Question Regarding Elves

[DJGanektakazoink]

Hey, I'm sorry if this is already covered somewhere, but can Elves get Gifted and become Sorcerors? Same question regarding Dwarves. I know Orcs have their own kooky rituals of blood, dark and the whatnot, but I was just thinking, if Elves and Dwarves could, it'd be crazy with all the resources they get. hella crazy. I'm not asking for Abzu-level attention, but merely someone who could clarify.

[Calypso]

As I understand it, only humans can take the sorcery skill, and I suppose the gifted trait as well.

Elves might just not have it in their blood. After all, sorcery isn't a pretty, fun way to live. You might just assume that being a sorceror (with the skulking and sucking up needed as a sorceror's apprentice) might just push them over the grief edge.

The reason for dwarves, would (mechanically) be that they can get over a hundred resources at the start of the game if they take more than a couple lifepaths. A dwarf with sorcery would be able to purchase every spell there is with a relatively low cost, provided that he made a greed check at the game's start.

A 171 year old sorceror dwarf who was a trader twice would have over 175 RPs for spells. That's double the RPs a human could have. 171 isn't very old for a dwarf, and a trader might well be the only dwarf lifepath that could logically lead to sustained human interaction (and the humans are the ones who know sorcery). (This path would be clansman, delver, delver, lead to guilder, carter, trader, trader. A lot of LPs, but dwarves don't get many traits and need 5 for "gifted")

My recommendation, if you want to allow sorcery for other races, make it difficult. My own opinion is that sorcery should require sorcerous training (i.e. you can't just put "general" points into it), and that would involve a MAJOR "lead to" for any other species, probably being more than a single year and requiring a dang good reason for granting it.

As a social penalty for being in a human practice, I'd say that greedy human sorcerors would charge double the RPs for utility spells to dwarves, and triple for "offensive" spells. Humans don't give weapons to foreigners for free, unless they're Ollie North. And if your dwarf wants to take Ollie as a contact...

Elves allowed to become sorcerors should have to consider grief checks for each spell they learn (or somesuch penalty), and would not be able to use spell songs, as the magic would "crosswire" in their system from sorcery and prevent one or the other from working.

That's how I'd do it, anyway.

[luke]

according to the source material on which BW is based, Elves and Dwarves did not practice sorcery (as Men understand it). Instead, they had their own brand of cultural magics -- songs and crafts.

-L