I'm rolling a waerd character but I'm going to change the rule when it comes to tribe sharing within my county. I see how it can be a very useful/fun mechanic for those who go into waerd as a group but for a single player who wants to go waerd I don't think I could do it. Especially, when playing a game with limited resources, crafting that takes time, and people within your group trying to complete their own goals. I know it's been said there will be some restrictions that can be applied.
A bunch of people like different aspects of the Waerd but most do get hung up on what exactly the communal aspect is going to translate to in terms of game mechanics. There has been some indications it might not be as "problematic" as assumed. For example normally you can't just waltz into someone's place and start using their stuff, but due to communal living Waerd could do that with each other's property. However, that doesn't mean they can pick it up and leave with it though, that would still trigger a crime. It may be a lot more nuanced than it appears at first glance, we'll need more information to really make that call.
Via Caspian in Discord. The Waerd aren't totally communist- there is a concept of personal property, its just that people can use the tools inside your property. They can't just come in and take those tools. I imagine, if you wanted to really roleplay it, that taxes would be handled as a group, and you would work together as a community to raise the money you need to cover the taxes. In this way, it would be very easy to identify the Waerd who are pulling their weight and those who are slacking.
Yeah it's meant more as a way to encourage sharing of things like communal blacksmith tools, letting the town use your forge when they need it. Instead of building sixteen tailor shops, everyone uses the same stuff. I do agree that the Waerd are probably going to be best for people playing in groups, because I think those are game features that everyone is most familiar with, but I don't think it'll be the problem that a lot of people seem to anticipate.
I'm actually liking The Waerd enough that I might just go all in on them.
The communal property thing isn't really all that big of an issue if you think of them as doing it more out of necessity, and desire, vs. it being some type of penalty.
It's a philosophical thing.
Doing unto others as you would have done to you vs. Doing unto others before they do unto you.
Lets say I don't have to have all the tools needed to raise a barn for my farm. I alone then would have to invest the time and money necessary to make a whole barn by myself. Or I can get my neighbors to all pitch in and we have a big ol' barn raising party instead. And if they all pitch in, why wouldn't they think they could store a cow or two in my barn, if they needed to, until we can all get together again and raise them their own barn too. It would be rude and socially unacceptable for me to think otherwise. Over time, as long as we all work together, everybody gets their own barn. Picture it more like the early American settlers, or the Amish, instead of todays society.
It is focusing The Tribe and The Communities needs to take precedence over personal ones. And it is precedence, not to the exclusion of. You can have your own stuff. But when the larger needs of your brothers call on you to pitch in, then what will you do?
If you have the only hammer, but I know you will let me borrow it when I need it, why would I then steal yours? I would just be cutting off my nose to spite my face. Instead I can put my time to better use, for both of us, by making a saw, that neither of us has, that you can borrow from me when you need one. Your hammer now is two hammers and my saw is now two saws, It is both yours and "ours" at the same time.
And should some "outsider" try to take your hammer? Then he's also trying to take mine. So it also promotes a community that bands together for that communal protection. I got your back, bro. You touch one of us, you touch all of us.
I know that's a radical thing nowadays, but it actually was what was most common for most of history. Personal property, and all it's pluses and minuses, is actually a pretty new concept for mankind as a whole. The less stuff you had, the more you needed to pool it to keep everyone alive.
Another way to look at it is the strength in numbers philosophy. On one hand we can all gather around the big communal fire and cook everybody a big pot of stew that feeds us all, then we each take turns watching for attacks while the rest of us sleep. Or you can go make your own tiny fire, eat whatever you, and you alone, have, and hopefully can get some sleep, since only you are on guard to keep the monsters away. Force multiplication is the military term for it I believe. Also makes for a lot nicer camping trip, lol.
Just a different way of looking at the world.
The Waerd culture values being "together" in their struggle to stay alive.
None of The Waerd are every truly "alone" in the world.
"A Mann can be an Island...But The Waerd are all links in The Great Chain of The Two-Fold Queen. Mysterious may She remain."--An Ancient Waerd Prayer.
We Are The Many... We Are The One... We Are THE WAERD !!!
What @Kajoreh said.
One note: Among modern people, Hutterites are closer than Amish to Waerd communalism.
From the examples you guys gave I see most tribes doing the same thing when it comes to building..I don't see any tribe saying, "we don't help you build your barn", they would all profit for that, of course they would help with that.. My issue is with someone taking your stuff for personal gain. Example, you are a miner, you finish processing a ton of iron and then go to bed..Tomorrow you plan to use that iron for boost your blade crafting skill., While your sleep someone wants iron for their skill and all of the houses looking for materials until they have enough. You get back on just to find out someone used all your iron. Not for a community project but for themselves, which technically isn't wrong because making someone else stronger makes the waerd strong and the waerd is one..How many times is that going to happen before you start hiding your stuff and getting annoyed.
The waerd sounds good for a group of friends but throw in greed, cliques forming within the group, people feeling entitled, etc I think non-friends waerd groups have a very low chance of surviving.
If I were a Waerd I would put 2 questions to you about your above example:
1-How and, more importantly, Why do I have somebody in my tribe that would do such a thing? That is so totally against everything that we are taught from the cradle. If you can't be trusted, then you can't belong. It's that simple. Very cut and dried. Black or White. This is a culture that doesn't have a lot of morally grey area. This is how we have, and will continue, to survive.
2-And if you do try something this heinous, you do know the penalty. It is total as well. You are no longer worthy of being called a Waerd and thus shall no longer be one. No Explanation. No Exception. No Discussion. No Remorse. Is that iron really worth the price you are going to pay?
We Are The Many... We Are The One... We Are THE WAERD !!!
Posted By kajoreh at 2:15 PM - Fri Mar 16 2018
If I were a Waerd I would put 2 questions to you about your above example:
1-How and, more importantly, Why do I have somebody in my tribe that would do such a thing? That is so totally against everything that we are taught from the cradle. If you can't be trusted, then you can't belong. It's that simple. Very cut and dried. Black or White. This is a culture that doesn't have a lot of morally grey area. This is how we have, and will continue, to survive.
2-And if you do try something this heinous, you do know the penalty. It is total as well. You are no longer worthy of being called a Waerd and thus shall no longer be one. No Explanation. No Exception. No Discussion. No Remorse. Is that iron really worth the price you are going to pay?
In the waerd eyes, at least the way I understand it, he wouldn't be wrong. You didn't just mine those materials, the waerd did and the waerd also needed to increase their skill by using their materials..If you think my example is someone doing something wrong then you are not the waerd that SBS wants us to be.
I don't see how the waerd would benefit from having a miner making weapons, The waerd are like a colony, personal ambitions aren't really a focus. If someone with better smithing than you is using your ore to craft weapons that would benefit your community (which you're a part of) is it really stealing? And if that person is only taking your weapons to be annoying than he would be a liability to the community and probably won't be welcome for long.
Look, I'm not one to tell the Waerd how to live or anything, but I'd think politeness would be par for the course. More like, "It is time to make many weapons with this iron, my fellow Waerd. Would you like to join our efforts or do you intend to sleep instead?"
For example, if the Waerd in Mydiis' example really was better at smithing, they ought to offer to teach while they smith to elevate others at the same time. Not doing so strikes me as selfish.
But, that aside, I thought it might be a good idea to paraphrase Caspian and mention this again: your fellow waerd can't just come into your house and take what they want. They can use your stuff in your house, but they can't leave with it.
Being Waerd is like everyone in your hometown being your best friend. Of course they can get their own damned drink out of the cooler, why bother me by asking? That sort of thing.
Still, if you wanted to be Ebenezer Waerd, you could keep your iron on your property, well away from wherever the forge is, until you're ready to use it yourself. No one can use it without violating social taboos that way.
Hope that helps! :)
Snipe, are the leanings of those notions based on previous writeup of the Waerd or the new direction they're shifting in that we haven't seen announced yet?
Hmm, a little of both, I guess? We haven't made any sweeping changes to Waerd culture or anything, but we have spent some time refining how the mechanics will actually express what we've written, so it might come off as different from our earliest conversations on the Waerd.
Hope that helps! :)
Random question regarding Waerd, though it might have been answered but I don't read the forums all the time.
Regarding surname selection... if you chose a family name... wouldn't that be moot since to be "truly" a part of the Waerd you'd have to give up having a name. Think I remember reading something like that on their page.
