Rip It & Run: Stereotypes

With the possible sole exception of roleplaying, the use of stereotypes is considered unacceptable behaviour.

Relying on stereotypes can get you into a lot of trouble: assuming, solely on the basis of a person’s appearance, that someone comes from a particular racial, cultural, or socio-economic background, and that therefore they will behave in a certain way, is, metaphorically, a really quick way to take a long walk off a short pier. As they say, to assume is to make an ‘ass’ of ‘u’ and ‘me’. Mainly ‘u’, but you get the idea.

However, when it comes to gaming, it’s a really useful tool. Just as the genre of a game fills in a load of information that the referee doesn’t describe about a place and time, so too do stereotypes fill in blanks about the NPC individuals that players encounter. In setting a scene, sometimes the Keeper tries to aim for a certain outcome: obtaining that result, depends upon meeting, or foiling, expectations

Take an example. The referee locates his team of players in a back alley in the wrong part of town; the players are looking for an opium den to which certain clues have led them. In setting the scene, the Keeper mentions the squalor, the seediness and four individuals – unkempt, unwashed and unprepossessing – loitering in the shadows. The referee can take the scene in a number of directions but let’s boil it down to two options: one, the shadowy figures are thugs protecting the opium den and its criminal network; or two, the figures are undercover police officers keeping tabs on the joint. In the first instance, the players will prepare a strategy to bypass the defenders, either through guile or strength of arms; in the second, their approach will result in considerable surprise when they discover the presence of agents of the Law.

In the first instance expectations are met; in the second, they are foiled.

Having stereotypes creates a kind of shorthand that flags to the players what they should expect. Every type of employment or social position has a typical manner of presentation, from bank clerks to rag-pickers; conforming to these behaviours allows players to effectively anticipate events and reactions. Thwarting these expectations produces surprise and interest: what if the rag-picker quotes from Goethe and sings arias while conducting his business? How will your players relate to him then? Where will this interesting character take the team?

Another way to use the notion of stereotypes in gaming is in constructing a party; this is especially useful when your players are time-pressured and sessions are few and far between. Remember when you used to play Dungeons & Dragons? When you put your team of players together you made sure that all your bases were covered: Fighter to kill things and kick in doors; Cleric to heal damage; Magic-User to blow things up; Thief to pick locks and scout ahead. Regardless of the game that you’re now playing, this kind of role assignment is still valid, especially when you’re trying to throw together a “quick and dirty” party for an infrequent session. Most games outline various character archetypes that support the genre that they’re trying to portray and they help very well in this process – pick up any White Wolf game and you’ll see it happening.

Of course, a game like Call of Cthulhu doesn’t use strongly-defined archetypes for grounding characters (apart from assigning skills based on an occupation). In these instances, it’s possible to slap a label on a raw, undefined character and get a headstart on how that character works in the milieu. Say you have a CoC character generated using the Journalist occupation skill set: you could just run with a stereotypical newshound concept and come up with a Karl Kolchak persona on the fly; or you could slap some other kind of label on the top and add a twist.

Say you decide to call your reporter a “Brick”. To the basic skill set you add some combat skills and you tweak their stats to emphasise Size and Strength; now you have a journalist who’s not above intimidating sources to get their story, and who’s not afraid to wade into the bad guys’ HQ in pursuit of a lead. Or maybe you slap the label “Novice” onto your reporter: now you’re not defining skills or stats so much as you are informing personality traits. This character will trust to idealism and Luck and will unknowingly wander into trouble through inexperience; a good Keeper will recognise that the player is accurately portraying a chosen role and will match their characterisation with suitable outcomes.

Other labels you can apply are “Coward”, “Hard-bitten”, “Generous”, “Upbeat”, “Mysterious” or “Stoic”. In fact, there are millions to choose from. It’s best to step back from your character and look at what will best suit your group: do you have enough gunslingers? Are there enough researchers? Enough people capable of using magic? Discuss options with your fellow team-mates: if you are all hooked in to what each of you are bringing to the group, you all (including your Keeper) will know what you’re jointly capable of and you will be able to anticipate your outcomes more effectively.