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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 4020768" data-attributes="member: 18280">I'm not going to argue that you don't see characters having family & friends as a contrivance, but that seems a little odd to me.  The "unassociated" nature of some D&D characters seems far more artificial than characters being people linked into family, community, etc.  Likewise, taking time to achieve the heights of power seems less contrived to me than the 1-20 Rocket that 3e espouses.Needless to say, though, I agree fully that it is a fine solution to the death-related narrative troubles you sketched out.  The question is, how do you get your players to buy into it?(1)  Include a Legacy mechanic, where the accomplishments of one character can affect his or her progeny.  The simplest form of this is to allow goods to be inheritted.  A more complex form allows a character to establish a line, and declare one of his feats a Legacy.  Any of his progeny who qualify for that feat get it for free.  A character can only gain one feat by this mechanic, but if s/he qualifies for more than one, s/he chooses which one to take.(2)  Allow each player to have a character pool.  Half of all XP earned goes to the character who earned it, the other half can be divided among the characters in the pool however the player desires.(3)  Institute Seasonal Turns.  A Seasonal Turn is a turn that takes place over a three-month period, and allows PCs to do things like spend the winter in a warm city.  Each PC has a menu of things that can be accomplished during the season, depending upon what season it is, from investing to gaining extra skill points, from magical research or item crafting to working his or her way up in society.  Secret cabals might offer special training, and there might be incantations or rituals that require a whole season to complete.  Characters can heal, fall in love, marry, have kids, etc.  It is important that Seasonal Turns do not take too long to resolve; you want to take 10 minutes at most per Seasonal Turn and then get back to regular activities.  Because characters gain benefits, and too much valuable game time isn't wasted, players like Seasonal Turns.  (4)  A newborn child becomes 18 in 72 Seasonal Turns.  In order to make the best use of this system, it is important to have a campaign setting in which time is supposed to pass.  This means that the Seasonal Turn system works far better in a Sandbox than in an Adventure Path......but the Seasonal Turn system can work quite well for a series of Adventure Paths, where each AP takes place a generation after the previous one.(5)  Finally, use of the Seasonal Turn system mandates that the DM is ready and willing to deal with the passage of time in the campaign world.  Things must change.  If the PCs leave the campaign starting area for five years, and then come back, not everything will be as it was.  When using the Seasonal Turn system it is incumbant upon the DM to ensure that the players gain an actual sense of the passage of time.RC</blockquote>

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