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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Kender

So, now there's another wave of outrage sweeping the forums: the kender will be in the next playtest packet for DnDNext. OH MY GRAWD! THE KENDER! They are so... so... well, actually, I don't know much about 'em, because they've never been in any game I ran or played in, and when I skimmed the description in the 1e rules for Dragonlance, I thought "That's stupid" and never bothered with them.

What I don't get is why there's a huge outrage against the kender showing up (As a core race? Dunno, don't care) and no similar outrage over the warforged being in the same upcoming packet. Because what annoys me about the kender is the same thing that annoys me about the warforged: it's way too setting specific and should be in supplemental materials. But then, that's what annoys me about the tieflings and the dragonborn and many, many other elements. They should be on the fringes, for those who have need of such things, but should not be core.

8 comments:

  1. I've always wanted to play a Kender just because they're so hated. I think the problem is that back in the 90's, jerks played Kender as an excuse to be even bigger jerks during the game. Word got around.

    And people worried that every Kender would just be Tasselhoff Burrfoot (from the DL novels). Yet no one I know of at the time was complaining about all the good Drow Rangers with two scimitars running around at the same time.

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  2. The problem with Kender is that as written they're... just total fucking gobshites. They "borrow" useful items because they don't understand the concept of personal property, but they understand it well enough that when caught they lie about it. It's basically the ultimate expression of "but I was just playing my character!"

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  3. Lately I've been thinking the PHB should only list humans as an option, while noting that the referee may allow other races from the Monster Manual (usually for players who rolled poor stats). This emphasizes humano-centrism while freeing settings from racial expectations

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    1. I'm thinking that the so-called core could include generic legend/myth material, but most of what we think of as the default races should be relegated to supplements. So: humans, elves, dwarves, and "little people", with the latter being generic and usable as a base for brownies, leprechauns, gnomes, or lots of other concepts, not specifically halflings. In other words, pretty much like Men & Magic.

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  4. By way of elaboration, here's the 3rd edition write-up of them, with colorful commentary provided by some nice fa/tg/uy. http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/2901271/images/1225260438675.png

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  5. It's really just an excuse for a player to run a party-focused kleptomaniac. It NEVER goes well and results in a lot of group strife and anger - to the shock of whoever it was playing the kender.

    The desire to play a kender is the calling card of 'that guy the DM is going to have to have a LONG talk with - and perhaps ban from the group.'

    Well, I SUPPOSE if everyone was on-board for being stolen from . . . it could work. But . . . yeah . . . no. :)

    - Ark

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  6. No one is freaking about warforged because people who play warforged haven't been handed a mandate to drive the rest of the table into an insane asylum with their pwecious twee kleptomaniac ;p

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    1. Exactly. A Warforged is a bro for life. Your metal mate who's fun to be with!

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