Importance of PC's

[Black Omega]

The comments about FR in the Favorite Settings thread got me to start wondering this.

How important are the PC's in your campaigns?

I noticed some people don't seem to like games where there a big, mover and shaker NPC's. Some people I came with in the ancient Star Trek system played a campaign where since they could never be the best (Kirk, etc were already there) instead they were the worst. Sounded like a fun campaign.

In my present Rokugan game the PC's are hardly the biggest fish in the pond. They are up around 9th level and making a name for themselves though, and at some point they might join the level of the movers and shakers. Having a host of other NPC's out there for me has been a useful reference rather than a drawback.

 

[Skade]

I've played it both ways, myself. My last campaign of significance was actually named for one of the PC's. It was called Doombringer, and though the character did not kow it at creation, he was going to do just that. The events of the world were directly shaped by their actions. I, and they, loved it.

In my other campaigns there is a little FR disease to it. Their are NPCs that are simply more powerful. There is no doubt that should they try to directly face certain characters they will lose. Of course, one of them was once my very own PC....

Anyway, it stopped bothering them when they realized those characters, no matter how powerful, were not who the story was about.

 

[MerricB]

I like the PCs to being fairly insignificant, but by about 8th level to be rather important in the overall scheme of things.

Cheers!

 

[Tokiwong]

I think NPC's help me out as far as fleshing out the background, and in the end, my players are central to their story, and I tend to wreak havoc with continuity, but then again, I love to make changes with Canon...

So in short, I like established NPC's, but I always put my spin on them.

 

[jester47]

There is always room at the top. And that is what the story is about. How the heroes become as powerful or more powerful than the powerful... eventually.

Aaron.

 

[Apok]

I'm all about the PC's becoming major players in the campaign world, but not until they have somehow demonstrated their prowess adequately. Of course, sometimes this comes in many levels. For instance, one group I ran through FR ended up being given minor nobility status in the lands around Damara, but of course it didn't mean a whole lot outside of the Bloodstone lands.

So, their recognition as "a force to be reckoned with" is proportionate to the deeds they accomplish.

 

[darkbard]

i think that it's built into the d&d system [levels, for example] that players are not--at least at the beginning of play--the movers & shakers of the world. part of the fun--some might say most of the fun--is in character growth of powers and abilities. it doesn't bother me or my players in the least that there are npc's who are more powerful than they are because our story is about the pc's, no matter how insignificant. and we play in FR. sure, my players know who elminster and drizzt are, but their characters almost never even hear their names mentioned.

 

[Nightfall]

I prefer to keep them central to a degree. If they die, the world still goes on. However their impact can be felt...depending on the circumstances I design.

 

[Tonguez]

Well it depends on scope

My PCs were leaders of a village at Level 3 and within the schema of that village were very important.
On a world scope they were entirely unknown and even regionally they were a small blimp to be noted and then passed over.

The Region around them however has many more powerful NPCs whom they might one day meet, and there is an uber-world-spanning-plot going on which they may never actually become involved with (but then again they might)...

 

[ForceUser]

One of my DMs ran his last campaign such that the PCs were some of the first high level characters in living memory. I found that disconcerting. He tends to like lower-magic settings, so for him that fit. Another DM I play with enjoys the reverse, running Greyhawk, there are of course numerous familiar high-level NPCs running around. I like the notion that the PCs are little fish in a big pond, and bigger fish lurk in the background doing their own things, occasionally coming to the fore of the campaign as the PCs cross their paths. It's a suspension of disbelief thing for me. How could there NOT be other high level characters running around?

I think Forgotten Realms takes this too far, overwhelming you with hordes of NPCs who are far more important than YOU, but overall I enjoy a setting replete with movers and shakers that the PCs need to respect. In time, however, I expect the PCs to join their ranks, and I would be disappointed with any campaign where this was not the case.