Hand Picked or Happened By?

[Stormborn]

In your campaign are the PCs "hand picked" for the mission? (whether it be by an authority figure, a wandering wizard, destiny, or some other plot device)

Or do they just "happen by"? (ie in the right/wrong place at the right/wrong time)

Does this have any bearing on how the campaign is planned from the DM's side of things?

How does this affect how PCs are generated? IOW if they are going to be hand picked do you tell them that ahead of time so that they can all be choosing spells/weapons/feats/PrC that adress the main threats or just let the players come up with whatever they want and progress organically?

For those who have run/played in both types of games, which did you find more enjoyable (if either)? which was easier to run?

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Handpicked by various sources, including Chaos (which looks just like "just happened by" to the non-initiated).

The enjoyment level isn't really linked too closely with the choice - after all, you can make a boring story about the Chosen Ones (Chosen Fours?), and fantastic stories about a bunch of individuals who are thrown together by chance and have to learn to work together to surive, just as you can make great stories about heroes that were meant to be heroes and boring stories that start like "you all enter the same backyard at the same time, there's some thugs, they attack, roll init."

Personally, I don't prefer the one or the other - as long as the story is good (and sometimes just "as long as I get to kick my share of butt"), I'm happy.

 

[Peni Griffin]

Yes.

My campaign is primarily set in a frontier area where paladins trained at the Ecumenical Monastery of Benevolent Doctrines act as roving order-keepers. Sometimes they patrol and sometimes they are called in by communities to deal with problems local resources can't solve. Paladins both receive assignments and are responsible for stepping up to deal with threats they happen across, and they recruit volunteers with different skill sets to assist them. When the PC paladin was asked to investigate the disappearance of the paladin sent to explore the Sunless Citadel and his team of volunteers, he was chosen because he actually came from Oakhurst, and the other PCs who volunteered to accompany him were a mix of old friends of his, friends of the missing people, and a couple of folks driven by curiosity/desire to get out of work. Once this adventuring party established themselves as a team it was natural for them to call on one another for support in the situations that have arisen since and to travel together when they all had reasons to go in the same direction. They are coping with the Red Hand of Doom by accident: The dwarf was on a business errand for his aunt, the paladin was escorting the body of a fallen paladin to his home in Drellin's Ferry, the bard was heading for an Eisteddfodd in Dennovar, the rogue's mother was getting married in Brindol, etc.

In a long-term campaign, it can be a major convenience for the party to be part of some larger structure which gives them assignments, but it doesn't preclude the PCs happening by a situation that they're more qualified to deal with than other people in the area. I don't want to have a destiny, but I like having logical reasons for my party to be in harm's way so often. When you don't have a formal purpose you spend a certain amount of time floundering around looking for trouble and it begins to feel contrived; also, you get too many situations in which you feel the legal vacuum around you. Formal groups have rules and resources guiding things like dealing with prisoners, property destruction, catching murderers, etc., which otherwise bog down in party bickering over practical and alignment issues, which is boring.

Structures that have worked for us include:
Party has a patron (Archmage, senator, Monastery, etc.)
Party is a troubleshooting corporation publicly soliciting for problems to solve.
Party is an elite exploratory arm within a larger colonial organization.

 

[Umbran]

I treat it on a case by case basis.

Some characters have, as part of their background, some authority (or destiny, or the like) that may pick them for a cause - sometimes, those folks are hand-picked. Occasionally they will "happen by" adventure that isn't directly related to their background, because contrast is fun, too.

Some characters just "happen by" adventure.

Some (most, in my games) are specifically designed to seek out adventure. Either they are nosy in general, or have some specific goals that include adventure along the way. These folks don't need any prodding on my part to get into trouble...

 

[an_idol_mind]

Hand-picked usually, but sometimes they just happen by.

I'd say about 70% of the former and 30% of the latter in my campaigns.

 

[DM_Jeff]

Just happen by usually, but sometimes they are hand-picked.

I'd say about 70% of the former and 30% of the latter in my campaigns.



As in, hiring the group for some reason is in itself a minor form of "telling the players what to do". While with just happening by I can slowly thread it in subtly so by the time the adventure is underway they get the idea thay chose it themselves...seems more natural and less "shadowrunny".

-DM Jeff

 

[Nifft]

Typically they were handpicked for the original mission, but just happened to be there when things went horribly wrong. (Things go horribly wrong about 75% of the PC's missions. Not all of these are even their own fault!)

Cheers, -- N

 

[painandgreed]

Typically, they are informed of what is going on around them (one primary possible plot hook and a couple of alternates) and then they choose one, unless they want to take initiative and figure out a course of action for themselves.

 

[Jhaelen]

It's about 50/50. I'm especially fond of sending them off on a mission (i.e. 'hand-picked') and then let them 'happen by' on the way there to get things done that are of urgent concern but would derail them from their original mission. To make things even more interesting some of those 'side-trecks' may be connected with their 'main' mission _or_ their main mission turns out to be a non-issue, so the 'real mission' is taking care of the local concerns. I firmly believe that having to make choices is a good thing!

I should add that one of my players actually complained a while ago about never knowing when an adventure had ended and the next one started. Actually, that's exactly what I'm trying to achieve - luckily my other players seem to agree with me and like it that way.

 

[Graybeard]

At the start of a campaign, the PCs usually just happen by something and get involved. Once in awhile, a PC will have a mentor or other important person as part of their background. Then I will try to utilize that npc as a source of adventures for a short time.