Character 72 - Aufeillian Morgethai

This week’s random rolls brought me a challenge. I found myself with an android, living in Kyonin with a family of sorts. How to go about reconciling these oddities was quite a challenge. Tying in a love, a hated, and a god who represents a search for self, added to this conundrum. But first of course I had to choose a class.

I wasn’t really feeling any magical abilities, although a decent intelligence and exceedingly high wisdom meant he could of excelled as either an arcane or divine caster. The high wisdom and dexterity combo with a decent strength mean Monk would have been my first choice if he wasn’t neutral good. So I sought inspiration by looking at the androidentry on the PFSRD and this is where I found the Living Weapon Brawler archetype. And that was the launching off point for everything.

So a few mechanical notes before we get started. I knew I was going brawler so a warrior and I knew he was raised by elves or at least educated by them so I wanted to add something mechanically into this portion of the story. I went with the elf race trait Warrior of Old.

Secondarily I realized that two parts of his background pointed to emotion; committing his theft out of hatred or malice, and having a current lover. At their base androids are emotionless which posed a problem. Luckily there is an alt racial trait called Anomaly. This made our character not only subject to emotion, but being overwhelmed even by it. I thought it added a lot to the story and I love it when mechanics can tie in nicely.

Aufeillian Morgethai

Some two-thousand years after their return from their homeworld to Golarion the elves of Kyonin are still reclaiming their ancestral lands. Much has changed through the age of darkness but they continue to make the lands once again their own. One of the most successful families to stake their claim in their forest home are the Morgethai.

The town of Riverspire is now the home of the Morgethai clan and all those who marry into the family. At one point the clan was incredibly fecund, forcing the town to grow around the stone tower that is home to the family leaders. In this day and age that has slowed to the point that many aren’t reproducing at all. Such was the case for Aleeriead Morgethai and his wife Valiani.

With his wife’s inability to bear children Aleeriead took up adventuring. His major work was with parties of elves that sought to explore and reclaim portions of Kyonin. It was with one of these parties that his family would begin to grow, for Aleeriead made a great discovery.

After the elves left Golarion – although possibly before Earthfall and the Age of Darkness – there was Rain of Stars. Much of the falling debris from the space between Golarion and the outer worlds hit in the desolate plains of Numeria. But apparently some pieces had fall far afield. Aleeriead uncovered a small pod which contained within it a creature the shape of a humanoid, but whose flesh and bone were metallic.

Ever curious Aleeried took this being back to Riverspire to be studied. His initial attempts to determine its origin and purpose proved fruitless, until – quite by accident – the being stirred and opened its eyes. Its initial words were garbled and it seemed confused. But Alleeried with the aid of Valiani worked tirelessly to find a way to communicate.

Language took it some time, but after months and years it had a grasp of the elven tongue. And although it had the ability to walk, talk, and process complex ideas, much of its memory – save snippets of the blackness of the void – was missing.  Aleeriead and Valiani took him in as their own child and taught him how to be an elf. They called him Aufeillian after Valiani’s grandfather.

Although his “parents” never hid how he was different without any history of his own, Aufeillian always consider himself elven. He was especially fond of the tales of the elven warriors of old and he studied the combat techniques of his parent’s forbearers. Like the elves Aufeillian aged slowly – if he aged at all – and he would spend hours, days, even weeks on one task to master it to elven standards.

Aufeillian was a skill combatant and despite his non-elven heritage he was taken in by one of the elven masters as an apprentice. He trained in his masters dual dagger style and eventually himself begun winning combat competitions. He was quickly becoming renown among the elves of Riverspire as one of their greatest warriors.

The turning point for Aufeillian was he finally had to compete against his master. Something had been creeping into the android’s mind. He had sense of confidence – even overconfidence – that had not been there before. No feeling had been there before. Aufeillian battled and lost but in defeat he also felt anger.

The android’s anger manifested itself in an act unlike any he had ever committed. With pure malice in his circuitry one night he stole his master’s daggers. Although he regretted his actions soon after, he could not return what he had stolen. To this day – even though he was never caught – he denies his envolvement even to himself.

Emotions were new to Aufeillian. With no sense of what he really was or where he came from he had no idea if these sensations were common to his people. He could find no answers from without so he sought answers from within. He took up a form of elven meditation and began to plumb his own feelings.

In his mind he touched what felt like another presence. He had never needed to sleep, so he had never dreamed and when the visions came he didn’t understand. Pictures of an Ibis headed woman guiding him to find other emotions within himself. He pressed some of the elven scholars as to what these visions might mean and learned of the lost Empyreal Lord Shei.  This being was a powerful agathion who taught self-actualization over the course of life and aging.

As Aufeillian began to explore his emotions he found love. At first he embraced the love of his parents and then his younger siblings. He fostered a love for all elven kind next as he appreciated his adoptive people’s acceptance. And then he found romantic love. Ulee another warrior and master swordswoman had piqued his fancy and he learned the fine art of elven courting. Sadly he was horrible at it, but she found that endearing.

Exploring his emotions mostly meant how he felt about other people. But soon the gentle push of the Ibis Matron made him look at how he felt about himself. He needed to know who he was, and what he wanted. Aufeillian sat for a full cycle of the moon. He was unmoving under the trees in his parent’s garden. And like that he had an epiphany, he was meant for battle.

At the next opportunity he set upon himself to challenge his master one more time. Aufeillian moved quicker and more precisely than before. Still has master had decades of training and the android lost one, and then the other of his daggers. Reaching within Aufeillian still surged forward and then he felt the power writhe through his limbs. From his hands daggers of pure energy emerged and his battle raged on.

Aufeillian still did not win, but he did fight his master to a standstill. He learned much about himself that day, beyond just his ability to become a weapon. He now knew that he craved competition. The elven raised android wasn’t meant to compete and he was meant to win. He desired the fame that it brought. And so Aufeillian and his love left Riverspire to head out into the world and test their skill.

I saw some great interpretations of these stats on facebook this week, but it’s never too late to add yours. What class did your android choose? Where did he find love? How did he become a champion? Who are his noble parents? Why does he choose to worship Shei?

Bringing these characters to life is a second full-time job. A pledge of as little as one dollar a month on Patreon, or a one-time donation to my paypal can help keep the lights on while I concentrate on producing new content for you.

The CRB has been growing as a community on social media. Please join us on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox is open on all forums for questions, comments, and discussion. If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to have the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon.

This week’s random rolls (link rolls) brought me a challenge. I found myself with an android, living in Kyonin with a family of sorts. How to go about reconciling these oddities was quite a challenge. Tying in a love, a hatred, and a god who represents a search for self added to this conundrum. But first of course I had to choose a class.

I wasn’t really feeling any magical abilities, although a decent intelligence and exceedingly high wisdom meant he could have excelled as either an arcane or divine caster. The high wisdom and dexterity combo with a decent strength meant Monk (link monk tag) would have been my first choice if he wasn’t neutral good. So I sought inspiration by looking at the android entry on the PFSRD (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/more-races/advanced-races-11-20-rp/android-16-rp/) and this is where I found the Living Weapon Brawler (link brawler tag) archetype. That was the launching off point for everything.

So a few mechanical notes before we get started: I knew I was going brawler, so a warrior, and I knew he was raised by elves or at least educated by them so I wanted to add something mechanically into this portion of the story. I went with the elf race trait Warrior of Old.

Secondarily I realized that two parts of his background pointed to emotion; committing his theft out of hatred or malice and having a current lover. At their base androids are emotionless which posed a problem. Luckily there is an alt racial trait called Anomaly. This made our character not only subject to emotion, but even being overwhelmed by it. I thought it added a lot to the story and I love it when mechanics tie in nicely.

Aufeillian Morgethai

Some two-thousand years after their return from their homeworld to Golarion the elves of Kyonin are still reclaiming their ancestral lands. Much has changed through the age of darkness but they continue to make the lands once again their own. One of the most successful families to stake their claim in their forest home are the Morgethai.

The town of Riverspire is now the home of the Morgethai clan and all those who marry into the family. At one point the clan was incredibly fecund, forcing the town to grow around the stone tower that is home to the family leaders. In this day and age that has slowed to the point where many aren’t reproducing at all. Such was the case for Aleeriead Morgethai and his wife Valiani.

With his wife’s inability to bear children Aleeriead took up adventuring. His major work was with parties of elves that sought to explore and reclaim portions of Kyonin. It was with one of these parties that his family would begin to grow, for Aleeriead made a great discovery.

After the elves left Golarion – although possibly before Earthfall and the Age of Darkness – there was Rain of Stars. Much of the falling debris from the space between Golarion and the outer worlds hit in the desolate plains of Numeria. However, some pieces had apparently fallen far afield. Aleeriead uncovered a small pod which contained within it a creature the shape of a humanoid, but whose flesh and bone were metallic.

Ever curious Aleeried took this being back to Riverspire to be studied. His initial attempts to determine its origin and purpose proved fruitless, until – quite by accident – the being stirred and opened its eyes. Its initial words were garbled and it seemed confused but Alleeried, with the aid of Valiani, worked tirelessly to find a way to communicate.

Language took it some time, but after months and years it had a grasp of the elven tongue. Although it had the ability to walk, talk, and process complex ideas, much of its memory – save snippets of the blackness of the void – was missing.  Aleeriead and Valiani took him in as their own child and taught him how to be an elf. They called him Aufeillian after Valiani’s grandfather.

Although his “parents” never hid how he was different and without any history of his own, Aufeillian always consider himself elven. He was especially fond of the tales of the elven warriors of old and he studied the combat techniques of his parent’s forbearers. Like the elves Aufeillian aged slowly – if he aged at all – and he would spend hours, days, even weeks on one task to master it to elven standards.

Aufeillian was a skilled combatant and despite his non-elven heritage he was taken in by one of the elven masters as an apprentice. He trained in his master’s dual dagger style and eventually himself begun winning combat competitions. He was quickly becoming renowned among the elves of Riverspire as one of their greatest warriors.

The turning point for Aufeillian was when he finally had to compete against his master. Something had been creeping into the android’s mind. He had sense of confidence, even overconfidence, that had not been there before. No feeling had been there before. Aufeillian battled and lost, but in defeat he also felt anger.

The android’s anger manifested itself in an act unlike any he had ever committed. With pure malice in his circuitry one night he stole his master’s daggers. Although he regretted his actions soon after, he could not return what he had stolen. To this day, even though he was never caught, he denies his involvement even to himself.

Emotions were new to Aufeillian. With no sense of what he really was or where he came from he had no idea if these sensations were common to his people. He could find no answers from without so he sought answers from within. He took up a form of elven meditation and began to plumb his own feelings.

In his mind he touched what felt like another presence. He had never needed to sleep, so he had never dreamed, and when the visions came he didn’t understand. He dreamed images of an Ibis-headed woman guiding him to find other emotions within himself. He pressed some of the elven scholars as to what these visions might mean and learned of the lost Empyreal Lord Shei.  This being was a powerful agathion who taught self-actualization over the course of life and aging.

As Aufeillian began to explore his emotions he found love. At first he embraced the love of his parents and then his younger siblings. He fostered a love for all elvenkind next as he appreciated his adoptive people’s acceptance. And then he found romantic love. Ulee, another warrior and master swordswoman, had piqued his fancy and he learned the fine art of elven courting. Sadly he was horrible at it, but she found that endearing.

Exploring his emotions mostly meant how he felt about other people. But soon the gentle push of the Ibis Matron made him look at how he felt about himself. He needed to know who he was, and what he wanted. Aufeillian sat for a full cycle of the moon, unmoving under the trees in his parent’s garden. Though he appeared to make no progress, a sudden epiphany surged within him and he understood his purpose. He was meant for battle.

At the next opportunity he set upon himself to challenge his master one more time. Aufeillian moved quicker and more precisely than before. Still his master had decades of training and the android lost one, and then the other of his daggers. Reaching within Aufeillian surged forward and then he felt the power writhe through his limbs. From his hands daggers of pure energy emerged and his battle raged on.

Aufeillian still did not win, but he did fight his master to a standstill. He learned much about himself that day, beyond just his ability to become a weapon. He now knew that he craved competition. The elven raised android was meant to compete and he was meant to win. He desired the fame that it brought. And so Aufeillian and his love left Riverspire to head out into the world and test their skill.

I saw some great interpretations of these stats on facebook this week, but it’s never too late to add yours. What class did your android choose? Where did he find love? How did he become a champion? Who are his noble parents? Why does he choose to worship Shei?

Bringing these characters to life is a second full-time job. A pledge of as little as one dollar a month on Patreon or a one-time donation to my paypal can help keep the lights on while I concentrate on producing new content for you.

The CRB has been growing as a community on social media; please join us on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox is open on all forums for questions, comments, and discussion. If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to have the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon.

Not Just a Face in a Crowd

Parties with a Connection

The party meets randomly in a tavern and is sucked into the adventure. This is probably the most cliché beginning to an adventure, but it’s not that way because of the tavern. I’ve spoken about why the tavern trope isn’t a bad thing, but what is most overdone about this start is that random folk are just thrust into adventure right from the beginning with absolutely no connection.

There are many ways to start an adventure with characters that have knowledge of each other or come together for a reason instead of being randomly thrown together. As much as I’ve enjoyed the random strangers making the best of dire circumstance trope before – and I’m using it now cause that’s how the Hell’s Rebels Adventure Path starts – it isn’t my favorite. So what can we do to give our players some connection?

Childhood Friends or Family

Having players who know each other from the get go, either through friendship or relation is probably the easiest of all ways to connect players together. I think one of my favorite instances of this is the Heroes of the Lance. Although they added a number of new characters along their path, the initial group – except for two – were all childhood friends who promised to return home on a certain date after each taking some time to find themselves. This gives the added benefit of not only having them know each other but allowing them some growth that the other characters may not know so there is new stuff to learn about your friends.

I’ve run with this same idea twice before. Once I let the characters not only be friends, but I built the whole town around their race and class choices. This of course allows the players to fit directly into the starting location. On another occasion I was just running modules but the players all started from the same town and knew each other. They were looking to escape small town life, which is usually easier if you have someone to run off with.

One of the minor problems with this in Pathfinder at least – and by extension D&D – is starting ages of fantasy races. It’s kind of hard to be childhood friends when one race’s childhood lasts fourteen years, one lasts sixty years, and one lasts one-hundred years. This can be worked around, but it is something to keep in mind when making the characters for this type of party.

Co-Workers

In some cases characters that have the same job can help ease the thrown together by circumstance trope. They can still be essentially strangers but they will have a reason for being where they are and doing what they’re doing. In the Shattered Star Adventure Path all of the characters start of as members of the Pathfinder Society sent to Magnimar for an assignment. The players can make characters from pretty much any place that are coming together for a purpose.

In the Rise of theRunelords game – in which I am a player – our GM had all the characters start out as petty criminals. Well, almost all of them, I was a member of the city guard being sent away for sticking my nose where it didn’t belong. So to start the game I am tasked with watching out over these “criminals” who are performing community service by helping me deliver an item to the starting location and then offering our services to the town.

I think something like this is also helped by a GM who doesn’t start the game with an odd occurrence, like combat, that just drags the players into the story. Allowing the players time to get to know each other means they will be more invested in being together in the first place. Our Runelords characters spent a day exploring the town together, getting to know both each other and the people of the place we were going to end up defending.

There are other situations that have a similar dynamic to being co-workers. Students come to mind as one of the major ones. The issue here is whether they go to a school that teaches varied subjects and allows for many classes, or if they are going to play a single class party. All wizards from a school of magic could be interesting. Although most folk steer away from single class parties I’ve had some fun with them and so have others I know.

Making parties that either already know each other, or within the confines of the game have a chance to get to know each other before the action starts opens up a lot of interesting role-play for the party. It also makes it easier for the GM to tie people together to begin the campaign. On a personal note, I find it limits that one player who makes the misanthrope who always sits in the corner and says, “my character wouldn’t do that.”

Do you prefer to have parties that are thrown directly into the fray with nary a connection between them? Or do you like parties that have some thread that ties them together? As a GM is one way easier for you to run? As a player is one way easier to play? What kinds of intra-party connections have you used in your game?

The CRB is the party that has come together with a common connection, expanding on our gaming knowledge. Please consider supporting your favorite content provider – that’s me, right? – by pledging as little as $1 on my Patreon or making a direct donation to my Paypal.

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Unified Faith

Drawing Power From More Than One Deity

When most people think of clerics, paladins, and other classes that are cast divine spells, they picture a person who dedicates themselves to one power. In D&D it was Pelor, Gruumsh, and Corellon Larethian. In Pathfinder we have Sarenrae, Abadar, and Torag. Does a cleric have to dedicate him or herself to one deity? My answer to that is a resounding “No” and that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

Although most people are well aware than in 3.5, and by extension Pathfinder, the core cleric was opened up to worshiping a philosophy. A lot of folks forget that this was a concept from the Second Edition D&D Complete Priest’s Handbook. They outlined divine casters that could worship and receive spells from not only a deity, but also a force (e.g. nature or the sun, etc.) or a philosophy.

Although Pathfinder Society – the global gaming entity, not the in-game organization – says that divine spell casters must worship one god, the book Faiths and Philosophies very specifically lays out ideas for pantheism. It lays out codes of honor, druidism, juju, and totemism as compatible belief systems. It also says that oracles, paladins, and summoners tend to be common pantheistic believers.

I’ve spoken on the topic of paladins before, and why I believe they do not gain their powers from a specific god but from being paragons of righteousness. In much the same way the Green Faith draws its power from all the gods of nature to create a pool of energy that druids – and also hunters, rangers, shaman, and some witches and clerics – draw from, paladins power stems from a pool of energy create by the very idea of good and law that lawful neutral and all the good deities fuel. In this same way we can say that divine beings of similar bents may feed into this pool.

To further illustrate the example of divine class drawing from a pool of energy from deities with a common ideal, I’ll point you to the Hellknight Order of the Godclaw. Taking the ideals of strict law from  Abadar, Asmodeus, Iomedae, Irori, and Torag, the order has its own – very harsh – lawful doctrine. The thing is they have clerics, warpriest, and even paladins that have been granted power without actually worshiping one of the deities specifically. It is pointed out that “it is uncertain from where they get their divine power; it may be the case that their magic comes from their own convictions.” This statement lends further precedence to the idea that you can worship a group of like-minded gods to gain divine power.

I’d also like to point out that there is also a difference between drawing power or worshiping multiple deities and paying homage to multiple deities. The common folk in all likelihood do not venerate one deity among the others. Since each deity affects their way of life, they would probably give each deity their due when needed. Pray to Abadar or Asmodeus – depending on location – when making contracts, giving a prayer to Erastil for a good harvest, or leaving out a sacrifice to Urgathoa for a plague to pass your family by. Whereas a cleric, or other divine class, that worships multiple deities dedicates himself to a single purpose espoused by all deities.

So what are a few common purposes that you may find? Cultural pantheons are fairly common. Racial pantheons are probably the most common examples, but the people of Sakoris often worshipped small like-minded groups of Gods, Demon Lords, or Empyreal Lords. These groupings were small but this worship was led by witch, summoner, druid, or other spellcasting intermediary. Pathfinder even has a feat if you revere an entire pantheon called Pantheistic Blessing, which grants you a one time a day spell like ability based on the pantheon you follow.

Here are some ideas for other groupings of deities for your Pathfinder game:

Alazhara, Calcabrina, Shamira, Lamashtu, and Geon as the brings of dark dreams and nightmares. Evil is the common domain from each of these beings but madness, darkness, and trickery are all good secondary domains. Clerics, witches, oracles, shaman, and even anti-paladins wouldn’t be out of line for followers of the pantheon of night terrors.

Cayden Cailean, Kurgess, and the dwarven deity Trudd easily make up a small pantheon for those renowned for their bravery. Good and Strength would probably be the domains for those classes who received them. With Trudd as a member of the group, paladins wouldn’t be out of line among the other divine classes that could worship this group. Warpriests and combat minded clerics would also probably being among the most devout worshipers.

Pharasma, Magrim, Magdah, Chadali, and Bifrons could all be seen as the myriad aspects of fate. Fate can be uncaring or seem good or evil. Those who gain domains would probably draw from luck, knowledge, or rune. Depending on how they viewed fate, good or evil are also possibilities. Clerics and oracles are probably the only divine classes that would draw power from these concepts, but bards and rogues may also be among this pantheon’s worshipers.

Given the vast number of beings that can grant divine power there are probably dozens of other philosophies powered by these deities that could be followed. I would love to see some of the ideas that you have. What ideals and the deities attached with them can you come up with? Would you allow pantheistic priests in your games? Let’s hear about your experiences with these ideas.

Giving pantheism a go in your games or with your next character? Then I’m happy the CRB could inspire you. To help support this blog please consider becoming a patron. Contributing to my Patreon helps keep my life running while I write the content you enjoy. If a one-time donation is best for you then you can find me on Paypal.

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Erupting to Life

 Fervent of Mhar

Before Golarion, before the gods of man, maybe even before time itself, there was the darkness. And in that darkness, now known as the Dark Tapestry, there were beings of alien intellect; The Outer Gods and their heralds, the Great Old Ones. Today we’re going to look Mhar, the Great Old One of caverns, mountains, and volcanoes. Here are three possible sects of this eldritch creature.

As always, let us imagine we are sitting at our theoretical gaming table. Our imaginary GM sets out the rules for the game that we will play. In this game, we are to make a follower of Mhar. The character does not need to be a divine caster, just a devotee of The The World Thunder. What character do you make?

For more information on Mhar

Mhar’s Pathfinder Wiki Page

Mhar’s Archives of Nethys Page

Smoke Seer’s

Although many dwarves consider the eruption of Droskar’s Crag during the rending to have been a sign of displeasure from their god. This is not the truth of the matter. The active volcanic peaks have always been a hotbed of activity for followers of the Great Old One, Mhar. The volcanic eruptions have been caused by his minions, who had been making attempts to raised the beast. To this day the location remains sacred to the sects of The World Thunderer.

The Smoke Seers roam the tunnels and caverns of within the peaks known as the Hammer and the Anvil. They seek out pockets of lava flow so that they might take in the poisonous fumes they vent. This sect believes that by inhaling this sacred smoke they will have visions that foretell when Mhar will arise and how they may help hasten events. Quite mad, anyone who has “visions” may join the sect, but only a handful are true oracles.

Beast Hunters

Probably one of sanest group of Mhar worshipers, this sect actively seeks the destruction of agents of the Rough Beast, Rovagug.  This act may seem like a good deed to those looking in but their need to stymie the destroyer god’s plans is more because they believe their deity should be the one to wreak destruction upon the world. This group is active anywhere rumor of the children of Rovagug exists, and in particular their hunters patrol the Pit of Gormuz.

The sect consists of a few groups of hunters, each is led by a cleric of Mhar. Rangers, particularly those who hunt aberrations or magical beasts, are common among the units but any type of martial fighter is welcome. Arcane and divine casters often back up these groups of warriors and a handful of twisted scholars are said to reside in a secluded location where they research the location of the Rough Beast’s most powerful minions

The Leng Pirates

Not so much a sect as it spans all the members of a race in a particular location, the Leng Pirates can be found in the vaults of Orv. They range from the Sightless Sea to Irikusk River, plying both waters in their black galleys made of black bone. These alien beings worship various Outer Gods and Great Old Ones on their home plane, but here in the caverns below Golarion they revere the master of caves, Mhar.

Although wholly evil they are not as destructive as some of the other followers of the World Thunderer. They see themselves more as guardians of the eldritch horror’s realms while he slumbers. They actually war with a number of other creatures of the deep realms, including servitors of the aboleth and the dark elves. Because they sail the dark underground waters all the Pirates of Leng have some skill at seafaring.

As the Great Old One sleeps his followers seek to awaken him. Who is your disciple of Mhar? Why have they chosen to dedicate themselves to The World Thunder? Where does their devotion come from? Let me know in the comments.

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Expecting the Unexpected

Breaking Stereotypes

Illustration by Luis Perez

Throughout the history of gaming, written fantasy, and science fiction there have always been conventions. We mostly go about calling the tropes these days, but some things just have a deep-seated history of being so. Some tropes like ‘you all meet in a tavern’ are easily broken, or used and expanded upon. But when some things - especially making characters - become commonplace, it’s hard to break the stereotypes.

The divide between who is good and who is evil is often hotly debated. Even in games where there is no alignment system, a line is drawn between good guys and bad guys. For many people, but not all, a creature’s race determines whether it is a good guy or a bad guy. Goblins, kobolds, and orcs among others sit firmly on the bad guy side. And although games like Pathfinder very specifically indicate that not every member of every race has the same alignment, many people gloss over this fact.

Going against convention in this manner can often be fun. The good orc or goblin can add a little something different; if your GM lets you break the mold of traditional races choices that is. Going the other way can often be fun too. Evil, and not drow, elves can throw people for a loop. As a GM I’ve used innocent seeming halflings as the bad guys to great effect. Many times tieflings are thought of as leaning toward evil and aasimar toward good because of their respective outside blood. Like this week’s randomly rolled character breaking the norm and playing a wholly evil aasimar can shake things up.

Breaking moral norms also goes hand-in-hand with breaking cultural norms. Orcs and their half-orc kin are often thought of as savage brutes. Playing an erudite character from any race that is traditionally thought of as savage can throw people’s perceptions for a loop. As can an elf that is more at home in a crowded city than a forest or a dwarf that’s claustrophobic and hates being underground. And my favorite has always been savage little Halfling barbarians.

Race and class stereotypes are also a thing. 1st and 2nd edition D&D set the tone by restricting what classes certain races could take and how far they could go. As a side note, the woodlands-loving elves couldn’t be druids, which I always found odd. Even after these limits were taken out people still had this feeling that some of these limitations should remain, like dwarves shouldn’t be arcane spellcasters. Even in non-D&D games like Shadowrun, which didn’t have restrictions at all, you’d see people cleave to stereotypes; troll Street Samurai ‘cause they’re strong, dwarven Deckers ‘cause technology is the new smithing.

For me, I like to break these norms often, even so far as taking classes that don’t necessarily sit well with a race’s stat modifiers. You’ll hear a lot of people tell you that dwarves shouldn’t play sorcerers because of the negative to their charisma, or that elves shouldn’t be barbarians because of their constitution negative. These are exactly the types of characters I love to play because they aren’t the same ones that everyone else plays.

Even within class there are many tropes to which we cleave. The sneaky rogue, the white knight paladin, the savage barbarian, and many others are done time and time again. One of my own recent favorite characters is the rogue brute. He’s an intimidation monster with impressive strength who hits things really hard after he scares them. Neal Litherland – friend of the CRB – has done some oddball class concepts over on his blog Improved Initiative. Check out the unexpected barbarian and the savage wizard and see what I mean.

Sometimes sticking with the tried and true works. That dwarven fighter with a Scottish accent, who loves a good drink and wields an axe can go a long way. But sometimes we need to step out of our comfort zones and try something new and different. Whether you’re playing D&D/Pathfinder or one of the myriad other games out there, role playing is our opportunity to really get creative.

What stereotypes have you gone against? Which ones do you think should remain strong? As a GM do you like to throw the unexpectedly different at you players? As a player do you try and talk your GM into letting you try something new?

Hopefully the CRB helps you reach out and try new and unexpected things. Creating content is a second, non-paying full-time job. Creators can focus on bringing you the content you deserve when they don’t have to worry about keeping the lights on.  If the CRB has enhanced your gaming experience, please consider contributing to my Patreon for as little as $1 a month. Or if a one-time donation is more your speed try my Paypal.

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The opening illustration was created by the fine artist Luis Perez. You can find him on Twitter, Tumblr, and on Instagram at luisperezart.