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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lizard" data-source="post: 4151694" data-attributes="member: 1054">Not really.People with PC Classes were elite -- but that included almost every NPC of any significance. The were LOTS of clerics, fighters, wizard, etc, in the world -- the demographics in the DMG made it clear that about 1-5% of the populace was "PC Classed". Every village had a cleric, a sorceror, and a ranger or two. The impression I get from 4e is that the "PC's Are Special Precious Snowflakes" meme gets kicked up to 11, with even high level NPC allies/enemies usually being things like 'Elf Elite Archer' or 'Human Knight-Commander' instead of leveled characters. See the example noted earlier -- the NPC traveling with the party isn't a classed character, he's an entry from the MM.Snowflakes FTL.PCs already have enough advantages, just being PCs. Hard-coding it into the game world that they're special in a *rules dependent* sense is really annoying, and it places a stamp on all world building that can be hard to wash off. Not every world has/needs/acknowledges "destined heroes". I prefer worlds with rich and storied histories, where Heroic Deeds are going on everywhere -- and the PCs are just the people we happen to paying attention to. They are better than *most* people in the sense they're skilled, lucky, trained, determined -- they're the high end of the bell curve. But that's the only advantage they have; they aren't *metaphysically* different. Audie Murphy performed acts of heroism which would get most people killed. Leonardo da Vinci was a success at almost anything he tried, and he tried a lot of things. But none of them were "touched by the gods" or "destined for greatness", and while what they did pushed the limits of what a human can do, they weren't *different* from other people, just *better* than most. It's a curve, not a line. DaVinci was one of many great artists/scientists -- perhaps the best, but not metaphysically different from the second-best. Audie Murphy wasn't the only hero of WW2. Etc.The difference between PC classes and NPC classes, between 'standard' and 'elite' arrays, is one of power level, not innate being. That the rules enshrine such a difference is worrisome.</blockquote>

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