |
>
>> The snake totem came to him and asked him if he wanted to become
>> a snake shaman but because of his fear of snakes he rejected the snake totem.
>> The snake totem in return covered Vipers body with magical tatoos of snakes.
>
>Huh ??? Why should Snake do this ??? You have to SEEK the totems to
>get the chance to follow them.
According to SRII, Pg. #119, "Technically, it is the totem that does all the
choosing. Sometime early in life, though occasionally later, the would-be
shaman feels the call of the totem." this implies that the PC could have
absolutely no desire to contact Snake, though it might help.
So if he hasn't TRIED to contact the
>totem they would NEVER talk to him. If he is afraid of snakes, Snake
>would NEVER even consider him to follow her path. A totem and the
>character follow a similar way and have similar attitudes toward most
>things, that's why the totems choses you: you think and behave like it
>does.
>Totems would NEVER come to someone who isn't like them - they would
>only make contact to people who A.) have a similar personality,
Personality is the key word here, the PC might act like snake without even
noticing it or recognizing it. In those damn books, Sam Verner didn't have
any special liking for Dog, though he did like dogs. A similar concept
could apply the other way around.
>B.)seek them with all their will
I'll refer back to my earlier comment.
>....they would never punish anyone for not following their path.
Referring to Pg. #123, SRII, "If a shaman consistently behaves out of
character for the totem, then the gamemaster should punish the character...
Blah Blah. I would construe this as punishment for not following the path.
>>Snake shamans do not like this character. In fact they will often
>> attack this character without warning but because of the magical tatoos
that the >>snake shaman has placed on Viper's body he is resistant to spells
cast by
>> snake shamans. This is been an interesting point in role-playing,
>No, it isn't. Snake HATES combat and so do the snake-shamans - they
>would NEVER fight unless they are cornered and seriously
>threatened. And this immunity stuff is just too dumb.
This point I would have to agree with, Snake does hate fighting, but I
kinda' like the idea around the tatoos. I personally would add a T#
modifier though. There isn't anything to state that snakes always get along
with each other, and I would tone the conflict to a non-physical, perhaps
intrigue (based on the secrets idea) level.
>The concept of totems is, that
>they NEVER show theirselves to non-shamans. They NEVER give prove of
>their existence (all non-shamans think they only exist in the heads of
>the shamans - who knows) and they would NEVER affect something
>directly.
Maybe they wouldn't show themselves, but the native americans certainly had
an avid belief in them, whether or not they ever SAW them, and not all of
them were considered shaman.
>This immunity stuff is against all Shadowrun-principles....
Every Shadowrun game is different, as can be the Shadowrun principles.
>....And totems do not behave like gods in AD&D do.
Maybe not exactly, but looking back to pg. #123 SRII, "Shamans are human and
a totem is not a religion, though it gets close" I can see where the
role-playing of a character (within concept) could easily become a lot like
a religion.
