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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TheCosmicKid" data-source="post: 6794103" data-attributes="member: 6683613">Given that Luke Skywalker is the archetypical Hero's Journey character of the 20th Century, I think if a game doesn't start him at 1st level then something has gone terribly wrong.Well, one thing TFA did do which kind of surprised me was confirm that the "Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs" line wasn't just Han talking bantha pudu.Depends on the character.  Luke, Leia, and Han are definitely above average, but don't display extreme raw ability; something resembling an 8-15 base array seems perfectly appropriate for them.  But Conan is a Marty Stu (ability-wise, anyway).  He is immensely strong, and tough, and agile, even in the stories from the beginning of his career.  And yes, I know that, contrary to some powergamers' complaints, a 15 is supposed to be quite a good score, but Conan is never matched in a contest of raw strength by a mortal man.  To me that sounds like 18 territory.  Conan's DM was running a solo campaign, so gave him a ludicrous point buy to compensate.NPCs like Conan don't have to be in your campaign setting.  If a player is upset because his character can't match a character from a different setting, there's not much you can do about that.  You can't control what a pulp writer in Texas wrote eighty years ago.And with the right approach, I don't think there's necessarily a problem with having NPCs like Conan in your campaign setting.  PCs meet creatures with higher ability scores than they all the time.  Normally they're monsters, but in principle why couldn't some of them be humanoids?  Regardless of the numbers, the PCs outmatch the NPCs through teamwork, and perseverance, and (let's face it) more than a little serendipity.  Luke, Leia, and Han saved the universe.  Conan never did that.</blockquote>

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