Jamoura

[Garador]

Hello there. This name, as some of you may know, is in reserve until Denval is completed. However, I've made a Jamoura to pass the time named Urth and had some questions concerning their race that I've found no solid answers to. I had apparently been erroneous in assuming that Jamoura didn't need wilderness survival so much considering they ahd been living in the jungle for centuries. In the chat, I think that the essence of my questions weren't clear as it appeared to me that I might have seemed like I was trying ot get around the rules.

Not at all. Just trying to understand how it should work in a Rp sense. The Jamoura don't wear clothes and, I assume, sleep in trees. As most giorillas do, they probably eat fruit and bark, that sort of thing. But in the terms set by the Wilderness Survival skill, if someone with less than competent in WS should go out into the wild, they can only survive for 7 days without returning to some semblance of civilization. What is civilization to the Jamoura? I just don't see why they would need to 'restock', as in rations, camp supplies and the like, since they are gorillas.

Also, I was confused at their meager complement of skills. How is it explained in a RP sense that they are alive for centuries and know little more than what an early twenties human might know? I do understand the need for game rules and balance between races and classes and the like, but these two questions just don't seem to mesh with any form of playable reality, unless the Jamoura exist in some state of denial or possible geas brought upon them.

So, I can abide by the rules, but I need some sort of palpable reason as to why that would be the case, as it makes little sense logically.

Thanks,
Garador/ Urth

[Ja'soth]

As I promised you in chat I have a few more bits of information for you. Mostly on the Wilderness Survival and the habits of the Jamoura.

The Jamoura get a + 10 to their WS skill to begin with...this would indicate they are more skilled at it than the average starting PC so with an addition of 16 points from the starting package you can become competent in the skill with 34 points to pick up additional skills.

The Jamoura do not all wear no clothes and sleep in trees. The Spires is a city like any other city..I designed it to be,it is just not as large as say Syliras or Zeltiva. There are structures in the Outer City that resemble those in any other city., the difference is that they are fashioned out of living things. The Jamoura in the Outer city tend to wear clothes and behave much like outsiders would expect any civilized race to.

Those Jamoura who live in the Inner city where outsiders don not tend to go still live in houses, albeit more simple and natural in design. They are Children of nature and tend to live closer to that than you would expect the human races to.

As to the skills the rules are in place to make all PC's equal as possible at creation. You have access to the same skills as any other Race. If you read the race write up you will find that as a long lived race, the Jamoura progress at a slow pace, after all they have centuries to develop as there is no known upper limit to their age. A 200 year old Jamoura is developmentally as a 20 year old human, they develop slower as they age slower. That would be why a starting Jamoura has the same skills as a starting human...they are at the same developmental level.

Again I cannot emphasize enough that you have access to the exact same skill base as a human or a Myrian or any other race. Take what you want there are no restrictions except that you simply may not exceed the limits put forth in the rules .

As to our conversation in chat about being forced to play a "boring" human due to lack of activity anywhere else. I have had the Spires open only a short time and the way we get more PCs to move over there is to play. If no one plays over there than no one well ever play over there. I'm getting ready for a Summer Thread to go with my Spring one and you are welcome to join or suggest ideas.

I hope this clarifies things a bit...please anyone else who can be more clear about this feel free to add to this.

[Skroth]

Regarding the skills, it's made to balance the character at their starting point. You can't expect to start out powerful just because your PC has lived for 500 years, do you? It just means you have 500 years worth of flashback to level up your skills.

As an analogy, imagine playing, say, Mass Effect. You start out as a soldier and not just any soldier, you're a Commander. But you don't start out with all the skills that would have brought that character to that particular rank in the navy - you gain levels in your skills as you progress through the game. What's the point in playing with a leveling up system if you start out with max skills? Same thing applies here.

[Gillar]

Thought I would weigh in on this before I collapse after my 12+ hour work day as their are some good questions posed as well as accompanying discussion... Something else to consider about the Jamoura (and any of the longer-lived races to varying extents) is that 500 years does not feel like 500 years to them. Their perspective is vastly different from that of a human. Jamoura move very slowly and methodically and they think in a similar manner. Days are like hours, months are like days and years are like months to them. For example, it is not unreasonable for a Jamoura to spend a century studying a certain species of bird and end up with an upper-end Novice level or Competent level of knowledge. They might spend a decade observing how the bird relates to its environment, another decade observing eating habits, another observing mating rituals, and so on. Does it mean they are just really slow mentally? No, they just take immense amounts of time studying. As a result, if such a Jamoura were to explain the basic appearance of that particular bird, such explanations would be unfathomably detailed. Coloring of the bird wouldn't simply be described as red and black. Instead, mention of the texture of the feathers, pattern, shades of color and so on would be made using metaphors and comparisons that would still only tell someone what the bird looks like. It would be done so in a way that says, this ape has spent way too much time looking at birds." The Jamoura seek knowledge, yes. However they do not seek vast amounts of it in a short amount of time. As I mentioned in their Lore write-up, they seek a greater understanding of their own being and the world around them. Knowing something is one thing. Understanding every facet of what you know is another. As Ja'soth mentioned, like most races on Mizahar, most Jamoura do not wander the wilds freely with no contact with civilization. Their bonus does however reflect the greater comfort they have with nature in general. Those Jamoura who do wander the wilds away from civilization for extended periods of time will have a higher WS skill but at the cost of other skills they may have gained if they were to have spent more time around civilization. I do hope I have added something to this...I am extraordinarily tired and am going to sleep now.

[Urth]

Thank you for the explanations. That is all I was seeking. My main concern is that you don't think I was trying to 'cheat' or bend the game mechanics. I just needed some motivation and absolutely received it from both of you. Thanks again.