Saturday, April 24, 2021

Dungeons & Dragons Stereotypes - Where do your characters fit? (Readathon Mini-Challenge)

 Regardless of your relationship with Dungeons & Dragons, it's pretty safe to say you have heard of some of the tropes and stereotypes. Whether it's a Rogue with kleptomania, a Bard flirting with every NPC (non-playable character), the hippie Druid, or even the dreaded rolling of a Natural 1; D&D is rife with these things. 

Text - Megan R. Miller @Pyrosynthesis What People Expect D&D to Be: -full cosplay, candles lit on table, deep hoods and ruddy mysterious ambiance- What D&D Actually Is: -four people in pajamas screaming at a piece of plastic for coming up on the wrong number-

In the same vein, however, books are also full of their own tropes and stereotypical character types. Don't believe me? Check out Overly Sarcastic Production's long, long list of Trope Talks. And just like characters can have tropes, so can DMs/Authors. From some of the tweets, stories I've heard, an Author's characters can be just as disagreeable and surprising as a DM's players!

Canidae - MY CAREFULLY PLANNED PLOT CHALLENGING ENCOUNTERS AND FULL FLESHEDOUT CHARACTERS MY PLAYERS SOMERANDOM NPCIMADE TO RUN THE TAVERN 

 So I'm curious, what Dungeons & Dragons Stereotypes have you found in your books and which ones would you want in your party? Create an adventuring party of characters you've read and use 4 or 5 of the following stereotypes:

  1. Artificer - Gadget tinkerer who relies on machines for their abilities.
  2. Barbarian - Always relies on their muscles and definitely an idiot.
  3. Bard - Has incredible charisma and skills but uses them all for flirting.
  4. Cleric - Designated healer even though they can do so much more.
  5. Druid - Uses their knowledge of herbs to get high and prefers to save the monster creatures.
  6. Fighter - They just want to help but don't know much about how other than hitting things.
  7. Monk - Meditative fighter who uses their fists, never weapons.
  8. Paladin - Stick-in-the-mud, goody-two-shoes, teacher's pet, etc.
  9. Ranger - Underappreciated because it takes them so long to get powerful.
  10. Rogue - Kleptomaniac emo.
  11. Sorcerer - Born talented and knows it and reminds everyone of it.
  12. Warlock - Frequently needs to rest.
  13. Wizard - The group nerd.

Some examples to help you out:

Zaphod Beeblebrox - Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Bard - Charming personality, flirty with the ladies.

Mark Watney - The Martian -  Artificer - Holy wah, he's good with tinkering!

Neville Longbottom - Harry Potter - Ranger - He was always the laughingstock, but dang he got good closer to the end of the series.

Hellboy - The Hellboy Comics - Fighter - Even he admits he's mostly good for being able to take and dish out damage.

 

 Whoever has the party I like the best, will win a $10 gift card to a bookstore of their choice (default to Bookshop.org).

 








 

4 comments:

  1. A whole crime-fighting party!

    Poirot is the sorcerer. We all know how much he likes to remind people he is the best of the best!
    Sherlock Holmes is the Druid, he knows lots of stuff about herbs... And getting high.
    Watson is the cleric. We know he can do many many things, sometimes he can even show it!, but mostly he's just a (very good) doctor.
    Philo Vance is the bard. Such charisma, such flirting, such decadence.
    Miss Marple is our resident ranger. She is an old lady, but thanks to her great experience in life she solves every mystery!

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  2. This was a fun challenge: https://www.curiositykilledthebookworm.net/2021/04/the-one-stop-readathon-update-post-3/

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  3. My answers can be found here :) https://jazminjade.wordpress.com/2021/04/25/deweys-24-hour-readathon-hour-8/

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  4. ooh cool! I'm not very well-versed in DND, but here's my party:
    Cleric- Orihime from Bleach: She has offensive & defensive abilities, but she's mainly shown healing people.
    Wizard- Uryuu from Bleach and/or Mayaya from Princess Jellyfish: Mayaya is a history nerd; Uryuu knows a lot about weapons, sewing, and is good w/ strategy. [He also has a nerdy look.]
    Fighter- Chad from Bleach: His ability changes the form of his arms and hands and makes him punch really hard.
    Warlock- Starrk from Bleach: This man just wants to sleep all the time. Don't disturb him.
    Bard- Kon from Bleach: He's not bad at fighting, but he's too busy ogling the ladies.

    [I'm really focused on Bleach rn. ^^;]
    Twitter: @burningmoon65

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