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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rath Lorien" data-source="post: 1326917" data-attributes="member: 15812">I’m working on my “next big campaign” and I’m thinking that this game will explore some of the various aspects of heroism.  I know that in frp most people deal with heroism all the time so to have a game explore aspects of heroism is like having a game that explores aspects of “combat” or “goodness”.  Maybe it is too general, but I havn't given up on it yet.It is handy to start with a world that encourages heroism, one that will draw the characters into heroic conflicts, and one that already has components that attempt to portray heroism in different ways.  Birthright and Midnight are two campaign settings that spring to mind.  These two settings have at least one thing in common:  They both emphasize personal special abilities over magic items.I’ve seen lots of good stuff in this thread but I was particularly intrigued by Bagpuss’ comments about Raise Dead and reapersaurus’ comments about how D&D does not lend itself to heroism.  Obviously one can be heroic in D&D, but if I’m going to study heroism then I think I should spend time finding ways to encourage heroic elements of various types in the game.Does it seems to you that low-level games seem more heroic than high-level games?  Playing in a lower-level game I think I feel more human, more vulnerable, more like I’m still making formative choices.  At higher level I seem more ‘well defined’.  I feel like the choices have already been made and I’m just living up to my already well-established standards.  I’m using Birthright and Midnight (and a lot of material from 7th Sea just because it is so cool).  Midnight especially seems like a system just dripping with heroism.  The system has Heroic Paths, which gives characters inherent abilities that grow as they gain levels (similar in some ways to the Bloodpowers in Birthright).  Midnight also removes Clerics from the picture (no easy raise dead spells) and is a magic-rare setting.  and of course, it pits the characters against horrible, oppressive evil.  Heroic conflict, Heroic character generation, heroic sacrifice.So here is a twist on the thread:  As a PC, do you prefer to be an ‘Average Joe’ or have ‘Heroic Destiny’?  In Midnight (and Birthright), the characters are born with that ‘special something’ that gives them great potential.  You can probably guess that if I use the Heroic Paths concept from Midnight that I’m shooting more for 'Heroic Destiny' rather than 'Average Joe'.  However one of the guys in my group (Die Kluge) says that he prefers to play an Average Joe character.   I see nothing wrong with that at all.  I don’t mind if the players want to be Average Joes.  Maybe that’s the game they want to play.  Cool.  But let me make my ‘Heroic Destiny’ pitch as well and we’ll see what we end up with.  Some of the questions I'd like to ask in my game:  What is heroism?  What if you were born to be a hero, how would it shape you?  What if you grew up thinking you were a normal guy and then discovered that you were special?  How would that change you?  What if you grew up thinking you were destined for greatness, but it doesn’t turn out like you thought it would?  What would you do?  In a magical world where your ancestors determine your potential, what does it mean to be a hero?  I think this theme can be explored from the perspective of the Average Joe, but it could also be explored from the perspective of one born with a Heroic Destiny.</blockquote>

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