When Do Limited Options Become Stifling?

[Tanarii]

Also true, but I don't think hamming it up is a bad thing. IME, in the significant majority of campaigns the characters aren't super-deep, are in fact somewhat stereotypical, and that's fine.

Having taken a "boring" basic 4e Human Cleric Str pre-build and hammed up the battle cries to Pelor for a few weeks of play, it got compliments. Not sure if it would have gotten old, otoh if it had been a regular group instead of open play it might have only been necessary for occasional reminders after it was burned into everyone's brains.

But conversely I've seen enough hammed up beer or ale swilling Scottish dwarf fighters to last a lifetime. Would it kill folks to play them as Norse dwarves for once?

Edit: Of course, on the second point that's one of the reasons why folks want to make a manic pixie catfolk sorcerer or something in the first place. But still "I'm not the human you see sitting in front of you" is a necessary reminder one way or the other.