Are you special?

[Gold Roger]

They are special in two aspects: potential and desteny.

Why is their potential special:

-Attributes. Some easy examples: A usual city guard in my campaign would be a level 3 fighter with all attributes 10 or 11. An archmage (level 11-15) will be brilliant (Int 17+) but otherwhise not so special (all other attributes 11 or less). Compare that with the stats some PC tend to have. Yeah, they might be level 1 apprentices, but their inherent talent is plain to see.

-Level cap: All PC's have the potential to advance up to level 20, the absolute peak of mortal power when it comes to leveling imc. Most NPC's will never reach ast a certain level and for many that level is beneath level 5.

-Advancement rate: even with drasticaly reduced xp and lots of downtime, PC's might reach 20th level within five to ten years. That's a frightening potential of growth.



Why are they special in regards of desteny:

-Whatever advancement a PC seeks he'll propably find. Some NPC's might search a hidden master for their whole life and not find one and yet, I'll make sure that every PC will have a teacher by the time he wants to join a PRC. Likewhise, it will be the PC's who just so happen to stumble across that scroll of a rare spell in an abandoned tower searched trice already.

-Lets just admit it. PC's attract trouble. A common farmer will live peacefully his whole life and the one night the PCs visit everything gets turned upside down.

 

[Deadguy]

Depends on the campaign. One I run, the Shattered World, the PCs are just people amongst millions. They tend to the high end of potential, but they are part of that category known as professional adventurers.

In the other, an Eberron campaign, then of course they are special; the setting is predicated on that fact. They have a part to play in the unfolding Prophecy, even though they may not understand that. That doesn't guarantee they survive, of course. Heroes can also be cut down in their prime, and the Prophecy is rarely if ever straightforward, so even deaths might be important.

 

[pawsplay]

In my campaign, anyone over about 4th level is pretty special. Why? Because they are a minority of the population in terms of ability, and can probably waste a platoon of soldiers if they feel like it.

 

[shilsen]

In my Eberron game, absolutely. As Deadguy said above, the setting is predicated on that assumption, which is one among the many reasons I really like it. Just the fact that my PCs level up on a regular basis puts them well away from the vast majority of people out there. My group is currently located in Sharn and includes the highest level wizard, the two highest level druids, the highest level paladin and one of the most powerful fighter-types in the city. They're incredibly rich, internationally famous, and take more beatings and survive than anyone on the planet. Damn right, they're special!

 

[diaglo]

pcs are special. most everyone else would be considered 0 lvl Normal men.

 

[Crothian]

pcs are special. most everyone else would be considered 0 lvl Normal men.

The PCs aren't level 0 normal men? Powergamer!!!

 

[megamania]

solo games tend to lean to a Child of Destiny type of theme but parties? They earn their own fame or hatred.

 

[Ilium]

One of the PCs in my game actually is the Chosen of the god of Death. So I'm going to have to go with "yes" on this one.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Yes, the PCs are special. They damn well better be, considering how much time I spend making the campaign for them.

Seriously, though, I have always preferred that the PCs be recognized as special from the outset of the campaign. It tends to help the players be more willing to suspend their disbelief about things like easy resurrection, world-shaking events always occuring in the PCs' immediate vicinity, and so forth.

 

[Mannevond]

In my current campaign, the pc's are chosen ones of a very high being, and they're likely to become lesser gods eventually.

I personally tend to like campaigns where pc's either are very special indeed, or not at all. All too often it's somewhere in between, where you're playing joe schmoe (3rd level fighter) and you're thrust upon some save-the-world scenario. And the authorities won't help you of course.