Adventurers: "We don't want your kind around here."

[Wraith Form]

Nah, stupid idea. Shake it off.

Why, thank you so very much for that illuminating and well-thought discourse. Your ideas are obviously much more substantial and acute, and we appreciate your contribution to this thread.

 

[arscott]

Then how do you explain the popularity of the X-Men?

Spider Man

Sure it's fun to read about Spidey and the X-men, but that doesn't mean it's fun to be them. Frankly, Peter Parker's life is a living hell, and the x-men have it almost as bad.

 

[Tom Cashel]

They're super heroes.

...who are, IIRC, "hated and shunned by the world they've sworn to protect."

So what's your point?

 

[Wraith Form]

...who are, IIRC, "hated and shunned by the world they've sworn to protect."

So what's your point?

I'm behind your concept 100%. On the other hand, I can see how the players of PCs that rae despised might not enjoy role-playing having rotten fruit & tomatoes thrown at them every time they stroll into town, heh heh. I particularly like the gunfighter analogy, though, and see that working well. And yes, using the term mercenary instead of adventurer is a great way of deflecting the stigma of the latter term.

 

[Humanophile]

Sure it's fun to read about Spidey and the X-men, but that doesn't mean it's fun to be them. Frankly, Peter Parker's life is a living hell, and the x-men have it almost as bad.

Almost every gamer I've met likes there to be a challenge in the game. Having to turn the tide of public opinion back to your favor is a challenge, as is simply weathering it. But a character who lives on easy street is little fun once past the initial rush.

Now, I personally haven't played this way. Probably because while public opinion can be an interesting thing to struggle against, in practice it'll be a bunch of low-level NPC's nettling the adventurers. Most games I've played in have been all about getting right back to the action, which tends to be somewhere completely other than polite society.

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

...who are, IIRC, "hated and shunned by the world they've sworn to protect."

So what's your point?

That your description doesn't bring to mind the X-men, it brings to mind the Wild Bunch, or Bonnie and Clyde.

In other words, not "misunderstood heroes", but "unrepentant sociopaths".

 

[The Shaman]

There are shops that cater to their needs.

I thought including a chain of AdventurMarts in my campaign was a little over-the-top, but it is a logical extension of the rules.

Why, thank you so very much for that illuminating and well-thought discourse. Your ideas are obviously much more substantial and acute, and we appreciate your contribution to this thread.

I'm sure there was supposed to be a winking smiley attached to this.

I've done it before. It plays out very similarly to a typical modern western, really, where everybody simultaneously fears the wandering gunslingers, and yet depends on them to get the dirty work done.

That's exactly how I play it in my games - adventurers are "mad, bad, and dangerous to know," but everyone can't help but stare at them and little boys and girls often play at being one until their parents tell them they musn't. This doesn't stop the townfolk from turning to them in their hour of need - the heroes may even be honored from time to time, and develop a local reputation for being a "good guy," but may have a completely different reputation somewhere else ("Them's the no-goods who killed the ol' wizard!" - not knowing that the "ol' wizard" was preparing to summon a demon that would eat all of the villagers...).

The analogy of a rock star works pretty well, too: some adventurers (paladins, bards and clerics) are pop stars - fun, non-threatening - while others (druids, rangers, rogues) are alternative artists - quirky, a bit off-putting - and others are death-metal bat-head-biters who destroy hotel rooms and deflower your daughter (fighters and barbarians).

Otherwise, you can run into the problem of players wondering why everyone hates them when they're the only thing strong enough to keep them safe from the orc/goblin/ogre/giant hordes.

Of course, that's EXACTLY how the villagers of Bree saw the Rangers in LOTR...

 

[Doug McCrae]

"Adventurer" is never an occupation in my gameworlds (well, hasn't been for about 25 years at least).

I was watching 'Touching the Void' on DVD a few days ago. (Excellent BTW, I highly recommend it.) In an interview one of the two mountaineers involved described himself as an adventurer. As far as he's concerned that's his profession.

 

[drnuncheon]

Adventurers in my Freeport game are kind of looked at as tourists - they show up, put a lot of money into the economy, and generally annoy the snot out of everyone. Dru specifically despises them, often at great length.

In my upcoming Relic Hunters game, they're more like Gold Rush miners - entire towns have sprung up to feed on their needs, but they're not worshipped or considered heros in any way.

So...yeah, I've run games like that.

J

 

[Breakdaddy]

...who are, IIRC, "hated and shunned by the world they've sworn to protect."

So what's your point?

Ive got to chime in here and state something that has already been said once in this thread. It is great fun to READ about these guys, but in most cases it actually sucks to BE them. They are shunned and misunderstood outcasts, often forsaking any semblance of a "normal life" for the unforgiving and thankless job of saving others. This makes for a cool read, but I personally would be depressed playing in this type of campaign (at least in the absence of the cool superpowers and supervillians to beat the hell out of). YMMV!