So, moving forward on the design and planning the other playbooks, I want to bring to the table for discussion the Murcielago playbook (The Bat).
My thoughts for the playbook is for they to be a bad-ass blind character (like Tough from Avatar, Zatoichi, Hundred Eyes).
I came to this ’cause the popular thinking is that bats are blind (I know they really aren’t) and the bat is an animal tied to the underworld in the pre-Columbian cultures, I was thinking for the playbook to be a blind character that can “see” the spiritual world. Also that being blind is a requisite for having the Murcielago as a totem animal spirit.
I also think that it would be interesting for us (players and MCs) that can see to have a character that relies on other senses, I believe the conversations and descriptions at the table could be enriched… we take sight soooo much for granted!
Now… I don’t want to be misinterpreted, and of course I don’t want to misrepresent blind people (I’m a handicaped person myself, so this is pretty important to me), that’s why I want to bring this to the table for discussion.
So, what do you all think?
I agree that focusing on other senses would bring a lot to the table. My question would be is having bat senses somehow cheapening that? Making them blind but giving them powers to compensate for blindness?
On the other hand, in the US we tend to limit the abilities of many people with diverse abilities: forcing deaf people to get cochlea implants so that we can easily communicate with them, not taking into account how it may negatively impact their lives (no swimming, complications, etc.); preventing blind people from learning to echolocate by clicking with their tongues because the noise is distracting to us, etc.
It’s definitely a tough question. I’d recommend the blog written by Writing Alchemy. The author, Fay Onyx, has some great posts on playing people with diverse abilities and what not to do.
Thanks Christo Meid, Fay Onyx posts are precisely the kind of essays I was looking for. I now have some reading ahead and a choice to make regarding if I should pursue or not this idea.
Mike Espinoza I’d recommend reading the posts and then reaching out to Fay to ask how best to do it. I’m sure you’ll come up with an amazing way to do what you’re looking to do.
I’d suggest avoiding this combination. Including blind people in your game is a great idea, but the trope of including blind people where they have a superpower to “overcome” or that stems from their blindness is not great. Here’s a really good article from a dear friend (and wonderful game designer) Elsa Sjunneson-Henry: disabilityinkidlit.com – Overcompensating: Magical Erasure of Blindness in SFF
Eric Mersmann Yeah… that’s my concern. I actually send email to Elsa (Rob Abrazado help me get her email), I’m still waiting for a reply. I’m really worried about going forward with this, and get it wrong… so I may leave it alone.