Monday, June 17, 2013

What is 6d6's Deal With Us Only Children?

Okay, so I downloaded Issue 3 of 6d6 Free, which is about character creation.  Now, I should mention that I backed the 6d6 Kickstarter so I'm very interested in this game and am keen to see  how it comes along.  But anyway, back to Issue 3.  This issue lays out character creation, using a generic modern setting.  Every character starts with three Paths and there are about 46 paths to choose from.  These include fairly specific ones, such as Artist, and more general ones, such as Country Life.  All well and good--until I get down to Only Child. [Warning: this is semi-rant.]

Now each path has several Advantages under it and you pick one Life advantage and two Ability advantages.  But for Only Child the three available life advantages are:
  • Imagination - "A vibrant creative brain"  [Well, thanks, as a DM of 30+ years I appreciate that idea.  But I don't know that it's really a typical only child trait.]
  • Cunning - "A knack for deviousness, scheming, and exploiting weaknesses"  [Since when are only children known for being devious, schemers, and exploiters?  Actually those traits sound more like the sibling kids I grew up with.  Break something around the house?  Quick, blame it on your 4-year-old sister.]
  • Self - "Personal gain above all else" [So now we only types are all selfish bastards.  Gee, I never knew that. Guess I was too busy being selfish to notice.]
Then the six ability advantages:
  • Family Wealth - "Born and raised in a family of ample wealth." [Since when is there a direct link between being an only child and being born into a wealthy family?]
  • Motormouth - "Able to start and dominate a conversation with almost anyone." [This certainly is the opposite of me.  Sibling kids are more likely to have this because they constantly have to talk over their other siblings to be heard.]
  • Perform - "Expertise in performing the arts in front of an audience." [Okay, I'm pretty good at this when I GM, but I doubt this is necessarily typical of only children.]
  • Create a Scene - "Some people demand attention.  Can be used to do Potential damage." [Again, this is totally the opposite of me.  And actually it's typical of sibling kids to have to make scenes to get attention from their parents over the usual on-going riot at their house.  Only kids already have 100% attention--rather like being in a prison camp spotlight 24  hours a day.]
  • Ride - "Control and direct a mount."  [Yes, I have been on a horse, and a camel, a couple times but I barely know what to do.  My wife is an only child as well and does know how to ride but she grew up in a rural-ish area and they had an old barn. This advantage seems to go with the general idea here that all only children are rich, spoiled upper class types.]
  • Scheming - "Skilled in the art of influence, deal-making, and betrayal" [Actually, it is absolutely typical of sibling kids to do all of the above.  Catch your sibling doing something against the rules?  Threaten to rat them out unless they do you a favor.  Break or lose something?  Just blame the nearest or most vulnerable sibling--the parents will rarely be able to sort out who actually did what.  Very young siblings who aren't articulate yet are perfect for throwing under the bus to avoid punishment.]
Clearly this character sketch of only children is a generally negative one, and certainly doesn't represent me. I won't be using it in any of my games.



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