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Thrawn183
2008-05-07, 03:18 PM
So, I'm going to be playing a Gnome Dragonfire Adept in a campaign coming up soon this summer. The catch? This is the first time I've ever seriously (ie. not a one-shot) played a non-human. Why? I simply have never felt comfortable doing so, much the same as why I don't roleplay female characters.

Do you guys and gals usually emphasize "dwarvish" traits? I mean, are elves these mystical stargazers to you or are they just "gender: elf?" I never know whether I should treat other races as being totally different in mindset and such or maybe just as your normal person but with a slightly different take on things.

How do you guys handle things like this? Also, I'm planning on playing my gnome pretty serious, got any helpful ways of getting in character with a serious gnome?

bosssmiley
2008-05-07, 03:27 PM
Most of the PC races in D&D are based on clichés of aspects of the human experience. Dwarves are traditionally dour and thrifty miners, Elves our lyrical, nature-loving hippy-ish side. Gnomes tend to fall somewhere between the merry prankster and the dotty professor. You can't go wrong by playing these aspects up when you want to create a typical member of the race, or subverting them if you want an atypical one.

This leads us nicely into your serious gnome. Think of him in terms of strong-minded people you already know. Treat him like a maths tutor, or a police officer, or a senior lawyer, who is only ever about 'serious business'. He might be 3' 6", but he's miles deep in rigour and gravitas. Imagine that he feels himself constantly surrounded by flighty, short-sighted, long-legged fools. Sure, he might get your jokes; but that doesn't mean he'll laugh at them. He may talk with a quiet intensity, or in abrupt clipped phrasing, or bark out instructions like a drill sergeant, but he's ultimately all about the mission.

:annoyed: "My ancestors were not gnomadic, nor were their utterances gnomic. We do not discuss the gnomenclature of things, nor to we use metrognomes to keep time. We in the Gnomenati do not have a sense of humour, and I would appreciate it if you giggling spindleshanks kept yours to yourselves. Now, as regards the matter in hand..."

Instant memorable character - that grim gnome.

Frosty
2008-05-07, 03:37 PM
I simply have never felt comfortable doing so, much the same as why I don't roleplay female characters.

How do you guys handle things like this?

The same way you play somebody who can tell the rules of physics to shut up and sit down, or someone who can lift an entire building up by himself. It's all about roleplaying. Are you saying you can relate better to the dude firing death rays from his eyes but you can't relate to what amounts to a midget or yo can't relate to someone from your own species but a different gender?

Just...try to picture yourself in the place of a gnome or a female...and guess what, the process is not that different for picturing yourself as a human male, because it's not that important, race and gender.

What really affects your character is your background, the culture you grew up in, your previous adventuring experiences, your friends and relationships, your mortal enemies, your hobbies, etc.

Once you have these, the rest really is trivial. Remember: what defines Alhandra the Paladin isn't the fact that she's female. That's maybe like 5% of her identity. What shaped her as a person is the fact that from the age of 3, she embarked on a strict training regiment of studying holy scriptures and practice armed combat so she can take on the mantle of Paladin when she becomes of age. She did not have many friends because of her responsibilities, and since becoming a paladin she has made some powerful evil warlords into her sworn enemies. See, none of this would change if it were Redgar the Paladin or Tordek the Paladin.

Mando Knight
2008-05-07, 03:54 PM
:annoyed: "My agncestors were gnot gnomadic, gnor were their utteragnces gnomic. We do gnot discuss the gnomegnclature of thigngs, gnor to we use metrognomes to keep time. We in the Gnomegnati do gnot have a segnse of humour, and I would appreciate it if you giggling spigndleshagnks kept yours to yourselves. Now, as regards the matter ign hand..."

Instant memorable character - that grim gnome.

Fixed!:smalltongue:

I have much the same problem, though... I may mark this thread or something so I can read more advice...

sonofzeal
2008-05-07, 04:09 PM
I play most races as "human"..... sorta. Dwarves have been effectively under siege for generations; elves have been mostly sheltered from the warfare and have turned to higher learning and decadence in equal measure; gnomes escape their foes via cunning rather than strength; halflings had their homeland destroyed and live as vagabonds for the most part; Orcs live a tribal semi-nomadic life. These things then define their racial personality - defensive and suspicious (but united) for the dwarves, condescentions and intelligence for the elves, trickery for the gnomes, stealth and thievery for the halflings, and strength and dominance (and hyper-masculinity) for the orcs. Humans, of course, are the generic middle ground, although they and all the other races have their extremes in every direction.

My savage races are a bit different. My Goblinoids have little sense of individual identity and goblins suffer accute agoraphobia when separated from other goblin while hobgoblins tend to use rank and serial number rather than name and rarely form emotional attachments with anything beyond their military unit. Bugbears are largely as-written though. My Gnolls are mystics who worship the concept of The Eater, and divide the entire world into "The Eaters" and "The Eaten". They'll hesitate to fight and kill (and will never eat) someone who eats meat like they do, but believe they have a divine mandate to devower all others.

Blanks
2008-05-07, 04:39 PM
How do you guys handle things like this? Also, I'm planning on playing my gnome pretty serious, got any helpful ways of getting in character with a serious gnome?
Often i like this approach:
Play right into the cliche, but for very different reasons. Perhaps the burden of his past/the world he is facing is so grim, that the only way he can stay sane is through humor.

"I laugh in order not to cry..."

Also remember that gnomes are known for their mining skills (at least they were in 2E). Perhaps play him with a bit of the style that you would a dwarf?

monty
2008-05-07, 04:41 PM
I agree that it depends far more on the character's background than their race. I'm playing a goblin as the last surviving member of a village that was wiped out by an adventuring party of humans, elves, etc. Now he's adventuring with...a party of humans, elves, etc. (the other players aren't as comfortable with "monster" races as me, since this is the first campaign for most of them) Naturally, he is very suspicious of them, but this has nothing to do with the fact that he is a goblin. Just make a good story behind your character, and roleplay it as if you were in the same situation.

SadisticFishing
2008-05-07, 04:43 PM
Ever read any Feist? I see some gnomes as similar to Nakor. A short man, he's a gambler and a cheat (a VERY good cheat), but also a very good man and extremely good at magic. He also claims that there is no magic, and when asked how he does ... well, magic things (pulling oranges out of an empty bag - thousands of them), he says "it's a trick."

Trog
2008-05-07, 04:47 PM
For quick, shallow, amusing/painful roleplaying:

Dwarves: Talk with a Scottish or German accent. The worse the better. Have your character stroke his beard a lot. Or glare at elves. For gods sake make sure you have an axe. Done.

Elves & Half-Elves: Mah. Play them just like humans. Everyone else seems to.

Gnomes: Sound overly happy all the time. Talk fast. Pick your prodigious nose a lot.

Half-Orc: Grunt and swear a lot. Don't use deodorant the day you game.

Drow: Brood. Wear a hood to gaming. Occasionally use a Transylvanian accent if people are taking you too seriously.

Halflings: Refer to everyone as Mr. or Miss so-and-so. Eat all the gaming snacks yourself and take off your shoes and put your feet up on the table. Or insist you play the entire session on your knees with your shoes under your knees for that short-legged look.

The Necroswanso
2008-05-07, 04:52 PM
How do you roleplay a gnome?
I'll tell you, and it's simple really: To the best of your abilities.
Read up on gnomes, PHB amd Races of Stone. That will give you plenty of ideas and information. But first and foremost, you're a gnome, so you HAVE to have fun with it. It's a racial requirement.

Falconer
2008-05-07, 05:50 PM
I've never really thought of them that much in terms of each race having their own genuine mindset or personality except perhaps in the broadest of terms. I picture it as more along cultural lines than anything else. A human raised in drow society will probably tend to be petty and brooding, while an orc raised by halflings is likely to be more easygoing, according to the cultural values.

Frosty
2008-05-07, 06:08 PM
Well, some people say nature, some people say nurture. I mean, is an orc raised amongst humans really going to be easygoing, or will he still tend to be evil and chaotic?

monty
2008-05-07, 06:12 PM
Well, some people say nature, some people say nurture. I mean, is an orc raised amongst humans really going to be easygoing, or will he still tend to be evil and chaotic?

Easygoing.

Azerian Kelimon
2008-05-07, 06:16 PM
Easygoing, possibly with some SLIGHT tendencies.

Thrawn183
2008-05-07, 06:33 PM
Well... he's going to have permanencied reduce person cast on him. I may try and play up the 6 inch tall guy being the tank and making fun of people for being wimps. He hails from an arctic region, any cool things you can think of for that? I already have him being afraid of the water because he never learned to swim (really afraid of the water).

Toric
2008-05-07, 07:45 PM
To this day I have never played a human in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. I just have so much more fun with the pre-defined races.

When playing a non-human race, you just have to remember that people expect the character to somewhat follow the racial description, but you can twist or ignore parts of said description as you see fit. The more you tweak your character's personality, and moreso the more you have fun with said personality, the more memorable the character will be to everyone involved.

Example gnome: I'm currently playing a gnome druid in a campaign. He has a sense of humor comparable to most gnomes, but his high wisdom has helped him be very mellow and soft-spoken. When he was younger, his animal companion was captured by bandits, and slain when he tried to be clever; as a result, he is now much more cautious and serious than the average gnome. When this translated from character background to party interaction, it ended up making my gnome a sort of gentle, serious father-figure for the group despite his being its shortest member. I still get to tell the occasional joke or tall tale though, because he's still a gnome at heart.

Basically, designing a non-human character is a lot like designing a human character. You just have some pre-existing expectations that you can either keep, twist, or just toss out the window.

Toliudar
2008-05-07, 09:14 PM
Well... he's going to have permanencied reduce person cast on him. I may try and play up the 6 inch tall guy being the tank and making fun of people for being wimps. He hails from an arctic region, any cool things you can think of for that? I already have him being afraid of the water because he never learned to swim (really afraid of the water).

A few possibilities for someone from a harsh arctic environment:

Turns of phrase in which warm=good. So much about socialization in far-northern cultures surrounds the sharing and preserving of warmth. He has no sense of personal space because you sit close to others for warmth. Fire is a sacred thing, and the lighting or putting out of fire is accompanied by a prayer or small ritual.

If he grew up in an isolated community, remember that a lot of the complexities and traditions that are commonly understood in larger cities are lost on him. Doesn't mean he's stupid or gullible, but a few things - written laws, violence within a community, the wasting of food - may seem incomprehensible, or laughable, to him. I played an inuit-inspired orc barbarian in a campaign, and it translated remarkably well.

Most of the arctic cultures I know are among the happiest and most prone to laughter - because what the heck ELSE are you going to do for twenty hours of darkness and enforced proximity but tell jokes and stories. I don't know how you'll square this with the serious-minded loner image you've got. Maybe he had a sense of a community, but has lost it, and lost his humour with that.

sonofzeal
2008-05-07, 10:08 PM
Well, some people say nature, some people say nurture. I mean, is an orc raised amongst humans really going to be easygoing, or will he still tend to be evil and chaotic?
I go with a combination. As described above, I have environmental conditions encouraging particular personality traits, but racial physical traits feed into that too. The Dwarven environment is filled with external threats from the Drow on one side, the orcs and giants on the other, and the goblins somewhere in there. As a result, Dwarven culture has evolved along the lines of a siege mentality, providing a united no-nonsense front against threats, and a healthy suspicion of outsiders. Physically, Dwarves are durable and hard to kill, and as such will likely tend towards stoic, determined personality types regardless of environment. However, a Dwarf raised among Humans will have those traits to a smaller extent than a "cultural" dwarf.

horseboy
2008-05-07, 10:29 PM
Well, some people say nature, some people say nurture. I mean, is an orc raised amongst humans really going to be easygoing, or will he still tend to be evil and chaotic?Easy going by orc standards. Most likely aggressive and "twitchy" by halfling standards.

bosssmiley
2008-05-08, 07:59 AM
Well, some people say nature, some people say nurture. I mean, is an orc raised amongst humans really going to be easygoing, or will he still tend to be evil and chaotic?

He'll be Worf. :smallwink:

its_all_ogre
2008-05-08, 08:20 AM
an orc raised by humans will likely revel in his awesome strength, in an orc tribe he'd be only average at str 14-15 but compared to humans he's massively strong!
however he'll be a bit thick, easily led and not be able to follow cause and effect scenario's.
so it all depends on the kids he grows up with really.
do they fear him for his strength and mock him for his social and mental deficiencies? in which case he is like to become CE even more readily than in his own society.
or is he bashful about his strength? are people compassionate about his weaknesses?
if it was a real life question i would say he would go evil and maybe grow out of it once in his late 20's....in a dnd game its up to you what you want to play

Mewtarthio
2008-05-08, 11:57 AM
anif it was a real life question i would say he would go evil and maybe grow out of it once in his late 20's....in a dnd game its up to you what you want to play

"And then I slaughtered my entire villiage and burned everything to the ground."
"Wh-Wh-What?"
"Ah, don't worry; it was just a phase I was goin' through."