Having cropped out their username and avatar so as to keep myself from being accused of inciting harassment (I'm pretty sure this goes without saying, but don't be dicks, people), I'm going to post it here as the case in point for what I'm about to talk about.
Okay. Got all that? Good.
This is the example of the character type I like to call "The Outlier". They fall under the "My Species Doth Protest Too Much" trope, and they are one of the worst character types that even experienced players of D&D/Pathfinder/any other fantasy RPG can pull out for a campaign.
So, here we have this character. A half-elf wizard. Not uncommon and it's a good mix of race and class that doesn't immediately raise any eyebrows the way, say, a halfling barbarian might. It is where we get into the "lover of Orc and Orc culture, raised by Orcs" part where we have the gigantic problem. Now normally, this wouldn't be an issue...except it's Orcs. Orcs are one of the far more militant, evil races in D&D. They're famous for this largely because it's the role that Tolkien relegated them to that has really only been broken up on very rare occasions in fiction.
They aren't the types that would take in a child, specifically any child that shares the blood of their most-hated enemies - the elves (pick a subspecies, they pretty much hate them all). Orcs are very much the "might makes right" types pretty much across the board. Even if they could look past millennia of racial hatred, orcs aren't going to adopt a scrawny half-elf. Especially not a female one. It's not going to happen. They're as misogynistic as they are eugenics-y.
Then, there's the character being a wizard.
Orcs aren't known for being fonts of intelligence, so this point should be pretty self-explanatory.
Now, please note, none of this is me saying that this can't happen. What I'm saying is that it would take a lot of coincidence and outright ignoring of how things work in the worlds of D&D. But not to worry, because I'm here to tell you something...this can actually work, and I'm going to show you how!
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| Oh, I know that I am. |
And, of course, it's only for a one-shot campaign. But that's not excuse to not think out characters. Even characters that aren't of the Outlier variety often fall into this trap as players don't tend to put much thought into their character's backstory and motivations and so on, forgetting that the RP in RPG stands for Roleplaying.
(Technically "Role playing" to some, but they're weird)
So, let's workshop this into a workable character. Half-elf enslaved by orcs, who is a sorcerer rather than a wizard. Any creature who would be taken in by orcs, for not being orc, would be a second-class citizen at best. It is more likely to see a half-elf enslaved by orcs, rather than being welcomed as part of the tribe. However, given the differences between sorcerers and wizards, their magical ability would have manifested and they likely could have been made a servant to their tribe's shaman or such other figure. It's likely they would pick up the skills necessary to become a sorcerer on the job (at least enough to qualify for being a first-level character). If they survive all that, they might even get a measure of respect from the shaman in question.
Of course, that still leaves the problem of the half-elf still being a slave within orc society. So, what do you do with that? Simple. They were separated from the tribe during a battle and have what is essentially Stockholm Syndrome when it comes to orcs, giving them minuses to rolls when dealing with orcs in certain situations. To say nothing of the psychological trauma that such a person would have suffered just trying to survive in that environment.
Things that the player(s) would have to work around to achieve their goals. Adversity that makes for a good adventure.
Now, obviously, the DM has to actually use what they're given, but a good DM is going to love you for adding in quirks like that...because, as we all know, DM's
Most players don't think about that in the larger context when creating their characters...mostly because they want to be that guy. You all know the one, the cool guy with the cool character who is so totally awesome because they're like...from such an evil race or were raised by an evil race but are soooo totally above all that icky icky evil stuff.
Basically, they want to be Drizzt Do'Urden without putting in any of the work.
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| Emo? Hell no! |
Drizzt, however, is an example of the outlier done right. He gets a reputation for being utterly and completely emo (which I am, to this day, still confused by), but most people tend to ignore the several books he had to get through to get to where he was allowed to live near non-drow unmolested. Much less be accepted by anyone. He had to work hard, through his dealings with people and the deeds that he performed, to make the few friends that he could and to carve some life for himself on the surface and away from his own people.
The emphasis being that he had to work for that. In his earliest days, he was hunted by humans and elves alike, was banned from entering certain cities (even good-aligned cities like Silverymoon), and was pretty thoroughly miserable as he had to make a life among outcasts and wretches of the surface world...and even they were weary of him.
Most players don't wanna go that far with it. They just want to get to the part where their monster race character gets accepted and nobody blinks an eye. If you have a DM that is remotely worth their weight in salt, then that isn't something you should be able to do. If you wanna go out of the norm, then you have to pay the toll just like everybody else. Even starting at a higher level, you have to imagine the literal decades it took Drizzt to be accepted by more than just his close friends. It took some time, and it allowed for the telling of many great stories.
In the end, he earned that acceptance. He showed that he was an individual who was more than the stereotypes of his race by working through the adversity that life set before him.
To give some personal examples, here are two of my characters who fit the stereotype. The first is my tiefling necromancer, Arawn Talonspell. He's in one of my group's current campaigns, set in the Scarred Lands (published by White Wolf, for those unfamiliar). So, basically...he's a demon-blooded individual in a crapsack world that already hates and fears all things demon-y. To say nothing of his chosen profession (necromancy being frowned upon heavily outside of Hollowfaust), he faces the potential of being attacked by an angry mob and hung by a noose any time he steps outside.
Now, you may ask how he's managed to survive. Simple. His mother was a priestess of the goddess of light and mercy (Madriel) and after his rather horrendous conception, Arawn and his twin brother were born and taken in by the temple - largely because they had no choice in their own heritage or how they were given life, and thus the priests decided that they deserved the chance. Even then, Arawn was treated with no small amount of suspicion and fear growing up, particularly when he took over the post as gravedigger (the universe not being without irony).
To this day, when we do play, Arawn is often kept from places because of his appearance and often uses magic to disguise his true nature. When that doesn't work (at some point, I'm sure it'll fail) we'll be in quite the pickle in many places in the world. For the most part, Arawn keeps to himself and tries not to draw attention. While he isn't going out of his way to prove many of the stereotypes of tieflings, he also doesn't try to refute them either. He mostly just tries to go his way and wants to be left alone.
Another example I have is Grix. He's a hobgoblin, formerly a soldier for his tribe. He journeyed into the world of being a PC when, on a raid against a human village, he was betrayed by his warband and ended up captured and getting hung from a noose for the attack...saved only because the mayor of the town saw the chance for some profit and sold him into slavery, where the group he runs with now eventually found him.
In a sharp contrast to Arawn, Grix doesn't do anything to dissuade anyone from thinking he's a normal hobgoblin. He enjoys a fight and will seek them out actively. Combat is really the only thing he thinks and lives for. He gets through life among non-hobgoblins with brute strength and a very high Intimidate bonus. He is divorced from his own culture, but he blames that more on people within his race than the entire race. He also isn't particularly fond of singing the follies of his race, either, and still sees most other races as weak and inferior.
Yeah, he's insanely racist.
But, either way, both have to handle the adversity because of how they were born and how people have preconceived notions of what they should be. And neither one of them is really accepted, as I've stated above. I fully expect the DMs to throw monkey wrenches into what my group is doing because of my characters' races. It comes with the territory, and it's something that anyone who tries to go for an Outlier character should expect.
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| I don't have anything to add here, I just think this is really, really good art. |
Again, this isn't me saying that this character type can't be done. Nor am I trying to single out the person who made the half-elf wizard that started this entire thing. What I'm saying is that players need to put more thought into the characters that they make, especially if they want to go out into left field like this example, or any of the others I have listed.
When such a character doesn't work, it's because they don't follow these steps. In theory, you could make anything work. Any combination of race and class can be made to work, but you have to give it more thought than "Oooh, that's a cool character concept!".
Trust me, you'll feel much fulfilled about your character and your DM will love you for the adventure hooks it provides.
...on the other hand, the other players might grow to hate you over it. Oops!
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