If not for Gold and Glory...?

[the Jester]

The motives of adventurers vary a lot; some do it out of a sense of duty, some to better themselves/become more powerful, some out of greed, etc.

But that's not what I'm actually chiming in for- I wanted to address OP's statement that

From any historic precedents known to me, wandering mercenaries in need of money are not the kind of people villages would put their hopes into. Instead they are the very marauders the villagers need protection from.

Yeah, that sounds about right, especially given how murderhobos tend to treat npcs and towns.

But for a very interesting take on how other people see adventurers, check out China Mieville's Perdido Street Station, an urban fantasy novel that cranks the weird up to 11. They're not the main characters, but at some point a party of adventurers gets hired to deal with a monster, and the view you get of them is fantastic- the viewpoint character who you see them through (not the employer, btw) is both pretty intimidated by them and sees them as of ow character; I think grave robbers is one of the phrases used to describe them. Anyway, if you get the chance, it's a book worth reading for that bit alone- and it's got a bunch more to offer, too.

 

[the Jester]

My own setting is based on the premise that environmental changes are relatively frequent and unpredictable, and city states are abandoned and overgrown by forests because rivers dry up or fields turn into swamps quite regularly. But the same dynamics also constantly open up new areas for settlement and agriculture, and more often than not, there have been previous civilizations in those same spots at some points in the past. Or a city state that had already been considered doomed unexpectedly bounces back to even greater prosperity and a larger territory.

Yes! The idea of periodic catastrophe is a big theme in my game, along with the idea of fecundity- the world is generally more fertile, and populations grow and regrow more quickly, than in our world.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

Maybe the adventurers could be adventuring for their own personal reasons.

Personal revenge.
Quest for some hidden knowledge (magical or perhaps simply mundane like finding the answer to some personal mystery.)
Thrills and spills.
A mission from god. Or church.
To save someone/something they love. Maybe directly - save the princess from the evil overlord, or indirectly - gain the means (evidence, macguffin, money) to save someone from some unpleasant fate like imprisonment or the orphanage being shut down.
To get from place A to place B the heroes must pass through Hell.
Friendship (Wookie life- debt, etc) with another PC (who has their own reason to adventure.)
Love.
Escape from a catastrophe.
Escape from a love catastrophe.
Truth, Justice, and the Greyhawkian way.
Self-Defence.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

Depends entirely on the campaign world and, well, "feel". In one 1e/HM campaign (a homebrew), the PC's are quite powerful simply being 1st level. Because of this rarity (people with actual "classes and levels"), adventurers aren't really a "thing". PC's that show their power...say, casting a Magic Missile or Cure Light Wounds spell, or a fighter taking three daggers and a sword to the chest who SILL wins the fight and doesn't die, etc... are immediately seen as blessed or cursed by the gods. Reactions can run from "Please! Stay at my inn! For free! ANYTHING you want!" to "Get the pitchforks, torches and tar!".

In another campaign, my 5e "Genericka" one, PC's are seen as something of a cross between mercenaries and world-wrestling stars. There are enough of them that they are seen mostly as "the same"...and primarily untrustworthy. Useful...but untrustworthy. They tend to bring more trouble than they solve. People in power like nobles, mayors, rich merchants, etc, use them as pawns to get what they want and/or gain themselves prestige and virtue-points that they can brag about at posh gala's ("Yes, I know Bearkiller personally. He is every bit as impressive as the stories you hear", or "One time, over dinner, Theloneus Blade...yes, THAT Theloneus Blade, the renowned Paladin of Sekhth? He complimented me on how thoughtful I was for helping my scullery maid's child with some expensive medicine", etc.)

Then in a Hackmaster game (well, most of my HM games, actually) Adventurers are seen as a nuisance. As people not to be trusted, in fact, to be avoided if at all possible. A small town can go years without any problems...but the SECOND that a half dozen "adventurers" arrive in town, it's suddenly beset upon by a pair of staving, diseased manticore's and people start getting sick! What's worse...is that these Adventurers then offer to help... for the right price, of course!

So, yeah...it depends on the campaign. The key thing is to explain the "adventurer's perception" of the general populace to the Players so that they know where they stand and what type of PC's they want to create.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Malmuria]

Maybe they're in debt? Electric Bastionland does a good job with this premise

 

[Shiroiken]

Some settings have the trope of wandering adventurers ("heroes"), but that doesn't mean that every campaign has to use them. There's the party forced into action, such as being simple village militia when your home becomes under siege. There's the party serves a lord/master/god who dictates their course of events. There's the party charged with an epic quest, taking the entire scope of the campaign to complete (Lord of the Rings).

Not that there's anything wrong with the standard tropes, so long as they fit logically in the setting. To use your examples, in Greyhawk adventurers are basically tomb robbers that periodically do mercenary work. Because of this, they're generally disliked, but many attempt to join them, only to die in their first "adventure." In the Realms, however, wandering heroes are normal, and often depended upon to protect people from the various monsters that roam the countryside. People become adventures mostly for glory, but the coin doesn't hurt either. A band of ronin in Rokugan would be despised by the local samurai and feared by peasants, since they would be considered dishonorable and untrustworthy, even if all they were trying to do is make enough to each each day.

 

[Tonguez]

Just noting that wandering mercernary bands have been around for millennia and were really prominent from the Hundred years war right through to the Napoleanic War, I can beleive that they'd be prominent in a DnD world too (you dont really want to send your personal guard out to get slaughtered by zombies)

So anyway in the past I've had PCs come together as:

• Survivors from the same village
• Condottieri hired by the baron
• Agents of the Guild Merchant
• Associates of the Church
• Passengers on the same wrecked ship
• Workers hired by an archeologist
• Members of the Travelling Circus
• Patrons of the same bar

 

[GMMichael]

If the PCs are not saint's looking all day for kittens to save, and not selfish people hoping for a quick buck by gambling their lives, then how do you set up and structure a campaign for PCs who face dangerous monsters in ancient ruins in the wilderness?
I never was able to find any satisfying answer to this.

This answer is between the lines/a summary of some earlier replies: write character backstories. If you don't have a satisfying campaign concept, it might be because you don't have any satisfying character concepts.

If the question is, "who goes out to murderhobo? " one answer is, "people with significant resources (including tools of war and personal powers), who are supremely idealistic or slightly suicidal ."

So, rebellious rich kids?

 

[Yora]

Just noting that wandering mercernary bands have been around for millennia and were really prominent from the Hundred years war right through to the Napoleanic War, I can beleive that they'd be prominent in a DnD world too (you dont really want to send your personal guard out to get slaughtered by zombies)

Yes, they are a thing. And generally they are exactly those bandits that villagers need saving from. Roaming mercenaries are usually the worst villains terrorizing a war zone.

 

[aramis erak]

I guess a good modern analogy is superheroes? Why do they do what they do? A certain suspension of disbelief is needed.

I've long held that D&D as a genre is really Medieval Super Heroes. (MSH? Hmmm). Given that early D&D had many local leaders as well below name level, and that armies are largely assumed to be nought but first levels...
And, back in the days of named levels, Superhero is 8th level fighter.