Playing Kender Without Being Fed To A Dragon, or, Handling With Care.

[Khatoblepas]

[This post may contain some mild spoilers for DL1: Dragons of Despair.]

Recently I've been in a Dragonlance Campaign, the old DL1-DL8 series, and with my DM's and the other player's consent, I've been playing what is likely the most contentious race/class combination of them all:

A Kender Handler/Wild Mage.

(I know Kender can't usually be Mages, but the DM allowed it because it might be interesting!)

From the very beginning, I knew that Kender were universally reviled throughout the D&D community, and for good reason: They are annoying, thieving little buggers with a penchant for innocently handwaving their crimes. So, I sat down and thought, how would you play a Kender with the same in-game effects, but without irritating the other players? My findings were thus:

Consent is everything. You want to come across as quirky and slightly annoying to the characters, not the players. As a player, you have to respect the other players, and this includes knowing when and what to "borrow" off of them. When treasures are being doled out, ask "Can I have already gotten this item?", and roleplay accordingly. I'll give an example: during the Xak Tsaroth expedition, the Ranger found a necklace that increases Move Silently and Hide In Shadows by 10%. Of course, he was going to give it to me anyway, since I was the party thief! It was my part of the treasure, but I was found looking at it before the Ranger even decided to hand it over in character (he had already decided OOC who it was going to - me!). It becomes less of a big deal when the party thief steals his own share, rather than the shares of the other party members.

Learn when to not steal. Sometimes, it's not appropriate to handle objects. Kenders are, as a rule, pretty undiscerning when it comes to handling at any time, but as a PC, you need to have a little more self restraint. You may want to mess around with the Blue Crystal Staff, but sit on your hands and ask about it instead. After all, a good story is worth more than just a cursory glance! Use your sticky fingers to facilitate conversation, rather than just stealing other people's stuff. If you really want to steal something but it's just not appropriate, roleplay being fidgety and sit on your hands. You can be true to your character without stealing constantly! Be curious, not cruel.

Handle Useless Items. Kender don't automatically go for the super-rare magical items. Indeed, whilst they are always looking at objects and sometimes stealing them, they always mean to bring them back. You can display this very well by mentioning things from places the party has already been, such as a fork from a tavern the party was staying at, or a petty spell component from a magic shop, or even a belt buckle or two from when the party was seeing a tailor. Try to keep your theft value low, as if an item gets lost, spending a couple of silver replacing an item is not below a Kender's morals! And besides which, sometimes those useless items can be useful for some purpose!

Sometimes, Handling Can Be Useful. This, more than anything else, is the key to having the Kender be a valued member of the party. If the party forgets to pick up an item, or drops their weapon and forgets to pick it up, Kender are always there to give them back their stuff. Did the party pick up The Onyx Idol of D'Oom before being chased out of the temple by angry lizardmen? If a Kender is in the party, the answer is always yes. You may not realise until later, but you can be certain that they did.

Additionally, a Kender's immunity to fear is something that can be used to great effect when you have a very cautious party like mine, who debate over every corner and every room so that no one gets hurt. A Kender can strike forth and prove to the party that there is nothing to fear, even in a scary situation. And, being natural thieves, it is very possible that they know how to take down the traps that may otherwise kill the rest of the party! Just remember to not be annoying, and to know when to hold back and let the beefier party members take the lead. You aren't a Paladin, even if you do share an immunity to fear.

Finally, Kender Weapons. Kender weapons are the best things I've ever seen in D&D, and I will never get over how incredibly useful they are. Kender Hoopaks, in particular, can stab as a spear, strike as a staff, or be used as a slingshot. This means the Hoopak can be quite effective with Knockdown (Combat & Tactics), and with the Kender's +2 to hit with Kender Weapons (Source: Dragonlance Adventures), you're never always missing. Unfortunately, non-Kender can't get in on the fun and have a -2 to hit. Plus, using these weapons makes Kender feel unique from the standard halfling.

Have any of you had any positive experiences playing as or amongst Kender? I'd really like to know, so I can improve my own roleplaying of the little blighters. This doesn't include fatal Kender experiences, as I'm sure we've all got three or four of them where the Kender met a sticky end.

[LibraryOgre]

When letting someone play a kender, I think one of the keys is to make clear that they don't control their special abilities; they can call on them at will, but so can the DM. So you handle things when it's interesting for the DM, not just for you. If you insult people, you're taunting.