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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 4217754" data-attributes="member: 4937">This is how I've always seen it as well.&nbsp; For one thing, if a PC dies, a well positioned NPC is likely to become the replacement PC.&nbsp; For another, NPC's are likely to evolve over the story with the assumption that if they do the sort of things PC's do, then they level up and conversely they leveled up because they've been doing similar things to the PC's.&nbsp; Moreover, there is always the assumption that the PC's aren't the only heroes in the world.&nbsp; They have rivals and foils and allies out there which are heroic (or at least 'exemplars of villany') in thier own right.&nbsp; For one thing, its quite possible that there are or will be parallel campaigns played out in different parts of the game world.But mostly it just makes sense to assume that what makes a PC special is something more abstract than simply having extremely good stats and the ability to swing a sword better than his peers.&nbsp; One of my assumptions is generally that PC quality individuals are not overly rare, but groups of them together sharing a (largely) common cause which they are working toward even at risk of life and limb are indeed very rare.&nbsp; Another assumption is that this is the story we are telling because we always tell the story of the heroes who became heroes because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time and who did something about it.&nbsp; There might have been and indeed likely were other individuals that could have done it, but they didn't or didn't have the oppurtunity.&nbsp; They met maurading giants back when they were 1st level.&nbsp; They were hundreds of miles removed from the center of action.&nbsp; They had no friends or allies to rely on.&nbsp; Or whatever.&nbsp;&nbsp; The characters are heroic not because they are exceptionally special or advantaged (although they might be special), but because of what they do especially when they do it despite not being exceptionally advantaged.Most of all, the purpose of having NPC's and PC's use the same rules is to partially be able to claim and partially foster the illusion that the reason for the characters success is the quality of the players play.&nbsp; In other words, there isn't much satisfaction in winning because you've had the odds stacked in your favor at every oppurtunity compared to winning because you made your own oppurtunities.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 4217754, member: 4937"] This is how I've always seen it as well. For one thing, if a PC dies, a well positioned NPC is likely to become the replacement PC. For another, NPC's are likely to evolve over the story with the assumption that if they do the sort of things PC's do, then they level up and conversely they leveled up because they've been doing similar things to the PC's. Moreover, there is always the assumption that the PC's aren't the only heroes in the world. They have rivals and foils and allies out there which are heroic (or at least 'exemplars of villany') in thier own right. For one thing, its quite possible that there are or will be parallel campaigns played out in different parts of the game world. But mostly it just makes sense to assume that what makes a PC special is something more abstract than simply having extremely good stats and the ability to swing a sword better than his peers. One of my assumptions is generally that PC quality individuals are not overly rare, but groups of them together sharing a (largely) common cause which they are working toward even at risk of life and limb are indeed very rare. Another assumption is that this is the story we are telling because we always tell the story of the heroes who became heroes because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time and who did something about it. There might have been and indeed likely were other individuals that could have done it, but they didn't or didn't have the oppurtunity. They met maurading giants back when they were 1st level. They were hundreds of miles removed from the center of action. They had no friends or allies to rely on. Or whatever. The characters are heroic not because they are exceptionally special or advantaged (although they might be special), but because of what they do especially when they do it despite not being exceptionally advantaged. Most of all, the purpose of having NPC's and PC's use the same rules is to partially be able to claim and partially foster the illusion that the reason for the characters success is the quality of the players play. In other words, there isn't much satisfaction in winning because you've had the odds stacked in your favor at every oppurtunity compared to winning because you made your own oppurtunities. [/QUOTE]

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