D&D and High-School Stereotypes [Archive] - Wizards Community

D&D and High-School Stereotypes [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Aramil_silverwind
03-01-05, 02:23 AM I'm planning on designing the cover/theme for the yearbook of my school next year, and I wanted to get a heads up on it all (thus I'm starting now). And I need everyone here's help. This might sounds stupid, as this is a D&D message board and I'm talking about a high school yearbook cover design. Which is where my theme comes in.

The picture I want would be some adventurers sitting around a campfire (which would have the school logo in front of it) but have the adventuters resembling high school students. What I'm trying to do is symbolize how the years of high school are like a long adventure, because over the course of it you learn and get better at everything while getting closer to those you travel the path with. Because by the end of it all even the paladin types have somewhat of an understanding of the rogue types, though they may not spend any time together (or even like eachother) outside of school.

Which brings me to why I've made this thread. I need your help deciding who should be depicted in this 'adventuting party' and how they would be depicted as adventurers. I want to depict them so everyone can realize what past of high school I'm trying to depict. Scince everyone here is (or has) going through high school, you all would know. What kinds of stereotypes woudl fit into a fantasy party?So far I've gotten the basic ideas of the jock being the fighter, the comp/math geek being a wizard, and the shadier 'alternate lifestyle' folks in the rogue position.

As for the actual picture, I'll give examples of what I'm trying to do and hope that you'll understand what I mean. If there was a fighter, I would depict his sword as a ballpoint pen and his shield as an eraser. The Wizard would be reading a math textbook instead of a spellbook. Thus, allowing the onlooker to understand that these are in fact students and not just any band of adventurers.

This might seem to be stretching the theme of the D&D boards, but the people here understand fantasy figures more than anyone else I could talk to. I say 'Rogue-ish' and I can count on not hearing any X-Men refferences. Whats everyones ideas on this? What are some easily recognizable High-School stereotypes that could be easily fit into a fantasy picture?

If this strays a bit too far from what these boards are for, I would understand if a WizO locked the thread. But I hope I get a few responses at least before I get shut down (if that happens)
Arrowhen
03-01-05, 01:08 PM Cheerleader bards?

All I can say is I wish I'd gone to YOUR high school instead of the dungheap *I* eventually dropped out of. ;)
Helmed Horror
03-01-05, 01:18 PM lol.. yes
the cheerleader bards...
The jock fighters...
The Goth wizards??
The Prep Paladins
The Outcast/Grunge kids Rouges
The Not so popular kids Hexblades
will write more when an idea comes into my head.
jasper
03-01-05, 03:15 PM Keep the campfire drop the adventurer types. How about this
Football quarterback with football pads, armour (no spikes) with team color and number on it.
Band member = bard with lute but band uniform.
Drama = either hamlet type or if you know in advance what ever play is being done.
Math = math geek (glasses, slide rule or abcuss,_ with wizard hat.
Sciene geek = lab coat holding microscope
School Mascot with book titled life yy-yy (ex 1980-1982 your high school years)
In the background mob of viliagers with torches and faces of teachers.
Draco Strang
03-01-05, 03:21 PM I'd definitely give the fighter/athelete a "weapon" in the sport your school is famous for. Football? Definitely a giant flaming football and helmet. Baseball? This one is easy...baseball bat. You get the idea.
Aneul
03-01-05, 03:29 PM -Cleric= Humanities major (Equipted with holy symbol depicting Shakespear's face and a pen in his blelt insted of a mace)

I also quite like the idea of monsters with the faces of teachers (I always find it comforting to view my sceince teacher as a twisted and sadistic mind flayer rather then a boring/iratating human.)
CzarGarrett
03-02-05, 10:12 AM Well all know the standard D&D stuff.

But as to high school, I think the first step is to generate a list of social groups and niches.

Goth v1: Woe is me, I hate the world

Goth v2: All black, all the time, into death metal

Jock v1: Plays major sport, one of the stars of the team

Jock v2: Plays major sport, supporting role

Jock v3: Plays secondary sport, thinks themselves great

Cheerleader v1: Tightly wound, usually blonde and buxom, probably dates
Jock v1, always comes in packs

Cheerleader v2: On team, but not as 'ideal' as v1.

Preppie v1: Overly well dressed, probably does cocaine and listens to modpop

Preppie v2: Nicely dressed, no cocaine, probably heavy into EMO

Nerd v1: Science/Math nerd. Probably in science fairs and math competitions

Nerd v2: History/English nerd. Probably acts in plays

Metalhead: Stuck in 1986 clothing style, unabashed enthusiasm for metal music

Wierd kid: A little nerd, a little goth, few friends, usually rumors about psychosis

Non-standard religious type: Differentiated by religious garb quite different from standard fare

Loner: Very much like Wierd Kid, except no friends.

Those are the ones I can think up. I'm sure there's more, but at least this could get a list started. Once a good list is developed, then I think more accurate D&D types can be applied.
Aramil_silverwind
03-02-05, 07:37 PM Czar, I like your list... it does seem to encompass what I want to depict. I'll hafto narrow it down (because our school is crappy and won't take the idea if its big and will take alot of $ to print) to only a few of them.... this is what I see as the party using that setup.

Goth v1 or v2 - Necromancer sorceror type.

Jock v1 - Greatsword fighter. Pencil sword and football helmet.

Nerd v1 or v2 - Sagely Wizarding guy w. big glasses

Wrong side of the tracks kid - Rogue

Wrong side of the tracks kid - low-class, probably into illegal things like drugs and/or theft. Has few friends, who tend to be in the same niche.
JRscorp89
03-02-05, 07:55 PM I'd have to say that if your school is lettin you do that then your school completely and totally rocks.
Does your school have special vocational classes, if so then a guy in like FFA or sumthin like that could be a druid with a pitvh fork or sumthin like that.
kinda stupid...I kno but its all I could think of.
Aramil_silverwind
03-02-05, 08:05 PM heh, see thats the thing... the school isn't agreeing to anythiug just yet. I'm going to spend the next while on the idea, then give it to the school next year.

Of course when I give it to the school, I'm going to leave out any and all references to D&D when I tell them about it. And I'll stress the whole 'school is a journey' thing. The schoolboard loves corny stuff like that.

Yeah, but if it does get done I'll post it here so everyone else can take a look at it. lol at least I know that if the school dosn't take it as a yearbook pic, I can always put it online and there'd be more than a few people interested in how it turned out.
JRscorp89
03-02-05, 08:43 PM Yeh, well I'll be in touch b/c I'm definately interested. You're a brave soul for tryin sumthin like that b/c at my school the other kids would think I was the biggest nerd in history for doin that. But I like the idea. I'll keep watchin this thread.
Kragg Bonemeal
03-03-05, 01:28 PM Yeah... don't go DnD... let them think it is some LotR fetish. And your "school was an adventure" theme is interesting.
J Milburn
03-03-05, 03:36 PM God, your social groups are weird over there, like a slightly distorted mirror image.
Aramil_silverwind
03-03-05, 06:56 PM Well I wasn't planning on making it any kind of specific reference, I was just going to aim for a fantasy feel overall.... as much of a backwater hick-town this is, people have a decent appreciation for the fantasy genre.

In updates, I brought it up to the art teacher today and she nearly hugged me. She was ecstatic that someone had decided to plan the next year AHEAD of time so it was decent and didn't end up being something stupid at the last minute. I told her the overall idea, and she was even happier with that. It seems that she loved the metaphor idea and that she was glad that someone was finally deciding to do something other than the graffiti that had been slapped onto the last 5 or 6 years of yearbooks.

Everything is looking good, but I'm still tossed up about what classes/students to portray....
JRscorp89
03-03-05, 08:27 PM How back country is your town, bet its not as bad as mine. Anyway that's cool that your art teacher agrees with you. :)
11d7
03-03-05, 09:48 PM Wierd kid: A little nerd, a little goth, few friends, usually rumors about psychosis

lol thats me all over! Today my freind Bruce told me his freinds (my enemy) chris said that he thinks I'm a dumby who only thinks they are smart (dispite my marks all being English 87, Math 87, World History 5000 BCE-1600 CE 93 and Canadian History 91 and my percentile test places me at the 99th percential (exept in some areas of math)) and that I have a team/flock of lesser nerds that follows me around. The sad part is its true (the flock of nerds part, not be being a dumby), I wish my cooler freinds went to my school but they live in the next school zone over (down the street WTF? I guess the line needs to be draw some place though).
HomebrewedMonster
03-03-05, 10:05 PM What's your school mascot?
Aramil_silverwind
03-03-05, 11:19 PM What's your school mascot?

Nothing that I see could be made into something cool.... a hornet. As in the Bee. :nonono: It couldn't be something cool, eh?
scwolf
03-04-05, 12:46 AM Nothing that I see could be made into something cool.... a hornet. As in the Bee. :nonono: It couldn't be something cool, eh?

I don't know about that now. Maybe the artwork on this magic card can give some inspiration?
http://gatherer.wizards.com/gathererlookup.asp?set=Legends&name=killer_bees

(I apologize for making you cut&paste the link, but the fourms won't properly hyperlink something with an & in it, and I can't get the ascii %-code substitution to work right either.)
HomebrewedMonster
03-04-05, 12:57 AM You could have the sterotypes riding giant bees/hornets?
Aramil_silverwind
03-04-05, 02:52 AM Nah, I think the idea of the adventurer's riding giant hornets would be a bit too much. I think I'll just stick with the campfire idea.

I'll add the hornet motif to the fighter's armor though. If nothing else, make his shield with a bee Motif.
scwolf
03-04-05, 10:21 AM I'll add the hornet motif to the fighter's armor though. If nothing else, make his shield with a bee Motif.

The head of the wizard's staff could be carved to look like there's a bee perched upon it, also.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Aramil_silverwind 03-01-05, 02:23 AM	I'm planning on designing the cover/theme for the yearbook of my school next year, and I wanted to get a heads up on it all (thus I'm starting now). And I need everyone here's help. This might sounds stupid, as this is a D&D message board and I'm talking about a high school yearbook cover design. Which is where my theme comes in. The picture I want would be some adventurers sitting around a campfire (which would have the school logo in front of it) but have the adventuters resembling high school students. What I'm trying to do is symbolize how the years of high school are like a long adventure, because over the course of it you learn and get better at everything while getting closer to those you travel the path with. Because by the end of it all even the paladin types have somewhat of an understanding of the rogue types, though they may not spend any time together (or even like eachother) outside of school. Which brings me to why I've made this thread. I need your help deciding who should be depicted in this 'adventuting party' and how they would be depicted as adventurers. I want to depict them so everyone can realize what past of high school I'm trying to depict. Scince everyone here is (or has) going through high school, you all would know. What kinds of stereotypes woudl fit into a fantasy party?So far I've gotten the basic ideas of the jock being the fighter, the comp/math geek being a wizard, and the shadier 'alternate lifestyle' folks in the rogue position. As for the actual picture, I'll give examples of what I'm trying to do and hope that you'll understand what I mean. If there was a fighter, I would depict his sword as a ballpoint pen and his shield as an eraser. The Wizard would be reading a math textbook instead of a spellbook. Thus, allowing the onlooker to understand that these are in fact students and not just any band of adventurers. This might seem to be stretching the theme of the D&D boards, but the people here understand fantasy figures more than anyone else I could talk to. I say 'Rogue-ish' and I can count on not hearing any X-Men refferences. Whats everyones ideas on this? What are some easily recognizable High-School stereotypes that could be easily fit into a fantasy picture? If this strays a bit too far from what these boards are for, I would understand if a WizO locked the thread. But I hope I get a few responses at least before I get shut down (if that happens)
Arrowhen 03-01-05, 01:08 PM	Cheerleader bards? All I can say is I wish I'd gone to YOUR high school instead of the dungheap I eventually dropped out of. ;)
Helmed Horror 03-01-05, 01:18 PM	lol.. yes the cheerleader bards... The jock fighters... The Goth wizards?? The Prep Paladins The Outcast/Grunge kids Rouges The Not so popular kids Hexblades will write more when an idea comes into my head.
jasper 03-01-05, 03:15 PM	Keep the campfire drop the adventurer types. How about this Football quarterback with football pads, armour (no spikes) with team color and number on it. Band member = bard with lute but band uniform. Drama = either hamlet type or if you know in advance what ever play is being done. Math = math geek (glasses, slide rule or abcuss,_ with wizard hat. Sciene geek = lab coat holding microscope School Mascot with book titled life yy-yy (ex 1980-1982 your high school years) In the background mob of viliagers with torches and faces of teachers.
Draco Strang 03-01-05, 03:21 PM	I'd definitely give the fighter/athelete a "weapon" in the sport your school is famous for. Football? Definitely a giant flaming football and helmet. Baseball? This one is easy...baseball bat. You get the idea.
Aneul 03-01-05, 03:29 PM	-Cleric= Humanities major (Equipted with holy symbol depicting Shakespear's face and a pen in his blelt insted of a mace) I also quite like the idea of monsters with the faces of teachers (I always find it comforting to view my sceince teacher as a twisted and sadistic mind flayer rather then a boring/iratating human.)
CzarGarrett 03-02-05, 10:12 AM	Well all know the standard D&D stuff. But as to high school, I think the first step is to generate a list of social groups and niches. Goth v1: Woe is me, I hate the world Goth v2: All black, all the time, into death metal Jock v1: Plays major sport, one of the stars of the team Jock v2: Plays major sport, supporting role Jock v3: Plays secondary sport, thinks themselves great Cheerleader v1: Tightly wound, usually blonde and buxom, probably dates Jock v1, always comes in packs Cheerleader v2: On team, but not as 'ideal' as v1. Preppie v1: Overly well dressed, probably does cocaine and listens to modpop Preppie v2: Nicely dressed, no cocaine, probably heavy into EMO Nerd v1: Science/Math nerd. Probably in science fairs and math competitions Nerd v2: History/English nerd. Probably acts in plays Metalhead: Stuck in 1986 clothing style, unabashed enthusiasm for metal music Wierd kid: A little nerd, a little goth, few friends, usually rumors about psychosis Non-standard religious type: Differentiated by religious garb quite different from standard fare Loner: Very much like Wierd Kid, except no friends. Those are the ones I can think up. I'm sure there's more, but at least this could get a list started. Once a good list is developed, then I think more accurate D&D types can be applied.
Aramil_silverwind 03-02-05, 07:37 PM	Czar, I like your list... it does seem to encompass what I want to depict. I'll hafto narrow it down (because our school is crappy and won't take the idea if its big and will take alot of $ to print) to only a few of them.... this is what I see as the party using that setup. Goth v1 or v2 - Necromancer sorceror type. Jock v1 - Greatsword fighter. Pencil sword and football helmet. Nerd v1 or v2 - Sagely Wizarding guy w. big glasses Wrong side of the tracks kid - Rogue Wrong side of the tracks kid - low-class, probably into illegal things like drugs and/or theft. Has few friends, who tend to be in the same niche.
JRscorp89 03-02-05, 07:55 PM	I'd have to say that if your school is lettin you do that then your school completely and totally rocks. Does your school have special vocational classes, if so then a guy in like FFA or sumthin like that could be a druid with a pitvh fork or sumthin like that. kinda stupid...I kno but its all I could think of.
Aramil_silverwind 03-02-05, 08:05 PM	heh, see thats the thing... the school isn't agreeing to anythiug just yet. I'm going to spend the next while on the idea, then give it to the school next year. Of course when I give it to the school, I'm going to leave out any and all references to D&D when I tell them about it. And I'll stress the whole 'school is a journey' thing. The schoolboard loves corny stuff like that. Yeah, but if it does get done I'll post it here so everyone else can take a look at it. lol at least I know that if the school dosn't take it as a yearbook pic, I can always put it online and there'd be more than a few people interested in how it turned out.
JRscorp89 03-02-05, 08:43 PM	Yeh, well I'll be in touch b/c I'm definately interested. You're a brave soul for tryin sumthin like that b/c at my school the other kids would think I was the biggest nerd in history for doin that. But I like the idea. I'll keep watchin this thread.
Kragg Bonemeal 03-03-05, 01:28 PM	Yeah... don't go DnD... let them think it is some LotR fetish. And your "school was an adventure" theme is interesting.
J Milburn 03-03-05, 03:36 PM	God, your social groups are weird over there, like a slightly distorted mirror image.
Aramil_silverwind 03-03-05, 06:56 PM	Well I wasn't planning on making it any kind of specific reference, I was just going to aim for a fantasy feel overall.... as much of a backwater hick-town this is, people have a decent appreciation for the fantasy genre. In updates, I brought it up to the art teacher today and she nearly hugged me. She was ecstatic that someone had decided to plan the next year AHEAD of time so it was decent and didn't end up being something stupid at the last minute. I told her the overall idea, and she was even happier with that. It seems that she loved the metaphor idea and that she was glad that someone was finally deciding to do something other than the graffiti that had been slapped onto the last 5 or 6 years of yearbooks. Everything is looking good, but I'm still tossed up about what classes/students to portray....
JRscorp89 03-03-05, 08:27 PM	How back country is your town, bet its not as bad as mine. Anyway that's cool that your art teacher agrees with you. :)
11d7 03-03-05, 09:48 PM	Wierd kid: A little nerd, a little goth, few friends, usually rumors about psychosis lol thats me all over! Today my freind Bruce told me his freinds (my enemy) chris said that he thinks I'm a dumby who only thinks they are smart (dispite my marks all being English 87, Math 87, World History 5000 BCE-1600 CE 93 and Canadian History 91 and my percentile test places me at the 99th percential (exept in some areas of math)) and that I have a team/flock of lesser nerds that follows me around. The sad part is its true (the flock of nerds part, not be being a dumby), I wish my cooler freinds went to my school but they live in the next school zone over (down the street WTF? I guess the line needs to be draw some place though).
HomebrewedMonster 03-03-05, 10:05 PM	What's your school mascot?
Aramil_silverwind 03-03-05, 11:19 PM	What's your school mascot? Nothing that I see could be made into something cool.... a hornet. As in the Bee. :nonono: It couldn't be something cool, eh?
scwolf 03-04-05, 12:46 AM	Nothing that I see could be made into something cool.... a hornet. As in the Bee. :nonono: It couldn't be something cool, eh? I don't know about that now. Maybe the artwork on this magic card can give some inspiration? http://gatherer.wizards.com/gathererlookup.asp?set=Legends&name=killer_bees (I apologize for making you cut&paste the link, but the fourms won't properly hyperlink something with an & in it, and I can't get the ascii %-code substitution to work right either.)
HomebrewedMonster 03-04-05, 12:57 AM	You could have the sterotypes riding giant bees/hornets?
Aramil_silverwind 03-04-05, 02:52 AM	Nah, I think the idea of the adventurer's riding giant hornets would be a bit too much. I think I'll just stick with the campfire idea. I'll add the hornet motif to the fighter's armor though. If nothing else, make his shield with a bee Motif.
scwolf 03-04-05, 10:21 AM	I'll add the hornet motif to the fighter's armor though. If nothing else, make his shield with a bee Motif. The head of the wizard's staff could be carved to look like there's a bee perched upon it, also.