I was just reading over mmadsen's post about what we can learn from CoC and apply to D&D, and I really liked the idea of a group of heroes who start out as really being nobodies.
Essentially, I was thinking about whether it would be possible to start out a campaign where the heroes are all just everyday folks (with the possibility of greatness) who get cought up in something beyond their control and are sucked out of their normal lives into the adventure. I was thinking about setting it up like this:
1. The campaign begins in a local setting: a village, a town, a fortress, perhaps even a city (or a distinct neighborhood or section within a city). All the characters have roles within this community: they're just average folks who act like normal people do in the towns and locales that PC's visit all the time.
2. Along these lines, all PC's begin at first level, but their choice of class is limited to the NPC classes from the DMG. The heroes are farmers, blacksmiths, scribes, scholars, soldiers in the local militia, apprentices of the town wise woman, craftsmen of various sorts.
3. I like the feel of a more heroic, 28 point buy game. For these purposes, however, I'd start with the PC's at 25 points, or possibly even lower. As they gain their first few levels, however, the potential they have begins to show itself (whatever doesn't kill you, and all that). Each level they gain, 2-5, they get an ability point to distribute (rather than just at 4th).
4. The action begins when something happens that the townsfolk can't ignore, or let the heroes solve, and the PC's get tangled up in it.
5. As they begin to sort things out, and gain exposure to the outside world, they can begin taking "heroic" classes and such.
Anyone tried anything like this? Ideas? Comments? Would it work and/or be fun as a player?
Essentially, I was thinking about whether it would be possible to start out a campaign where the heroes are all just everyday folks (with the possibility of greatness) who get cought up in something beyond their control and are sucked out of their normal lives into the adventure. I was thinking about setting it up like this:
1. The campaign begins in a local setting: a village, a town, a fortress, perhaps even a city (or a distinct neighborhood or section within a city). All the characters have roles within this community: they're just average folks who act like normal people do in the towns and locales that PC's visit all the time.
2. Along these lines, all PC's begin at first level, but their choice of class is limited to the NPC classes from the DMG. The heroes are farmers, blacksmiths, scribes, scholars, soldiers in the local militia, apprentices of the town wise woman, craftsmen of various sorts.
3. I like the feel of a more heroic, 28 point buy game. For these purposes, however, I'd start with the PC's at 25 points, or possibly even lower. As they gain their first few levels, however, the potential they have begins to show itself (whatever doesn't kill you, and all that). Each level they gain, 2-5, they get an ability point to distribute (rather than just at 4th).
4. The action begins when something happens that the townsfolk can't ignore, or let the heroes solve, and the PC's get tangled up in it.
5. As they begin to sort things out, and gain exposure to the outside world, they can begin taking "heroic" classes and such.
Anyone tried anything like this? Ideas? Comments? Would it work and/or be fun as a player?
