Stereotype Use and Abuse

In real life, I despise stereotypes. Labeling large groups of people as all being the same is obnoxious and wrong.

In fiction, and particularly in gaming, however, stereotypes can be useful.

Say you turn to your players and mention a terrible orc warlord that's causing trouble in the campaign world. With just two words, "orc warlord," you've put a picture in their minds, probably of a big, hulking, ugly orc with a big heavy axe, some crude armor, maybe some scars, and probably surrounded by a horde of screaming orcs faithfully following his lead. When painting the canvas of your world, this kind of shorthand can be very handy, saving you the trouble of describing everything from scratch.

In fact, that's indeed what character classes are in D&D. They're a useful form of shorthand -- a starting point. It's like telling a story about a "red car." Everyone knows what "red" is, and what a "car" is, so it's a starting point on common ground. If a player says his new character is a fighter, then everyone around the table has an idea of the kinds of things he can and can't do, and what role he'll play in the group. It helps them know how their characters should interact with the new character on the most basic of levels.

Like I said, it's a starting point. However, the storyteller needs to tell us more. The red car needs elaboration. Is it a brand new car or an old jalopy? A Hyundai or a Ferrari?

Thus characters get that kind of elaboration as well. What race is the fighter? What kinds of weapons and armor does he use? These are still really basic, but they bring the character into focus. Where the player (or where you, the DM, running an NPC) can really make the character unique is in his outlook, personality, and background.

When you create a new race, or establish an old one in your campaign ("This is how elves are in my campaign"), make heavy use of stereotypes. "Elves are all bookish and fascinated by ancient lore." With that stereotype in mind, now the players know where to go if they need information about the old days. Not every elf is going to know anything about ancient lore, but perhaps it makes more sense to go to the elves rather than the halflings. What's more, it's a peg to hang a character (PC or NPC) on -- you can create an elf character that seems to conform to the stereotype, or one that eshews it. Either way, it's a useful tool.

Make sure that you do free an NPC from the bonds of its stereotypes, however. A happy-go-lucky dwarf, a thoughtful barbarian, a wizard that loves hand-to-hand combat -- these character ideas become all the more memorable because they buck the trend.

Placing stereotypes in your world also forces you to examine the stereotypes, and thus further develop the setting. You might say, "Everyone from the Kingdom of Nevel is a drunkard." How would such a stereotype get started? Perhaps it is because, 30 years ago, there was a terrible food shortage and things in Nevel were grim. The only thing that was cheap and in good supply was hard alcohol. The people of the kingdom, in large numbers, turned to drink to avoid the sorrow of their lives. Even today, with the famine over, alcoholism remains a problem, and of course the stereotype persists-once a stereotype forms, it becomes difficult to ever eradicate it completely.

To understand something, you need to know the generalities before you can learn the details. In the same way, when you're creating a setting, or a part of a setting, inform the players of the generalities involved. It's a good place to start.