[Bellona]

Originally Posted by macd21

Play a Comnar if you want to play a normal human.
Play a Nelvan if you want to play a scholar, or anyone arrogant.
Play a Gelling if you want to play a rogue, or anyone with a 'fun' attitude.
Play a Felinor if you want romance in your game.

Reminder: You're the GM. You can throw things at the players that don't necessarily fit in with what might be hinted at by the text in the manuals. You could also just as easily say, "Hmm... there are only 10,000 or so Felinor in the entire world. What makes my players think that they will ever encounter one, let alone be one?"

I've had the base Prophecy set for a year now (purchased at GenCon 2007) and have read through all of the manuals. This year, I picked up the new stand alone player manual, a vast improvement from the one in the boxed set, I must say. I've also had a lot of fun crafting characters with relatively intricate backstories that have little to nothing to do with the stereotypes you mentioned above. For example, one of my favorites was a NelVan with no magical ability at all. He is an enlisted soldier. Another is a Comnar artifact mage who does not know how to use his magical item. And none of the characters I have created is a Felinor.

As a female gamer, I have nothing against Felinor. My only qualm with the write-up is the emphasis on "settling down" and procreating. It could just be that my personal view is diametrically opposed in real life, but I would not disqualify playing a Felinor in a game. It's just a game and sometimes the most fun in gaming can be had by branching out far from what you are in reality. Escapism FTW.

With respect to your concerns in prior posts about the starting money, why not give each character an item of some worth to start with? For instance, the ranger-type character I created has a bow and a knife and some herbs. Makes sense if they live in the woods. And it gives a more realistic feel without totally overpowering a new character.

I do tend to agree that keeping track of readying times can become tricky when you're into multiple rounds of combat. But again, you're the GM. Change the rules. Maybe only very large weapons need to have a readying phase whereas smaller weapons can be used each round, presuming that the monsters do the same. But maybe you can only either attack or defend in a round. There are a thousand ways you could go with this to make it simpler to follow and track.

Hope this helps in some small way.

~Bellona~