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

[Storminator]

I'm playing a stereotypical dwarf.

He was raised in a human village, after his father abandoned the dwarvish lands for reasons that are never discussed. He has no first hand knowledge of dwarves, and acts exactly as he thinks everyone expects dwarves to act. My DM commented "so, the real dwarves laugh at your lederhosen?" Which sums up my character perfectly.

PS

 

[Blair Goatsblood]

Fair enough. If that's all you want out of gaming, then cool. Me, I want characters that actually have personalities. That are actually memorable. It just annoys the crap out of me when the only reason to pick a race is for the bonuses. "Oh, really? You're a ((Insert race here))" is, to me, a complete failure to role play on the part of the player.

Ahh, I meant it more in a "having fun is a priority over method acting" manner.

I'm not in a position to judge how good a job someone is doing portraying an imaginary being kinda philosophy. Regardless of a player's racial choice, some players will assume funny voices, come up with elaborate backstories and make their character come alive. Other players say stuff like "I negotiate with the Baron to release the prisoner" or "I flatter the fair maiden" and want to the name their character Bob...and there's nothing wrong with either kind of player.

I'm judging someone on their acting skills, you fail as a "role player" at my table by being (OOC) disruptive, a jerk or a poor team player. If I have a friend who want to play, and I would enjoy their company at the table, if they want to name their characeter "Richard Marx" and describe their actions in a remote, clinical style, and they have fun, everybody wins.

I don't find the non-role players detrimental to a enjoyable gaming experience, if anything, they do give the gung-ho ham roleplayers more spolight real estate to showboat in. And the non-role players will porbably enjoy watching that show more than worrying about how good a job they are doing of getting into the head of and talking like a freakin' frost nobbit in a made-up world.

Beside, it seems to me that the better part of a character's personality emerges through play and the character's experiences.

Although, I still can't get my head around there being a "right way to role play a half-elf", i.e. "I dunno, I was raised by humans in a human community and people treated me differently becuase it was that kind of society, I grew up pretty well adjusted and was going to be apprenticed to a glassblower before I started this adventuring thing. I guess that's why I don't act very "half-elven...""

BTW, in my game there are no mechanical benefits to your racial choice, aside possibly making you a viable candidate for a sacrifice in carcosan ritual suicide. (with the exception of the Cactus Man character, butt hat was becuase the player found out about they existed on the planet and was really excited about having a cactus character)

And in the game "Bob the Fighter" pulls his weight and is just as important as "Thandalial Feymarchwarden the Tarot Dancer." We do spend hours in sessions "role-playing," Bob the Fighter usually just shops via. equipment lists, looks at the maps, asks questions about the world, or interacts with NPCs in his gold ole' "I ask around the town about any rumors of dungeons, monsters or treasure" style.

 

[Blair Goatsblood]

I'm playing a stereotypical dwarf.

He was raised in a human village, after his father abandoned the dwarvish lands for reasons that are never discussed. He has no first hand knowledge of dwarves, and acts exactly as he thinks everyone expects dwarves to act. My DM commented "so, the real dwarves laugh at your lederhosen?" Which sums up my character perfectly.

PS

Awesome!! My human character a standard D&D games sarcastically stereotypes the elf character "Of course can he sneak upon them! He'll be frolicking silently on blade sof grass while songbirds continue their song perched on his pointy elf hat and baby animals come up for him to pet them."

 

[fanboy2000]

I'm not sure if there's a clear, consistent, and coherent policy around here on half-elves as there is for elves, but if there are any self-identifying whiny, wishy-washy p----s out there-- and let me be clear, I am definitely not suggesting that there are-- then they are probably hammering on that Report Post button right about now.

I like half-elves because they understand that not everything is about wine tasting and eating cheese, but wine and cheese is a good combination under the right circumstances.

If it were up to dwarves, the blood an the walls would look like rorschach tests after every encounter.

 

[Hussar]

Although, I still can't get my head around there being a "right way to role play a half-elf", i.e. "I dunno, I was raised by humans in a human community and people treated me differently becuase it was that kind of society, I grew up pretty well adjusted and was going to be apprenticed to a glassblower before I started this adventuring thing. I guess that's why I don't act very "half-elven...""

Well, there might not be a "right" way to play a non-human, but, IMO, there most definitely is a wrong way. Like I said, if, several sessions into the game, one of the other players (or heck the rest of the players) turn to you and are surprised that you aren't human, then you're doing it wrong.

I'm sorry if people find that offensive, but, come on here. Isn't role assumption sort of part and parcel to role playing? Sure, I can play that Githyanki Psion just like he was Joe Fytor, but, really, at the end of the day, I have no problem with someone saying I missed out on a whole boat load of opportunities in play.

Oh, and btw, yes, I misspoke when I called Wil Wheaton's character an elf. Sue me. I'm still getting used to the whole elf/eladrin thing. I mean, aren't eladrin supposed to be a kind of elf? Is it really that far out of line to make that mistake? Sorry if it is. All I know, is that is one seriously memorable character. No one is EVER going to turn to him and say, "Jeez, you're not human?"

Which is my entire point.

It's not that you must stand on the table screaming every single chance you get that you aren't human. It's just that, IMO, if you choose a non-human race for your character, putting that five minutes of effort in during play to differentiate yourself somehow from the rest of the pack is worth it.

 

[Wepwawet]

Well, there might not be a "right" way to play a non-human, but, IMO, there most definitely is a wrong way. Like I said, if, several sessions into the game, one of the other players (or heck the rest of the players) turn to you and are surprised that you aren't human, then you're doing it wrong.

Maybe it's the other way around.
Maybe the other players are too distracted or too self centered on their role playing that they failed to notice that he's an half-elf

Or the half elf guy is such a good roleplayer that he fooled everyone into thinking he was a human until they notice that he can see in the dark.
Half-elves aren't that different from humans.
With a human upbringing what distinguishes him from another human?

EDIT: btw, I didn't listen to the podcast

 

[Hussar]

Maybe it's the other way around.
Maybe the other players are too distracted or too self centered on their role playing that they failed to notice that he's an half-elf

Or the half elf guy is such a good roleplayer that he fooled everyone into thinking he was a human until they notice that he can see in the dark.
Half-elves aren't that different from humans.
With a human upbringing what distinguishes him from another human?

EDIT: btw, I didn't listen to the podcast

Heh, it could be the other players. But, IME, it's typically not.

I think I mentioned this in my first post that this is my personal axe to grind here. Stop trying to be reasonable.

Like I've said, IMO, it's up to the player to make sure that his character is played in such a way that the other players shouldn't be shocked that he's not human. In the same way that I'm not really shocked when my friend Jin Sook is Korean or my student, Hayato, is Japanese. It's pretty apparent from talking to these people what their backgrounds are.

Then again, it flies up my nose when I get called an American all the time. I make a bit of a point of correcting people and telling them that no, I am Canadian. And when I was recently asked if I was Russian, I said no, I'm from Canada.

There's a pretty wide bit of road between hardcore stereotype and cypher. I'm not saying that you should be screaming at the top of your lungs every chance you get. But, as a player, I think you (and I mean you in the general sense, not YOU specifically) should make a five minute effort once in a while to inject into the game the fact that you are not the same species as the guy sitting next to you. It really isn't that hard.

 

[Gentlegamer]

Isn't role assumption sort of part and parcel to role playing?

In short, no. You can still be playing a role-playing game if you don't go in for role-assumption or play-acting.

 

[malraux]

I'm still unclear on how a half-elf raised among human's would act all that different. Beyond just announcing "hey guys, look at my pointy ears" the attitude and actions of half-elves is not going to be all that distinct from humans.

The elf/eladrin split is much farther in the past than a half-elf born to a human in human society. I'm not sure about the default setting or FR, but in Eberron the split happened around the age of Giants (~40,000 years ago). I agree that the really distinct races should be different in play, as the dragonborn, eladrin, dwarf, orc, etc are. But half-elf is still half human, and thus should be really close to human in the game, at least relative to dragonborn, goliaths, devas, or the other weird races.

 

[Hussar]

In short, no. You can still be playing a role-playing game if you don't go in for role-assumption or play-acting.

True. You can do that.

Certainly not my cup of tea and it's something I think that most gamers outgrow pretty quickly, but, hey, whatever floats your boat.

Just not at my table.

I don't ask for a whole lot. But, yeah, I do expect my players to play more than Fytor, "I use swords". I'm not much for funny voices and whatnot, but, a bare minimum is expected, and enjoyed, with the people I play with.

I'm still unclear on how a half-elf raised among human's would act all that different. Beyond just announcing "hey guys, look at my pointy ears" the attitude and actions of half-elves is not going to be all that distinct from humans.

The elf/eladrin split is much farther in the past than a half-elf born to a human in human society. I'm not sure about the default setting or FR, but in Eberron the split happened around the age of Giants (~40,000 years ago). I agree that the really distinct races should be different in play, as the dragonborn, eladrin, dwarf, orc, etc are. But half-elf is still half human, and thus should be really close to human in the game, at least relative to dragonborn, goliaths, devas, or the other weird races.

Well, let's use this group as an example. Originally, IIRC, Wil Weaton wasn't part of the group. His Eladrin character came in later. Now, there's a perfect opportunity. Even if you're a half-elf raised by humans, it's pretty natural to be at least a little curious about the other half of your ancestry.

So, some time after meeting Aofel (or however you spell that), the half elf character makes a point of asking questions about where the elf came from. He wants to know a bit more about the other side of the tree, so to speak. Maybe drop in the odd bit of elven dialogue (they both do speak elven).

Maybe make a point when in town (Shadowfell wasn't it?) to look up some elf stuff or buy something made by elves. Complain that the tailors never get things to fit right since you're not built like a human (a complaint I make here in Japan ALL the time - being over 6 foot and ... erm... built for comfort makes buying clothes here a real chore).

That's off the top of my head.