There is an argument that happens a lot at gaming tables, and it's one that's confused me the older I've gotten. It is, in general, the idea that wanting a player character to be unique or special in some way is inherently bad, and that it somehow represents poor storytelling on the part of the player proposing the idea (or on the part of dungeon masters who allow such characters).
Sometimes it's a player who wants to bring in a race that isn't typically seen in a certain environment. Other times it's a desire to play a certain class that's deemed unusual, or even mastering a strange method of magic, or esoteric fighting style. But any time someone asks to bring in a character that has something weird, wild, or unusual, there's all too often a push back against it purely because it's something out of the norm.
This is a bad habit, and it's one that I think we should all step back to examine.
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| Seriously, guys, calm down. |
PCs Are SUPPOSED To Be Special
If you are playing a long-term campaign where the party is supposed to achieve a goal and maintain its cohesion all the way to the end, then the PCs should stand out, or be special in some way. It isn't
required, but it is certainly well within the genre if you look at most of the classic examples from modern fiction and well-known myths.
Drizzt Do'urden is probably our go-to example as a drow who finds his views apart from his people, and who adventures away from the Underdark, but he's far from the only example. Logen Ninefingers (and his anime counterpart Guts) are both sensitive to the world of spirits, and achieve feats of violence and bloodshed that leave others in awe. Hercules is the son of a god, and has a strength so prodigious that in one play he literally puts death itself in a headlock until it returns a friend's wife. Oedipus is the secret son of a king, and a child of prophecy (tragic prophecy, but prophecy nonetheless). The crew list for the Argo was a who's who of heroes and champions, all on a quest for the golden fleece. The dangerous ranger who goes toe-to-toe with half a dozen undead kings is actually an 80 year-old prince in love with the daughter of an elf lord who by rights should be wielding a mystic sword spoken of only in legend.
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| Then there's this white-haired, golden eyed, regenerating ladies' man. |
The point I'm getting at is that PCs are not supposed to be randomly-selected extras who've just been promoted to starring roles. They are the ones with the skills, the drive, and often the unusual abilities to step up and do what other people can't... because if someone else was already handling the problem, then we would be telling stories about their exploits instead.
So if a thing exists in the game world, and it is available to players, there's no reason to blanket-deny it to someone who asked for it.
And as the guy who wrote both
100 Unusual Aasimar and
100 Tieflings To Meet in Your Travels, trust me, I'm no stranger to slotting in weird, wild, and bizarre character concepts.
The Drizzt Problem
I can hear a lot of DMs out there clearing their throats, and preparing comments that they've seen far too many players who want to just make versions of some of the characters I mentioned with the serial numbers filed off. They're not putting in their own creativity, or trying to make the character their own in any way, they just want to change the name and be Drizzt, or Strider, or Guts.
To that I ask you this one, very important question: Why does that matter?
If the race, class, and abilities your player wants are clearly influenced by a particular archetype of character, and they're willing to make that character work in your game, who cares if it's their own take on a popular archetype? Because Batman is just Zorro without the horse, Zorro is just the Scarlet Pimpernel with a different accent, and so on, and so forth.
Your primary concern as a DM should be that your players are having fun, and playing characters they enjoy, which add to the game. If everyone around the table enjoys their take on something, then it will make the game better. Also, if you let a player get that experience under their belt, next time around they're more likely to do something different, and to stretch their legs a bit. Whereas if you tell them no, they're just going to want to do it more because they didn't get a chance to try it out. I speak from personal experience here both as a player, and as a DM.
Rarity is Not an Excuse, Either
The
other major argument that I'm sure someone was getting ready to make is that rarity should exclude players from having certain character types. The more uncommon a race, class, etc. is, the more reason you have to say no to it.
I'd actually take the opposite view of this. If something exists in the setting, and it is available for PCs to have, then there should be even
less reason to say no to it because by its very nature it's going to fit into the mold of someone (or something) bound to have adventures worth following.
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| A tiefling warlock who uses the powers of hell to battle fiends? Baller, let's roll! |
The rarity argument makes no sense, because we are not choosing the PCs we play by looking at world demographics and picking what makes the most sense based on that spread. Otherwise 99 percent of all games would just be human peasants being slaughtered by wave after wave of goblins. You pick a PC for their ability to actually solve the threats the party is facing, and because their unique flavor appeals to your palate.
And if something "doesn't fit" in a particular location, then it's your job to sit down with the player and figure out why this character ambled into town.
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| Heard you had a monster problem. Might be able to help with that. |
I talked about this in
The Non-Problem of Making Monks Fit Your Setting, as well as in
DMs, Please Stop Arbitrarily Limiting Race Choice in Your Games, but it still bears repeating. The world is a big, wide-open pile of nonsense, and getting a character from one end of it to the other is often
way easier than we seem to think it is.
For example, say a player wants to play a character who's been schooled in the art of the Broken Fist. It's a powerful fighting style that has a particular tie to a nation half a world away from where your game takes place. So, how did the PC get there?
- They Walked: Caravans and ships are canonically everywhere in most settings, and there's nothing to say that a student of this bone-breaking martial art didn't simply walk until they found a place where their skills were needed.
- They're Already Local: If someone was a local who was schooled by a retired master of the art, then they're in the area you need them to be, and for bonus points they're someone known to the neighborhood/town. You could even throw in some tension with their master over how this art should be used, with the student electing to do the right thing despite their teacher, or their teacher sending the student to help as a test of their skills.
- They're With Someone Else: The barbarian puts their sword into the fight, but the initiate of the Broken Fist has been traveling with them, and can't let their friend go it alone. How did Han and Chewie get to the middle of nowhere when the plot needed them? Who cares, they're here now, and that's what matters.
Whether the PC is a demon-blooded sorcerer who really just wants to help, or one of the last of a clutch of lizardfolk looking for revenge, as long as the player has an explanation for why they are here, that's all that matters.
Because even if only a small percentage of the game world qualifies for a certain class, or is born as a certain race, what's the point of that argument? 1 percent of billions of creatures is still millions of potential candidates! Having an entire party of "rare" creatures and specialties is not all that unusual, and is something you can explain pretty easily between mercenary companies who specialize in outcasts (like The Devil's Own in
100 Random Mercenary Companies), traveling circuses, fleeing refugees, and the bloodlines of previous generations of adventurers who stopped in every tavern and brothel they could find to spend their loot. So if your urge as a DM is to say no, and fold your arms until everyone goes back to dwarven fighters and elven rangers, ask why you feel that way. What are you gaining from denying your players the options they want to utilize which exist in the setting you're running?
Your players might make do with a secondary PC idea they've had laying around. But if you give them that weird, wild thing they asked for? They will typically fight tooth and nail to make the most of it. Just something to think about.
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's
Fluff post! If you've used this in your games, share a story down in the comments!
