I’m not aware of any go-to tropes in my game mastering. I probably HAVE some, but they don’t spring to mind.
As a player, though…
1) in any game where a PC can have “kewl powerz”, odds are good my PC will have “kewl powerz”.
2) the more I have played a given game, the more likely it is my PC build will include fringier elements.
3) the more I have played a given game, the less likely it is the core strength of my PC build will be obvious.
4) the more I play TTRPG games in general, the more likely I am to pay attention to fringey options I can use for PCs.
For example: my first 2 D&D characters EVER were both fighters- the first was a human, the second an elf. Fast forward through decades of play, my last few PCs included a Geomancer, a multiclassed “arcane paladin”, an armor wearing, lightning breathing sorcerer, a multiheaded cryo dog Hengeyokai fighter with “kewl powerz” from Fey & breath weapon feats, and a Dwarven starlock who did capoeira.
As a player, though…
1) in any game where a PC can have “kewl powerz”, odds are good my PC will have “kewl powerz”.
2) the more I have played a given game, the more likely it is my PC build will include fringier elements.
3) the more I have played a given game, the less likely it is the core strength of my PC build will be obvious.
4) the more I play TTRPG games in general, the more likely I am to pay attention to fringey options I can use for PCs.
For example: my first 2 D&D characters EVER were both fighters- the first was a human, the second an elf. Fast forward through decades of play, my last few PCs included a Geomancer, a multiclassed “arcane paladin”, an armor wearing, lightning breathing sorcerer, a multiheaded cryo dog Hengeyokai fighter with “kewl powerz” from Fey & breath weapon feats, and a Dwarven starlock who did capoeira.
