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I just ran across this article about combat wheelchair miniatures
It seems like this might be a useful new direction of making diversity visual in Paizo games. I think Starfinder has an easier entry point, though.
How could a GM integrate these miniatures in a Pathfinder game?
Is there any way to get Paizo to carry them in their store?
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Baby step:
An illustration of a Pathfinder in a wheelchair
Those are pretty cool. How would you adjudicate movement in game? Or just ignore it as long as the character is on a relatively flat surface?
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Those are pretty cool. How would you adjudicate movement in game? Or just ignore it as long as the character is on a relatively flat surface?
Off the top of my head:
A) It's Magic
No need to impose Earth-physics on a fantasy world.
B)Session 0 Agreement
If running a pre-written module, get everyone to agree to how our story will manage this.
C) Creative Writing
If I'm writing my own adventures, being certain that whatever story I tell does not leave one character disadvantaged compared to all the rest.
Designer
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Those are pretty cool. How would you adjudicate movement in game? Or just ignore it as long as the character is on a relatively flat surface?Off the top of my head:
A) It's Magic
No need to impose Earth-physics on a fantasy world.B)Session 0 Agreement
If running a pre-written module, get everyone to agree to how our story will manage this.C) Creative Writing
If I'm writing my own adventures, being certain that whatever story I tell does not leave one character disadvantaged compared to all the rest.
Very much this. YMMV, but IMO it's more important for people to have representation of themselves in game than to create hard-coded mechanics that penalize them for playing a character that's like them or open the door for others to try and game a thing people struggle with IRL for a mechanical advantage.
If I'm running the game and a player just wants it to be a non-mechanical fact that their PC is in a wheelchair? Go for it. If they want it to be represented in the mechanics then I'll make some suggestions about balanced ways to do it but I let them take the lead as long as it's respectful representation.
I think we've got room for more prosthetics and mobility aids in our game (and wouldn't be surprised if those show up in one of the books we have or will be announcing....) but I think that when it comes to things like that, representation and accessibility to the concept should always be prioritized over mechanics. I've worked with a lot of vets who have various prostheses or mobility aids and the main thing that's taught me is that the perception of standardly-abled people about what differently-abled people are capable of or how their struggles manifest is almost always off in a variety of ways.
I couldn't agree more with what both of you said. The only reason I asked was in the interest of "realism" in my favorite fantasy game. I had honestly never thought of having a character in a wheelchair, but the image of the mini that Crystal attached got got me thinking.
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Tassada Kor, in SFS 3.11, is a wheelchair-user.
https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo6shgm?Starfinder-Society-November- Previews#11
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Ixal,
I doubt this is your intent, but you are coming across rather dismissively. The same sort of "there must be a reason to have someone lixe X" arguments have historically been deployed to exclude marginalised groups, most recently being used against Paizo's inclusion of trangendered characters. I doubt this is what you're intending with your statement, but clearly it is a point that jabs at Rysky viscerally.
People with disabilities exist. Some of them play Pathfinder. They should be able to see someone like them adventuring and being the big damn hero in the story if they want, even if it's not especially realistic. Hopefully, we all agree on that.
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Can we not have both?
Like keep disabilities in games and have characters with back-stories?
Honestly, I thought that was what we did already.
I can think of loads of reasons why my PC is deaf in a world of ‘remove deafness’ and they are all interesting and part of a PCs personality.
It is not very hard to give your PC an interesting back story.
It is not very hard to imagine that other characters might have disabilities.
Combine the two and we have a peaceful, gameplay g vision of the future where everyone can play what they want and nobody gets offended by a simple question like ‘why does your PC have that unusual quality.’
I’m practically begging characters to ask how my ranger got a hippogriff! Or why my slayer lacks neurotyoical emotional responses. Or why my shifter can manifest claws. Or why my oracle is blind...
It seems like it comes down to this: should a person in a wheelchair be able to play a person in a wheelchair in a fantasy game, without the wheelchair defining who they are, or being a focus?
I mean, a big reason people play fantasy games is to play another version of themselves. If their character lacking a wheelchair creates too much dissonance between themself and their PC, but they still want to have a regular adventure like everyone else that doesn't keep coming back to this one facet of their identity, why not? Stories almost inevitably deal with all kinds of hand-waving. This small detail seems relatively inconsequential to whatever the big picture might be. The entire genre is about misfits with quirks and eye-catching distinctions. A pirate with an eyepatch doesn't need to have an entire subplot about their missing eye. Heck, Starfinder Vlaka have blindness as a built-in feature.
Let fantasy be weird.