From: rkunenbo@cs.ruu.nl (Ronald Kunenborg)
Subject: Re: Kender
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 11:53:38 GMT
Organization: Utrecht University, Dept. of Computer Science

In <mxr.714253287@neptune> mxr@neptune.dsc.com (Max "Clinical Whip Cotillion" Rible) writes:

>raycole@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Ray Cole) writes:
>>Hello, this may be a FAQ and if it is please point me to where I can get the
>>FAQ list and I'll be happy.  Anyway, I'm currently running a campaign and one
>>of the players has expressed interest in running a kender; however I don't have
>>any stats and such on the kender race.  Can anyone tell me where I might find
>>all the stats and such for kender?  Any and all help will be appreciated.
>
>Be careful having a kender in your party.  Kender are one of the
>favourite races for munchkins to play: they're effectively thin
>halflings with a genetic predisposition to kleptomania.  Many of my
>characters who have met them are inclined to tie them up or slay on
>sight; the continent I run as part of a shared world has a good bounty
>on the heads of kender, available in any decent-sized city and
>subsidised by both the Merchants' and Thieves' Guilds.  (The merchants
>don't like being stolen from, and the thieves find that kender give
>them a bad name.)  No one in the open gaming has yet taken up the
>challenge of running one after my explanation.

Too bad. Could have been fun - trying to collect a Kender's head
would be troublesome, to say the least, if the Kender is played well
and resourceful. Imagine someone trying to collect and a) being taunted
into stupid actions and b) discovering missing belts/shoelaces etc.

>Very few characters that live to a decent level, in my experience,
>will put up with a kender or similar compulsive thief in the party.
>The first time he does a cute, endearing "here's your *fill in the
>blank* that you've been looking for, it was in my Kender Pouch [TM]",
>it's usually off-with-his-head-and-search-his-possessions.

That'd be one stupid Kender. It *never* is in your pouch, but you just
have it in your hands/pick it up/find it in someone elses possessions.

>[ DELETED ]
>However, characters like that are more of a threat to
>a party than they are useful.

Depends on the style of play of Kender + group. The Kender I played
usually accomplished a great deal by just being at the right(or wrong) spot
at the right time. Or sneaking about unseen. Or relieving the evil high priest
of his/her Ring of Ktorgh etc.

>Has anyone seen a kender played in such a way that it wasn't an
>inconvenience and serious annoyance to a party?

Yes. One strategy that seems to work is to have fun with one member of the party
but make sure you have a few friends in the party as well. 
A generous DM helps a great deal too.

As long as you don't abuse Kender abilities, it can be one of the funniest classes
to play.

>/-------------v-----------------------v---------------------------------------\
>| Max Rible   | mxr@dsc.com           | "Powerful big rats, gentlemen."       |
>|             | rible@vorpal.ucsb.edu |                         - Neil Gaiman |
>\-------------^-----------------------^---------------------------------------/

regards,
-- 
Ronald Kunenborg, Ina Boudier-Bakkerlaan 89-3, 3582 XD Utrecht, The Netherlands

        "I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom
	      and democracy, but that could change." - Dan Quayle
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd