How to make PCs heroes!

[WhatGravitas]

Okay, after reading shilsen's "PCs as action figures"-thread, I've seen some great ideas in the thread, to make high-level PCs high level, i.e. make them feel larger-than-life.

So, what do you do in your campaign to achieve that? And when you do start (I mean levels)? And how do you start?

So far, I've read:

- Action Figures
- Kids playing the PCs
- Gossip on the streets
- Recognition based on appearance/name

Any other ideas, tips or tricks? I feel that higher level play is not supported enough, especially the feel of high level play, so I think stuff like that is really helpful for any GM, in one way or another.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Aeric]

My players have always made it difficult if not impossible to make their characters famous. Most of my PCs tend to have fairly nondescript appearances and usually take great pains to act covertly in order to avoid drawing the wrong kind of attention. This is probably also why most of my PCs are friendless orphans, although these days it probably has more to do with a lack of time to create backgrounds, much less the NPCs to go with them.

 

[Rackhir]

High level IHMO starts at around 11th.

Getting to smash an army is always fun for high level casters (fighter types not so much usually). But remember if they're not wearing uniforms, they're only a horde and not an army. There's nothing quite like getting to go "Yes that army you were worried about? We destroyed it. Yes, the just five of us..." Note in a pinch, getting to crush a rampaging mob can be substituted.

Send against them someone or something they'd fought when they were like 5th level, now that they're like 13th lvl. (even more fun if the person/people were arrogant and kicked their ass)

In general tossing situations at them that give them a chance to shine with whatever they are good at are effective. Do you have a character with an obscene spot score? Let them get more info. Have an archer who can shoot the eye out of a gnat at 200 yards, give them a gnat that needs it's eye shot out. etc... Look at the Epic Level Handbook (it's on most of the SRDs) for some ideas along these lines, though obviously they won't be able to do stuff that requires a +50, but let them do more than is strickly according to the raw numbers. If you've got a +25 in a skill and you roll a 19, you ought to get something more than just normal results.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

Bards singing their praises, of course. But everyone does that. Right?

 

[shilsen]

So, what do you do in your campaign to achieve that? And when you do start (I mean levels)? And how do you start?

In the Eberron game which the 'action figures' thread was about, I started before the PCs hit double figures in levels. That's partly because that's a lot higher by Eberron standards than it is in many other settings, and partly because I think D&D PCs very quickly move well beyond normal human bounds, and I want the players to appreciate that.

So far, I've read:

- Action Figures
- Kids playing the PCs
- Gossip on the streets
- Recognition based on appearance/name

I've also got the weekly article in the internationally read newspaper on their exploits. That's definitely had the biggest influence on the PCs' fame.

Any other ideas, tips or tricks? I feel that higher level play is not supported enough, especially the feel of high level play, so I think stuff like that is really helpful for any GM, in one way or another.

Cheers, LT.

As you say, it's more an issue of feel than anything else. I do all sorts of things, big or little, to that end. A lot of the time, it's just a case of adding in a little comment here and there during the game to underline to the players exactly how unusual and exceptional their PCs are. Sometimes, it's a mechanical thing, like when I'll tell the players they don't need to roll a Spot check or a Knowledge check but automatically have the information. Or in battle someone may absolutely obliterate an enemy or suffer a blow that would kill a normal human (or 10 normal humans, more likely) and just keep swinging.

Sometimes it's even completely out-of-character info. There was a point in my game when the PCs were about to be attacked by a small warband of gnolls, who were seriously outclassed and would have given the PCs a chance to kick them around and feel cool. But the PCs decided they didn't want to waste time and just flew (on their phantom stags and steeds) over the heads of the gnolls and kept going, laughing at the awed and terrified expressions they saw. When they returned that way, there were signs that the entire tribe had decamped. I took five minutes at that point to tell the players how the tribe fled after having seen the four demon riders and spread the tale to other tribes. And the tale grew in the telling, till the gnolls of Eberron - probably far in the future of the point till which we'll play - developed a belief in the Demon Riders of the Apocalypse and told tales of them for centuries. The PCs don't know it, but the players know that they are going to eventually become legend. I think it had an effect.

 

[blargney the second]

Erect things in their honour.

 

[Bagpuss]

When I was running a Birthright campaign I would recap the last session by using quotes from a historical text written about the characters exploits three hundred years after the event.

So while the character was still a mid level wizard was he referred to as the Archmage Hanseth, founder of the College of High Sorcery, his minor spells were claimed to be fantastic showers of light and magic. I could also foreshadow events in the campaign, by saying stuff about the characters, for example when talking about the fighter "High Marshal Transic, had yet to distinguish himself during the Goblin wars, but even as a lowly watch captain he was making a difference."

 

[Quartz]

When I was running a Birthright campaign I would recap the last session by using quotes from a historical text written about the characters exploits three hundred years after the event.

This is incredibly cool, but aren't you giving the characters immunity from death by writing about them as much more important personages? Far better to 'write' of them as they are, and still work in the foreshadowing, I'd suggest.

 

[Fenes]

I'd say mainly by dealing out/emphasising those things:
- Challenges
- Fame
- Fortune
- Power

Challenges are the enemies one faces, and the stuff that is at stake. In my current high level campaign (16th), the PCs face plots that threaten to topple entire kingdoms, deal with conspiracies involving major churches and even gods, and deal diplomatically with rulers. Their enemies are of the same quality, ruling countries or churches.

Fame is the result of beating those challenges. The PCs are known, by nobles and commoners. Even outside their native land, the rulers know of them, may even keep tabs on them. In the areas they were active, they are known even more, and their reputation often precedes them. Bards sing of their deeds, nobles gossip about them, powerful people try to have them marry their daughters, sons, or other relatives. People come to them for help, not just of the "go and kill what threatens us", but also and even more of the "can you put in a good word with the king about my petition for a iron ore monolpoly?" variety.

Fortune is a result of fame and the challenges overcome. The PCs do not have to worry about money anymore. They have earned riches, and even without gold their name alone will pay their way in many places, and a lot of people give them gifts in the hope of earning a favor. The PCs have estates, or otherwise granted and secured income, and do not have to count coins anymore. Ressource management is not centered around cost, but about access - how much have the PCs on them when they need it? How long would it take them to get back to their vault to get the thingamablob they need?

Power is the result of fame and fortune. Not just personal "I can kill you" power, but also and even more influence. In most places, the PCs won't get hassled by the guard - or even the nobles. Even powerful enemies often have to tread very carefully when opposing them, to cover their tracks. In some places, the PCs are above the law even - and in a few more, the authorities will take their word over that of most others. PCs are feared by some, and fawned upon by others, and can save or ruin someone with a few words. People come to them seeking employment, favors or help, trying to profit from their power, and PCs rise high in their repsective circles.

Generally, challenges are easy to scale, with the CR system, but often fail to give that high level feeling since the relative power remains the same. You may cast an improved fireball, but the enemies can soak the damage at 14th level as the enemies soaked the damage from a regular fireball at 6th level.
So, to really get a high level feeling, one needs to show the power of the PCs relative to the world. That's where fame, fortune and power/influence come in.

 

[Rackhir]

This is incredibly cool, but aren't you giving the characters immunity from death by writing about them as much more important personages? Far better to 'write' of them as they are, and still work in the foreshadowing, I'd suggest.

If you are "high level" you almost certainly have ready access to resurrection magics, which means that unless it's a highly unusual circumstance, death is only a speed bump.