D&D 5E What can my character lie about?

[Pandaemoni]

Come up with a list of ten to 20 names and professions/titles for each that you can claim to be. Bonus points for sneaking in modern allusions that would have no meaning to the characters, like if town guards are arresting someone "My name is Tailor Swift, attorney at law...also a tailor, and this man is my client. What seems to be the problem here and do you need any new suits?"

You can go and watch Fletch for inspiration.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Which for many groups would not be remotely fun if there was a trap behind that door and he lied about it.

Depends on what you find fun. Another character getting injured due to that lie can be fun. So can the rest of the party taking that thief out behind the woodshed and beating him until he smells like onions.

I can accept a character's flaws causing issues for the party as long as the player of that character understands the consequences for such behavior.

 

[seebs]

Instead of lying about lots of things, lie about one thing. Declare yourself to be a different class. (Say, if a non-caster, insist that you are a wizard.) That's it. Just stick to it all the time.

 

[aco175]

I always like the person who has to one-up what someone else said, they cannot help but be part of each conversation. They tend to follow up another character with "that's kind of like when I...", or "That's great, but I once..." It is not so much directly lying to the party but more making himself the focus of the group.

The other thing I thought of was the old Saturday Night Live character played by John Lieborwitz/Lubowitz +/-. Whenever he was telling a story he needed to bring more fantastic elements into it to make himself more important. "Remember when me and ... Morgan Fairchild, yeah, that's the ticket...".

 

[Quajek]

The other thing I thought of was the old Saturday Night Live character played by John Lieborwitz/Lubowitz +/-. Whenever he was telling a story he needed to bring more fantastic elements into it to make himself more important. "Remember when me and ... Morgan Fairchild, yeah, that's the ticket...".

His name is Jon Lovitz.

 

[Quajek]

I played an Elf Charlatan Rogue, and my favorite thing about the character was that when I was introduced to the party, I was posing as a traveling Ambassador to a far-off exotic city-state. I dressed flamboyantly, spoke with a fake accent, and frequently brought up the fictitious land I came from.

After several months adventuring together, our party was captured by my character's elderly Human (technically Quarter-Elf) grandson, who revealed my true identity to the party, and forced us to work for him, or he would have me executed for my crimes.

After my false identity was revealed, I stopped using it with the party, but slipped back into it when dealing with NPCs, in order to get preferential treatment, luxury accommodations, access to high-ranking officials, etc.

Other things to lie about:

Your parents
Where you were last night
Holidays and celebrations in your hometown
Places you've traveled

 

[BoldItalic]

The best kind of lie is to tell the truth but in such a way that no one believes it. This is quite hard to do, and it's important that you don't defend what you have said or try to prove that you are right. You have to let them think it's just nonsense. Then, when it later emerges that it was true after all, they feel dumb because you have deceived them but they can't object.

This is sneaky and devious. Don't try it at home.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

What type of character is it? What is your class?

This will color the types of things of you lie about. Suppose you are a thief? Your role in the group is to scout ahead, look for traps, etc.

" Hey (liar character), any traps on that door?"


"Um.. nope, all good there. Checked it real good I did."

My PC is a thief, but I'm not sure I'd lie about something like that. For me it's more about the fun of an elaborate lie and weaving a tale, rather than lying about whether I've actually done my job.

 

[Saeviomagy]

My PC is a thief, but I'm not sure I'd lie about something like that. For me it's more about the fun of an elaborate lie and weaving a tale, rather than lying about whether I've actually done my job.

The key is that the character is a compulsive liar and NOT an evil jerk. An evil jerk lets his friends walk into traps unaware. A non-evil jerk compulsive liar just has to stop his friends from walking into traps without warning them.

PC: "Hey (liar character), any traps on that door?"

Liar: "Not a trap as such, but there may be a 400ft tall chicken with a taste for demihuman flesh on the other side of it, so don't open it until I perform the appropriate banishment ritual."

 

[Mark CMG]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX9xNn2f1Go