So... Are the Body Cards Coming Out Next Month?

Thursday, December 10, 2009

There's some nonsense about face cards coming out. On the one hand, I GM, and would find them very nice to have. On the other hand, my players tend to lump NPCs into two groups, one of which is rated R but not for violence, the other is "dismemberable." They are motivated by things like money and loot, and if an old lady on a card asks them to get her cat out of a tree, they'll write "hobo, no money, hope cat dies," and then write a number which represents her physical attractiveness on a scale of 1–20. The kinds of notes they'd leave on the back of my treasured face cards would hopefully be written in pencil.

Illustration by Udon	Illustration by Imaginary Friends Studios
Illustration by Andrew Hou

That said, if you're like me and hope to one day train your players into the kind of people that are generally nice, roleplay with accents, and take feats which give bonuses to social skills, then, by all means, let them scribble on the back of something. You may be pleasantly surprised to find a card with "cool dude," or "super nice, wish her the best in Mendev," written on it. These kinds of idle hopes drive GMs to buying so-called, "nice things," and I, for one, am tired of hearing the responses my couch-seated group of closeted anarchists comes up with when I say, "blonde, good-looking, wears leather armor." I guess it's good they're just face portraits.

Tyler Clark
Editorial Intern