It takes a different right hand attack than a guitar, and some of your friends will not be able to get to square one with it, yet you can jump back and forth between it and a guitar rather easily once you get the hang of it. It's a nice way to add some spice to a performance if you play guitar, much like the way most people use a 12-string guitar. It may be the ultimate ragtime guitar. You can mimic the sound of a lot of styles of banjo playing, from bluegrass to clawhammer to Irish to Dixieland. Chuck Berry licks work quite well.
Baroque music sounds great on it, as does celtic.
To me, it is a real instrument, and it is full of surprises, and I am always startled at the kinds of sounds I can coax out of it, and also the kinds of things that just don't work very well, though you would think they would. So don't be afraid to play one, and don't think less of those of us who do. I love the 5-string as much as anyone.