Playing Evil Races (D&D Outsider)
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Dragonbait
Explorer
A fun little article.
The five survival tips are rather good, IMO, especially in a group that no problem with inter-party conflict or simply killing any other PC that they do not care for.
Personally, when I play monstrous races I always enjoyed the challenge of being the creature that might be attacked on sight, charged triple or quadruple for everything, or simple be denied passage into settlements (at best). It added on an extra layer of role-playing challenges if the GM and group was willing to deal with such unusual circumstances. After running many sessions with other players who liked to play monster races, I realized I was an unusual case.
The five survival tips are rather good, IMO, especially in a group that no problem with inter-party conflict or simply killing any other PC that they do not care for.
Personally, when I play monstrous races I always enjoyed the challenge of being the creature that might be attacked on sight, charged triple or quadruple for everything, or simple be denied passage into settlements (at best). It added on an extra layer of role-playing challenges if the GM and group was willing to deal with such unusual circumstances. After running many sessions with other players who liked to play monster races, I realized I was an unusual case.
Hellzon
First Post
I find it absolutely hilarious that von Hindman points out the deluge of dead gnolls in prominent D&D art...
...and then there's loads more in the recent D&D comic preview.
...and then there's loads more in the recent D&D comic preview.
Dragonbait
Explorer
Hellzon said:
I think it's reverse of what the OP's article says - artists don't hate gnolls, they LOVE gnolls. That's whey they are a very common villain in the art. It's fun to draw the extreme body language they use, the gnashing teeth and the monstrous size. It's also popular to show the heroes as the smaller character kicking the butt of a much larger foe. It's not as heroic when you see people killing many things half their size (hence the rarity of PCs vs. kobolds in melee combat art). Also, now that the good guys have moved beyond just the "humans and humans in funhouse mirrors" design, gnolls can still stand out as bestial and savage to counter the more diverse hero appearances.
OhGodtheRats
First Post
Holy crap. I was just going to pop over here and see if the Enworld crew was nutstomping my work again (I exaggerate you guys were great, but ever since the "Is this Art" thread I've been more faithful in visiting the Enworld boards often out of morbid curiosity) and fade away into the night but.....
So yeah, don't mind me but I just had to chime in because I hadn't seen that and....oh my. That's hilarious.
-Jared
PS: Just a clarification.. I only surmise that Jon Schindehette, the Art Director who tells most WotC artists what to draw, hates Gnolls since he obviously keeps sending out Art orders for Gnoll Murder. The Artists just end up getting caught in the crossfire. They are the colorful tools of his endless campaign for revenge. Or so I joke.
Edit: I'm also not sure if it's Enworld's XP system or a Mod screwing with me, but apparently my new status is "Level 5 Gnoll". This does not bode well for me.
Seriously though, thanks for sharing...I didn't realized there was more Hot Gnoll Genocide on the horizon when I wrote that a while ago.
So yeah, don't mind me but I just had to chime in because I hadn't seen that and....oh my. That's hilarious.
-Jared
PS: Just a clarification.. I only surmise that Jon Schindehette, the Art Director who tells most WotC artists what to draw, hates Gnolls since he obviously keeps sending out Art orders for Gnoll Murder. The Artists just end up getting caught in the crossfire. They are the colorful tools of his endless campaign for revenge. Or so I joke.
Edit: I'm also not sure if it's Enworld's XP system or a Mod screwing with me, but apparently my new status is "Level 5 Gnoll". This does not bode well for me.
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Cor_Malek
First Post
Oh God! The rats!
Well, he was too shy to get a plug inside own post, so I'll might as well do it:
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS:CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF VERY STUPID MONSTERS.
And part two.
Funny thing, I was looking through your comics yesterday, stumbled across the article in OP... but I figured it must've been old - I guess I just got lucky
As a fan of playing monsters, I really enjoyed the article, though it was... painfull, at parts. Kind of like reading tvtropes - I became more and more disillusioned about how original my ideas were...
I'm happy that you're still writing about DnD from time to time!
Well, he was too shy to get a plug inside own post, so I'll might as well do it:
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS:CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF VERY STUPID MONSTERS.
And part two.
Funny thing, I was looking through your comics yesterday, stumbled across the article in OP... but I figured it must've been old - I guess I just got lucky
As a fan of playing monsters, I really enjoyed the article, though it was... painfull, at parts. Kind of like reading tvtropes - I became more and more disillusioned about how original my ideas were...
I'm happy that you're still writing about DnD from time to time!
I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
Fun little article.
Dude kind of steps in a big fat Alignment Debate at the end, but it made me smile.
Dude kind of steps in a big fat Alignment Debate at the end, but it made me smile.
Chalk me up as another lover of innate outsiders...I was playing Drow and Minotaur before Drizzt ever showed up.
And I LOVED it!
(Haven't played a gnoll yet...something for my D&D "bucket list," I suppose.)
And I LOVED it!
(Haven't played a gnoll yet...something for my D&D "bucket list," I suppose.)
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