How do you make the fighter drive the plot?

Mythmere

First Post
In my campaigns, wizards and clerics typically receive visions or research information that drives the plot forward. I'd like to put a fighter into this position, too. But fighters don't have any special way of acquiring information. Any suggestions?
 

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Some suggestions:

-orders from superiours if a knight or part of a fighting order.
-a call to arms by the local lord
-tales of a great battle
-an intelligent weapon with a secret, that only respects great warriors
-rumors from mercenary bands that are being hired for some campaign far away

That's a start!
 

Well, there is always gossip from other fighter types. Maybe he falls in with the city guard in a town and they drop him the occasional juicy bit of gossip needed to drive him forward. Or, in a particularly interesting mentoring twist, you can steal an idea from Mercedes Lackey and have the fighter be trained by past members of whatever group he belongs to. These ghostly father types can be used to drop information on the fighter about places to go to learn lost bits of fighter lore, or something like that. Don't be afraid to add some mysticism to the class to make it special. If fighter feats don't seem a little fantastic, I don't know...
Just an idea. ;)
 

Fighters can have a reputation, let this attact people/quests to them.
-Have the local lords ask them to do something.
-Have a weakly mage or cloistered cleric request them to do something that they could not (spell resistance, no teleportation, etc).
-Have the fighter join the local guard or start their own militia.
-Let them build their won castel or aquire land.
-Give them an item with a motivation.
-Have them quest for a powerful weapon.
-Give them a mortal enemy to combat.
-Get them into the politics of the region.
-Give them a mission to join a prestige class.
 

Or you could rip off countless fantasy works and make the fighter the descendent of some long lost hero or make him the chosen one of the forces of good or some such. Yeah, it has been done before. But there's a reason for that, because it is a fairly interesting story. Throw your own twists into it to keep it from being predictable. And have some sage like character show up to guide the character. He can choose whether or not to trust the sage, and you can take things from there.
 

1) The "Child of Prophecy" Routine - The people are expecting a hero who fits the PC's description to arise, and lead them. They won't follow the Mage or Cleric.

2) Prophetic Dreams - Anyone can have these, be they Fighter, Rogue, or Spellslinger. Only those who dream have the knowledge come to them.

3) "He Is The Key!" - Only someone with the "X" Special Ability can do Y. The Fighter is the only one who can do "X".

4) Secret Knowledge - Anyone can find a secret. If the Fighter discovers the scroll telling how to operate the ancient artifact, and it bonds to him, then only he can operate it, even if someone else later gains the same information.

5) "The Child Who Has Died Is The King Who Will Be!" - Similar to "Child of Prophecy", but less mystical... The PC is a descendant of a bloodline, and only someone of that lineage can open the gate/pass through the door/summon the dead to the stone of Erech, or whatever. (Be very careful with this one, though, as if your Fighter dies, the PCs then have to find someone else of the same bloodline!)

6) The Gift - As above, but the ability to do "Z" has been given to the PC by a godlet, etc.

7) PrC Ability - As "He Is The Key!", above, but it is a Prestige Class Ability which is important.

I'm sure there are many others...
 

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