http://www.madadventurers.com/angry-rants-stop-playing-against-stereotypes/
>Dear Players,
>Stop picking a race and then playing the character as the exact opposite of the racial stereotypes because you think it makes your character special or unique. Stop playing the brash, impetuous elf barbarian who rejected everything about being an elf. Stop playing the cheerful, jokey, sober dwarf who hates money and became a forest naturalist. Just. F$&%ing. Stop.
/tg/, what do you think about those players who try to play against type? Who play an elf who hates forests and likes cities, or an orc who's posh and literate?
Believable Personality > Well Played Subversion > Well Played Stereotype > Poorly Played Subversion > Poorly Played Stereotype > -looks up- "Oh it's combat time? Yeah OK rollan mah dice"
Honestly though this sounds like a personal problem. Nothing personnel, kidde, but are you sure this isn't a grudge you've got with a (set of) player(s)?
I don't mind it as much. As long as all those races are still stereotypical in the world sense then I'm fine with people wanting to make their character a little special.
People really should just name names when someone pisses them off, instead of applying broad, generalized admonishments towards everyone.
>Dear Josh,
>Stop picking a race and then playing the character as the exact opposite of the racial stereotypes because you think it makes your character special or unique. Stop playing the brash, impetuous elf barbarian who rejected everything about being an elf. Stop playing the cheerful, jokey, sober dwarf who hates money and became a forest naturalist. Just. F$&%ing. Stop.
Seems like Josh made Jake pretty angry, but I don't think Jake really understands the root of the reason why.
>>44341058
I feel that people should play what they feel like playing.
Stereotypical elf is fine, but so is an elf barbarian.
>>44341153
This. People should play whatever they like. Although half-races, especially exotic ones, tend to annoy me - but that's just personal preference.
The guy's post seems to come down to "stop liking what I don't like. stop. liking. it."
I think a lot of the stereotypes are boring and dull as fuck. Even when they're borne of other stereotypes that had become boring and dull as fuck.
Let's take the elves. We all know how /tg/ likes to joke about elves. Now consider this: D&D elves are pretty much descended from Tolkien Elves. Who are, yes, better than you in every conceivable way. In fact they're so much better than you, they're not just better than you. They're also humbler about being better than you and in general than any man could hope to be. I don't recall Legolas talking shit even once.
The derivative stereotype we got was a foppish stuck-up cunt.
I wouldn't mind someone playing a Tolkien elf at my table, but I'd be cool as fuck with a barbarian elf, because at least it wouldn't be a foppish stuck-up cunt elf.
Now how does this relate to other shit as a whole? Old stereotypes are old and stale. If the player's good enough at roleplaying to make it work, then why the hell not?
>>44341104
>Believable Personality > Well Played Subversion > Well Played Stereotype > Poorly Played Subversion > Poorly Played Stereotype > -looks up- "Oh it's combat time? Yeah OK rollan mah dice"
I wholeheartedly agree with this list, in terms of who I have fun playing with the most as a DM.
>>44341058
That article is very interesting and has a lot of excellent points. Especially about how other races are human with exaggerated traits, and on how easy it it to forget whom the other players are playing.
Thanks for the read OP
>>44341058
>Article starts rambling about MUH GENNDERZ
Dropped.
>>44341263
0/10.
>>44341058
You know the point is that our adventuring party is somehow special.
There needs to be a reason why they become the immortal gods of their plane if the campaign goes on for long enough, as opposed to all the standard background folks.
The point is that no one really likes to play into stereotypes for a prolnged period of time, because if every NPC does that and you too, it quickly becomes boring.
There's no real challenge to playing everything exactly by the book. Then you could just have your computer play DnD with other computers instead if everything is exactly perfectly matching the schematics of the universe and the rulebooks.
I think he's right in that at the very least the subversion of the cliche has become cliche in itself.
>>44341301
>I live in constant fear of the tumblr sjw bogeyman, the instant I see anything like it I sperg out
>Wood/wild elves don't exist
>Dwarven lumberjacks and druids don't exist
>>44341263
>>44341405
>>44341428
So, you just came here to shill this article? Really need them clicks?
>>44341405
>>44341428
> +10 NEETbux has been added to your account
>>44341058
>/tg/, what do you think about those players who try to play against type? Who play an elf who hates forests and likes cities, or an orc who's posh and literate?
I wouldn't know, all my campaigns are human or human variant only.
>>44341301
The fuck are you even babbling about? The word "gender" is only even used at all twice, in the fucking middle of the article, 12 fucking paragraphs in. And not even about anything SJW related, just in mentioning the fact that, if you don't have figurines and your character acts radically different from "type" then it's easy for players to forget the physical characteristics of your character. What the fuck are you even getting triggered over?
>>44341577
>Human-only campaigns
My nigger.
>>44341058
>Dear Players,
>Stop picking a race and then playing the character as the exact opposite of the racial stereotypes because you think it makes your character special or unique. Stop playing the brash, impetuous elf barbarian who rejected everything about being an elf. Stop playing the cheerful, jokey, sober dwarf who hates money and became a forest naturalist. Just. F$&%ing. Stop.
No.
>>44341612
>My nigger.
It's just the least issue for everyone (also a side-effect of preferring urban fantasy), though I might be allowing Bullywugs next campaign since they've got far less "baggage", as it were.
>>44341655
>Someone has done the herculean task of making polandball even gayer
>>44341740
from what I understand, the artist is one of those tumblristas who really has a thing for gays, too.
>>44341740
that's not polandball and it's been around since before polandball became a meme
and as a matter of fact, yes it is quite gay
it also gives a fairly interesting and accurate depiction of the geopolitical views in the nordics.
>>44341775
it's also not always that gay.
>>44341775
>>44341788
Please, stop posting this shit.
>>44341797
you know if something is acceptable even to the neets and shut-ins on /b/ you're seriously not coming off as well adjusted if you immediately start complaining about how tumblr and gay it is.
>>44341301
>I trigger like Jerry Miculek
>>44341821
You do realize that /b/ is an utter shithole and that anything that's posted there should stay there?
You're not coming off as close to sane if you're relying on that crowd as your source of integrity.
>>44341821
It itsn't, though.
It's well known for being a much shittier version of Hetalia using countries no one cares about with bad jokes AND shitty idpol inserted into it
>>44341852
I know that, but /b/ has always been the least politically correct place on the internet because of the no rules thing.
If something could get posted there without people whining about how tumblr it was, then that thing probably isn't all that gay and tumblr-y.
>>44341857
Are you from somewhere in america?
The nordics are countries people do care about, and no it is not like hetalia. Additionally there is no more identity politics inserted into it than any other sort of politics.
10/10 uninformed opinion though
>>44341886
>Are you from somewhere in america?
No. Europe.
No one cares about Scandinavia beyond ebin Slartibartfast jokes. And you're dumber than a brick if you don't think it has idpol in it.
10/10 fanboi response, though. Sorry I insulted your waifu.
>>44341857
>using countries no one cares about
It's hilarious how much real life Americans are like their stereotypical version from that comic.
>>44341930
>Americans
Butthurt snownigger detected.
>>44341886
You probably need to stay in /b/, lgbt/ or /pol/ if you plan on posting. Or, you can lurk more, and recognize that you really shouldn't judge this site by its worst boards.
>>44341903
>No one cares about Scandinavia beyond ebin Slartibartfast jokes.
Ignorant people like you obviously wouldn't.
And i dare you to post any comic that isn't a "special edition" that has anything to do with identity politics.
The only times those issues come up is when it's in the media for one reason or the other.
>>44341930
apparently europeans can be ignorant too
>>44341438
>shill
Can't say for the others, but I enjoy finding new sites about GMing tips. Isn't that what /tg/ is supposed to be about too, or are we restricted to generals and quests now ?
>>44341944
>Ignorant
I'm from an irrelevant second-world European shithole and I beg you to stop with your "WAA AMERICANS R DUM AN UNCULUTRED" bullshit.
>>44341949
Nice MSPaint skills.
>>44341949
Silly anon don't you know that you're only supposed to GM and generally have fun in ways that are deemed "good fun" by everyone on /tg/?
If you do anything else or follow advice from anyone else you're obviously trying to have badwrongfun and are a heretic.
>>44341962
are you from poland or hungary or romania?
those are the only three places i know that had their sense of cultural identity raped so much that they would refer to themselves as a shithole.
>>44341944
26 million people live in the entirety of Scandinavia.
That's 0.3% of the world population.
This is not a lot.
Not giving a shit about a group of small countries with little geopolitical power is not ignorance.
>>44341973
You nailed which country I'm from desu.
Except that there are more poor European countries that refer to themselves as shitholes, just check /int/
>>44341962
>Nice MSPaint skills.
Man, if that kind of refusal of reality floats your boat...¯\_(ツ)_/¯
>>44342003
>.¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You gave your reddit away senpai.
>>44342014
You gave your newfaggotry away senpai.
>>44341986
>population
yes you had to try really hard to ignore the GDP of these countries though right?
or that they're in the g20.
>>44341993
They generally do not call themselves shitholes with this frequency though.
I'd know i'm currently staying in hungary with some relatives.
To bring this thread back on topic:
A hungarian that can have a moderate sense of national pride instead of either being a fucking nazi or being ashamed would for example be stereotype breaking and I'd love to meet people like that.
Because constantly only meeting cunts fitting the stereotype is fucking depressing.
>>44342053
>Le epic shurgging emotikon muhmay isn't reddit
Just because 4chan used it in the 2009 era doesn't mean that reddit doesn't use it now.
>>44341986
So fuck off to the Chinese or Indian version of 4chan, nignog.
eh, I liked Scandanavia and the World. It's less gay then Hetalia. It provides comical summaries of events I don't care aboutand I've stolen some of the comic ideas to use in my campaigns. Nothing but positive response from the players.
>>44342165
>It's less gay then Hetalia.
It really isn't.
>>44341058
they're players. They can play however they goddamn want. If you're the DM it's your responsibility to give them the freedom to do so without letting one special snowflake dominate the campaign.or living out their furry fetish
>>44341058
A good player isn't someone who plays a stereotype or against it. A good player is one who plays a believable character, someone consistent with the world around him/her and with well thought-out interactions with the NPCs and the enviroment.
Basically I agree with >>44341104
>>44341058
You seriously believe stereotypes reflect reality? Even more so, you think they represent entire races of creatures? You would really rather everyone play dwarves and elves the same exact way each time in order to adhere to some overly simplistic archetypes established by socially inept white nerds?
>by The Angry GM
Oh look, it's the master of shit advice
>>44341058
>implying cause and effect is only a human brain thing
>implying there are not other sapient species here on Earth
pls
>>44342364
What advice of his do you disagree with?
>>44342364
Nah, that would be John Wick.
>>44341405
True. We used to call it the Drizzt Problem, where everyone from a monstrous race was actually just the one misunderstood member with a heart of gold. It's just as creatively bankrupt, but with an added level of smugness,
>>44341886
>I know that, but /b/ has always been the least politically correct place on the internet because of the no rules thing.
No, /b/ has spent the last 5+ years being the place where teenagers go to pretend to be politically incorrect and edgy, while staying away from anything actually challenging or different. It's the Disney version of politically incorrect.
>>44342935
What if
Just what if
Monstrous races aren't just randomly murderous to everyone
Because it's not a video game
>>44343008
You're missing the actuality of the Drizzt Problem.
It was never the case where, for example, you'd get a drow who had fucked up in Menzoberranzan politics, run away to the surface, and was using their skills and sociopathic tendencies honed by their upbringing and culture to survive. It was always the one guy who looked around and said, "No, this life that is literally everything I know is wrong! I have morals compatible with late 20th/early 21st century America, and I am going to go find others who agree!"
They never were actually effected by being a drow, raised in drow culture, it was just the cruel world stereotyping them unjustly. It was something that happened to them, nothing they actually did themselves. As well, it had the problem of being usually played by That Guy, who wanted to hog the RP spotlight and turn everything back on them.
>>44341058
>Not playing elf barbarians
>when elves trend toward Chaotic as it is, and there's almost always a "wild elf" subrace
Come the fuck on, guy.
>>44341189
>Although half-races, especially exotic ones, tend to annoy me
Well that depends. Have you seen the number of humans on this board who want to bang elves or monsters or succubi?
Maybe the character's dad was just one of those.
>>44343279
>who rejected everything about being an elf
That seems to be the key part here senpai.
I mean, if you're disregarding everything it means to be an elf, why are you playing an elf? It's just a cheap ploy to give the illusion of depth where there is none.
>>44343402
Being an elf means having elf ears
>>44343402
>>44343508
Just as likely in this case, being an elf means a DEX bonus but the player doesn't want to have to roleplay any specific elf stuff.
>>44343508
If all race means in your setting is wearing a different hat then your setting is shit.
>>44343545
Well, in fairness, OP's article specifically said it was not directed towards those types of people. Although they're still shit.
>>44343545
Or maybe they're sick of that overdone "elf stuff"?
Maybe they don't want to play another blonde haired elf archer with a penchant for magic who is slightly xenophobic and lives in a tree
>>44343559
>If all race means in your setting is wearing a different hat then your setting is shit.
If all a race means is a single stereotyped culture in your setting, with no variation whatsoever, then your setting is shit.
>>44343586
Then why are you picking a race that appeals to that specific stereotype to play as?
Seriously. If the depth of your character, in lmaosubversion's case being the ostensible struggle of the oddman out among his people's culture, is functionally no different than if he were human, WHY IS HE AN ELF?
>>44343602
>No variation
There's plenty of variation within an archetype, shitposter-kun. Your failure think in terms of anything but the literal archetype and the subversion of that archetype is your own.
>>44341986
>The entire population of Scandinavia is less than that of Canada
Shit, I thought we had a low population.
>>44343586
>>44343602
There is a middle ground between 'total stereotype with literally no personality beyond cookie-cutter' and 'entire rejection of everything traditionally associated with your race.' Both of those are bad characters.
It's totally possible to be a Canadian who isn't that fond of hockey, but who likes Beaver Tails and winter, and takes pride in the Canadian hockey team winning the World Championships. You don't need to hit every extreme.
>>44341577
Wow... That seems exceptionally boring and pathetic.
>>44343701
That guy who has to play an Elf detected.
>>44343641
>Then why are you picking a race that appeals to that specific stereotype to play as?
Because they have physical characteristics that make them different such as lifespan.
>If the depth of your character, in lmaosubversion's case being the ostensible struggle of the oddman out among his people's culture
You seem strangely focused on the MUH DRIZZT bullshit. Try to actually imagine a bunchy of elves that aren't just a walking Tolkien regurgitation. There's your new and interesting Elf culture and characters.
How to do interesting settings
>Elves in the north has one type of culture
>Elves in the south have another type
>they both share similar physical characteristics such as being magical and long lifespans
>but their have entirely different base cultures
>mix these two things to create interesting characters and a good setting
Eat shit if you aren't doing this
>>44343701
only human games are usually make more sense on setting and mixing more races doesn't add fun to any game:
If the game was boring with all humans it will be boring with all races mixed.
If the game wasn't boring with all humans, it won't be more fun just for adding more races.
It's the players and GM who makes a game fun, the number of races on the party.
>>44343728
>Because they have physical characteristics that make them different such as lifespan.
If you've accepted that they have meaningful differences in physical characteristics, how the everloving fuck can you argue that they would not develop meaningful differences due to mentalities and psychologies FORMED from those differences?
Do you think the whole aloof long-game-playing elf meme just popped out of nowhere, or developed out of an acknowledgement that a species whose lifespan tends to hit the 4th digit mark would have a completely different sense of scale than one that was lucky to hit 100?
And JESUS FUCK WHAT A BAD TIME TO REALIZE I NEVER SAVED THAT ONE ANON'S STORYTIME ABOUT THIS CRAZY ELF IN HIS CAMPAIGN WHO WAS TRYING TO REVIVE HER LOVER AND DID ALL SORTS OF INSANE SHIT LIKE STORING VIALS OF HER OWN BLOOD OVER THE MILLENNIA FOR THE MOST MUNDANE OF FUCKING REAONS
>>44343933
Anon, you're retarded. Learn to read.
>>44341104
Yup. I concur.
>>44341058
Deconstruction is an important part of the creative process, deal with it.
>>44343987
Anon, you're retarded, learn to present your point.
If an elf has a personality archetype, such as aloofness or ultra-long-term thinking, and you disregard all that, but STILL acknowledge that they have those physical differences WHICH IS PART OF THE REASON THEY HAVE THAT ALTERNATE WAY OF THINKING, THAT "ARCHETYPE," then you have zero leg to stand on.
Unless you're just some random dumbass popping in to give his 2 cents in a conversation that wasn't involving you, in which case fuck off.
>>44341829
My /k/nigga...
>>44344059
No, learn to read. You're a shitstuffing imbecile.
>Elves have base physical characteristics that affect their society/personalities
>But they also have cultures that are completely different from each other elves based on geography and other factors
>You combine these two things to make interesting characters that break stereotypes like >>44343586
>>44343701
>Wow... That seems exceptionally boring and pathetic.
I do not know why you would say that. In my experience being alive there is typically more difference between individual humans than between fictional races.
Meaning that at the long run you can easily gain the same variety by not veering away from the human template in the first place.
Traditional humanoid races were usually meant to symbolize and exaggerate hated/lauded human characteristics and fears.
In a role-playing context, these characteristics are therefore within a range of expression you can reasonably expect your players to portray.
Or, in other words, a good player will portray an interesting greedy human. A bad player will portray a bad greedy person no matter if you give them the opportunity to play a dwarf or not.
TL;DR: I don't think so, because it just isn't how I've experienced it.
>>44344108
>Literally agreeing with what I said, that elves have base physical characteristics that affect their society/personalities
>Speaks in terms of vague shit like "elf stuff" and gets angry when someone explain why some "elf stuff" is pretty fucking intrinsic
>Now just shitflinging for the sake of flinging shit
Whatever cocksnorter, learn to speak clearly and maybe you won't be so mad when you're misunderstood.
>If you don’t believe in self-determination and you realize the universe is inevitable and beyond your control, your decision making process is different from a human one on such a fundamental level that it’s incomprehensible.
But that is exactly what I believe and I am a normal functioning human being.
And how is cause and effect a human construction?
>>44341104
I'd say that a poorly-played subversion is much worse than a poorly-played stereotype, but otherwise, I agree.
>>44343933
>>44343106
>>44342935
Related
>>44345493
Nice, thanks
>>44341058
>Don’t pick a race unless, in your heart, you want to be a member of that race.
lulwut
I don't think there's anything wrong with deliberately subverting the cliche, but I can see how one person doing it over and over and acting like it's clever and original each time could inspire hatred of it in others.
ITT: people who are that guy who just plays the opposite of whatever the stereotype is and thinks he's being clever
If you find the stereotype boring then the simple answer would be to not play as that race. And if for some reason you have to then start off with the stereotype and then have your character grow as he gains new experiences throughout the course of the campaign.
And when I say grow, what I don't mean is that if you want your character to become more trusting and less xenophobic you should just take him in that direction even if he repeatedly gets screwed over by other races. I know this is roleplaying 101 and I probably shouldn't have to explain it, but from everything I've seen over the years, I do. I really, really do.
>>44341104
Subversions are shit, kiddo
>>44341737
>liking urban fantasy
Oh I get it now. You're a faggot
>>44347823
ITT: people who play one dimensional caricatures that think they can roleplay accusing others who have half a brain of being bad
Your characters are boring, dave. This is like the sixteenth drunk dwarf wielding an axe you've played.
>>44348366
What's wrong with urban fantasy?
>>44348522
What isn't? It's almost as bad as Steampunk.
Buffy was never good, get over it.
>>44348366
>Oh I get it now. You're a faggot
Meh. It works for me and the people I play with so ... yeah.
>>44348366
>having no imagination
And he actually insults others!
>>44349026
>urban fantasy
>imaginative
Oh boy, I sure love vampires and werewolves or angels and demons!
>>44349064
Ironically, you just showed everyone how limited your imagination is gg m8
>>44348455
I think I may have hit a nerve. I never said play the stereotype and only the stereotype - the core of roleplaying is building your character, you should just use the stereotype as a starting point.
It's just that taking a typical description like 'the barbarian is a thuggish, heavily-muscled man who likes fighting and drinking' and just switching the words 'thuggish', 'heavily-muscled', 'fighting and drinking' with 'peaceful', 'skinny', 'ballet and a quiet night in' is not clever. Or, at this point, in the least bit original. As many people have commented, doing the opposite of the cliche has become a cliche in and of itself. Except that it's infinitely more annoying and unjustified and the smug little shits who do it really need to just fuck off.
>>44341058
>Stop playing the brash, impetuous elf barbarian who rejected everything about being an elf.
Fun fact, those are called "Wild Elves" in the Forgotten Realms.
>Who play an elf who hates forests and likes cities
That sounds like a perfectly ordinary High Elf.
>>44349224
>doing the opposite of the cliche
Why does it have to be the opposite?
The funny thing about that "subversion" is that one of my players played the elfiest elf he possibly could.
Who was also a pyromaniac. Who was banished for seeing how well a sacred grove would burn.
Basically, he played it straight as a xenophobic elf who thought he was better than everyone else, except when it came to fire.
>>44350133
>reading comprehension
Not him, but that's the exact thing people do: being opposite or so subverted they might as well be
>>44341788
>can't use the oil lamp as a weapon
That did always bug me
>>44341219
>derivative stereotype we got was a foppish stuck-up
So warhammer elves and eldar?
>>44341763
She likes gay stuff but she's never express any of the sex hating straight bashing logic defying shit that actual tumblrinas.
>>44351956
Warhammer races, even humans, are pretty much all 100% crazy or 100% imperialist or 100% this or that. It's part of the whole deterministic grimdark thing.
>retards upset that someone dared question their shitty, obvious subversion of a stereotype
>dumbass posting shitty tumblr comic
>people baiting in between
>>44352604
>being this mad that your characters are cardboard cutouts
>>44352635
I've only played a single tabletop setting that had races. In that one, I played a wood elf trying to become a folk hero in his forest.
I'm sure you're selfless dwarf and genius, civilized orc were very interesting and totally took everyone by surprise at the table.
>>44352715
>I've only played a single tabletop setting that had races
And yet here you are shitposting about something you have basically no experience with
wew lad
>>44353022
>this upset his special snowflake is openly recognized as shit
You are so clever, anon.
>>44341058
>impetuous elf barbarian
>playing against type
...how? even in LotR many of them were barbarians who needed to be taught metalworking
>Stop playing the cheerful, jokey, sober dwarf
>comic relief race can't be funny
>race that lives underground with no way of making alcohol can't dare be sober
>race that uses axes can't hang out where there's trees to chop
ok
>>44341219
Surprisingly, the vast majority of elf PCs I've seen are basically V from OotS or Thief from 8bit Theatre, a skeezy, morally grey, arrogant racist who doesn't care what it takes to win.
>>44342935
What's funny is that bitching about Drizz't is far more prevalent and annoying than Drizz't clones, as you can go years without seeing a Drizz't clone, but you're lucky to go a day without someone bitching about them.
Not to mention Lolthian cunts are way more annoying and nofunallowed.
Even in the forgotten realms series, not all dark elves were evil. There were surface dark elves that didn't worship lolth. It's boring if all of a certain type of race has the same outlook/background/lifestyles/values
>be DM
>Create a setting
>Get into it
>Like really into it
>I mean, holy shit, I invented a language with polysynthetic grammar just to make the story cool
>see thread
>get bummed out
>I make elves the industrial assholes instead of humans
>all this work to be cool all for naught
>end us being history's biggest edgelord.
>>44341058
/tg/ hates being told they aren't as clever, subversive, or interesting as they think they are.
>>44347823
No one gives a shit about annoyingly stuck up racist elf #157. No one gives a shit about grumpy alcoholic racist dwarf #51. You are the kind of dude who shat his pants while watching the new Hobbit movie and going "ZOMG, Fili and Kili are so pretty they could be mistaken for elves, that's not in the book!"
>dwarf that loves blacksmithing and geology but is bad with alcohol
>elf who has lived for hundreds of years who enjoys observing interesting creatures of short lived races, is bad with outdoors activities and gets tired easily
>orc barbarian who finds an interest in books after learning to read
>orphaned tiefling who grew up in a monastery and became a paladin but has difficulty suppressing his sadistic nature
Is this too subversive snowflake?
>>44341058
>essential human traits
Why do assholes like this guy assume "awareness of causality" and "knowledge of mortality" and other ultra basic shit like that is limited to humans in terms of fictional races?
Unless you're roleplaying in The One Ring, your elf is probably aware of cause and effect, and your elf is mortal (as in subject to death; an ageless diseaseless person, as it has been calculated, will generally still not live past 600 due to inevitable accidents/violence etc).
This moron also tries to describe what separates humans & demihumans is "amplification of certain behavioral traits." No. No fantasy race worth a shit is just "humans with amplified xyz." Shit like "we should hug trees" is not an elf centric trait, halflings and humies in LotR are just as tree huggy. In LotR it was humans who worshiped a tree and in LotR it was halflings who befriended the ents.
How about living for 600ish years and never sleeping? Elves would probably have values from 200-400 years ago and their societies would be ultra conservative in nature, almost a total lack of progressivism of any sort. Of course, what would be "progressive" and "conservative" for them could also be totally bizarre -- "its pretty appalling that there isn't enough public fornication and human sacrifices in today's temple services, I bet the dwarves did this." These are also people who ALL (in 3e and 4e) train how to use longbows (80 to 100 pound pull), meaning they're, on average, STRONG AS FUCK, male or female, and can and will kill you if necessary.
How about dwarves? They live for about twice as long as a human, so most of the above applies to them, to a lesser degree. They are often portrayed (depending on edition) as having 50% more men than women, so a lot of them are permanently alone (or homos, no comment). A huge portion of their populace could go off to war or die in a mine accident without reducing the population of future generations. They live in dark holes in the ground.
>>44353354
He's talking about people being completely subversive about the setting, not the setting doing something different. If you had the elves be industrial metal workers, but still xenophobic cunts, that'd be cool. Blending the stereotype into a new aesthetic.
>>44353763
Last two are.
>>44353852
Why?
>>44353867
Orcs as a race shouldn't find knowledge interesting in the slightest. Their qualities are quite clearly defined. The first two don't really directly subvert any of their race's qualities, except the dwarf with alcohol but it's really minor. Elf that isn't athletic? Not a big deal.
Orc BARBARIAN that likes books? Doesn't make sense. The tiefling just screams, I really wanted to play this edgy race but I didn't want to be evil.
>>44341058
Actually, a cheerful and jokey sober dwarf sounds pretty based...
>>44353806
And lets face it, elves can be awake or at least seemingly awake 24/7, while dwarves can be staring at you from the darkness. That's going to be uncanny as fuck.
If dwarves have underground crops like in Dwarf Fortress, then there's probably no limit on their population, as they can expand in three dimensions while humans can only expand over the surface of the earth, and they're probably all over the place, underfoot. They probably view humans as having limited, two dimensional mindsets and imaginations. Dwarves are probably not all miners, since they, in that scenario, still have ones that tend helm plumps and such.
If underground crops aren't really a thing, then we're dealing with a race likely dependent on human, elven, or halfling traders for their staples, who can't even make their own booze. They work hard, and are probably rich as fuck (being a miner for 100+ years straight is going to earn you mega mula), but there's probably no "dwarven ale" so much as "ale sold to dwarves."
>>44353903
>>44353763
Bullshit. Orc barbarian fascinated with knowledge is perfectly fine. Wasn't there a Cherokee or some such who found a bunch of english books, got intrigued and wrote his own language using random english characters?
>inb4 "orcs only represent NEGATIVE barbarian stereotypes!"
Nah. Orcs usually have written languages in some form, presumably people like that is how, if its a borrowed, corrupted language. Some realize there's power in words, and they're right.
>>44353903
>Orcs as a race shouldn't find knowledge interesting in the slightest.
Prove it
>>44353954
>Cherokee
>Barbarians
>violent and simple
Okay, pal.
>>44353961
Read the goddamn books on their culture.
>>44354217
>Read the goddamn books on their culture.
Burden of proof
>>44354217
Barbarians are relevant to virtually any relatively low tech culture, basically anything not completely agricultural and specialized, from North American tribes to the Norse. 3e D&D's orcs-as-barbarians are most likely inspired by the Mongolian overtones of orcs in LotR.
Not to mention orcs are by default a race with a written language across most editions, so, again, somewhere down the line some orc had to have become literate.
And again,
>inb4 "orcs only represent NEGATIVE barbarian stereotypes!"
Its not a "subversion" that some orcs become literate in a game where orcs are not more predisposed to illiteracy.
>>44341788
I kek'd
>>44348589
What about Call of Cthulhu, that's urban fantasy, right?
>>44354637
BAITING! BAITING IS WHAT GIVES LIFE MEANING!
>>44341219
>>The derivative stereotype we got was a foppish stuck-up cunt.
You can also just play up the stereotype but put a fun spin on it. I played an elf that spent 30 minutes every morning gelling his hair and once proclaimed that, as an elf, his priorities outranked those of most gods.
You could probably play 100 different elves that were distinctly elves but felt fresh. I find elves stuck-upness makes them good for comedy when they fail.
If you played an elf like Vegeta from Dragon Ball, it'd probably work just fine.
It's honestly baffling how close minded some people are when it comes to fantasy, at least on /tg/.
>>44354793
You can also play a subversion that is fun and fine. It's the player that makes the character, not the theme.
>>44355093
There's a lot of /pol/tards on /tg/. They love pretending they're white crusaders and think fantasy races are supposed to specifically represent human ethnicity.
>>44355266
Not sure if /pol/tard is intended to indicate everyone from pol or just a certain class of people from /pol/, but injecting politics into RPGs is not remotely universal
I mean, if that's all there is to the characters or the extent of them being thought out, yeah, that sucks, but if the problem is that they're defying stereotypes at all, then it could read like this:
>Dear Players,
>Stop picking a race and then not playing the most famous version of that race with a different name because you think it makes your character special or unique. All elves are basically Legolas, so just re-skin that mofo and get to shooting arrows. Your dwarf is an alcoholic who only turned to adventuring to afford a new mining pick. Period. Stop trying to do anything else. Just. F$&%ing. Stop.
>>44355527
>>44355418
Oh, you poor, naive son of a bitch.
/pol/ is synonymous with two things: tinfoil and national socialism.
>>44355927
not really synonymous, though both are presences on the board. In reality it has a wide variety of perspectives from all across the political spectrum.
People who are shocked by the word "NIGGER" tend to think of it as a uniform nazi hivemind, however.
>>44355986
>People who are shocked by the word "NIGGER" tend to think of it as a uniform nazi hivemind, however.
I'd say that's because the worst of /pol/ is what leaks onto other boards. That attitude you're describing is not exclusive to people who get offender by words.
>>44356753
>I'd say that's because the worst of /pol/ is what leaks onto other boards
Actually, the worst of /pol/ is on /pol/
>>44355986
Hello, /pol/
You neglected to mention the fact that, that diffusion of views means klansmen, conspiracy theorists, garden variety southy tough guys. Yeah, the fact that you aren't all Nazis doesn't mean the rest of you aren't something very much like them.
Now fuck off back to your containment board.
>inb4 leftist
>inb4 SJW
>inb4 Reddit
Fuck off.
>Stop picking a race and then playing the character as the exact opposite of the racial stereotypes because you think it makes your character special or unique. Stop playing the brash, impetuous elf barbarian who rejected everything about being an elf. Stop playing the cheerful, jokey, sober dwarf who hates money and became a forest naturalist. Just. F$&%ing. Stop.
Too late, but I just woke up. Fuck the guy who wrote that and the dick he rode in on.
>>44348303
>>44356798
Hello reddit.
>>44353232
That's because modern Drizz't clones avoid the literalism of the label but still suffer from the symptoms of it.
No, they're not literally Good Dark Elves who shirk the only culture they've ever known. Instead, they're City-Dwelling Elves who shirk the only culture they've ever known, or Foppish Orcs who shirk the only culture they've ever known, or Tree-Hugging Dwarves who shirk the only culture they've ever known.
Same shit, different dressing.
>>44341655
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65mvAELWq_8
I like my Warforged different from what I read in the Eberron books. (Although what I read was robots with living souls and all the emotional/mechanics baggage that carries with that)
I like them human-doll looking while having a cold/logical/weird personality. I think the question of "Does this thing have a soul" should be leaning on a strong "I don't know".
>>44341058
Nah that's stupid. One of my players is playing a race which is usually heavily armored, but he's running a monk so he's unarmored and naturalistic
It's my job to provide stereotypes. If players want to play against them, that's fine.
So one time I've made a Dwarf who was a second-generation immigrant in a human society. He ended up becoming a geologist, but never spent that much time underground. Acted (and treated) like an old man at 45. Drank a lot of booze, but I mostly tried to present it as a "that's what dwarves DO" thing.
Did I special snowflake, /tg/?
>>44341104
Nah, swap poor subversion with poor stereotype. Actually, a poor subversion can easily be worse than the last one
>>44362300
Yeah, stop playing characters with personalities other than GRUFF DORF, ARROGANT ELF, LOYAL HAFLIN.
Are you trying to roleplay or something?
>>44341135
>should just name names when someone pisses them off
Screw off Adrian, you can't tell me how to talk shit about you online.
