Our friends over at Dungeon’s Master exposed cliched character archetypes. The surly dwarf fighter with a heart of gold, the dual-wield drow, the frail but eldritchly buff wizard –I’m sure you’re aware of all of these.
At the risk of exalting new cliches, let me present a few new archetypes for you. These archetypes represent characters that represent fresh looks at the the types of characters you can play in 4th edition.
First up is the Little Big Man.
Little Big Man
Short of stature but big on heart, this member of a diminutive race is never afraid to confront large challenges. Though his frame is small, his mind and heart are expansive. He never wastes time on little thoughts or minor setbacks. He thinks and acts always on a large scale. This gets him into his fair share of trouble, but he always finds his way out. He is a confusion to all those who would underestimate him due to size and an inspiration to his allies.
Races
- Halfling
- Kobold
- Goblin
Classes
- Tempest Fighter
- Paladin
- Warlord
In Combat: The Little Big Man is a frontline combatant, using his small size and agility to make opponents miss and punish them for even bothering to try to hit you. Strength is most likely not one of your strengths, but your AC can be extremely high due to size bonuses, racial abilities, and dexterity. Crush you flat-footed foes with mobility, and don’t fear opportunity attacks.
In Play: You are no meek hobbit. You take front stage whenever possible with big words and big deeds. People will mock you, but that’s ok. Soon they will respect you. Your enemies will fear you. Over the course of the campaign, the world will know your deeds. No matter the cost, you never back down. You are not the most powerful, or most talented. You are the most determined, and this draws everyone who spends time with you closer to you.
Best represented by:
Naruto (“Believe it!”)
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About gamefiend
A Jack of All Trades ,or if you prefer, an extreme example of multi-classing, Gamefiend, a.k.a Quinn Murphy has been discussing, playing and designing games straight out of the womb. He is the owner and Editor-in-Chief of this site in addition to being an aspiring game designer. As you would assume, he is a huge fan of 4e. By day he is a technologist.
Thanks for the shout out Gamefiend. The little big man is an interesting concept. Not one I’m fond of as I don’t like playing halflings, they remind me of little brats too much.
One of the concepts that I’m interested in putting together is a Dwarven Druid. I think I’ll call the build the Dirty Little Big Man.
I look forward to reading your future archetypes.
One of the Lords of Tyr just made a “little big man” named Nebin. Nebin is a halfling battlerager fighter. He is always the first to throw himself into battle, enjoys a good brew, and generally acts as if he was a dwarf in another life.
Hi guys!
Wimwick, I’ve got a potential one for you coming up: The Grumpy Mystic. It’s not quite the same as the surly dwarf, but it could be pretty funny.
Also, I actually forgot to link to the site in the post. This is what I get for doing this at work! I’ll fix that ASAP.
@Rob: Battlerager halfling? That’s what I’m talking about. I see no reasons these days that halflings can’t just throwdown. Thanks for visiting At-Will!