How Special Are The PCs?

[cranberry]

IMO, PCs have always been the focus, but they are not special. That is, there are other adventurers in the world, so the may be more "special" than the local farmer, but relative to other adventurers they are just one of quite a few. I remember my first 5E 2014 Adventure (Dragon heist) that took place in Waterdeep. We were a puny 1st level party among many high level NPCs

 

[Mallus]

D&D is heavily inspired by pulp adventure stories about larger-than-life protagonists. Proto-superheroes, if you will. I expect D&D PCs to be like that.

 

[Weiley31]

Were they born into Royalty?

 

[haakon1]

Were they born into Royalty?

I’ve had PC’s who were born into noble families, or in one case the daughter of a bishop.

I’ve seen all sorts of backstories, and almost anything beats “I’m a wanderer with no family, friends, or discernible backstory” backstories.

BG3 showed us some pretty out there backstories can work.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

When I run games, I run them as if the PCs are the most important personalities in the stories. I do NOT kill PCs. I let the players decide if their PCs die when they "should."

If they decide not to let them die, I come up with alternate complications (capture, disfigurement, wounds, etc.).

If they decide to let them die, I let them come up with their death scene if they want.

Yes, I know lots of people would hate that. But it's the way I do it and I make sure anyone joining my games knows it.

As far as power level goes, I assume that the PCs are more capable or more powerful or just touched by the Gods as opposed to the normal populous.

All the above goes out the window if the genre doesn't call for it. Call of Cthulhu? More skilled but not more resilient. etc., etc.

 

[Pedantic]

While it can and should vary based on the game and genre, I generally like PCs that are more powerful/impactful than the "baseline" person, but not in a unique way. Ideally, "adventurer" is an established class of powerful people that have a known impact on the world.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

That's not really what I mean. Relative to the people in the same "class" as them (if such exists) where do they sit. So, if a typical superhero universe, are they the JLA, or the street level heroes?

What I am trying to get at is the degree of (and I am making this term up on the spot) "inherent protagonism" of the PCs. For example, @Micah Sweet above indicated that his PCs are not "inherently protagonists" -- they are just people in the setting who do adventurey stuff because they have players. Nothing else makes them special except what they do and if they happen to survive.

Well, yes, they do have inherent protagonism. Ideally this will be because they've given me (I usually GM) some good disadvantages. (Remember I prefer HERO and other games with dis/advantages systems.)

So a PC will have a rival, enemy, personal goal of some kind, loved ones to protect, etc., that allow the adventures to be written for them. Some of these hooks are reactive, some proactive. I encourage players with proactive disads to to go forth and protag. Reactive disads... well, they're pretty standard fare for adventures. I'm sure we've all had plenty of experience with them.

Obviously this is all easier said than done.

As for how they compare to other NPCs of the same class. That depends on the style of game. In my gaming life most of my players have all been very much for playing characters who are good at what they do. Outside of Paranoia no-one wants to play an incompetent boob. So they're good at what they do.

They may or may not be "the best there is at what they do." That will depend on the game. They might be playing Daredevil in a world where the JLA are a thing. But if they are DD in a world with the JLA one of the questions that will have been discussed in session 0 is: why don't the JLA just handle all the problems you take on?

 

[Celebrim]

A big part of the Fantasy aesthetic, and this applies to every genre, is being special in some regard. Not every player wants to win all the time and some genres expect the heroes to be grittier and more realistic, but that generally doesn't imply normal. Even the most gritty genre or the most "rag tag crew" still has protagonists that are competent in their own field, much more so than a normal person.

So regardless of the genre or setting or system, I generally prefer characters to always be special. That doesn't mean they are necessarily Superman, or Paul Atreides, or Luke Skywalker, but it does mean within their own story they are important and capable. And it does mean that the setting has to be one that either doesn't have "chosen ones" or provides plenty of opportunity for heroism outside of whatever the chosen one is doing.

 

[jmartkdr2]

I prefer the pcs to be very special indeed; Exalted is pretty much my personal sweet spot.

I can enjoy a wide range of course, but I can be a regular guy in real life.

 

[Thomas Shey]

It depends on two factors:

1. What are the PCs going to be doing? If they're going to be doing a lot of things involving countering powerful entities, they need to be to some degree, powerful enough to make that work.

2. How much combat are they going to be in? If they're going to be in a lot of combat, the consequences need to be viable (i.e. either the PCs need to be superior, or the opponents inferior; I don't think its particularly useful to have the PCs likely to lose many combats if the game is going to be combat heavy (I should also note, this is assuming lethal combat; this can play much differently if the typical combat loss does not involve lethality).