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Post by Maerin on Aug 27, 2008 1:00:54 GMT -5
I would tend to hold information in the Magnamund Companion and gamebook 10 as more reliable than "Magic in Magnamund". I generally try not to make too many value judgements on a given source itself, since that can be a flawed approach to an arguement. After all, there is some truth to the old saying that says a person that attacks a source over the content of the source, does so because he is incapable of attacking the content of the source. That is one reason why I do not earlier pose the thought that the LW RPG material might be inaccurate, incorrect, or inconsistent (particularly since, in at least some cases, the LW RPG material does not have any counterpart, consistent or inconsistent, with previous sources on some of these subjects). That said, I tend to agree completely with Aguila Saber here. In contrast with the level of internal consistency encompassed by the gamebooks and the Companion, more external sources such as the RPG and the Legends novels have shown themselves to be more inconsistent with that gamebook/Companion version than the internal degree of consistency within the gamebooks/Companion source set. That makes the gamebook source set a generally stronger source, and that is why one sees a number of people in past discussions defer to the gamebooks and Companion over both the RPG and the Legends novels in these sorts of discussions. It is worth noting that this is only partially a value judgement on the part of the reader; the doubt is primarily brought about by the inconsistencies themselves. Unfortunately, as illustrated by the previously-mentioned "first use of human magic to create the antidote" statement that has largely laced its way through this particular topic, this circumstances is apparently a strong candidate for one such stronger inconsistency in the RPG. Though thin speculation is possible, there are few defensible arguements available to shield the source from criticism as a source in this particular discussion.
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Post by Al on Aug 27, 2008 4:05:32 GMT -5
Would it also be fair to assume that Drodarian is a cultural, as opposed to genetic, feature? Could there be Drodarian humans? Given that Magnamund appears to have been settled (by humans at least) in waves from other places, could Drodarian humans then exist? This may make sense of we think of the term 'race' in an older form of it - it used to be more closely aligned with nationality than ethnicity (the 'British race' or the 'French race' are often mentioned in older texts, texts that Joe, or at least his teachers, would probably have used in his early education)
Just a thought
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Post by Balgin Stondraeg on Aug 27, 2008 8:38:18 GMT -5
It's also worth bearing in mind (from the recent Mongoose Lone Wolf d20 system) that the word Droda means "of the Drodarin". So the "in" on the end of "Drodarin" isn't like the "ish" from English, the "man" from "German" or the "sh" from "Welsh".
I suspect that "Drodarin" might mean "people of the Droda" (translating directly as "of the Droda - people") with the r as a joining letter. I always thought it was a cultural thing rather than a racial relation myself.
And to make it even more complicated, I didn't think of it as a single Drodarin culture but as a series of individual Drodarin cultures that shared similarities, got on really well and considered themselves to be allied, or close enough to be cousins. Sort of like an extended family.
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Post by Simey on Aug 27, 2008 13:32:06 GMT -5
Certainly if the 'Drodarin races' include giants and dwarves then you'd have to think it likely that there'd be somebody in there of a stature in between.
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Post by Aguila Saber on Aug 27, 2008 14:36:23 GMT -5
Would it also be fair to assume that Drodarian is a cultural, as opposed to genetic, feature? From what I've seen it is a matter of blood-lines. The Great Plague affected the Drodarin and the Elder Magi because they were especially vulnerable to them. Much like a blood-plague or a genetic plague. While humans were effected too by the Great Plague the lethality for them was much lesser than the Drodarin and the Elder Magi. Could there be Drodarian humans? They exist. One of the races is called Patar. You also have the blue Ogrons which are of a size between humans and giants. The difference between the Drodarin and Humans races are not primarily one of appearance, because the Drodarin comes in very different appearances. Most indications tend to point to differences in the blood. Though these difference does not automatically mean difference in appearance. It is more subtle like the fact that only someone of Sommlending heritage (and not other humans) may have latent Kai skills. This because this difference is a gift from the God Kai to the Sommlending people.
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Post by Al on Aug 28, 2008 4:54:45 GMT -5
'Blood lines', though, is a nebulous term. It can mean anything from different species to differences in ethnicity, or even family background. Given the great differnce between the different drodarian cultures, I tend to think of Drodarian as a cultural as opposed to racial/species understanding. after all, if it is a racial thing, then that would seem to imply that all the Drodarians are of one race (which is not really as far fetched as one may thing - look at some species of animals and take a look at the differences between 'breeds', such as dogs, horses and such)
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Post by Aguila Saber on Aug 28, 2008 11:03:16 GMT -5
In this case it may actually be differences in the blood. There are some vague references which indicates this.
Most of them are in the Mongoose RPG but I think some of them can be found in other sources as well.
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