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<blockquote data-quote="Parlan" data-source="post: 4450206" data-attributes="member: 16808">Obviously I don't agree with that reductio ad absurdum.&nbsp; But let me respond b/c I think this gives me a good analogy to explain my POV. Consider, what percentage of an army are frontline combat troops, e.g. fighting in foxholes?&nbsp; IIRC, it's only 10% for a modern military, but in any case, the vast majority are supply guys, cooks, mechanics, and the other guys behind the scenes in logistics.&nbsp; There's a famous quote re. military science, &quot;amatuers study tactics, professionals study logistics.&quot;&nbsp; So clearly the thousands and thousands of guys required for the logistics to function are important.Now, how many war movies do they appear in?None.&nbsp; Because their jobs, while important, aren't &quot;heroic&quot; in the &quot;make a compelling story&quot; sense. That said, a story about &quot;the little guys&quot; can be both heroic and compelling.&nbsp; Take another war movie, Saving Private Ryan. Forget that it's WWII, just consider it as a representative war movie.&nbsp; It's about a bunch of low-level guys doing a mission that's only important for propaganda/morale purposes.&nbsp; We know from history that there are a ton of other guys doing stuff that's more important to achieve the tactical/stratigec objectives necessary to win the war.&nbsp; But the camera almost never shows these those other guys.&nbsp; It focuses on Tom Hanks' unit the whole time.&nbsp; That's what I want: the camera to stay on the PCs.&nbsp; How much would it suck for one of those Pvt Ryan survivors to go to his commanding officer at the end of the film and say the following?[Pvt Ryan spoilers below]&quot;General sir, we lost Tom Hanks and that sniper guy got blown up by a tank, but we did it!&nbsp; After much sacrifice we managed to accomplish our mission and save Pvt Ryan!!!&quot;General, &quot;Great son.&nbsp; While you were doing that we parachuted into three major cities, secured 6 valuable bridgeheads and smashed 8 enemy divisions, capturing 12,000 enemy troops.&nbsp; But seriously, you did a really good job saving that one little guy.&nbsp; What was his name again?&quot; How can a player *not* feel patronized in a similar situation?&nbsp; And I'm running the game for the players' enjoyment, not the NPCs'. To turn the question around, why is it *necessary* to tell the players what the high level PCs?&nbsp; I haven't been able to answer that question satisfactorily, so I structure my campaign to keep the high level NPCs out of the world or at least &quot;off screen&quot;. If they need a patron of some kind, I'd much rather that be an organization.&nbsp; That way there's plenty of redshirts, I mean NPCS to go around, but no one that overshadows the PCs.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Parlan, post: 4450206, member: 16808"] Obviously I don't agree with that reductio ad absurdum. But let me respond b/c I think this gives me a good analogy to explain my POV. Consider, what percentage of an army are frontline combat troops, e.g. fighting in foxholes? IIRC, it's only 10% for a modern military, but in any case, the vast majority are supply guys, cooks, mechanics, and the other guys behind the scenes in logistics. There's a famous quote re. military science, "amatuers study tactics, professionals study logistics." So clearly the thousands and thousands of guys required for the logistics to function are important. Now, how many war movies do they appear in? None. Because their jobs, while important, aren't "heroic" in the "make a compelling story" sense. That said, a story about "the little guys" can be both heroic and compelling. Take another war movie, Saving Private Ryan. Forget that it's WWII, just consider it as a representative war movie. It's about a bunch of low-level guys doing a mission that's only important for propaganda/morale purposes. We know from history that there are a ton of other guys doing stuff that's more important to achieve the tactical/stratigec objectives necessary to win the war. But the camera almost never shows these those other guys. It focuses on Tom Hanks' unit the whole time. That's what I want: the camera to stay on the PCs. How much would it suck for one of those Pvt Ryan survivors to go to his commanding officer at the end of the film and say the following? [Pvt Ryan spoilers below] "General sir, we lost Tom Hanks and that sniper guy got blown up by a tank, but we did it! After much sacrifice we managed to accomplish our mission and save Pvt Ryan!!!" General, "Great son. While you were doing that we parachuted into three major cities, secured 6 valuable bridgeheads and smashed 8 enemy divisions, capturing 12,000 enemy troops. But seriously, you did a really good job saving that one little guy. What was his name again?" How can a player *not* feel patronized in a similar situation? And I'm running the game for the players' enjoyment, not the NPCs'. To turn the question around, why is it *necessary* to tell the players what the high level PCs? I haven't been able to answer that question satisfactorily, so I structure my campaign to keep the high level NPCs out of the world or at least "off screen". If they need a patron of some kind, I'd much rather that be an organization. That way there's plenty of redshirts, I mean NPCS to go around, but no one that overshadows the PCs. [/QUOTE]

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