Neoteny and Orks? Options

[Machiavelli]

I just read the Neoteny-surge-effect and recognized that the aging virtually stops at the age of 13. But Orks are almost fully-grown (if not complete mature) at this age. Are they also influenced by this flaw? Is there the only affect that they lack the full-body-monitor?

[Larme]

I would assume that their development is halted when they're still children.

[Glyph]

The quality gives the character the physical traits of a child or adolescent. An ork with this quality would stop developing way shy of 13 - "up to a 13 year old" describes the upper limit of the character's physical appearance. At least, that's how I read it. Otherwise, you would have orks with this flaw that appear fully-grown, and elves with this flaw that look like toddlers.

[EKBT81]

(...) and elves with this flaw that look like toddlers.

I don't think so. IIRC, one of the 2nd edition books (Tir Tairngire?) stated that elves age like normal humans until their mid-twenties and then the aging process "freezes".

Shadowrun elves certainly don't need a century to grow up like their D&D counterparts. Otherwise there wouldn't have been adult elf characters in the 2050s.

[ludomastro]

After the completely realistic application of GM handwavium, the ork with neoteny would stop aging around 8 or 9.

[Machiavelli]

But what about the sentence "They are usually quite short and may have underdeveloped sexual attributes (though this is not the case with metavariants)". When do some metavariants express their sexual attributes? The text also says "up to a 13-year old" which sounds to me like you have a choice. 13 year old ork would be grown up at all.

[Jaid]

But what about the sentence "They are usually quite short and may have underdeveloped sexual attributes (though this is not the case with metavariants)". When do some metavariants express their sexual attributes? The text also says "up to a 13-year old" which sounds to me like you have a choice. 13 year old ork would be grown up at all.

i assume the metavariants comment is referring to gnomes. presumably they express their sexual attributes at the normal time for dwarves, though i would expect them to be less noticeable on average than a normal dwarf would have.

[Larme]

To me, it's an issue of good faith. What kind of weasly punk says "Hey, I'll get points for looking like a child, but because of the wording of the flaw, I won't even look like a child!" Who can make that argument without feeling greasy?

[Cabral]

To me, it's an issue of good faith. What kind of weasly punk says "Hey, I'll get points for looking like a child, but because of the wording of the flaw, I won't even look like a child!" Who can make that argument without feeling greasy?

I think the childlike appearance is meant as a wash. Pros and cons that can cancel each other out depending on how the character is played. In the case of the gnomes/metavariants (depending on your interpretation), the sexual characteristics just means your a stunted child-like adult with normal (and I hope proportional!) sexual characteristics.

The big hit from the flaw, IMO, is the reduction in the physical condition monitor.

[CodeBreaker]

I remember reading somewhere that Orks and Trolls dont express Orky and erm... Trolly characteristics untill puberty (Cant remember where...) Would this mean that characters with this fault would even really be that distinguishable from Human kiddies? I mean sure, the Troll kid might be bigger/bulkier, but he would look just like a Human. No tusks, no dermal accumulations, no horns.

[Cabral]

Orks and trolls initially expressed during puberty but now are born orks/trolls with some (a significant minority?) expressing at puberty.

Now, you could always combine Neoteny with human looking ...

[CodeBreaker]

I aint talkin' about Goblinisation, I am sure I read somewhere that current generation Goblin types didnt express their more obvious features untill puberty. Plus, if that Troll has his horns during birth it must be one hell of a strain on the Mother. Ouchie.

[Cabral]

Well for the horns, I picture it like deer antlers. I'm pretty sure they start as nothing, become nubs then grow to full horns. While they may not get in their adult tusks, I think the horns are more like fingernails and they'd have oddly developed horns for their apparent age.

[Neraph]

I aint talkin' about Goblinisation, I am sure I read somewhere that current generation Goblin types didnt express their more obvious features untill puberty. Plus, if that Troll has his horns during birth it must be one hell of a strain on the Mother. Ouchie.

What you're thinking about is probably that Orks can give birth to humans, but like 90% of them express orkdome at puberty. And Fomori are the one metatype that most often (still rarely) "regress", that is, they are the metavariant that is most likely (again, still rare) to give birth to full vanilla humans.

To the OP, I'd say he would get the ork end of the stick even more than others. If an ork at age 13 to 15 is already "full grown", and is still prevented from doing things (driving, drinking, getting married), imagine an ork that's actually 35 (like 50 in human years) that still looks 13. Even the orks would pick on him, and that's just not fair.

[Machiavelli]

I think this alone would be worth the points.^^