"That's not a realistic elf!"

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Stereotypes, rightly or wrongly, usually have some basis of fact. There's something that enables people to connect the stereotype with the subject. It may be wildly over exaggerated, but if you look long enough you'll usually find some basis for it.

One of my pet peeves is when people want to play a character and take all the "cool" aspects of a particular race but reject all the "uncool" aspects that would hinder them in some way. Vampires are a perfect example. People love all the cool angles but downplay or ignore all the not-so-mechanical aspects that are a hindrance.

In the absence of a well thought out rationale for why a character is so different, I'd stick with the tried and true defaults that enable a wide range of people to recognize it.

 

[Derren]

Stereotypes, rightly or wrongly, usually have some basis of fact.

But how can a stereotype of a fictional race be based on fact? Most fantasy stereotypes come down to "Tolkien did it" which is rather sad. Unlike the Science Fiction genre, the Fantasy genre is still stuck with cloning the first big fantasy work (LotR) and everything which differs from it is questioned.

 

[hamishspence]

Dwarves and elves have a long history

And I think, at least for elves/eladrin, they are begining to steer away from Tolkien. Corellon and Sehanine are more amoral than they used to be.

 

[Dykstrav]

No, you can't call it "unrealistic", but I think those kinds of characters - that run counter to the stereotype in every way the player can think of - are beyond lame and show a complete lack of creativity. It's like having a petulant teenager in the party...

I don't know, I think that having someone that deliberately plays against type is no more or less creative than those who adhere strictly to an archetype. If you choose to define your character by doing the exact opposite of the assumed standard, you're still using that standard as a yardstick to define your charcter.

My opinion is that the character is an individual first, which trumps all archetypes. Unfortunately, many players seem to have a very narrow view of what constitutes acceptable parameters for fantasy characters. I've been chewed out by a DM for making a paladin that uses a battleaxe instead of a sword, for example. In the Vampire LARP I played, several people actually filed formal complaints because I was playing a Brujah from a legal-profession background with financial and media influences. I was a "bad" roleplayer because my Brujah wasn't an anarchist or a gang member.

I've seen actors and directors get into huge fights when the actor didn't want to play to stereotypes. People don't usually get into heated arguments at the table over it, but the same feelings simmer when you tell a player that they must define their character with a stereotype, either by embracing it or rejecting it.

My inclination is to let people play their characters however they want--but I expect NPCs to react appropriately. That elf would probably get some icy stares when he went into the local dwarf watering hole, at least until people got to know him.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

In another, now unfortunately closed, thread on gender, someone brought up the point that you can't really accuse someone of role-playing an elf in an unrealistic manner.

But can't you?

I mean, if this person plays their elf as interested only in mining, wields an axe, hates trees, drinks ale and who lusts after bearded women... would you say that was "realistic"? Or would you say that they were playing a dwarf in elf's stats?

LOL!

Yeah, that definitely is the Case of the Elf in Need of Rehabilitation.

Perhaps this is the result of a Girdle of Dwarveninity/Elveninity?

 

[Mallus]

A player cannot play an elf 'wrong'. The DM might be able to, depending on how important maintaining a consistent, genre-faithful setting is to the campaign.

 

[Andor]

But can't you?

I mean, if this person plays their elf as interested only in mining, wields an axe, hates trees, drinks ale and who lusts after bearded women... would you say that was "realistic"? Or would you say that they were playing a dwarf in elf's stats?

My god I want to play that character now.

And no, a character can't possibly be 'unrealistic'. They might, however, be crazy.

 

[Mallus]

They might, however, be crazy.

And doesn't that describe most, if not all, adventurers?

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

(Humor)

Party: (has big fight with monsters, barely avoids TPK, retreats from battle)

Party Elf sings:

Oh where are you going, with beards all a-wagging
No knowing, no knowing;
What brings Mr. Baggins
And Balin and Dwalin
In June in the Valley
Fa-la!

The daylight is dying, your ponies are straying ... what?
What? I'm just being flighty and frivolous, and elven, and ... hey the Noldor - the HIGH ELVES - behave like that.

(Ok, what does the party do next? They can't claim he didn't behave like an elf! )

 

[pawsplay]

I mean, if this person plays their elf as interested only in mining, wields an axe, hates trees, drinks ale and who lusts after bearded women... would you say that was "realistic"? Or would you say that they were playing a dwarf in elf's stats?

That would really depend on what elves are like in the setting, wouldn't it? I think there is a problemw with the word realistic here, which is why I used it when I posed the question originally. There is no "real" elf so how can one be realistic? Insofar as they have traits similar to things that are real, we can judge whether they express those traits realistically. That really isn't a lot to go on.

You can talk about whether an elf is expected, or stereotypical, or archetypal, or world-appropriate, or genre-appropriate, or personally resonant, or highly original. But you can't really say whether they are realistic or unrealistic.

The above mentioned elf might be unwelcome in many D&D games, but you can't say they are unrealistic. If you put one in the Forgotten Realms, there they are. No one can say, "The Forgotten Realms aren't really like that!" Because the Forgotten Realms aren't real. However you narrate them, that's how they are.

Batman is "unrealistic." He is not a real person, and further, he is not like a real person in many respects. But I would be mad if I were trying to run a Justice League game and he were played "realistically." It's more important to me that he be played like Batman.

I think playing an elf is a lot more like "being Batman." Batman isn't real, but we ascribe certain traits to him. Elvese aren't real. But we expect certain things about them.