RavenSinger
First Post
I am starting up a campaign in a week or so with four players. Three of the players are essentially brand-new roleplayers. The fourth is quite experienced in DnD, but has not played since the advent of 3.0. We have done a couple of short dungeon crawls so that everyone is somewhat familiar with the rules of combat, and understands how roleplaying works.
Now, we as a group have decided that we want to start a new epic story arc with new characters for everyone. "Great," I say. "Go get some character ideas, and we'll talk about it." So all the new-to-roleplaying players come up with some good, fairly standard-type ideas. A curious sorceress, a dark hero with a mysterious past, a tomb-raiding rogue, etc., etc. . . so far so good.
So the player who has played AD&D a lot, and knows the virtues and sins of min/maxing reads BoED and the Avatar Handbook (Green Ronin), and comes up with the idea of being an avatar for one of the gods in my campaign world. The following is the write up I give to the god in the guide to my world:
Okay, so the player wants to play a 10-year-old orphan child that is an Avatar of Therion with the Exalted Feats: Sacred Vow, Vow of Poverty, Vow of Non-Violence and Vow of Peace. Pretty cool concept I think, and very much in keeping with my concepts for the campaign world. But now that I am starting to formulate plots for the game, I am concerned how much his choices are going to railroad the rest of the party. I mean, will the guy who is playing the rogue be able to to the rogue-ish things he wants without having the spokes-kid of a god looking over his shoulder? And what about the Vow of Non-Violence when it says: "Your purity is so great that any ally of yours who slays a helpless or defenseless foe within 120 feet of you feels great remorse. Your ally takes a -1 penalty on her attack roles for one hour per your character level." etc., etc. How does that impact what the other players can do?
Don't get me wrong, I like the avatar-player's creativity and willingness to do things outside the norm. However, I have three other newbie roleplayers. I don't want the avatar guy to dominate the group too much simply by the fact that he has made very strong character creation choices.
Any suggestions as to plot elements, ways to run the sessions, and any other sage advice would be greatly appreciated.
--Brian
Now, we as a group have decided that we want to start a new epic story arc with new characters for everyone. "Great," I say. "Go get some character ideas, and we'll talk about it." So all the new-to-roleplaying players come up with some good, fairly standard-type ideas. A curious sorceress, a dark hero with a mysterious past, a tomb-raiding rogue, etc., etc. . . so far so good.
So the player who has played AD&D a lot, and knows the virtues and sins of min/maxing reads BoED and the Avatar Handbook (Green Ronin), and comes up with the idea of being an avatar for one of the gods in my campaign world. The following is the write up I give to the god in the guide to my world:
THERION – THE CHILD GOD, BRINGER OF JOY
Greater Deity
Pronunciation: THEHR-ee-awn
Symbol: A young boy
Sacred Animal: Dog
Alignment: Neutral Good
Portfolio: Childhood, goodness, family, joy, non-violence, diplomacy
Worshipers: Children, families, teachers, diplomats
Cleric Alignments: LG, NG, CG
Domains: Community*, Nobility*, Good, Healing, Light, Liberation*, Protection
Favored Weapon: Sling
Therion is invariably pictured as a boy of about 11 years with wild curly brown hair, on the verge of puberty. The beloved first born child of Ged and Sekonet, he has his mother’s smile, and his father’s bearing. He is always in simple clothes with no armor or shield for protection. His sling is always with him, either in his hand or at his belt. He stands up straight and tall, clear eyes focused ahead. It is often said about him, “How can one so small and young, be so unafraid?”
Dogma: Therion teaches his followers to find joy everywhere, even in the smallest of things. For the Child God, violence is only an option in the face of true evil. Otherwise, there must be another path. Therion’s followers should be of service to themselves and to their community.
Clergy and Temples: You can usually pick out a cleric of Therion because often children surround them. As their patron, they wear no armor and carry no shield. Only a sling and their faith are at their side. Because of Therion’s teachings regarding non-violence, his clerics will only attack beings that radiate evil (as in a detect evil spell). Otherwise, they can run or protect themselves, but they may not attack in any way.
The temples of Therion are numerous, and can be found just about anywhere in Casciorna. They invariably run orphanages, which are (sadly) usually brimming with children. The temples themselves are built with materials that can take great use, though they may not be the most luxurious.
Okay, so the player wants to play a 10-year-old orphan child that is an Avatar of Therion with the Exalted Feats: Sacred Vow, Vow of Poverty, Vow of Non-Violence and Vow of Peace. Pretty cool concept I think, and very much in keeping with my concepts for the campaign world. But now that I am starting to formulate plots for the game, I am concerned how much his choices are going to railroad the rest of the party. I mean, will the guy who is playing the rogue be able to to the rogue-ish things he wants without having the spokes-kid of a god looking over his shoulder? And what about the Vow of Non-Violence when it says: "Your purity is so great that any ally of yours who slays a helpless or defenseless foe within 120 feet of you feels great remorse. Your ally takes a -1 penalty on her attack roles for one hour per your character level." etc., etc. How does that impact what the other players can do?
Don't get me wrong, I like the avatar-player's creativity and willingness to do things outside the norm. However, I have three other newbie roleplayers. I don't want the avatar guy to dominate the group too much simply by the fact that he has made very strong character creation choices.
Any suggestions as to plot elements, ways to run the sessions, and any other sage advice would be greatly appreciated.
--Brian