D&D General The Great Railroad Thread

[AbdulAlhazred]

Gotcha. Yeap, what they really meant is if you are lucky and survive to a level high enough, your character can be like Conan. You have to earn it though; blah. Im definitely over the skill play survival sim D&D. Or I should say that is a one shot night type stuff for me. If im gonna play a campaign, I want a capable character actually like Conan for most if not all of it.

I didn't have too much problem with some degree of earning it, or growing into it, but that process was less like 'the birth of a hero' and more like grinding. I think 5e made some progress vs say 2e there, but 4e did one thing well for us. Your character might be a small local hero at level 1, but it felt like playing a hero.

 

[zarionofarabel]

Gotcha. Yeap, what they really meant is if you are lucky and survive to a level high enough, your character can be like Conan. You have to earn it though; blah. Im definitely over the skill play survival sim D&D. Or I should say that is a one shot night type stuff for me. If im gonna play a campaign, I want a capable character actually like Conan for most if not all of it.

I'm with you on that. I got over the zero to hero thing long ago. I want to play a PC that is competent in the main "thing(s)" that they are expected to be skilled at doing. I find it kind of funny that the zero to hero thing is still so prevalent in TTRPGs as it is much less a feature of other media like TV shows or movies. In most other media the main characters (who would be the PCs in a TTRPG) are at least competent. Like, all of the Avengers and Justin League heroes have their origin stories, but even in their origin stories they are at least competent if not already a cut above the rest. I want to be a Big Damn Hero doing Big Damn Hero things! I don't want to spend a measurable amount of the campaign trying to obtain my Big Damn Hero status.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I'm with you on that. I got over the zero to hero thing long ago. I want to play a PC that is competent in the main "thing(s)" that they are expected to be skilled at doing. I find it kind of funny that the zero to hero thing is still so prevalent in TTRPGs as it is much less a feature of other media like TV shows or movies. In most other media the main characters (who would be the PCs in a TTRPG) are at least competent. Like, all of the Avengers and Justin League heroes have their origin stories, but even in their origin stories they are at least competent if not already a cut above the rest. I want to be a Big Damn Hero doing Big Damn Hero things! I don't want to spend a measurable amount of the campaign trying to obtain my Big Damn Hero status.

Its mostly only pronounced in level-based games, because people are fixated on starting at 1st level. Point distribution games and others that don't deal with levels are much more likely to at least present a strong option toward initial heroic competence (and some of them even default toward it).

 

[Mort]

Its mostly only pronounced in level-based games, because people are fixated on starting at 1st level. Point distribution games and others that don't deal with levels are much more likely to at least present a strong option toward initial heroic competence (and some of them even default toward it).

In GURPS, most DMs I've seen tend to start at 100 points, which represents just shy of heroic - but can get there pretty quick.

Then again, I've only had 1 GURPS campaign last more than a few months. Where D&D campaigns, I've run or been in last years.

 

[Thomas Shey]

In GURPS, most DMs I've seen tend to start at 100 points, which represents just shy of heroic - but can get there pretty quick.

Then again, I've only had 1 GURPS campaign last more than a few months. Where D&D campaigns, I've run or been in last years.

I was thinking of typical heroic starts in non-superheroic Hero, but the principal is the same.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

I'm with you on that. I got over the zero to hero thing long ago. I want to play a PC that is competent in the main "thing(s)" that they are expected to be skilled at doing. I find it kind of funny that the zero to hero thing is still so prevalent in TTRPGs as it is much less a feature of other media like TV shows or movies. In most other media the main characters (who would be the PCs in a TTRPG) are at least competent. Like, all of the Avengers and Justin League heroes have their origin stories, but even in their origin stories they are at least competent if not already a cut above the rest. I want to be a Big Damn Hero doing Big Damn Hero things! I don't want to spend a measurable amount of the campaign trying to obtain my Big Damn Hero status.

Its mostly only pronounced in level-based games, because people are fixated on starting at 1st level. Point distribution games and others that don't deal with levels are much more likely to at least present a strong option toward initial heroic competence (and some of them even default toward it).

Zero to hero is the point of having a level based game. I certainly don't always want that, but there are games other than D&D. Now you of course can start at a higher level in D&D too, but the basic idea that the levels mean significant increase of power is a fundamental building block of the game and it would be a mistake to get rid of that.

 

[zarionofarabel]

Zero to hero is the point of having a level based game. I certainly don't always want that, but there are games other than D&D. Now you of course can start at a higher level in D&D too, but the basic idea that the levels mean significant increase of power is a fundamental building block of the game and it would be a mistake to get rid of that.

Never said it should be gotten rid of. It's totally not my thing, but is obviously loved by many as it is prevalent within the hobby. I just think it's one of the interesting quirks of the TTRPG hobby, in that it is far less prevalent in other forms of media. Not that zero to hero doesn't exist in movies or TV, as it does, it's just not as prevalent as it is within TTRPG space. I also prefer "sideways" PC growth over "upwards" PC growth as that too is often featured far more in non-TTRPG media. Like I said, I like to start out as Conan, or Iron Man, or Judge Dredd. I don't want to play out the training montage that got my PC to that level of capability, that's what the training montage is for.