Ordinary vs. Extraordinary - the origins of characters

[karlindel]

I picked mix. It depends on the genre, the feel I am going for in the campaign, and sometimes time constraints.

For horror campaigns, ordinary people is usually the way to go. For superhero games, extraordinary is usually the way to go (unless the powers and coping with them is the focus of the game, and even then it's arguable whether someone with superpowers is ordinary).

When running a long term campaign, I am more likely to start out ordinary, as this allows for more long term growth. For shorter campaigns, I am more likely to go extraordinary, as it allows people to enjoy the parts of their characters that they feel are special.

 

[The Shaman]

I prefer human-scale adventurers having human-scale adventures.

It's one of the reasons I prefer historical gaming over just about anything else.

 

[Sunseeker]

Depends on the campaign, I prefer to make extraordinary characters, but lvl1's simply don't allow room for it. lvl5+ allows for the best room at lower levels, though ideally "extraordinary" in my book really doesn't start until 10th level.

I try to design my characters with this in mind, which is one of my compaints about 4e, is that it encourages mundane over extraordinary.

 

[Celebrim]

Depends on the campaign, I prefer to make extraordinary characters, but lvl1's simply don't allow room for it.

At 1st level, in my current campaign, the PC's dealt with an onrushing 30' high tsunami and its destructive aftermath, fought in a massive moon lit battle against an invading army of deep ones, and then went on to save a town from a draco-lich.

Ok, granted, they'd reached 2nd level before they'd finished saving the town.

 

[Sunseeker]

At 1st level, in my current campaign, the PC's dealt with an onrushing 30' high tsunami and its destructive aftermath, fought in a massive moon lit battle against an invading army of deep ones, and then went on to save a town from a draco-lich.

Ok, granted, they'd reached 2nd level before they'd finished saving the town.

That's ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Different from extraordinary people.

 

[sev]

I prefer my campaigns to dispense with the myth that *anybody* is "ordinary." Everybody's got something that sets them apart, and you don't have to scratch them too hard to find it.

 

[Dice4Hire]

All of my characters are going to be extraordinary, so it is better if they start ordinary.

 

[Celebrim]

That's ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Different from extraordinary people.

I beg to disagree. The ordinary people in those circumstances died.

Besides, you missed my point. I was specifically questioning your definition of extraordinary. What do you need 'extraordinary' people by your definition, if extraordinary people by my definition are already doing extraordinary things. Why do you need 10th level characters anyway? What do you need to hold out for? Is it to have dramatic world changing events? Is it to have mass combat? Is it to fight terrifying monsters? Is it to be important within a community? What are you trying to achieve?

I strongly suspect that a 6th level PC in my world is more extraordinary than a 10th or 12th level PC is in many other worlds. I know this is the case comparing my world to certain published settings where being a 12th level character qualifies you to be a shopkeeper, bartender, or yeoman farmer and the real movers and shakers of the world are 20th level or higher. In such a setting, a 10th level character is mundane, and it requires a 25th level character (or some such) to be extraordinary. It really doesn't matter what the numbers are. What matters is how numbers compare to other numbers. What matters is the character of the characters and whether they live in a dramatic, cinematic, epic scale world regardless of the numbers on the peice of paper that is the real world token of the character. Adding extra zeroes to the ends of numbers on that token doesn't inherently make the characters more extraordinary.

 

[wingsandsword]

It's a mix.

Sometimes your PC is Samwise Gamgee, just a humble gardener who ends up drawn along into a world-shaking adventure.

Sometimes your PC is Rand Al'Thor, born with the potential to be the most powerful spellcaster in the world and the reincarnation of a legendary hero from antiquity.

Sometimes your PC is John McClane, just a cop from New York who is the only man in the right place to stop the biggest heist in American history.

Sometimes your PC is Buffy Summers, born with the supernatural gift to be able to be a nearly unstoppable warrior and lead the defense of the world from legions of evil pouring out of a gate that leads straight to hell itself.

 

[Sunseeker]

I beg to disagree. The ordinary people in those circumstances died.

I would probably say I left a statement out, they were ordinary people, and an extraordinary event happened, and now they may be considered extraordinary people after the fact.

Besides, you missed my point. I was specifically questioning your definition of extraordinary. What do you need 'extraordinary' people by your definition, if extraordinary people by my definition are already doing extraordinary things. Why do you need 10th level characters anyway? What do you need to hold out for? Is it to have dramatic world changing events? Is it to have mass combat? Is it to fight terrifying monsters? Is it to be important within a community? What are you trying to achieve?

Extraordinary, is in my book, people who have been though a lot, or people who have worked hard to earn greatness. I use 10th level as an example because if you compare what a 10th level has to a st level, it's a great deal. A 1st level character is some guy off the streets, thrust into extraordinary circumstances, when they have survived them, then they can be extraordinary people. But not before.

Mechanically, also, it doesn't translate well, you can describe your character as extraordinarily as you want, but nothing in the game will demonstrate that until much later on.

I strongly suspect that a 6th level PC in my world is more extraordinary than a 10th or 12th level PC is in many other worlds. I know this is the case comparing my world to certain published settings where being a 12th level character qualifies you to be a shopkeeper, bartender, or yeoman farmer and the real movers and shakers of the world are 20th level or higher. In such a setting, a 10th level character is mundane, and it requires a 25th level character (or some such) to be extraordinary. It really doesn't matter what the numbers are. What matters is how numbers compare to other numbers. What matters is the character of the characters and whether they live in a dramatic, cinematic, epic scale world regardless of the numbers on the peice of paper that is the real world token of the character. Adding extra zeroes to the ends of numbers on that token doesn't inherently make the characters more extraordinary.

Of course if you change the scale you're going to get different results. The best trained fighter in a town of farmers can still be the worst trained fighter in a town of fighters. And yes, that's exactly my point, extraordinary is something you earn, and there are often people who have earned more than you.

Even though Superman was gifted with extraordinary powers, he still had to work hard to become an extraordinary person. And when on Krypton(or New Krypton) he was just plain old Ordinary Kal-El.