The first in a miniseries talking about the grittier side of the hobby. Today we talk about the positive sides of using tropes in your game.
With Asmodeus' Advocate, we are going to talk about some of the more gritty and perhaps controversial sides of the hobby. For now we shall start light and perhaps eventually work our way into heavier stuff. You don't have to agree with me. That's not my job. If you disagree, please, let's have a discussion about it. I just ask to keep it civil. Sometimes, I might even discuss things on Asmodeus' Advocate that I might not totally agree with, but I have a personal philosophy: In order to break down barriers and to be able to better defend your side of an argument, understanding the other one side is important as well. If the topic is something that may upset you at all, you do not have to read Asmodeus' Advocate. I will not be upset. I'd rather you enjoy Kobold Stew for what it is.
Anyway, sorry about the disclaimer. It is something I will be putting at the beginning of all Asmodeus' Advocate posts. It is something that may not need to be said with this post, but future ones might require it. I just like to cover my bases. With that, let's dig in.
Dwarves that live in mountains and mine all day and talk like Scottish people. Forest dwelling, elegant, and soft spoken elf rangers. Princesses (or princes) trapped in the tallest room in the
tallest tower. These are examples of some of the classic tropes seen in fantasy. Lately, I have seen tropes get a lot, and I mean A LOT, of hate on the internet. In our Session 0 for Swordfall, we had to state, "I'm cool with tropes" to let the DM know we were okay with them. But maybe, just MAYBE, tropes don't deserve all the hate they get.
[Insert shamelss plug]
Firstly... if I see one more person say "God, I can't stand Lord of the Rings. There are too many tropes in it. It is so tropey," I will lose my goddamn mind because I'm just going to say it; LotR invented most of the tropes we know and love/hate.
Now that that is out of my system, what are the upsides to tropes?
Familiarity Do you remember the days when you were just a wide-eyed and bushy tailed kobold pup having never tried Dungeons and Dragons? I do. Some people come into the game understanding very little about the game, the races, flavor, and settings they find themselves thrust into. Numbers and rules come flying at you, and you have to make sense of it. But you know what gives them some sense of comfort? Playing an elegant elf ranger or a burly, ax twirling dwarf because they are familiar with those characters. I know plenty of people who say "Man, I'd play Dnd, but I'm not that creative," and what a trope will do is allow them to begin the process of building and discovering that creativity. That tropey character they start with can grow into something unique and beautiful. It helps ease the stressful process of getting to know the game.
Tropes are also useful in getting to know a new setting. My home brew setting I have been writing about here on Kobold Stew has lots of trope twisters. Sometimes a person might be in a new setting, but not know all the cultures and customs of the race they want to play, so it is easy to fall back on the typical characters. I solve this issue in Evarynwith this:
The mountain dwarves are the typical dwarves seen in other works. They live underground in mountains, mine, and all that stuff. The fall of their empire caused the spreading of the dwarf people leading to other dwarf sub-races. The hill dwarves became industrious and often materialistic people. Forest dwarves live a life of hunting in the wooded foothills, and have forsaken the beards of typical dwarvern society due to hygiene.
This gives players new to Evaryn a familiar concept of what a dwarf is, but then it gets expanded upon as they explore the deeper intricacies of different dwarvern cultures. I did something
similar with elves. You have typical high and wood elves, but then cannibal, nomad elves that live
in the desert. I will make posts in regards to the races of Evaryn and their cultures if that is something that interests you. To simplify this, character tropes give people a comfortable launching point into either DnD itself or a new setting without having to pour over pages of materials to learn a new culture. I'm a huge fan of lore reading, but not everyone wants to do all that "homework," and that is fine, and it can be difficult if someone is learning a whole bunch of rules at the same time.
Tropes exist for a reason, and they work when they need to. If not overdone or obvious, they can add to the story telling in the game. Some people don't want super complex stories and just want a reason to get out there and smash some skulls, get some loot, go home and fail charisma saves. Or, you can use a trope as a shell for your story or idea, but build upon it to make it unique in and of itself. They exist because they work and continue to work. You can't escape the "MacGuffin," and honestly, who doesn't love a good "Excalibur" in their stories?
The MacGuffin, when used properly, can drive the story forward and give the players a goal to fight towards. At best, it is the driving force of a story; at worst it is another magic item for your players to toss into their bag of holding. There are plenty of tropes to work with to bring stories, characters, ideas, and all sorts of elements of the game to life!
I think a lot of tropes get hated on because when done poorly, it comes off as ham-fisted and forced. But when done well, they can come off as organic, cool, and interesting. Also, you can pull a Shrek and turn tropes on their heads for comedic value! And with tropes, it makes it that much cooler when you turn them on their heads.
So the main reason I think tropes are good is for familiarity's sake and ease of use. Of course, tropes should still be well done, and they are not an excuse for lazy or bad story-telling. I hope you found this helpful or insightful. I just think people should just hate on them a little less than some of them do. So before you roll your eyes when someone brings an old wizard to the table, sit back and see what they do with it. It could turn out to be unique, or it is their way of discovering their imagination.
Thanks for reading,
as always until next time,
Happy gaming,
The Real Mr Puddins, Asmodeus' Advocate
UPDATES N STUFF!
As promised, I will be doing a giveaway very soon. It will be announced on a blog post, so keep your eyes peeled! I will be giving away a set of dice that will be revealed when the giveaway is announced.
Check out the Showcase! as we have our first featured creator, Lucy aka @Bluebirddraws . Besides being an absolutely delightful individual, she is a hell of an artist and your eyes deserve to see her art. Go and check it out!
Finally, my usual plug for Tales of Swordfall! If you want to give your ears the auditory pleasure of yours truly playing in an actual play cast of Dungeons of Dragons, then check it out! Everyone is great. We will be recording session 2, and it will be up on our YouTube channel. Listen and subscribe if you like. It is a blast to play in, and you might just enjoy it!
FINALLY
THE GIVE AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Due to all of your love and support, I will be giving away not one, but TWO sets of rainbow dice in honor of pride month because we at Kobold Stew support gamers of all kinds and welcome anybody at our table.
To enter is real easy. Retweet this tweet: https://twitter.com/Mr_Puddins/status/1006375523013054464 with the hashtag #KoboldStewGiveAway, follow, and comment your favorite Kobold Stew post. We will be drawing two winners, so you have a little more luck! Winners will be drawn after June 30th!
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