Why keep adventuring?

[Stormborn]

Why does your PC, or the PCs if you mainly GM, keep adventuring after they have acheived fame and fortune? Do you build PCs or campaigns with an inate reason for the characters to constantly strive for power, glory, and wealth or is it more of a metagame reason? "I want to keep playing so my PC keeps adventuring."

It seems that the "adventurers" in many works of fiction either go out for a very specific reason and once its achieved stop (ie Bilbo) or having achieved a goal somehow loose what they gained and have to fight again (classically Conan, but to a lesser extent any hero of a series of novels who is confronted by a "moster/villain of the week/novel/movie."

What keeps your heroes going?

 

[Scribble]

Why does your PC, or the PCs if you mainly GM, keep adventuring after they have acheived fame and fortune? Do you build PCs or campaigns with an inate reason for the characters to constantly strive for power, glory, and wealth or is it more of a metagame reason? "I want to keep playing so my PC keeps adventuring."

It seems that the "adventurers" in many works of fiction either go out for a very specific reason and once its achieved stop (ie Bilbo) or having achieved a goal somehow loose what they gained and have to fight again (classically Conan, but to a lesser extent any hero of a series of novels who is confronted by a "moster/villain of the week/novel/movie."

What keeps your heroes going?

Depends on the type of campaign... If it's like an epic story based campaign where the PCs are trying to stop the typical end of the world scenario, usually when they win, the campaign is over...

If they are just adventurers out for fame and fortune... well, you can never have enough of those.

 

[The_Gneech]

My current primary PC is an incorrigible crusader ... show him some evil threatening the world and he's off and questing. My secondary character just keeps adventuring because he doesn't have anything better to do, really.

I did have a character retire at 11th level when he was "rich enough" -- I was tired of playing him, and as he had no real reason to continue the adventuring life, it would have actually been out of character to keep him.

-The Gneech

 

[Mallus]

What keeps your heroes going?

The fact that I enjoy playing them.

 

[Scribble]

My current primary PC is an incorrigible crusader ... show him some evil threatening the world and he's off and questing. My secondary character just keeps adventuring because he doesn't have anything better to do, really.

I did have a character retire at 11th level when he was "rich enough" -- I was tired of playing him, and as he had no real reason to continue the adventuring life, it would have actually been out of character to keep him.

-The Gneech

I kind of see adventurers as those crazy entrepreneurial guys you read about who even when they "retire" keep starting businesses and such, just because they're bored...

"Just because I'm retired from adventuring in my nice bigass castle surrounded by the magic spoils of my previous life and tons of hot elfchick groupies, doesn't mean I can't still head out to slay a dragon or two..."

 

[Nightfall]

What keeps your heroes going?

The next big score.

 

[Voadam]

My eponymous character

"Bad things are out there, I deal with them."

"I also have a great lust for wealth, power, and learning."

 

[SpiderMonkey]

It's always something...

In the groups I've played with, for extended campaigns, the smaller challenges they face at lower levels are symptoms of a bigger cause that they deal with, in increments, at higher levels. That, combined with the fact that we usually play very good-aligned characters, serves as motivation rather than the more mercenary alternatives.

But mercenary games rule, too. You can never have enough phatlootz.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Given the rate of advancement in 3rd edition, the typical character will still be under 25 by the time he or she has reached level 20. So they're probably adventuring to score ... treasure.

 

[DM_Jeff]

Fortune and glory, kid. Fortune...and...glory.

-DM Jeff