What to call adventurers?
- Thread starter invokethehojo
- Start date
Cam Banks
Adventurer
I've always called them heroes. In the Dragonlance adventures I wrote for MWP, that's the standard. It was also standard for the SAGA Fifth Age game, which called PCs "heroes" and NPCs "characters." I like "supporting characters" instead of NPCs, myself.
Somebody once complained to me that their party of evil characters weren't able to call themselves heroes. "I know," I said. "Now you see why I prefer it."
Cheers,
Cam
Somebody once complained to me that their party of evil characters weren't able to call themselves heroes. "I know," I said. "Now you see why I prefer it."
Cheers,
Cam
Fallen Seraph
First Post
I call them by their names 
The term adventurer, hero, party, etc. Never comes up in-game. I may use party for out-of-game discussion but beyond that, everyone is their own individual who just happen to be working together for whatever reason.
The term adventurer, hero, party, etc. Never comes up in-game. I may use party for out-of-game discussion but beyond that, everyone is their own individual who just happen to be working together for whatever reason.
From Dictionary.com:
ad·ven·tur·er -noun
1. a person who has, enjoys, or seeks adventures.
2. a seeker of fortune in daring enterprises; soldier of fortune.
3. a person who undertakes great commercial risk; speculator.
4. a person who seeks power, wealth, or social rank by unscrupulous or questionable means.
ad·ven·tur·er -noun
1. a person who has, enjoys, or seeks adventures.
2. a seeker of fortune in daring enterprises; soldier of fortune.
3. a person who undertakes great commercial risk; speculator.
4. a person who seeks power, wealth, or social rank by unscrupulous or questionable means.
DeusExMachina
First Post
mach1.9pants said:
Hey, keep your Dutch out of the game...
We have a very good system of Dutch = out of game talk, English = in game talk. Don't go messing it up...
Anyway, adventurers works for me, although IMC the characters are going to be the in the employ of the local noble as a sort of scouts/guards company...
Brudewollen
First Post
It depends on the different campaigns I've run and it's evolved over time. The way I set up the last campaign, my PCs were just a bunch of people who were at the same harvest festival in a big town when a murder occurred very close to them. Since they were all witnesses to the crime and saw the murderer, and being the 'heroic type,' I suppose they all went after the guy and caught him. That's how I got them to meet, and how I got them involved in the story of my adventure.
But were they heroes, ultimately? Well, they did heroic things but not always for positive reasons. One was an evil cleric infiltrating the church of a good God, another was a half-orc conflicted between his human and bestial natures, a third was a sociopathic thief with no compunction about committing murder if need be (or as the evil cleric called her "a girl with a problem." The others in the group were a bit less well defined or surefooted as players, so they don't count.
They didn't call themselves anything, they just did stuff for kicks, to prove their worth to their estranged step-father, for profit or as a means to an end (like bringing down the church of holiness and good). They did missions for the local Margrave because they were damn effective and he found he could make use of them, but they weren't formal "heroes," and there was no such thing as "adventurers" as a profession.
They once met a rival band in their area, kind of their mirror image: a bunch of religious fanatics, doing deeds for the benefit of the church. They hated them and would have tried to kill them, but it seemed their rivals were more powerful than they were, so they let it go. But again, motivation was something apart from just: let's go on adventure 'cause that's what people do. I like for there to be better reasons for doing these things than the standard tropes that have become way too cliched in gaming.
I was thinking of running a game that was all about courtly intrigue, next. All the PCs would be involved in the court of small kingdom in some way (some might be nobles while others might just be palace guards). They would be allied and working together, but I'm not sure you could call them an adventuring party. Trying to find a different way to do a campaign - something outside the norm of D&D gaming.
But were they heroes, ultimately? Well, they did heroic things but not always for positive reasons. One was an evil cleric infiltrating the church of a good God, another was a half-orc conflicted between his human and bestial natures, a third was a sociopathic thief with no compunction about committing murder if need be (or as the evil cleric called her "a girl with a problem." The others in the group were a bit less well defined or surefooted as players, so they don't count.
They didn't call themselves anything, they just did stuff for kicks, to prove their worth to their estranged step-father, for profit or as a means to an end (like bringing down the church of holiness and good). They did missions for the local Margrave because they were damn effective and he found he could make use of them, but they weren't formal "heroes," and there was no such thing as "adventurers" as a profession.
They once met a rival band in their area, kind of their mirror image: a bunch of religious fanatics, doing deeds for the benefit of the church. They hated them and would have tried to kill them, but it seemed their rivals were more powerful than they were, so they let it go. But again, motivation was something apart from just: let's go on adventure 'cause that's what people do. I like for there to be better reasons for doing these things than the standard tropes that have become way too cliched in gaming.
I was thinking of running a game that was all about courtly intrigue, next. All the PCs would be involved in the court of small kingdom in some way (some might be nobles while others might just be palace guards). They would be allied and working together, but I'm not sure you could call them an adventuring party. Trying to find a different way to do a campaign - something outside the norm of D&D gaming.
Cirex
First Post
Henry said:In DR 1358, a crack unit of Cormyrean Plumes were sent to gaol by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. They promptly escaped from a maximum security dungeon to the Shadowdale underground. Today, still wanted by their government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no-one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... the Redguards.
I blame Alusair.
I call them looters, raiders, avengers, troublemakers, handsomes, adventurers, "hah-heroes", and so on, depending who is talking.
invokethehojo
First Post
I should have stated that I also dislike heroes. It works fine for out of character stuff, but if anyone who walks into a village with a sword or spell book qualifies as a "hero" in the world then... well that sucks.
I was thinking more along the lines of lingo, like in Sigil in 2e anyone one perceived as powerful (ie 10th level plus) was referred to as a "blood" or "hardcase". I am searching for something like that I suppose.
I was thinking more along the lines of lingo, like in Sigil in 2e anyone one perceived as powerful (ie 10th level plus) was referred to as a "blood" or "hardcase". I am searching for something like that I suppose.
Similar Threads
