don't insult the purpose of a door by locking it

[SorvahrSpahr]

who has tried playing a kender? how much different do they "feel" from the haflling rogue?

I always wanted to play kender, but haven't found the stats for them

 

[Sejs]

I tried. Once. In a dragonlance game.

I even annoyed myself. Never again. Never, ever again.

I'm sure the stats on kender could be found in the Dragonlance Campaign Setting book. As for how to play them/how they differ in 'feel' from your standard halfling rogue... halfling rogues can be any of a wide range of personalties and motivations. Same as any other race, really.

Kender are basically an entire race of ADHD kleptomaniacs with a complete lack of fear. Literally, they have no natural fear reaction, period. And they're insatiably curious. If you've ever seen the old SNL skit with Mike Meyers, the 'hyper-hypo', think like that but with more stealing. Add to the fact that most of the times they don't even know they're stealing things.. it's subconscious.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Kender? Kill it!

Okay, not really. Kender are supposed to steal things without knowing. So, it gets irritating if they steal things from other PCs. Since they cannot learn not to steal things without threats of death (eg Raistlin threatening Tas with polymorphing followed by digestion if he stole something), it is not surprising that they may very well get killed by other PCs.

So, it seems to me that only "afflicted" kender are suitable for PCs. But their flavor is very different. They're much more like halflings, except not nearly as chubby.

Kender NPCs also annoy PCs. Taunting and stealing are annoying; the latter can bring on a murderous reaction. I don't think Weis and Hickman were thinking of gaming when they wrote out stuff about Tas. I don't think it was a good idea to ever make them a playable race.

 

[Falling Icicle]

Kender are the most annoying and insane race ever conceived. Do yourself and your fellow players a favor and refrain from playing one.

On the other hand, if you like playing an immature kleptomaniac who drives everyone nuts, takes irrational risks often to the detriment of himself and his companions, loves to annoy others, and relishes in negative attention, then the Kender is the right race for you.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I'm running DL now using stock halflings (waaaay pre-DLCS) and we've got a kender. He's a bit flakey at times, has a habit of running his mouth, and can be incredibly impetuous but generally has the best of intentions, all in all a perfect Chaotic Good. Brannock (the kender) has been arrested (was defending people in a riot but was grabbed in the general dragnet), put in a Telekinetic Sphere (he was oohing over a black mage's workbench), and been granted lands & titles for his heroic deeds.


Kender aren't so bad if you lay off the kleptomania. We chucked the DLA kender-pockets rules. We instituted a house rule many editions ago of "shiny for shiny" where a Kender had to leave something equally cool behind. Back in 1e/2e we had the kender make an int check to see if he knew how valuable something was, now you'd use Appraise. It fit the concept of kender society and made them more socially acceptable since you have a sign that you've been kendered.

The other thing is to be up-beat and a touch flakey but not ADD-on-crack. Kenders have an attention span. They may get distracted but they don't forget what they were talking about earlier. Our portrayal is that once a kender has finished with a topic (and they can be stubborn little cusses) they tend to jump to radically different subjects.

 

[SorvahrSpahr]

LOOOOL, c'mon, you know they don't mean any harm.

Sure they tend to drift away from the goal ( like standing guard ) and they ...... like shiny things. But you can't blame them for beeing curious about the world

Anyway, I think I'll pass the kender this time. Our party already has a rogue, and I don't think they could keep the kender's hands under control (we lack a Raistlin kind of figure)

 

[Mycanid]

Phooey on the Kender. As El Laprade's sig says: "Scrag 'em all and let the gods sort 'em out!"

I can't tell you how much I disliked the whole Dragonlance thing. But one of the worst aspects of it was the Kender. This race almost gave pc's a license to be a royal [[AHEM!!!]] if you know what I mean. I can't tell you how many game sessions were ruined by someone using a Kender and supposedly "playing in character".

 

[SorvahrSpahr]

wow, I guess I'm the only kender lover around here

my dm agrees with you. especially because a kender woudln't fit our current setting. maybe a next time

p.s: they can't help if people around them are so light headed that they allow theor stuff to fall in the kender's pouch

 

[Mycanid]

Cheer up sir. I'm sure a game or a group will come around that you can utilize your beloved Kender. I am a great fan of elves, but of course not everyone loves them.... Takes all kinds I guess.

 

[SorvahrSpahr]

that's true. I think I'll give it a try the next campaign I'm in. I don't like playing elves, dunno why, I don't feel right with them. but I love to see an elf wizard/sorcerer in action