MATT: Hello! My name is Matthew Mercer. I'm a voice actor and the Dungeon Master for Critical
Role here at Geek & Sundry, and today's episode of GM tips is actually more for the players this
time, as this discussion revolves around the creation and roleplaying of characters that are
radically different from your expectations of the genre tropes you know. Here are some thoughts on
roleplaying against type.
[intro music]
MATT: There are many tropes in genre stories and games, and they largely come from a place of
appreciation and rationality. A charismatic bard will usually be full of smiles and song. A
well-learned magic user might likely end up haughty and prone to mage-splaining. A ranger who
wanders the wilderness alone is probably going to be socially brusque and dark of mood, or a dark
elf with twin scimitars and a pet panther. But seriously, stop it. This shit got out of hand in
the early '90s. Don't. Outside of that example, there is absolutely nothing wrong with choosing
these personality archetypes at all. They can all lead to extremely fun characters, and the real
meat comes from the nuances you impart via the backstory and play experience with them. However,
I also recommend players occasionally take a walk on the wild side. Lean into the weird and play
against those tropes a bit.
For instance, when creating a character, think about what would make a good foil to their
strengths. What element of their personality or story could really lend to interesting conflict,
both internally and externally, based solely on their class? Much of this can be character flavor,
not mechanical, but that is totally up to you. For instance, rogues are known for their
professionally stealthy, nimble selves, staying out of the public eye. But imagine a Mr.
Bean-esque fool who wandered into the field of thievery accidentally, and is unintentionally good
at his job. Can't seem to escape his lot in life and believes he fails nearly every time, but each
attempt sets off a Rube Goldberg device-like series of events and then it succeeds,
or fails spectacularly.
Or warlocks are well-established for their marrying their fate to darker entities in exchange
for power. What if they bound themselves to an evil creature irrevocably for both sides, and
continue to try to use the dark powers for super good! Saving kittens from trees or feeding the
poor! The results can vary, and get bloody sometimes. Or paladins! They're often expected to
be bastions of holy goodness and Superman-like blandness. I fight this theory. Imagine a paladin
who is super down and nihilistic, while their deity truly believes they are a worthy vessel who
just needs a push. They fight evil out of habit and boredom, their weapon strikes almost
puppeteered by divine influence as they seek the will and inspiration to care again.
I also wish to reach out to you players who lament rolling low stats and character creation.
Especially one really low stat. That shit is a gift! Oh my god, my favorite characters to GM or
play as are generally useless at one or many things. Lean into that. Put it somewhere
uncomfortable for your normal roleplaying space, and see where it pushes you as a player. Maybe
don't make an ability score that is central to your class too low, so as to make it
non-functional, but consider that it can be a lot of fun to start off as a bard who is actually
really bad at dancing, but insists they'll get better with practice. And they just might.
There are also ways to dress up the capabilities of your class to narratively function entirely
different than expected, though the mechanics of the system remain unchanged. For instance, what if
a wizard is instead an arcane shaman from a now-ruined nation, destroyed by their arrogance
long ago. Instead of a spellbook, they carry a bag of animal bones and arrange them every morning in
succession to take spell inspiration gifts from their ancestors, or spell memorization, as we know
it normally. Spellcasting is not a network of sigils, but the spirits of their bloodline
manifesting to defend it. A barbarian doesn't need to be Conan, but could be instead a blue-collar
miner who lost his job, his wife left him, his one son turned 17 and absconded with his savings, and
finally he just snapped. He's now a wandering, broken man with a chip on his shoulder and a need
to lash out at the world. Go watch the movie Falling Down for inspiration. It's a really great
movie. You should really check it out.
These are all some fun ideas to mix up the standard expectations of fantasy RPGs and these
ideas and suggestions extend to all other genres as well. So have fun, find your own weird
character themes, and enjoy the stories that follow, because they will, and they'll be
memorable. Thank you so much for watching. I hope you enjoyed and learned something from this
episode of GM tips. You can find me on Geek & Sundry's Critical Role, Thursdays at 7:00pm
Pacific time on Twitch, and I'll see you on the internet.
[music]