D&D 5E Curse of Strahd: A Lizardfolk player?

[Bladecoder]

Hi,
So I am setting up a group for Curse of Strahd and while asking my players who they would like their characters to be, one of them answeared... "I want to be a Lizardfolk Barbarian" which is not bad at all, but... It doesn't really fit in a semmingly gritty gothic fantasy adventure like Curse of Strahd. I dont believe in saying "no" to my players (esspecially when they are being completely rational), so I would like to know if any of you guys know any way to make a Lizardfolk Barbarian "fit" in more with the setting. Leave your suggestions below. Thanks in advance.

 

[Duan'duliir]

He shouldn't need to fit in with the setting. Remember that the characters are from outside of Barovia.

However, perhaps play up the healing bite as a horror hunger they develop while in the mists if you feel it necessary to make them fit the setting.

- Zynx, from the EN World mobile app

 

[guachi]

Well,

Universal Studios released both Dracula (1931) and Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954) so having both a vampire and lizardman in the same adventure seems perfectly appropriate.

 

[Mad_Jack]

Well, you need to remember that it's more of a "low" Gothic setting - not so much Dracula (except for Strahd, lol) as late medieval "anyone in the village could be the werewolf" pitchforks and torches stuff... Nobody except Strahd and maybe one or two others will be wearing lace cuffs or buckles on their shoes.

Lizardfolk in a Ravenloft setting would most likely be found in a dark, haunted swamp filled with supernatural horrors somewhere on the far edge of Barovia. If you're going to place a lizardfolk tribe in the area, chances are they're a reclusive yet intelligent and reasonably peaceful fighting-to-maintain-the-balance-of-Nature-against-the-forces-of-Evil kind of people, who protect the swamp and trade with the local peasantry who live nearby. The residents of Barovia may be slightly biased against or suspicious of the lizardfolk tribe because of their monstrous appearance, but they're definitely aware that the lizardfolk don't serve Strahd - and they, more than most, would know that the real monsters don't always look like monsters...
The character would be a guardian and protector of his people, and is adventuring with the party in a quest to end Strahd in the hope that it will also put a stop to the supernatural horrors plaguing the swamp... It works particularly well if the player's planning to go Spirit Totem.

Perhaps you could add some corrupted or enslaved lizardfolk to the list of creatures serving Strahd and replace one or two of the human villagers with an assimilated lizardfolk (perhaps an herbalist or craftsman) to illustrate the level of integration they have in the setting...

On a smaller level, if the tribe has the custom of adopting some modified form of the local human clothing and human ways when walking amongst them as a sign of their peaceful interactions with them (at the very least, they know that human clothing is also used as a way of signalling a person's place in their society), this would go a long way towards cutting down on any possible cognitive dissonance that might remain.

 

[pukunui]

There is, conveniently, a swamp to the south of Barovia Village. You could either take the above suggestion and put a small tribe of lizardfolk in it, or you could have the lizardfolk PC get sucked out of his swamp and into that one (bypassing the gates).

I think playing up the above comment that monsters don't always look like monsters, and that Barovians know this, will work fine. The book itself also has a bit of advice on how Barovians might react to a more monstrous PC.

 

[jgsugden]

I don't see the problem.

The PCs are swept into Barovia - a land with many monsters, but not lizardman AFAIR. The new monster ends up being the herothat saves them from the horrors they know. However, that won't stop the townsfolk fromfearing the lizardman at first... That fits perfectly into a gothic horror adventure.

 

[Rils]

The book references though the Barovians are mistrustful of "outsider" humans... and downright standoffish to demi-humans. Monstrous characters are going to be shunned at best, and lynched at worst. It's cool to have that character, but that's going to be part of the "horror" of the setting - constantly having to deal with the inhabitant's xenophobia.

 

[TwoSix]

There's really no point in having xenophobic villagers if the PCs don't give them something to be xenophobic against.

 

[Sammael]

Just don't overplay the xenophobia, because it can annoy the player and overshadow other, more important aspects of the setting. IMO, after the initial mistrust (in each of the major settlements), if the lizardfolk PC somehow aids the locals and they know it, they should grudgingly accept him.

BTW, thread title is misleading, I was hoping to see pics of an actual lizardfolk player.

 

[BookBarbarian]

The book references though the Barovians are mistrustful of "outsider" humans... and downright standoffish to demi-humans. Monstrous characters are going to be shunned at best, and lynched at worst. It's cool to have that character, but that's going to be part of the "horror" of the setting - constantly having to deal with the inhabitant's xenophobia.

Their fear doesn't in fact come from the fact that the outsiders came form a different place or look different. Their fear is that outsiders don't come to Barovia unless the Devil Strahd wills it. And they would not want to interfere with his plans. Barovian Villagers would be way to scared to "lynch" the adventurers that Strahd has pulled into his realm for his own amusement.