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<blockquote data-quote="Ironhead" data-source="post: 6133707" data-attributes="member: 6692294">I think a perfect example of how this should be dealt with can be found in almost all of Glen Cook's fantasy settings. The characters may be badasses but it's a big, ancient world and they don't have a monopoly on the secrets of success. We RPGers tend to think of our feats and dmg output as the attributes that dictate toughness, but in a well structured setting intelligence (the espionage kind), strategy and politics are going to be major factors in the hands of clever adversaries.&nbsp; What do your players do when they return to town expecting to see bowing and scraping from the commoners only to encounter a local populace hostile and afraid of the &quot;foul and dark souled&quot; mage in the party who has been singled out by the town's power hungry and politically motivated priest?&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Soldiery in a PoD campaign wouldn't have to be low level - monsters aren't the only foes who yield xp.&nbsp; In fact, in a world with no monsters to restrict frontier troop movements ( i.e.- Europe for the last...oh, let's say 1000 years) there are likely to be many more opportunities for military exploits. Nothing says that a soldier who hasn't had experience fighting demons isn't skilled in street to street tactics he's learned in siege warfare - or that he wouldn't be a little more willing to stick a sword in a PC he was superstitiously afraid of due to the PoD world's legends and myths about magic.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; It all comes down to how deep you want to go with the development of your setting and the people you populate it with, imho.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ironhead, post: 6133707, member: 6692294"] I think a perfect example of how this should be dealt with can be found in almost all of Glen Cook's fantasy settings. The characters may be badasses but it's a big, ancient world and they don't have a monopoly on the secrets of success. We RPGers tend to think of our feats and dmg output as the attributes that dictate toughness, but in a well structured setting intelligence (the espionage kind), strategy and politics are going to be major factors in the hands of clever adversaries. What do your players do when they return to town expecting to see bowing and scraping from the commoners only to encounter a local populace hostile and afraid of the "foul and dark souled" mage in the party who has been singled out by the town's power hungry and politically motivated priest? Soldiery in a PoD campaign wouldn't have to be low level - monsters aren't the only foes who yield xp. In fact, in a world with no monsters to restrict frontier troop movements ( i.e.- Europe for the last...oh, let's say 1000 years) there are likely to be many more opportunities for military exploits. Nothing says that a soldier who hasn't had experience fighting demons isn't skilled in street to street tactics he's learned in siege warfare - or that he wouldn't be a little more willing to stick a sword in a PC he was superstitiously afraid of due to the PoD world's legends and myths about magic. It all comes down to how deep you want to go with the development of your setting and the people you populate it with, imho. [/QUOTE]

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