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Do your PCs begin their campaign in their first settlement as visitors and wanderers, or as its citizens?
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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7609670" data-attributes="member: 996"><p>I've done both over the years.</p><p></p><p>The former seems like the standard assumption. It leaves each player free to create his character and give it backstory independent of the others.</p><p></p><p> I find the latter quite intriguing, but you need to have players into the idea of having history with eachother in the characters' backstories. I like it for starting campaigns with that right kind of player - or for creating pregens for a one-off. Examples from actual game's I've run or played in:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> PCs were born & raised in the same town, on the fringe of an Empire that feels quite distant, with orcs and elves as neighbors. The town is poor, the climate arid (except for the inexplicably green deep forest where the elves live), the nearest neighbor is a mysterious order of black-robed monks. The culture is heavily influenced by Mystery Cults of various deities, with initiation into a cult marking adulthood, and the PCs all start on the cusp of that, having one last 'grand adventure' out in the woods. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Four of the PCs, though from different (social)classes - one daughter of impoverished aristocrat, one the son of a politically ambitious wealthy freeman, one mischievous lower-class halfling boy, and one dignified Eladrin retainer of the wealthy family - are childhood friends (well, the Eladrin is older, more of a mentor, really). The obvious possibility of an alliance between the two families has two of them ready to take up the adventuring life, ironically together, to avoid an arranged marriage (they like eachother, but not /that/ way, ew), the halfling's more than up for it, and the Eladrin goes along in hopes of keeping them alive long enough to come to their senses. (The other two PCs are collected later, both wanderers.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> The PCs are all 'characters' from the same town (the ones I remember were a parson, sheriff, and the town's crazy cat lady, actually a sorceress), and have had some dealings with a rich/eccentric old man who lives in a mansion just outside of town. When he goes missing and strange lights and noises come from his house, they investigate.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> The PCs are (almost) all citizens of Mellorca, a sort of fantasy-Athens in decline, including an aspiring gangster, a foundling raised in the clergy, a noble's illegitimate son consigned to the arena, and (I said almost) a 'sea elf' who just shows up and starts killing people, which jump-starts the party's story. (also had outsiders recruited into the party, later, though)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> The PCs are all goblins of the same community (The Mighty Green Goblin Gang, yeah, we bad), that has just gone through a major societal shift, they found religion - LG religion. Yeah, it's taking some getting used to. One of the PCs is a Paladin of the new religion (wow, smiting is FUN! - lets go find some more evil-doers!). Three of them are siblings, each of whom claims to be the oldest and therefore in charge of the other two. </li> </ul></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7609670, member: 996"] I've done both over the years. The former seems like the standard assumption. It leaves each player free to create his character and give it backstory independent of the others. I find the latter quite intriguing, but you need to have players into the idea of having history with eachother in the characters' backstories. I like it for starting campaigns with that right kind of player - or for creating pregens for a one-off. Examples from actual game's I've run or played in: [list] [*] PCs were born & raised in the same town, on the fringe of an Empire that feels quite distant, with orcs and elves as neighbors. The town is poor, the climate arid (except for the inexplicably green deep forest where the elves live), the nearest neighbor is a mysterious order of black-robed monks. The culture is heavily influenced by Mystery Cults of various deities, with initiation into a cult marking adulthood, and the PCs all start on the cusp of that, having one last 'grand adventure' out in the woods. [*] Four of the PCs, though from different (social)classes - one daughter of impoverished aristocrat, one the son of a politically ambitious wealthy freeman, one mischievous lower-class halfling boy, and one dignified Eladrin retainer of the wealthy family - are childhood friends (well, the Eladrin is older, more of a mentor, really). The obvious possibility of an alliance between the two families has two of them ready to take up the adventuring life, ironically together, to avoid an arranged marriage (they like eachother, but not /that/ way, ew), the halfling's more than up for it, and the Eladrin goes along in hopes of keeping them alive long enough to come to their senses. (The other two PCs are collected later, both wanderers.) [*] The PCs are all 'characters' from the same town (the ones I remember were a parson, sheriff, and the town's crazy cat lady, actually a sorceress), and have had some dealings with a rich/eccentric old man who lives in a mansion just outside of town. When he goes missing and strange lights and noises come from his house, they investigate. [*] The PCs are (almost) all citizens of Mellorca, a sort of fantasy-Athens in decline, including an aspiring gangster, a foundling raised in the clergy, a noble's illegitimate son consigned to the arena, and (I said almost) a 'sea elf' who just shows up and starts killing people, which jump-starts the party's story. (also had outsiders recruited into the party, later, though) [*] The PCs are all goblins of the same community (The Mighty Green Goblin Gang, yeah, we bad), that has just gone through a major societal shift, they found religion - LG religion. Yeah, it's taking some getting used to. One of the PCs is a Paladin of the new religion (wow, smiting is FUN! - lets go find some more evil-doers!). Three of them are siblings, each of whom claims to be the oldest and therefore in charge of the other two. [/list] [/QUOTE]
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Do your PCs begin their campaign in their first settlement as visitors and wanderers, or as its citizens?
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