And Wizards ALWAYS have stave's! Use something else! I actually don't have any suggestions for this one.
B-b-but what's the wizard supposed to do without his staff?! Who's going to organize the library, dust off the doomsday device, get eaten by summoned minions, trim the yard, and betray his plot to the heroes?!
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~innocent look~ Hockey Sticks? Would that work as a replacement to a Staff? ~grins~Baseball bats?And Wizards ALWAYS have stave's! Use something else! I actually don't have any suggestions for this one.
Nope, the blasting rod is better than the hockey stick.... and he did better stuff with the drumstick anyway...
1 is the modern day equivalent of the dual weapon drow elf. It's cliche and overdone, yet everyone who builds one thinks it's original and new.1) Necromancers that aren't evil
2) misunderstood monsters/witches/mystical punk rockers/whathaveyou that aren't really evil after all, just misunderstood.
3) Pagans who eviscerate the evil Christians.Wow, I don't think I've *ever* seen 1 or 3 in any show, novel or movie, ever. 2 seems pretty common, these days, 'though.
As a player of a non-evil necromancer i can but say, Pish-posh. I think it is neither original or new, but rather steeped in literary tradition and gothic romance. It is a nod of the head to hollow one, euthanatos, Foxglove form Death: The Time of Your Life, Dr. Frankenstien, 19th century spiritualists and many other cool thing. And I am still the only person i know personally who has played one in DnD, so i am happy with that.
My most tiresome cliche' is defeating a menace… to find out there is a more sinister menace behind that one… and when you defeat the 2nd menace there's yet another, more powerful menace pulling the strings… until finally, the menace is so great that it threatens the entire fantasy world of x.
This reminds me of boss battles in videogames.
Why does every boss have 2-3 forms and then a final "ultimate" form?(Sephiroth, I'm looking at you...)
I preferred the old days when bosses used to just flash wildly as they were about to die.
Trenchcoats and katanas. Grrrrr...... Well, that doesn't apply to PRPG, but I needed to get it off my chest.
White wolf player hu? Yeah i know the feeling.
As a player of a non-evil necromancer i can but say, Pish-posh. And I am still the only person i know personally who has played one in DnD, so i am happy with that.
Now we're all going to roll up non-evil necromancer characters just to spite you! :P
Since they're non-evil, my necromancer will need a non-evil name, like Ted.
As a player of a non-evil necromancer i can but say, Pish-posh. And I am still the only person i know personally who has played one in DnD, so i am happy with that.Now we're all going to roll up non-evil necromancer characters just to spite you! :P
Since they're non-evil, my necromancer will need a non-evil name, like Ted.
I did in fairness steal said necromancers name whole cloth from Brian (lets punch cthulhu in the face) Lumley's character Titus Crow, but it i hold great affection for my Dr Titus Crow.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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The dark loner/exile/angst bunny.
My current writing character is indeed the bastard son of a noble, but became an adventurer to keep from being used as a pawn in Taldan games against his two younger (half)siblings. He's happy, well adjusted and his parents love each other and him, just to get away from that trope.
The reason he wanders is that his mother is the baron's concubine, in the 'romance for love, marry for power' trope. The heirs are from a political marriage. Maybe that's an overrated trope itself?
Edit:
Let me add the other overused things that annoy me.
The "I want to play evil so I can screw over the party" trope.
I've mentioned Shadrach before, so we'll not again
The 'gross and icky necromancer' trope.
The dark loner/exile/angst bunny.
My current writing character is indeed the bastard son of a noble, but became an adventurer to keep from being used as a pawn in Taldan games against his two younger (half)siblings. He's happy, well adjusted and his parents love each other and him, just to get away from that trope.
** spoiler omitted **
Actually, the word "trope" is overrated.
:P
1) I'll agree with the Underwear model vampires and Dragons.
2) Tieflings too
3) Drizzt or Legolas PCs
4) Orphan boys with the mysterious heritage who find a magical MacGuffin to defeat the BBG.
5) Lovecraft
Oooh! I have another one for the list:
Mute children.You know the type: sad orphans with puppy dog eyes and a tragic past. They haven't spoken in years, but then the main protagonist comes along and brings them out of their shell.
Well, I guess this could also be a blessing for those people who live by the "children should be seen and not heard" philosophy.
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Mute children.
You know the type: sad orphans with puppy dog eyes and a tragic past. They haven't spoken in years, but then the main protagonist comes along and brings them out of their shell.
I love Firefly's subversion of this trope:
Medicine Woman: Y-you got her to talk? It's a miracle!
River: Of course not, she's mute. I just read her mind. *crazy eyes*
Medicine Woman: AAAH! WITCH!
You know... I'm gonna have to say that until we see a Pathfinder Adventure Path where the main villain is a dragon, they aren't going to be overrated at Paizo to me.
"I desired dragons with a profound desire. Of course, I in my timid body did not wish to have them in the neighbourhood. But the world that contained even the imagination of Fafnir was richer and beautiful at whatever cost of peril."
JRR Tolkien, reflecting on his childhood
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I don't think dragons are overrated. In fact, they are one of the most versetile monsters in fantasy rpgs today.
We're talking about clichés now, eh?
I'm just a little burnt out on dragons.
Nah, that was just the Dragonfire.
I think it's time we give the Chupacabra his chance at fame.
It's small, it threatens goats, and it's ugly.
Face it: It just doesn't have what it takes.
Nah, just humans. But they all have goatees...
Evil women are extra evil!
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my cliche that gets under my skin, but I have to accept - human-centric worlds. My view is that if I wanted to play a human, or run for a bunch of humans, I would play D20 modern or WOD... but like I said, I've learned to accept it. I would love for a country/continent/planet/island where some evil thing just didn't like humans and killed them indiscriminately until there were none left. maybe its just those that I game with, but I find that especially for beginning players, human-centric games make it harder to keep in character knowledge separate from out of character knowledge
In no particular order (okay, there is a bit of an order):
(Yes, the poorly-spelled and capitalized phrases are a necessary part of my point.)
* The person/thing/event is related to cold/darkness/chaos/death/fire/bugs/reptiles/[insert things humans do not like here]/etc. It must be TEH EVILZ.
(I'm just not in the mood anymore for fearing natural forces.)
* The thing comes from that unfathomably warped space "outside" all things. It must be TEH DANGERUZ.
(Why do all these Lovecraft-type dimensions and their inhabitants have to be a uniformly bad thing?)
* The being looks kind of weird/ugly/disguisting/spikey-dangerous. It must be TEH BAD GUYZ.
(This has nothing to do with "Color-Coded for Your Convenience" (I hate that too). It has to do with the fact that Evil gets all the designs that have a nice untamed quality to them. I want Good to have an untamed look!)
* Humans CONTROL THE WORLD.
(If humans are the only race or other races exist but are mythological/spirits (and thus probably aren't PC races anyway) then this is fine. Otherwise I'm not buying it.)
* Humans are TEH LEETZ because they are adaptable/variable/breed fast/tenacious/[insert human quality X] compared to everyone else.
(Feels like trying to compensate. Feels like trying to pretend humans have something great when they don't. Either pick some qualities or just acknowledge that compared to everyone else humans don't have anything.)
Well, ok. You pretty much just shot down the Pathfinder RPG and the entire Golarion campaign setting.
As a player of a non-evil necromancer i can but say, Pish-posh. I think it is neither original or new, but rather steeped in literary tradition and gothic romance. It is a nod of the head to hollow one, euthanatos, Foxglove form Death: The Time of Your Life, Dr. Frankenstien, 19th century spiritualists and many other cool thing. And I am still the only person i know personally who has played one in DnD, so i am happy with that.
"Here here!" says Lyle Proudbarrel, a LG Halfling Necromancer (that hates undead, but is really good at his job), a previous character of mine.
I love Firefly's subversion of this trope:Medicine Woman: Y-you got her to talk? It's a miracle!
River: Of course not, she's mute. I just read her mind. *crazy eyes*
Medicine Woman: AAAH! WITCH!
Such a good show!
So short-lived!So tragic!
Here's another one:
The protagonist is the last of his/her kind.
An entire race has been pushed to extinction except for this one lone individual? Right...
This survivor usually ends up being...drum roll...the chosen one! (another boorish cliche)
Trenchcoats and katanas. Grrrrr...... Well, that doesn't apply to PRPG, but I needed to get it off my chest.White wolf player hu? Yeah i know the feeling.
Not White Wolf, and that's one of the reasons why I don't play them. My disgust stems more from Urban Dead, where my PK character absolutely loooooved Trenchcoaters.
GURPS 1920s Horror campaign I play in. Inspired by Bureau 13 and Lovecraft. We have one character who is a 400 year old half-vampire. Tends to use broadsword/short sword for melee and 1800 black powder pistols for ranged. Pretty powerful in the combat areas. Good character, good player, somewhat cliche concept. Acceptable none the less.
A second player was playing a 50 some year old genius inventor who was somehow trapped in a 12 year old body. Awesome character concept, very useful in general. Not so much in combat.
The second character semi-retired his inventor and brought in a new guy. Half-vamp is the first to meet him and they are describing themselves. H-V says something about his clothes and long coat (Which fits well, he is the traditional wealthy type and in 1920 a greatcoat is right for him.)
Second guy is describing HIS character who is wearing not only a trench coat but an over cloak as well... I whisper to the GM (If he says he's carrying a katana I'm putting a bullet in his head.) Sure enough an hour later when his and my characters meet in a fight, he's wielding... a katana! :-/
I did refrain from pulling the trigger, but it was oh-so-tempting.
What I really hate is the whole evil protaganist who is the chosen one angle. Chronicles of Riddick, how I loathe thee.
Would this also include Star Wars, in a roundabout way?
Probably not since Vader wasn't really a protagonist.That probably falls under the "evil antagonist actually turns out to be a good guy" category.
Edit: Or the traditionally evil creature who turns out to have a heart of gold and be one of the good guys.
Woah, hold on there...
I'm pretty sure that DOES include Star Wars.And saying you hate Star Wars is probably considered fighting words around here, so be careful!
My list (some a repeats)
1) Elfyness is next to goodliness.
2) Dwarves love beer and their beards.
3) Elves are natural Dwarf rivals.
4) There's a Drow behind every evil plot.
5) Everyone meets in a tavern.
6) The greatest of all kobolds is lucky to make it to 6th level.
7) Minotaur = Maze
8) Giant humanoids are dumb.
9) Only a few non-humanoids have major nations. (Why can't the war for global domination still be raging on.)
10) Its not for us so it must be evil.
11) The main bad guy is evil. (Why can't he just be on a different side? Not misunderstood, just born and raised with different loyalties than you. Honorable in intentions and tactics, but will still kill you because our two nations are at war.)
12) Draconic alignments are easily tellable by the shininess of their scales.
13) Good vs Evil.
What I really hate is the whole evil protaganist who is the chosen one angle. Chronicles of Riddick, how I loathe thee.
Edit: Or the traditionally evil creature who turns out to have a heart of gold and be one of the good guys.
It's best to watch Pitch Black as a stand alone movie. There were no sequels to this awesome flick.
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Edit: Or the traditionally evil creature who turns out to have a heart of gold and be one of the good guys.Woah, hold on there...
I'm pretty sure that DOES include Star Wars.
And saying you hate Star Wars is probably considered fighting words around here, so be careful!
The last time I checked there were no good hearted vampires or werewolves in Star Wars. The closet thing you could use to make that analogy is darth Vader and he had a change of heart, he wasn't always a good character.
Chewie?
You pretty much just shot down the Pathfinder RPG and the entire Golarion campaign setting.I pretty much shot down most campaign settings out there, as well as significant portions of human fantasy and sci-fi stories.
What's Golarion specifically got to do with it?
It's just very human-centric.
And is chalk full of creatures/situations that fall into the categories you listed.As are many other RPGs, as you pointed out.
It's best to watch Pitch Black as a stand alone movie. There were no sequels to this awesome flick.
Ditto. I loved Riddick in this movie. A genuinely evil character that was good to his word, but still evil. No heart of gold at all.
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It's best to watch Pitch Black as a stand alone movie. There were no sequels to this awesome flick.Ditto. I loved Riddick in this movie. A genuinely evil character that was good to his word, but still evil. No heart of gold at all.
Exactly. Riddick in Pitch Black is exactly how I describe LE to people.
