Alternatives to Annoying D&D Stereotypes

[QuidEst]

Inspired by the Annoying D&D Stereotypes board. I thought I'd make this for people can post ideas that play off of these in interesting ways.

A few ideas for starters-
• Play a lawful Rogue that works with the City Watch.
• Think of Paladins as fantasy's superheroes.
• Have a mediocre-looking princess or sorceress.
• Make a world with more dwarves than humans.

[Hiro Protagonest]

• Think of Paladins as fantasy's superheroes.

*tries*

*tries harder*

Nope, can't do it. They could be bare-chested and use a greataxe, and it still wouldn't work. They're too weak.

[Sgt. Cookie]

As an alternative, "Human" is a catch-all term that refers any person who's racial heratige is far too diluted or mixed to be aparent at first inspection.

[Togath]

Scottish, beer loving bearded burly elves?(I actually have used them in a campaign setting)

[Roxxy]

*tries*

*tries harder*

Nope, can't do it. They could be bare-chested and use a greataxe, and it still wouldn't work. They're too weak.

Use the Pathfinder rules. Those Paladins are STRONG.

[Roxxy]

I make all the PC races humans. Elf and dwarf are subraces, not races in their own right.

My dwarves live underground out of a love for inventive architecture. Because of this love, dwarves live in far more places than just underground. They also carve cities out of cliffsides, suspend them from treetops, and build them on gigantic ships.

[Hyena]

Create a country, where it's a tradition that women's armor is covering and thick, while men's armor is revealing and skimply. THAT would be funny.

[Killer Angel]

A few ideas for starters-
• Play a lawful Rogue that works with the City Watch.

I've played a lawful rogue, working alongside with the church (and paladins) of St. Cuthbert.
"When there is a sentence and the blade is guided by justice, it doesn't matter if the guilty meets its end by a sword in the sun or by a knife in the darkness".

[Manly Man]

As I said in the other thread, have a prince who looks kinda like a woman be the one who gets captured (Gackt if you're in an Asian campaign).

Have the paladin be a smarmy, tricky bastard who bends the rules just as much as any greater devil worth his salt.

Have the main villain be the sort who invites the party to tea before discussing the many ways in which he will kill them... and turn it completely around by making their scones with arsenic. Or, even better, with chopped up peach cores and tell the party that they're an exotic nut that he finds rather enjoyable.

A war troll who runs an orphanage and only fights if and when the children are in danger is a neat idea, if you ask me.

The iron golem is in fact an awakened sorcerer who only acts like a regular golem would, and is the mastermind behind a plan to create a Marxist community.

[Sir_Gabes]

As far as dwarves go, the best no typical dwarves are the DragonAge: Origins dwarves. They are so bloody sneaky and back stab each other politically. My idea of a typical dwarf is honorable warriors who have incorruptible strong moral codes. Also the rowdy drunken fighters that love good spirited brawls.

Non typical elves I imagine would be tough to think of. Maybe, elves that live more like Romans or even desert elves who are so covered up people forget what they look like.

[North_Ranger]

• Play a lawful Rogue that works with the City Watch.

"You called, monsieur?"


Eugène Francois Vidocq, often called the first private investigator.

[Ulysses WkAmil]

• Play a lawful Rogue that works with the City Watch.

*cue dramatic announcer
"Dirty Barry is a loose cannon rogue, out to right wrongs, going around the law in the process. He's willing to *takes off aviators* get dirty."
And "most powerful hand-crossbow in the world" jokes ensue

[Kholai]

Atypical?

The Elves have just passed through the industrial revolution. They're now manning their borders with rifle wielding Redcoats and churning out magitech wargolems armed with fireball cannons and magic missile gatling guns. They're also getting into making Cyborgs.

They are good natured, polite, and helpful towards anyone who asks.

The Dwarves have passed a druidic ritual to become one with the mountains. They are now an entire race of mineral warriors in tune with their natural world who abstain from strong drink.

The kidnapped Princess was in fact not kidnapped at all, and has captured the BBEG and has been holding them for the proper authorities to arrive.

Have the villain eat live kittens. But he has to eat live kittens, otherwise he will die and his death will open a portal that an elder god will use to destroy the world.

Half the angels have allied with the Devils to fight against the Demons in the Blood War, half have allied with the Demons.

A group of Druids have figured out that sentient races making settlements is actually in their Nature to do, and supporting and encouraging them accordingly.

Half-Elves have finally manifested their parents' qualities more fully. They lose 1 Constitution, gain 1 Dexterity, gain an extra skill point every even level, and gain a free Trait at level 1. People now actually consider playing them.

All halflings are grim, humourless assassins feared throughout the lands, disguising themselves with long cloaks and using stilts to disguise their true natures as they stalk their prey.

The Order of Paladins includes Wizards, Swordsages, Sorcerers and Rogues all absolutely dedicated to the service of Good.

There are at least four "thieves guilds" in every city.
They compete. Violently.

Humans were a once proud and noble race, with an empire that covered the entire world, but are now slowly dwindling in the face of these new non-stereotypical events.

[The Dark Fiddler]

As an alternative, "Human" is a catch-all term that refers any person who's racial heratige is far too diluted or mixed to be aparent at first inspection.

I like that, actually. I very much like that.

[Sgt. Cookie]

I'm currently working on a homebrew Human that is just that. Expect it up soon!

[Eldan]

Elves live in the forest, don't harm any living animal, love the trees and refuse to use most metals, since they harm the Earth. As a consequence, they are dirty, poor, disease-ridden scavenger-gatherer nomads and five hundred years behind everyone else in technology. Hence the -2 to constitution.

The ten year old prince was kidnapped by orcs. They said they'd let him play with their swords.

[Lord Raziere]

Atypical?
*snip*

Why thank you, this has been copied and pasted.

[Eldan]

Half the angels have allied with the Devils to fight against the Demons in the Blood War, half have allied with the Demons.

That's canon, as far as I know. Archons are allied to the Devils, Eladrin with Demons. At least some of them. Angels really go either way, depending on what god they serve.

[QuidEst]

*tries*

*tries harder*

Nope, can't do it. They could be bare-chested and use a greataxe, and it still wouldn't work. They're too weak.

Use the Pathfinder rules. Those Paladins are STRONG.

I'll admit, I play Pathfinder.

As an alternative, "Human" is a catch-all term that refers any person who's racial heratige is far too diluted or mixed to be aparent at first inspection.

Very nice- I like that interpretation.


-Play an oration-focused Bard who's a travelling merchant using Glibness, Suggestion, Mage Hand, and Prestidigitation to pass mundane wares off as magical and fleeing before the guards find out. (Mostly because I'm tired of the musical Bard stereotype, even if it's their origin.)

-The Wizard is seeking as much power as possible- but not for personal reasons. He's afraid of all the more advanced planes that might invade some day.

-Play a serious gnome philosopher.

-One would suspect that a lot of catfolk would be fat and lazy.

-Play your Paladin as dramatic and poetic, quixotic, or brash.

[Sgt. Cookie]

I'd said I'd make it, and I have. Humans, now as a genetic cocktail.

[Manly Man]

That's canon, as far as I know. Archons are allied to the Devils, Eladrin with Demons. At least some of them. Angels really go either way, depending on what god they serve.

Actually, the Eladrin aren't allied with demons at all, and when the obyriths (the eldritch horror demons) were being overthrown, the eladrin invaded the Abyss as well. They didn't manage to purge the Abyss or anything, but they do own a layer that's contested by Pale Night, who captured many of the invading eladrin, turned them permanently into children and now hunts them for sport. She makes eating kittens look like Chutes and Ladders.

However, the idea of them allying with each other and whatnot is interesting, to say the least.

[navar100]

SaTa'an is returning and The Eight support him. Asmodeous, knowing a Greater Evil when he sees one, desperately studies the old Pact Primevil to get the Heavens involved. There must be a loophole. There is one. He must redeem himself and return to the Light. A new Great Lawful Good Archangel is born.

A Prophecy turns out to be truly nonsense of a lunatic.

The party meets for the first time anywhere except a tavern.

Wererats petition the Baron, lawfully and True Honestly, for citizenship. They claim a threat is approaching below the city, but they can stop it.

Play a Lawful Good Necromancer. You learn to cast Animate Dead so you can counter it.

[Eldan]

Actually, the Eladrin aren't allied with demons at all, and when the obyriths (the eldritch horror demons) were being overthrown, the eladrin invaded the Abyss as well. They didn't manage to purge the Abyss or anything, but they do own a layer that's contested by Pale Night, who captured many of the invading eladrin, turned them permanently into children and now hunts them for sport. She makes eating kittens look like Chutes and Ladders.

However, the idea of them allying with each other and whatnot is interesting, to say the least.

Hm. I mean, I don't have page quotes here, but I'm reasonably sure reading of alliances in Planescape. Though they were more in the style of "better this evil than the other evil" than a real alliance.
Yours seems to be Fiendish Codex? I really need to read those books at some point.

[Erik Vale]

Non typical elves I imagine would be tough to think of. Maybe, elves that live more like Romans or even desert elves who are so covered up people forget what they look like.

Almost been done. They are known as Quarians.

[Togath]

Two more I thought of from a dungeons and dragons setting I've been using(and that I've used parts of for an rpg I'm making), though I'm not 100% sure if they count, as they really only share their names with the normal varieties;
-A race of highly intelligent non-evil ogres, who's culture revolves around honor and order, they are also related to humans, which is why half-ogres are possible.
-And, a race of fairies(of the 3-4 foot tall, winged kind) who mostly form into groups acting much like stereotypical yakuza or work in tribes as assassins/ninja. They also have moth wings instead of dragonfly like ones.

[erikun]

• Make a world with more dwarves than humans.

I actually see "No Humans!" games pop up from time to time.

Here are a few ideas that I've either ran or thought of running:
• Dwarven Rogue "locksmith" who uses his skills to tinker with and setup traps, and who fights together with others on the frontlines.
• Paladin of a death deity, who used his divine-authorized judgement on those who attack him.
• Drow who is not evil or Drizzt. I've had one thought of a Drow Druid (because it sounds funny) and another as a Drow Paladin who wants to show his race as something other than spider-worshippers.
• Gnome Paladin focused on acquiring and possessing knowledge.
• Bard with either Perform: Illusion or Perform: Storytelling, with obviously different methods of using their bardic music abilities.
• Epic-level Warmage who has done spell research to add several Wizard-like spells to his spell list.

[Ravens_cry]

Paladins are redeemed villains on probation given an opportunity to redeem themselves.

[JetThomasBoat]

In a thread earlier today, someone was looking for a new take on drow. This is something I just sort of blurted out and could definitely use more work, but it's maybe a start?

An idea I might suggest is saying why the drow became different than normal elves. Instead of having it be that they developed black skin (and ridiculous racial bonuses) from going under ground when Corellon kicked that spider b!#^% to the curb, maybe in the dawn of time while Corellon was busy fighting Gruumsh and all that, a bunch of weird aboleths kidnapped some of the outlying elven populations when they were expanding. The aboleths made the drow have dark skin for some weird, alien reason or something. Maybe something to do with them being in the aboleth's underwater cities. And make the drow have the amphibious subtype. Maybe they can caste dancing lights or faerie fire or whatever because they use it to hunt underwater, like those fish with the red lights on their heads. They cast it in a color other underwater creatures can't see, but it allows them to.

[erikun]

In a thread earlier today, someone was looking for a new take on drow. This is something I just sort of blurted out and could definitely use more work, but it's maybe a start?

In a thread earlier today, someone was looking for a new take on drow. This is something I just sort of blurted out and could definitely use more work, but it's maybe a start?

That is almost exactly the story of the Gith / Githyanki / Githzerai, except substitute Aboleths for Illithids and underwater for the Astral plane.

I actually prefer the Drow as-is, although with the inclusion of Eilistraee. It makes them a race of evil who chose to become evil, and so bring up their children in an evil-is-preferred environment. It produces characters with an interesting angle and outlook on life, and without the "you are evil because your people are always evil" that a lot of 'always-evil' races are stuck in.


Plus, I'm pretty sure aquatic elves in Dragonlance are basically what you are describing - elves that were kidnapped and forced into slavery by some aquatic race, kept alive with magic and experimented on until they could survive underwater on their own. And, while not necessary evil, they are a race of a bunch of **** to everyone else.

[Togath]

I actually see "No Humans!" games pop up from time to time.

Here are a few ideas that I've either ran or thought of running:
• Drow who is not evil or Drizzt. I've had one thought of a Drow Druid (because it sounds funny) and another as a Drow Paladin who wants to show his race as something other than spider-worshippers.

Non-evil drow druids actually exist in the eberon setting, and there are also a few drow paladins in it as well if i remember right(though eberon has alot of unusuall features )