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+--- Thread: Things characters can do with lost Limbs? (/showthread.php?tid=17901)
Things characters can do with lost Limbs? - Kattoki - 12-14-2016
My character recently lost a leg. Without thinking she is moving in thinking about what kind of replacement can be made and I am wondering if any of you have had a simalar situation and how your characters changed because of it.
RE: Things characters can do with lost Limbs? - FreelanceWizard - 12-14-2016
Depending on your character's background and what you're trying to do, there's a few options.
First, you always have the option of not having a replacement at all, or going with a "period-appropriate" replacement like a peg leg or a wooden or steel prosthetic cast in the shape of a leg. If your character isn't particularly well-heeled, this makes perfect sense, particularly for an initial replacement.
Something more than a few RPers have gone with is magitek cybernetics. Thanks to the Alexander story, we now have direct confirmation that these exist, at least in the hands of the goblin Illuminati. That said, since goblin magitek is often derivative of Garlean magitek (which is itself derivative of Allagan technology), it's plausible to me, at least, that a particularly skilled magitek engineer might be able to construct such a limb.
If your character has access to Allagan ruins, it's well-established in the lore that Allagan technology can convert aether into matter, regenerate flesh, clone creatures, and mold "biomass" into a variety of shapes. There's a lot of possibilities here, but it's worth noting that very few people know how to operate such devices, much less where to find exactly the one that would do what you want. This kind of story is most plausible when it involves a long quest or a fortunate accident.
Other possible options that are somewhat less directly supported in lore, but still plausible (IMO), include:
- Regrowing the limb using magic (highly effective regeneration appears in Amdapor)
- Attaching a reanimated limb using magic (we see evidence of reanimated corpses in several places)
- Animating an otherwise mundane prosthetic to act like a limb (Sharlayan can animate all kinds of things)
- Using a simpler clockwork prosthetic that's just strapped on
I've never had a character lose a limb in XIV, but I know there a few people who have and can comment more on the effects on their character.
RE: Things characters can do with lost Limbs? - Sounsyy - 12-14-2016
Freelance has covered pretty much all the known prosthetics we see in lore. Which one your character might choose to utilize is really dependant on the character and backstory.
Most commonly used by roleplayers are the magitek limbs, which while canon, would likely be incredibly difficult to come by unless your character is Garlean, a member or rich acquaintance with the defectors of the Garlond Ironworks or Illuminati. Though some skilled goblin tinkerers may also be able to fashion one, provided you have the requisite jingleshinies.
There's a few instances in lore about people losing limbs (and it doesn't seem like any chirurgeons are able to grow them back), but magic has been used for this purpose in some roleplays. Personally, I'd like to see more people with Eorzean clockwork prosthetics, something the goldsmiths' guild and Frondale's Phrontistery would collaborate on. Still likely to be beyond the budget of most citizens, it'd still be nice to see Eorzeans repping Eorzean technology.
As for my own character, Sounsyy has lost a finger on her shieldhand about a year ago and, while her hand is no longer broken, she's still suffering the consequences- loss of grip strength, damaged reflexes and tactile sensations in that hand, PTSD from the event, and the rare phantom pain when she's not dulling her senses with drink.
One of the biggest challenges I've found RPing this kind of injury is about casually bringing it up without diverting your entire rp to it. So, I try to just forgo mentioning it unless something comes up where it's necessary to mention. This might be a little more difficult when missing a leg versus a finger? Sounsyy has no plans to get the digit replaced, especially with magitek, which, as an Ala Mhigan she loathes even seeing anywhere.
RE: Things characters can do with lost Limbs? - Nodem - 12-19-2016
The lore stuff has been covered already, and just wanted to drop this in here.
For missing a leg, a casual way to bring it up, as Sounsyy suggested, would be mentioning how one leg sounds different then the other when walking. This would work great with using a peg-leg or magitek limb. This works best when you're approaching somebody for the first time.
/em walked up towards X, a hallow thump of her right leg echoing across the wooden floor with each step as they approached. "Good evening, X."
In this case, it's the sound of wood on wood making the thumping noise, and there's little to no need to mention it again as person X has a clear image there's this constant sound when you're walking on that leg. Or if you're sitting with the aforementioned peg-leg, that one leg sits off to the side straight. There's lots of ways to play off injuries, that make it so your character doesn't become the injury itself. As mentioned, there's also not having it replaced at all. While this is more difficult, you could walk around on something like a crutch. It's easy to slip in when needed to be mentioned, and my character has hobbled about on a staff once herself, using it to support her weight.
Hope this helps you out some.
RE: Things characters can do with lost Limbs? - Nicholai - 12-31-2016
I don't think anyone mentioned this yet, but it's a classic FF7 example, but....
GUN GRAFTS!
With the introduction of Machinists (particularly because they favor guns, both through game mechanics and through lore) I'd like to see someone with an actual gun grafted into their arm! As such, it could be clockwork, or magitek, or allagon technology. Naturally, the above mentioned drawbacks (cost, materials, difficulty, expertise, etc.) apply.
RE: Things characters can do with lost Limbs? - ArmachiA - 12-31-2016
I have a character that started with a fake leg, and it's just a normal clockwork metal leg that works out pretty good. I have it so she isn't very good at melee for obvious reasons, so she gravitates toward magic. She makes a lot of sarcastic jokes about it and knocks on it in roleplay to let people in on it, and walks with a slight limp.
My advice it not to treat it like it's not going to have any consequences at all. I see a few RPers who lose a limb and it... doesn't effect them at all. It's just a cool thing that happened. Add some depth to that, make it so there are some bad things. Make it add to the depth of the character, not just some cool thing that happened.