Parties and cultures with one dominant power source.

[Kzach]

It only recently occurred to me that WotC, in retrospect quite obviously, are going to have the four roles covered for every power source.

This sparked some interesting (at least I thought they were) thoughts like how entire cultures could centre themselves around one power source. For instance, eladrin having primarily arcane classes as part of their culture, elves having primarily primal classes, humans having primarily martial classes, etc.

I also thought it will be interesting to have an entire party drawing from the same source. There could even be campaigns centred around this, like inquisitions that centre around stamping out primal/arcane classes and promoting martial and divine classes.

On one level, I guess it could be considered meta-gaming, but it could easily be justified in the setting as a well known 'fact'. Anyway, just thought I'd see what other people thought about this.

 

[Kinneus]

This almost happened on accident with a group I just joined. We have an Artificer, a Swordmage, a Warlock, a Wizard and... a Fighter.

Yeah. I think that dang Fighter is going to go for the 'C-C-Combo Breaker' paragon path.

If your entire party derives its power from the same source, it could be an interesting hook for a campaign.

Divine: A missionary group is sent into the untamed wilds to found a monastery devoted to the entire Good pantheon.

Arcane: You're the surviving apprentices of a magic academy that was wiped out by a surprise attack by a cult of Vecna.

Martial: Soldiers, mercenaries, or ruthless bandits.

Primal: Tribal wisemen and warriors, you must find a new home for your people before you die off.

 

[Ktulu]

All but our barbarian are martial, in my campaign. It's a lot of fun.

 

[ppaladin123]

One of the guys in my group is currently developing a campaign based partly on the tensions between a theocratic city-state and the primal/shamanistic tribes that inhabit the surrounding countryside. I think conflict between cultures centered exclusively on one or another power source makes for an interesting story.

 

[Quickleaf]

I think there's lots of potential for single power source parties. However, I've tried to blur the lines when detailing my world cultures and religions.

For example, there is the Church of the Sun King which believes all magic to be the temptation of devils...with the exception of sorcerers who are believed to carry the divine line of the Sun King himself. While the Cult of Ythra is predominantely primal, fey warlocks, bards, and rangers all play important roles.

 

[Amphimir Míriel]

A friend of mine ended up with an All-Arcane party by accident.

He invited a group of people to play, with him as DM, he sent a quick explanation (via email) of the races and classes, and he ended up with an Artificer, a Swordmage, a Warlock and a Wizard

...he quickly modified his adventure to make them all classmates on a Hogwarts-like magic college

 

[Byronic]

I already did this quite a while ago, I made army lists for the different races which depended on their culture and themes and improved them with each new class that got previewed. I couldn't stick to the the power sources precisely though. Sometimes another power source was a much better fit. The Barbarian was a better fit for my version of the Drow then other sources for example.