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Is it cheating to start a PC above 1st level?
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<blockquote data-quote="coyote6" data-source="post: 1613109" data-attributes="member: 1225"><p>I don't think they have to be unknown or unnoticed. How often to the players (note I said <em>players</em>) know of every powerful person in the world, NPC or not, well-known or not? The PCs in most games IME know more about the world than the players do -- it's just not possible for a GM to describe every single person a character will know, from their whole life (forget starting at first level, you'd have to start PCs at first day).</p><p></p><p>Thus, it's usually possible for a GM to introduce a new NPC as a well-known person that just hasn't been mentioned before (or not long before) -- say, the PCs meet the King's Champion on the road, when said individual hasn't been previously named. The GM can say, "Make a Knowledge (nobility & royalty) roll. 22? Ah, yes, you recognize the knight's banner -- it is no less a personage than Lord Arik Tallaxe, Champion of the Rift, and Champion of the High King!"</p><p></p><p>The same technique ought to work just as well with a PC -- "Hey, that's Raknar, the Hero of Agnar's Crossing -- he killed two legates while holding the pass while the dwarven refugees escaped. I thought he was dead!" New PC: "I get that a lot. Say, why are you all covered in bloody mud, and why are those orcs charging towards you?"</p><p></p><p>Alternatively, there are undoubtably famous people in the world that any individual (or even small group of individuals) have never heard of. For instance, I'm sure a soccer (football, whatever) fan could rattle off a list of world-famous players, and neither I nor anyone in my group will have heard of 'em. Or name off members of some bands. Etc. Thus, it's entirely possible that the average group of PCs will have not heard of someone, even if they're relatively famous.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="coyote6, post: 1613109, member: 1225"] I don't think they have to be unknown or unnoticed. How often to the players (note I said [i]players[/i]) know of every powerful person in the world, NPC or not, well-known or not? The PCs in most games IME know more about the world than the players do -- it's just not possible for a GM to describe every single person a character will know, from their whole life (forget starting at first level, you'd have to start PCs at first day). Thus, it's usually possible for a GM to introduce a new NPC as a well-known person that just hasn't been mentioned before (or not long before) -- say, the PCs meet the King's Champion on the road, when said individual hasn't been previously named. The GM can say, "Make a Knowledge (nobility & royalty) roll. 22? Ah, yes, you recognize the knight's banner -- it is no less a personage than Lord Arik Tallaxe, Champion of the Rift, and Champion of the High King!" The same technique ought to work just as well with a PC -- "Hey, that's Raknar, the Hero of Agnar's Crossing -- he killed two legates while holding the pass while the dwarven refugees escaped. I thought he was dead!" New PC: "I get that a lot. Say, why are you all covered in bloody mud, and why are those orcs charging towards you?" Alternatively, there are undoubtably famous people in the world that any individual (or even small group of individuals) have never heard of. For instance, I'm sure a soccer (football, whatever) fan could rattle off a list of world-famous players, and neither I nor anyone in my group will have heard of 'em. Or name off members of some bands. Etc. Thus, it's entirely possible that the average group of PCs will have not heard of someone, even if they're relatively famous. [/QUOTE]
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