What are some of the most absolutely stereotypical D&D PC concepts out there? I'm talking stuff that's on par with
>cynical middle aged ex-soldier
>gigglingly insane power hungry wizard
>haughty and mysterious elf
>scantily clad, beautiful, promiscuous lesbian *anything* played by a dude
Last one is stereotypical That Guy tier rather than just a stereotypical concept. Especially if the group meets in person. No one wants to see a grown man living out his fapfics by RPing as a woman with another grown man.
>Dorf McBeardBeard
>I'm a good *evil race* I swear!
>>45865785
>not beard mchammer
>>45865582
>Orphan looking for revenge
>Evil aligned asshole who's only still in the party because the players feel like they have to enable that guy's fuckery.
>>45865582
>honourable knight
>sickly wizard
>half-elf caught between two worlds
>grumpy dwarf with a heart of gold
>dumb fighter
>thieving halfling/kender
I would list the other Companions of the Lance but they had even less personality than their idiot friends.
>>45865582
>Elf Ranger focused on bows with a wolf companion
Doesn't get any more cookie cutter than this
>Dumb Orc barbarian with a loincloth and greatsword
>Paladin whose entire characterization and motivations are exclusively "smite evil"
>Orc orphan raised to be good and [NOT BARBARIAN]
>Chaotic Stupid Rogue who is always asking if he can steal/kill/rape everything
>Brooding dude who never actually wants to be with the party, sits in the dark corners, and is generally bored with the adventure.
Fantasy is weird in that it's pretty much made entirely out of stereotypes and cliches. I mean an honorable knight and a dishonorable one are both cliches
>>45865785
>>45866683
>not Urist Ironhammer
>Male Human Fighter, marginally useful in combat and useless out of it, completely bland, yet somehow assumed to be the hero of the story and leader of the party
>>45867055
I wouldn't call the guy who fights giant monsters with a pointy metal stick bland
>itt hipsters
Not everything has to be about your super unique snowflake otherkin characters
>>45867191
Then there's that guy who takes people bringing up cliches personally and starts throwing out assumptions.
>>45867191
The super unique snowflake otherkin character is the worst cliche of them all.
Maybe not PC concepts, but.
>Recurring Villains or Rivals with their own laugh, bonus points if they're largely comedic relief and have a mustache of which they twirl oft
>[insert Mook Race here] King or Leader being significantly larger and possibly a crown, scar, or other unique feature
>Rival Party perfectly mirroring Player Party's classes and number, or in the least, their roles in the party
>>45867191
Its one thing to have elements of a cliche like "knight fighter from a noble family who is adventuring," its another to have your character be entirely that cliche and nothing else.
I think that is the big line in the sand. If your character is just a cliche with nothing else going on, its boring. If its a super unique snowflake its usually cringey.
Take Geralt from The Witcher. He's a monster slayer who hooks up with super hot witches all the time (cliche as fuck). But he has a lot else going on, political shit, his entire relationship with Ciri is an interesting departure from cliche, the fact he doesn't revel in the monster slaying, its just a shitty job he does because thats all he knows. It create a more nuanced character than what can be summed up in one sentence.
>>45867389
>It create a more nuanced character than what can be summed up in one sentence
"Promiscuous monster hunter who hates his job"
>>45866683
>Not Beardaxe Axebeard
>>45867055
The problem is DnD does a shitty job of emulating the fiction its supposedly based on.
>>45867459
>Not Urist McUristUrist, father of Urist, son of Urist, grandson of Urist, and current Scion of the Great Urist, founder of clan McUristUrist of the dwarven fortress state of Uristholm
>>45867498
Fight Or was pretty based in 0e, 1e, Classic, and 2e (until bloat). 3e is more based on Magic: the Gathering than pulp fantasy and does a pretty good job of emulating the "spellcaster master race" feel of the card game.
>>45867737
>>45867498
In my experience a lot of powergamers go human fighter (muh bonus feat) and use all these feats to create an endlessly cleaving monster. Especially if they go the mounted combat route. Not that they never play casters and do insane bullshit too but Fighters seem capable of steam rolling over half the campaign in 3.P anyway.
>>45867849
That's because those munchkins suck at their job and fail to understand how narrative control and utility works.
So, they build a damage dealer because that's all their vidya gaemer mentality can handle, and proceeded to kill things to "win" because the DM is shit at his job and can't design and balance encounters for crap.
Or its an AP, which are designed retardedly so that even a completely unoptimized party can stroll through it with relative ease
>>45867849
what the actual fuck is this post
>>45867389
>If your character is just a cliche with nothing else going on, its boring.
>Plucky high school graduate seeks to break the mold only to be held back by their vassal lord, erm I mean employer.
It's not about how cliched your character concept is, it's about how you, THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS AT THE TABLE BREAK THAT CLICHE.
>>45867929
Sometimes it's more fun to see what you can make out of martial class than a casting one even if just making a cleric would probably be better. Sometimes the goal is "See how far I can get my characters reach with unarmed weapons to be" or something like that
>>45867989
My experience with powergaming rules lawyers over the years. They will find some way to make whatever they are playing pull off some kind of bullshit. It feels less like a class balance problem and more like a player/DM problem.
Paladin that went on a pilgrimage to a mountain monastery, got caught in landslide. Found by a woman picking berries, she nursed him back to health. He lost his memory and thinks he's a fighter, no one in boonies village knows of paladins. Most of em can't read, so he became the village sheriff and record keeper that can ease wounds and illness with backrubs and company. Began relationship with said woman, and fell off roof of house and regained memory. He has wife and kids back home, travels home and finds out that they died in a raid by a gangleader/warlord. Sets off to bring him to justice after best friend blacksmith reforges his old sword into its former glory. Promises to return, dead or alive.
>rate me
I'm playing a lawful neutral noble warrior, (buff/fighter) who's way down in the line of succession. He's adventuring and looking for lands to conquer.
>>45868037
I smell a reallybad__sitcom.
Can say it's not the clichéd concept that makes it good or bad, it's how the player pulls it off.
It also doesn't hurt if you have some sort of negative atribute.
>>45867440
>implying most characters can't be summed up in one sentence.
Also Geralt originally came from like the 90's where most stereotypes now come from. He wasn't really a stereotype during his original creation.
>>45865582
>stronk wymyn who don't need no man
bonus points if lesbian
>>45865582
>drow with dark elf autism who's totally not evil u guise
>>45865582
>The exiled noble fighter trying to reclaim his land
>Poor noble son forced into mercenary work
Stereotypes normally played by 'that guy'
>Paladin who obeys the letter of every fucking law and is a massive dick
>Chaotic Idiot kleptomaniac rogue who steals from everyone because 'lol random'
>The druid who doesn't do anything and has no strong beliefs because 'dude I'm neutral'
>Evil assassin who keeps his dark past secret from the party
The most stereotypical concept of all:
>the obvious ripoff of some meme-character from the latest flavor-of-the-month fandom
Paladin
>>45865582
>scantily clad, beautiful, promiscuous hetero female *anything* played by a dude
I'm guilty of this.
>>45865582
> High rouge who thinks he is a paladin and shite.
Stoopid!
>>45865582
>Bob the human Fighter
>fights with a longsword and shield
>likes beer
>cleave
>never rps outside of taverns
>>45869662
Triple points if she isstraight as a board, and wants to fuck the wizard.
>>45872153
>not making her bi for maximum lewd potential
You disgust me.
>>45872153
>>45873129
>not being so caught up in adventure that your PCs might as well be asexual outside of a few passing mentions, if any
shm desu senpai
>>45873236
>not making xir a lithropanromantic demisapiosexual genderflux plantkin
You fucking shitlord I'm so triggered I'm having a panic attack daddy get my inhalers
>elderly barbarian reliving his youth
Would you play it?
>>45875175
Hell yeah id play Coenn the Barbarian!
>>45875293
>buys a mule and names it after his mighty warhorse from the good old days
>RAAAAAAAAAaagh, my knees.
>>45872153
>>45873129
The stereotype is actually to make her a lesbian, because the same sweaty fatbeard who's getting his jollies on from imagining his character being sexy can't bear the thought of imagining her next to a penis. It's considered so lowly because it makes it all the more clear that he's in it 100% for the sexual fantasy, not the "opportunity to play someone else".
>>45875175
I've had a hankering of playing an old dwarven barbarian that was the shit back in his younger days, but is now old and useless. Basically a level 15+ barbarian that age (or vampires or shit if you can't buy it from fluff perspective) brought down to low levels. Now he goes out for a last adventure, not even interested in coming back. A death seeker, grabbing his axe and wanting to die in glory of battle.
>>45876668
>cishetwhitemale playing a queer minority woman
Should be celebrated for doing more for diversity
>>45867296
>>Recurring Villains or Rivals with their own laugh, bonus points if they're largely comedic relief and have a mustache of which they twirl oft
I fucking love these. They're always a ton of fun when they show up.
>>45878067
But then it's cultural appropriation, because they're not a queer minority woman.
>>45875316
>>45875293
>>45875175
Conan was pretty well seasoned by the time we meet him in his first story.
>>45867849
I've mostly heard about spiked chains and tripping
>>45879339
Unreasonably so.
>>45867296
Just to say - you have all of this in One Piece, and it works great.
>>45866683
>beard mchammer
>mchammer
>mc hammer
>>45876668
>Not liking dicks
What are they, faggots?
I'll give you one that's the complete opposite of what you want.
Chaotic Neutral Wood elf Swashbuckler , former bounty hunter who switched jobs to merchant opened a shop and likes to compete in tournaments every once in a while.
Went of to join a sword-fighting tournament and when he returned he found his shop and qt apprentice burned to ashes by evil cultists.
Is out for over-exaggerated vengeance because of this.
>>45884953
Could say he was out for...Revengeance
>>45868072
This is how my friends and I always did it when we still played 3.5. I actually had a player who did the "get his reach as high as possible" thing. He was a changeling Fighter/Warshaper/Dervish who specialized in Kusari-gamas to at least marginally balance out the bullshit since 1d6/1d4 isn't toooo devastating. He was still arguably the most powerful character in the party other than the wholly unoptimized sorcerer (and later the chargebarian warforged juggernaut. We banned chargebarians shortly after). My group has always been fairly good about striking a balance in a flawed system. We house rule weaker things to be stronger most of the time and when people play something inherently stupidly strong they will either not optimize it or actively gimp it to compensate.Eventually none of that was enough to keep me interested in 3.PF though.
>>45867849
I'm sick of all the masterwork human fighter shit....
>>45866885
>grumpy dwarf with a heart of gold
It's funny how that character had so little personality or importance that the only thing I remember about him is he randomly dies of a heart attack in one of the books and is never mentioned again.
>>45872998
We all basically work with this guy. Boring as fuck Bob who does his 9-5 shit and his only stories are hoe smashed he got the night before. Not even interesting smashed either.
>>45887377
>He's always calling the wizard a sissy and the elf a prissy fag
guess the race.
>>45872998
not as bad as bob the elf fighter
