"You're a half elf? Really?" From the P.A. Podcasts

[garyh]

As has been said, in this specific case, the character is a half-elf because that's what the pre-gen was. I would not assume the half-elfness was the reason the character was picked, or that it's a major facet of the character.

How many pre-gens came with that module? Was the half-elf cleric the only leader?

 

[Merkuri]

This thread is making me think about when I read I Am Legend. As often happens with me, when the movie came out and they were advertising it everywhere it made me want to read the book, so I went out and snagged a copy before seeing the movie. Though I hadn't actually seen the movie yet I couldn't help but imagine the protagonist as looking like Will Smith. Boy, was it really jarring when, towards the end of the book, they described the protagonist as having grown a thick BLOND beard. That was the first time it had occurred to me that the protagonist was white. They may have described him as blond in the very beginning, but my internal image of Will Smith was stronger than the short description the book had given pages and pages ago.

To some people, race is just a cosmetic thing about their character. They don't feel like exploring the edges of humanity by playing something non-human, they just liked the pointy ears.

I've been guilty of this. One time I had the urge to play a kobold bard just because I liked the idea of a little lizardish creature, dressed up in a wide-brimmed hat with a feather, jumping around and playing the fiddle. There was no deeper motivation there. I was actually prepared to be the brunt of mistrust because of my race and was eager to climb that roleplaying mountain, but it just never came up probably due to the fact that we were playing the World's Largest Dungeon and by the time my character appeared the group's theory was "strength in numbers - if they don't attack us they can join us."

Hussar was actually the DM for this game and he asked me on at least one occasion why I didn't just play a halfling if I wanted a short charismatic fiddle-player. The answer was, I just wanted a kobold this time.

That might not have been exactly what Hussar was talking about, since I'm pretty sure everybody in the group new I was a kobold, but my choice of being a kobold in that game was about on the same level as the choice of her wearing a floppy wide-brimmed hat with a feather. And probably on the same level as her being a HER, actually. I wouldn't have been surprised with that character if some player had turned to me and said, "Wait, the kobold's a she?" Her gender just wasn't very important to her character.

I think it's less important to make sure people know your race than it is to make sure people know your character and can tell the difference between your character and everyone else's character. If your race is part of that identity, fine. If it's not, that's fine as well.

This is all assuming you're playing with people who value roleplaying and getting into character, of course. If you're playing a game with a bunch of tacticians who don't even remember their own characters' names because that isn't why they play, then that's a whole different story.

 

[Jack99]

Jack99 - Author intention is meaningless. It's always nice when you can go back, rewrite the story, and change things. Dekker is only a Replicant in one version of the story. He certainly isn't in the Phillip K Dick story. Scott may like rewriting history, but, meh, Lucasing a story so it follows your own point of view is weaksauce at best.

Well, when people refer to Blade Runner, I am willing to bet that most if not almost all refer to the movie, not to the book. Especially when you consider that the book is called Do Androids dream of electric sheep (or something, I only know the Danish title) instead of Blade Runner. So when you mention "Blade Runner", people have no way of knowing that you are referring to something where Ridley Scott's vision is not relevant.

 

[Blair Goatsblood]

...we were playing the World's Largest Dungeon...

Hussar was actually the DM for this game...

So how was the roleplaying in this character driven adventure?

 

[Merkuri]

So how was the roleplaying in this character driven adventure?

It was mixed. Obviously this was not a high-RP-style game, but those of us who enjoyed that sort of thing got into our characters. Those who didn't care... didn't. There were some memorable characters and some that were just blips. We also went through a TON of players that campaign so the playstyles were very mixed.

I think the most memorable character was actually two characters in one... One player decided to play a dumb-as-bricks, hulked out orc barbarian and though he enjoyed being able to smash things to bits he started to get bored with the one-dimensional character, so Hussar decided to throw in an intelligent chaotic neutral axe that could take over the orc's body whenever it wanted to. The orc didn't mind this in one bit, and the player was allowed to RP the axe however he wanted. It made for some really tense negotiations when we actually came in contact with some non-hostiles (or "pre-hostiles" in some cases), since the axe's only goal seemed to be destruction and the orc was happy to play along with that. That player had a lot of fun going between the gullible orc and the nihilistic axe.

And yes, everyone knew without a doubt that he was an orc.

 

[fanboy2000]

Well, when people refer to Blade Runner, I am willing to bet that most if not almost all refer to the movie, not to the book. Especially when you consider that the book is called Do Androids dream of electric sheep (or something, I only know the Danish title) instead of Blade Runner. So when you mention "Blade Runner", people have no way of knowing that you are referring to something where Ridley Scott's vision is not relevant.

You got the english title right. Its Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Another favorite title of mine from Dick: We Can Remember it for You Wholesale. (Good story too.)

Anyways. I know what you're saying Hussar, my first PC was either an elf or a half-elf (I can't remember which) solely because it allowed me to play a thief/mage in 2e. Race really didn't play a part of my role playing. In my defense, I didn't know enough about elves in D&D to do it any kind of justice.

My last PC in a long campaign was an Elf wizard and I played up the elf aspect to the hilt.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

On a related note to this. Sometimes I wish people would NOT play up the roleplaying aspects of their character. Last night, I played in an LFR game with a guy who was playing a Dwarf Avenger. He talked in a gruff voice all the time. But I still had to ask him what race he was as he uses this voice for an Orc character he has, a Shifter character he has, as well as another Dwarf he plays.

But the more problematic roleplaying was that his character wanted to hunt demons. In order to play up this part of his character, he kept yelling out "DEMONS!" In our 5 hour long game, he probably did it about 30 times. We were investigating some thefts that were happening at a festival. He immediately said "Stuff is being stolen? DEMONS!" We got a hint that it might be some children stealing the stuff. He said, "The children must be DEMONS!"

If it wasn't for the RPGA rules against attacking or harming other players or their characters...I was about to stab him in the face.

 

[Hussar]

Well, when people refer to Blade Runner, I am willing to bet that most if not almost all refer to the movie, not to the book. Especially when you consider that the book is called Do Androids dream of electric sheep (or something, I only know the Danish title) instead of Blade Runner. So when you mention "Blade Runner", people have no way of knowing that you are referring to something where Ridley Scott's vision is not relevant.

I would point out that the version you are talking about was released about twenty years after the original version. In the original, Decker's race was totally not an issue. Like I said, it's a bit of a ret-con because he's now a huge name director and can get away with it.

But, I would also point out that this fits exactly with what I was saying. If there is a reason for keeping the race a secret, that's one thing. That's playing the character. I would not expect that doppleganger spy to go around announcing his species to all and sundry and it might very well (depending on the group) be a secret from the other players.

That's groovy. And, that's what's going on in Blade Runner. It's the Big Reveal at the end of the movie. Great. Totally NOT what I'm talking about.

So how was the roleplaying in this character driven adventure?

Pass/Agg snark aside, this was the World's Largest Dungeon. It was a pretty high hack campaign. Yet, funnily enough, as Merk points out, I remember clearly the goblin thief at the beginning, the kobold bard, the orc barbarian, even the dwarf cleric that only lasted a couple of sessions at the beginning.

Yet, the only reason people knew the elf ninja was an elf, is because I brought it up ((more along the lines of "Where is that "%)$%$(% elf boy? He's late again?" and the fact that after we booted his backside out of the group, I killed his character in a rather gruesome way. )) The only reason he took elf was for the Dex bonus.

In our later Savage Tide game, we had a grippli druid who played up her race all the time - climbing on stuff, riding a climbdog, funny voice. We had a Lupin fighter that played up his race constantly. The tiefling scout set himself on fire frequently just because he could. The only cipher character was my own DMPC Healbot cleric and that's because, well, he was the healbot. He wasn't there to do anything else. 'sides, he was human.

So, yeah, my players are pretty damn good. The ones that I play with regularly anyway. They've all made a pretty decent effort to make sure that everyone at the table knows what they are trying to portray. Great roleplayers all and I'm really lucky to have them.

On a related note to this. Sometimes I wish people would NOT play up the roleplaying aspects of their character. Last night, I played in an LFR game with a guy who was playing a Dwarf Avenger. He talked in a gruff voice all the time. But I still had to ask him what race he was as he uses this voice for an Orc character he has, a Shifter character he has, as well as another Dwarf he plays.

But the more problematic roleplaying was that his character wanted to hunt demons. In order to play up this part of his character, he kept yelling out "DEMONS!" In our 5 hour long game, he probably did it about 30 times. We were investigating some thefts that were happening at a festival. He immediately said "Stuff is being stolen? DEMONS!" We got a hint that it might be some children stealing the stuff. He said, "The children must be DEMONS!"

If it wasn't for the RPGA rules against attacking or harming other players or their characters...I was about to stab him in the face.

Heh, well, there's always too much of a good thing.

 

[Hussar]

Ok, a further thought occurs.

A while back I was playing a human cleric of Cuthbert. Real old Testament type, fire and brimstone. He believed that sinners should be cleansed by the fires of truth and proceeded to set fire to as many sinners as he could.

A few levels later, I took a level in Half Fire elemental because it really fit (IMO) with the character. He gained some fire immunity, could chuck some fire related spells and he looked like he was on fire most of the time. Kinda like Ghost Rider without the boniness. I played it to the hilt. Really had a blast with the character.

After the campaign ended, one of the other players asked if my character was a genasi. I explained no, and what had happened.

So, did I fail my own criteria?

IMO, no, I didn't. There was no reason why my character would stop thinking of himself as human. He gained the abilities through a ritual (not the 4e kind - an RP kind) and his faith in his god. He was being rewarded for his fervor with a miracle. For all intents and purposes, he still thought of himself as human. He wasn't born this way at all.

But, on the other hand, no one at that table would think that I was just another human. They might not know exactly by the rules what I was, but, they knew something was up.

Sometimes, yes, there are perfectly good reasons why the other players at the table might not know the exact mechanics of your character. That's so not what I'm talking about. If there is a good reason for why the other players don't know something, that's fine. But, if the only reason is because the player is too lazy to actually play his or her character, then, that's poor roleplaying.

Fun or not fun doesn't enter into it. We're talking about quality of roleplay here. The quality of how well you portray your character. If the four or five other people have no idea what you are, for no reason than you just didn't bother putting any effort into it, then, IMNSHO, that's poor roleplaying.

Tycho portrays a great cleric. Fantastic. Piss poor half elf.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

I'm sorry, your logic is still lacking.

Your main argument seems to be: Unless you go out of your way to be an irritating as hell stereotype and ensure everyone around you knows at all times you're x race, you're a dirty power gamer.

Hey, fun fact: Maybe some elves act like humans because, holy crap, acting like something isn't an inherent part of your race. Elves do not have the Haughty Jerks gene. Dwarves are not genetically inclined to speak in bad Scottish accents.