Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Jul 05, 2004 18:45:06	I can't seem to find this. What is it? Where is it?
#2 zombiegleemax Jul 06, 2004 8:58:39	5 I'm looking at RLPHB pg 38. I'm sure its in the normal core book as well under races.
#3 zombiegleemax Jul 29, 2004 14:34:33	Originally posted by Troile 5 I'm looking at RLPHB pg 38. I'm sure its in the normal core book as well under races. Are they a new race?
#4 zombiegleemax Jul 29, 2004 15:12:36	Mechanics-wise, they're half-orcs. There are no orcs in Ravenloft (at least, not in significant numbers, though there might be small scattered groups who stumbled in through the mists, as well as one in the Carnival), but the racial stats are used here to reflect physically tough but mentally deficient oddities along the lines of Shakespeare's Caliban, Quasimodo, etc.
#5 zombiegleemax Jul 29, 2004 15:31:51	oic. Thanks for the information. Where can I read more about this race?
#6 zombiegleemax Jul 29, 2004 17:38:19	Originally posted by Amaron Blackthorn oic. Thanks for the information. Where can I read more about this race? That's pretty much it, as they're not really a race. In general, calibans are a grouping of unique individuals with a loose set of traits in common, regardless of their origin. Brandi's examples are typical of calibans, who are generally *believed* to be the offspring of a witch (Caliban from Shakespeare's The Tempest), or the unfortunate victim of a heredetary curse or heritable birth defect (Quasimodo), or someone who was severely deseased when very young (such as the child of normal parents who lived too close to a hag's home or a sinkhole of evil). That sort of thing. Basically, a caliban could be anyone's child, not a member of a particular race--though with the Gothic mentality these individuals are lumped together and shunned as if they were all alike. That being said, it is possible that a group of calibans live in a secluded commune to escape the prejudices of "better" society. Or perhaps they were rounded up and forced to live (or work) there, like a leper colony (or concentration camp). Or, in some remote village in the hills, there may be an extended family of normal humans that, through generations of isolation and inbreeding--and perhaps the worshipping of strange gods--has concentrated certain peculiar family traits that make their neighbors a little queasy. In these cases, you could determine that these "calibans" are moving toward a true race... but their societies don't share a common culture like other races do. So while the individulals are statistically identical to half-orcs, their cultural level, skills, motivations and moral/ethical centers are all up to you.
#7 zombiegleemax Jul 30, 2004 10:13:33	Originally posted by Levinthauer Basically, a caliban could be anyone's child, not a member of a particular race--though with the Gothic mentality these individuals are lumped together and shunned as if they were all alike. It should be noted though that calibans "breed true", ie the offspring of a caliban and a normal human is likely to be caliban, and calibans who breed with each other never have a throwback to regular humanity. Also, in some domains a common deformity shows up among calibans, such as the Howling Ones of Mordent.