How Special Are The PCs?

[Emerikol]

But what about how they compare to a broad cross section of the NPC population?

I've expressed my view before but it's worth another listing. I realize this is not the standard D&D way.

A. Levels 1 to 6 are common. Almost all people fall into this category. Obviously 1 is more common than 6 but any reasonably sized town has a few 6th level.
B. Levels 7 to 12 are uncommon. While rarer in small towns they are common in big cities.
C. Levels 13 to 15 are renowned. In a nation there are a half a dozen to a dozen
D. Level 16+ are legends. They are rare even in a nation. There are maybe 20 to 50 on a large continent.

Most troops are A with sergeants and captains at the higher levels.

Knights, High Priests, Wizards for hire, etc.. are at level B. They make up a lot of the mounted soldiery in a medieval kingdom.

C and D are obviously great leaders, renowned warriors, crafty archmages, etc... These people have the ear of the King often. A good number of these though remain anonymous and keep a low profile. If they are out and about you could mistake them for group B easily. So the visible number of C's and D's is likely lower than the reality.

 

[The Soloist]

Depends on the campaign concept:

In my last 5e campaign (2018-19), the four level 2 characters were brothers and sisters, and children of a Baron, who was murdered prior to session 1. The long term objective was to find out who and why they killed him - and possibly enact revenge. They were well above the common man, in status, ressources and capabilities, despite only being level 2. They were 'special' with a mega arch plot, they had a manifest destiny of trying to stop the enemies who were attempting to destroy their noble family and they were heroes of the realm.

In my latest Fantasy AGE campaign (2022-2023), the four characters were unrelated regular mercenaries trying to survive getting odd jobs from various factions in and around Skullport. They were not 'special' at all. There was no mega arch plot, no manifest destiny and were not heroes.

 

[Koloth]

Really depends on the game and setting. A typical Traveller character is just another slob in a galaxy wide empire that is one of several galaxy wide empires. D&D type games tend to be a bit smaller in scale. The above average character might be known as someone of note to the locals but is probably not known a couple of towns over. Those towns have their own characters of note.

 

[JConstantine]

Relative to the people in the same "class" as them (if such exists) where do they sit.

Even with this clarification, I'm going to agree with @DrunkonDuty in that, for me, it depends on the game.

In a Forgotten Realms game, with the likes of Elminster, Laeral Silverhand, Drizzt and the Companions of the Hall, etc., your standard PCs are arguably less special than their peers. Meanwhile, Eberron was specifically conceived of to ensure that PCs were exceptional - the Great Druid Olian is an awakened tree that cannot leave the Greenheart; Jaela Daran is one of the most powerful clerics as the Keeper of the Silver, but is just an regular human child outside of the Cathedral of the Silver Flame; Mordain the Fleshweaver and Lady Illmarrow are treated as boogie men rather than known threats like Szass Tam.

With superheroes, a gritty, street-level iron age game is going to have PCs be less special than other supes, while a four colour game is going to have them be more special than average. I like both.

In Vampire: The Masquerade, PCs are typically low on the hierarchy compared to other vamps, despite clearly being more special than mortals.

In Blades in the Dark, PC scoundrels are intended to be above average in terms of ability/specialness, even if their crew starts at the bottom of the ladder.

In Call of Cthulhu, PCs are regular joes - academics, journalists, detectives, etc. - only special insofar as that they get swept up in events bigger than themselves. Same goes for Indiana Jones style pulp adventure.

Similarly, in a hard(ish) sci-fi setting like The Expanse, PCs are going to be on par with their peers for the most part, outside of characters like Bobby who are a marginal cut above by virtue of being a MCRN marine. Conversely, in Star Wars, PCs are typically going to be more special than their peers, even if they're not on par with the Skywalkers.