GenCon 2009: 4e Extravaganza (with Photos)
On Friday at GenCon, we attended the 4e Extravaganza, which was where the new setting was announced (which I’m sure everyone has heard by now is Dark Sun).
However, there were a number of other products showcased, some new, some already known, and a few big surprises. I used Twitter to report the announcements as they came, but I thought I’d post the pictures that Bartoneus took alongside the updates (cleaned up for readability).
I will add the caveat that we didn’t cover everything, especially the announcements about the novels at the beginning. There were video cameras set up at the back, so if you want to see the presentation in full, you probably will be able to later. Here’s the easily skimmable version for the stuff I found most interesting. [Read the rest of this article]
The Order of the Chatty DMs: Gen Con Guest Posters 2009
Yes, I’m back from Gen Con. I’m still recuperating from it all, but it was as phenomenal as last year’s.
That also means that the Gen Con hiatus is finished. Yay!
Over the next few days, I’ll be writing posts about my Indianapolis adventures but this posts isn’t about that.
Today I want to sing the praise of the many many people who’ve been writing guest posts on this blog. These people have taken the time out of their busy schedules to help keep this blog vibrant and alive while I was prepping for and attending Gen Con.
And they delivered top notch articles, way above my expectations!
For that I want to thank them all and I want to introduce them all to the Order of the Chatty DMs, a very select group of people who have demonstrated that a cool concept can’t always be described properly in 300 words or less.
So with no further ado, here’s my homage to the first batch of Knights:
WrathofZombie
Our first Knight is a new blogger and a friendly face on Gtalk, Wrath stepped up to the plate to be the first Guest of the Gen Con Hiatus. The order was tall and Wrath filled it masterfully with a heartfelt and enthusiastic pitch for Savage Worlds.
His blog is can be found here, give him a shoutout.
Wax Banks
Master of the massive blog post, Wax managed to out chat me on my own blog with a treatise on campaign setting creation and new GMs. Using examples from RPG luminairies (and legends) such as Monte Cook and S. John Ross, Wax’s thought provoking article sparked some very animated discussion.
Cocky and not above geek baiting, Wax managed to do with one post what I hoped to do in these last 2 years of blogging: getting Monte and S. John to comment on my blog. Kudos Wax, you win at the Internet!
Follow Wax on his own, mostly non-RPG blog, here.
Brad Gardner
One of the authors of the Living Forgotten Realms organized play adventure, Brad presented us with an interesting variant for D&D 4e, that of status effect that last for an entire adventure.
I knew Brad from the very interesting ideas he shares in his comments about my 4e adventures. He has a knack to grasp what mechanics would work best for a given adventure situation. I’ve come to play very close attention to everything he says as it’s always been excellent thoughtful advice. If and when I open a 3rd party imprint, he’s among those I’d like to have on board.
Wyatt Salazar
The boy wonder of the RPG blogger community, Wyatt represents everything I look for in a RPG writer. Insane levels of creativity, a passion for the games he plays/talks about and above all, a propensity to get into trouble that show that he’s as fearless as crazy.
My kind of people says I!
Wyatt gave us a great exposé on ways you can find to make 4e players feel less invicible with their PCs without outright killing them with a cave in. This (and the comments) are a must read for DMs who are having trouble challenging their players in combat encounters.
Follow Wyatt’s great ideas and antics at either of his blogs, here and here.
Rob (Aka A Hero)
Rob was nice enough to share with us his house rules he uses to simulate crafting in D&D 4e. Not the type where a PC makes arrows, but the type where someone would like to forge a sword of blue thunder steel, dip it in Arcana-charged quicksilver so it can be enchanted to become a Thundering Sword +3.
Filling a niche left empty by the edition change, Rob presents crafting as skill challenges, a very original idea to recreate the feel of the d20 crafting skills.
Rob’s blog, A Hero twice a Month, can be found here.
Kameron Franklin
Both a fantasy author and blogger, Kameron explored the use of the D&D 4e minor quest as a tool to share narrative control (or at the very least, directorial control). His idea of letting player pick their own minor quests as long as they fit with the major quest is a stroke of genius. I’ll be seriously considering it.
Thanks man! I’m happy to have you among my order of Knights!
WalkerP
Fellow Montrealer and good friend Walker, host of the RPG Haven Podcast, shared with us his passion for Mutant Future, the freely available OGL post-apocalyptic RPG. This is truly a game that should get more press. I promise to try it at the Draconis (Montreal’s Gaming con) next year.
Thanks man!
Brent Newhall
A Twitter friend, who played in my trial TwittRPG, Brent shared with us what he thought was the bare minimum needed to prep for a D&D 4e session. While he goes over the basic, he also discovered a more important issue than focusing on NPC and stats, that of listening to the players and prep in direct relation to what they did and who they talked to.
Brent’s website can be found here.
Storyteller
Last time he wrote on this blog, he ended up in the Open Game Table Anthology. Back from an extended hiatus, Storyteller delivered another succulent gem of RPG fluff. Our guest explored what it means to be an Adventurer in a game world. From there he described various ways that adventurers could be treated in a campaign, from the highly respected to the Dime-a-dozen.
Once again a stellar performance by one of rising talents of the RPG blogsphere. Find his blog here.
Johenius
My most recent secret weapon, Johenius is a South African friend of mine that’s taken a particular liking to my Dungeon Reality Show ideas. Co-author (he did most of the work) of this year’s Drunken D&D adventure, and always on the lookout to do things differently, he presented quite a bold article about using Charisma in what he calls ‘Social combats”. Presenting sample powers and examples, he provides a pretty comprehensive how to.
I’m telling you, along with Wyatt and Storyteller, Johenius will likely form the next generation of successful RPG writers. Follow his thoughts and crazy ideas here.
A humbling reality
All those people sharing such awesome posts for free makes me feel humbled and inadequate. I hope this little homage will please them and I hope that if you liked their work, you’ll visit their websites and/or drop a kind word with this post.
Once again guys, thanks so much! You are forever welcome on this blog.
Chatty DM
Critical Bits: 2009 GenCon
- Press Release by the Diana Jones Award Committee explaining why they nominated as they did
- DDI Monster Builder Contest. (via @WolfStar76)
- The official Gen Con Tell me About Your PC contest! Go ahead, it time to talk #aboutmypc and win prizes! (via @ChattyDM)
GenCon Coverage [Read the rest of this article]
Gen Con: 'Puter troubles
Yesterday morning, I wrote a 775 word article on my 1st day of the Con.
The post got eaten by WordPress (I can’t even recover autosaves it seems) and I only noticed last night.
So I’ve decided that I will not post daily updates of my activities and will do a ‘Highlights and Lessons Learned’ post upon my return.
And yes, I’m having a blast, met great people and got to have dinner and a few beers with the D&D Insider team and other D&D developers. I learned that something big might be brewing on the horizon about D&D for kids.
4E 2010 Setting – Dark Sun!
That’s right, Dark Sun will be coming out at Gencon next year! The cover looks awesome!
I’ll be posting all of the pictures soon.
Also Demonomicon, Plane Above, Ravenloft board game, and many others.
I Didn't Know You Could Do That in 4e – Social Combat -or- Making Charisma the Overpowered Attribute for Once
Johenius (that would be me, I just like talking in the third person) is one-half of the awesome combination of seldom-updating South African DM’s that are Awesome Gaming. He enjoys long walks on the beach, pretty much every RPG system ever made, and coming up with weird mechanics to copy from one system that you’ve never heard of to the popular one he’s interested in at present. Enjoy!
So. You’ve seen movies or comic books where people can use their words as a tangible means to fight. You’ve been impressed by witty insults in swordfights, fierce battle cries, and people who use words to defend themselves with more than a snippy comeback.And you’ve thought to yourself, “Self, wouldn’t it be badass to be able to do that in a role-playing game?”.
Well, I believe it not only to be possible – but easily done in a variety of handily house-rulable forms. And not just the charismatic few who use as verbal buffs in combat to help allies or intimidate enemies – but that any characters can use a well-placed jibe to throw an opponent. Elan would be proud.
This article was inspired by the concept of social combat, an idea I stumbled upon reading a transcript for a game of Scion: Hero in the RPG.net forums. Of course, White Wolf games have an edge on d20 games in terms of mechanical representations of social concepts, in that they have three distinct social attributes where d20 offers one: Charisma. This presented an opportunity (or challenge, if you’re that way inclined) that was too good to pass up.
There are several distinct ways that social combat can be implemented in your game of D&D 4e, with differing degrees of buy-in, and an varying scale of mechanical additions. Two of them are presented in this article:
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(Pardon the alliteration:) Subtle skill-based social combat (The “Mutants and Masterminds” way), where a few effects in combat can be triggered by social skill use.
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Feat-(and thus power-)based social combat, where sticks and stones compete with words to hurt people (closest to the original concepts of D&D 4e)
Both of these options are far from “Rules As Written” in terms of balance, canonicity and acceptance, so, should any of the systems catch your eye, add them to your gaming groups’ collection of house rules and be aware that some systems suit a group better than others.
Let’s look at each of the proposed social combat systems in the order presented.
“What Do You Mean, You Prefer Reaping Strike?!” – Subtle Changes
In the great superheroes RPG “Mutants and Masterminds”, there are a variety of actions a character can take in combat related to social skills. Some are only accessible by feats, and this will be expanded in the next section – but the ability to throw out a taunt mid-fight, bluff an opponent to make a mis-step, or intimidate an enemy can add real character to a fight.
The challenge in this regards is balance. Many classes have utility or even attack powers that target an NPCs mind via trickery or coercion in combat. These concepts should not be absolutely limited to those classes though: a wizard with large, bushy eyebrows and a scary stare should be able to intimidate as well as a 7 foot tall fighter with plate armour and a great big sword, screaming a vicious warcry while charging straight at you. Actually, no wait. Bad example.
A WIZARD USING A CANTRIP THAT MAKES IT APPEAR THAT HE CAN EXPLODE YOU WITH *HIS MIND* AND WITH AWESOME SCARY EYEBROWS. He’d be intimidating too.
So the challenge of introducing a generic intimidation – or any other social skill – combat ability (other than an intimidation check when an enemy is bloodied, mentioned in the PHB) resides in keeping it subtly useful, without making it equal or superior to a class skill. Keep in mind that ANY player should be able to use these skills, in the same way that any PC can use a basic attack.
The two best solutions that suit both the mechanics, and the imagined reality the mechanics represent, are as follows: making the abilities one-shot per encounter (to keep them from being abused, and because monsters who see you trick their friend will be wary and won’t fall for it themselves), and to keep the effectiveness limited to a single minor status effect.
This might seem to severely curtail the usefulness of the abilities, but keep in mind that talking is a free action. Talking to an NPC who is hostile to you, however, is probably somewhat more problematic – a minor action would be required for their use. Furthermore, social powers are limited (typically) to living creatures – mindless undead, animates and constructs can’t be cowed by insults to their maternal parents.
Social skills use the relevant social skill as an attack modifier – no other modifiers (for weapons, proficiency, etc.) can be added beyond the standard +1 per 2 levels. Social skills are defended against with the target’s passive Insight, or the same skill that is being used for the “attack” (whichever is higher). Note that for brevity, the remainder of this document lists the defense as Insight only, though either are valid.
Some examples of social skill uses in combat can be seen below:
Of course, the use of these powers is entirely up to your DM – they might easily unbalance your running game or campaign, but I feel they add a dimension to combat that – I feel – has been lacking. Quipping, wisecracks, taunts and so on give character to a scene. Dialogue with an arch-nemesis is a time-honoured trope, and this brings mechanical benefits to that dialogue. Guybrush Threepwood would be proud.
“I Have This Bridge in Faerun to Sell You” – Using Feats to Balance the Mechanics
Another means of balancing the gameplay aspects of the use of social skills in combat is to introduce a feat requirement. By sacrificing the possibility of other feats, you can justify the power increase implicit in the use of social skills, and it also has a handy narrative explanation too: it requires great concentration to throw out a wise-crack while avoiding blows and attempting to land some attacks of your own. Feats come with the implicit understanding that they represent innate talent or extensive training. As the character trains to keep their cool during the heat of combat, they unlock the capability to throw off an opponent.
One option available to players is to introduce the above Encounter powers as At-Will powers instead, at the cost of a feat each. This option may appeal to some DMs who would rather limit the social aspect of encounters to PCs that choose to invest in this course of action – leaving the dour, silent-fighting types who prefer straight-forward [boring] combat (and whose butts, frankly, look fat in those breeches) – to leave out this wonderful system, focusing instead on “power attacks” and “weapon focuses”.
Another option, should you choose to “stack” the social combat systems, is to leave social combat as a once-per-encounter power, but increase it’s effect after training. In that case, the following feats and associated powers are suggested:
Feat: Barbed Jibe
Prerequisite: Charisma 13, any alignment except Lawful Good
Benefit: By insulting your opponent, getting under their skin and generally taunting them, you may use the Barbed Jibe social combat power once per encounter:
Feat: Shock and Awe
Prerequisite: Charisma 13, trained in Intimidate skill
Benefit: Suddenly looming, giving a vicious warcry or flourishing a great weapon, you attempt to intimidate your opponent into cowering.
Feat: The Ol’ Dodge and Weave
Prerequisite: Charisma 13, trained in Bluff skill
Benefit: By tricking the opponent into making an unwise attack against you by using The Ol’ Dodge and Weave, the opponent is left exposed for your allies.
“Your Mama’s a Bog-Hag” – The Highest Level of Social Comment
One thing to note about social combat – it requires active social roleplay in combat. You cannot just declare “I’m using Shock and Awe on the hobgoblin this round” – players must narratively buy in to the social action. “I cry ‘FOR THE CHILD YOU STOLE FROM ME, AAAARGH!”, followed by the declaration and rolls gives a much better sense of what you’re trying to achieve.
Of course, the habit of adding story-flavour to your attacks is an established tradition – but the social powers infinitely moreso. Their role is to simulate the exciting and imaginative combats that we read in literature, see on the silver screen, or imagine in our minds.
Final Words
So this is where I shall leave you: there is much more to do out there. Social combat as a mechanism can be taken even further than this brief article. Entire combats composed entirely of words should be more than possible with the strong base that D&D 4e has provided in terms of powers, feats, skills and attributes. Especially since the redefinition of hit points to include “mental attitude” (and the silly statement that zero hit points means “terminal sadness” – a concept that can be expanded for some real mechanical – and narrative – fun!). Always remember that the rule of fun trumps everything, and that one of the DM’s many great priorities should always be helping players to translate the characters that they have in their minds into the characters that their stats, feats and powers indicate they are.
I would like to thank ChattyDM very much for this opportunity to contribute on his blog in this guest spot, and to thank you, the reader, for bearing with my wild and bizarre D&D 4e mechanical ideas 
I would also like to apologize for the terrible power-tables. OpenOffice.org mangled the HTML, and the images seem to render strangely in this browser. Clicking “View Image” or the equivalent for your webbrowser might help.
GenCon 4e Preview: The Assassin
A sort of stealth promotion is going here at GenCon from WotC, where if you sign up for D&D Insider (or re-up your subscription) you receive a bound book that contains an 11th level Halfling Assassin (with the Obsidian Stalker paragon path). It also contains an adventure you can use him in, Crown of the Troll King (something of a cross between Crown of the Kobold King and King of Trollhaunt Warrens, I suppose).
The Assassin is a Shadow Striker. His Striker extra damage come from the “Assassin’s Shroud” at-will power that lets the Assassin, as a free action, subject a target in close burst 10 to his shroud, and if he’s already a target of your shroud, add an additional shroud to it, to a maximum of 4. When you attack that target, you can either expend all your shrouds or it or none, and if you do, you deal 1d6 damage per shroud if you hit, and 1d6 per shroud minus one shroud if you miss. So basically, they can build up on one enemy, and can either keep building up to do one big hit of damage. If you use your shrouds against another target, all other shrouds vanish.
It also appears as though they receive an at-will teleport as a class feature called Shadow Step that requires you to be adjacent to a creature and let you teleport adjacent to a different creature. All their powers are tied to shadows, with a strong preference towards teleporting and insubstantial-causing powers. Their powers sound pretty ugly but what you’d expect for an assassin: the daily power Black Garrote let’s you grab and choke a creature using shadow stuff.
I’ve attached pictures of each of the pages should you wish to take a look for yourself.
“Crown of the Troll King” is a pretty straightforward delve using the new Caves dungeon tile set, and a boat-load of trolls. The final encounter against the Troll King and the ghosts of the adventurers he has killed is pretty cool too. While I think it’s cool that there’s an adventure along with the character, most people are going to be picking up for the Assassin preview. The Assassin looks like a pretty cool class, and honestly, what I expected. It shares some conceptual ground with the Rogue (and the Avenger) with a focus on shadowy stuff and some brutal sounding powers (while the Rogue may slash your legs, the Assassin drowns you in shadow). Looking forward to the full class, especially as I already have a player interested in it.
Click on the image to enlarge:
Gen Con Briefs: Wednesday
I don’t know how much I’ll be able to blog this year at Gen Con. I promised myself that I would not skip sleep to write so my posts will be Sporadic.
Here’s a few highlight of Yesterday.
I met Robin Laws at the O’Hare Chicago airport. We chatted about player types and motivation some and I got some hints about cool upcoming WotC featuring types and motivation.
I had dinner with my friend Graham and his lovely fiancé, along with Steve and Seth, two of my fellow Goodman Games tournament judges. Good time (and good beers) was had.
Of course, the day’s Feature Event was our annual Drunken D&D event. This year, the Hotel was nice enough to let us use a huge round table in a cozy corner. This year’s lineup of PCs was stellar with Graham and his fiancé, Barteoneus and Dave: The Game (from Critical Hits), E (Of Geeks dream Girl) and Jared Hindmann (of head injury theater) .
I won’t even try to recount what happened. Like last year, we laughed like hell. We actually had so much fun, that I ended fast forwarding the tactical encounters to go back to roleplaying.
Some of the things seen in the game:
- A warforged compulsive eater taunting a minotaur with a red table cloth
- A Surfer boardmage shagging a Succubus then shagging a skanky bard.
- A halfling Fonzie shagging both the Succubus and the Bard
- The Emo Warlock’s Codpiece of Agony
- A Grell giving birth
- The Grell happy and angry chirps
- 31 one ways to please yourself with a sleeping beholder (roll sanity checks)
- A Stoner Surfer riding the Zomboni inside the Science Lab.
We didn’t finish the game but as you can see, insane fun occured. Also, a D&D designer may or may not have watched part of the game!
All right, I’m off to do some Tournament DMing. Catch you all later.
Live from GenCon
We have arrived at our GenCon hotel. While we’ll make every effort to put a few posts up as the convention goes on, stealing away enough time to write a post can be difficult. If you want up to the minute updates from us, we recommend following @CriticalHits twitter account, my twitter account (@DaveTheGame), and Bartoneus’s twitter account (@Bartoneus). The Critical Hits account will contain news and updates, while our personal accounts will contain updates on what we’re doing, along with our usual game-tweeting.
You don’t need a twitter account to view those pages, it just makes it easier. And if anyone wants to meet up with us specifically that’s on Twitter, you can send any of those accounts at @ message (or a DM if we’re following you) and we should get back to you.
Adventurers Anonymous
Storyteller is the author of the RPG blog Beneath the Screen, and a content developer for Nevermet Press. He is proud to be back at ChattyDM’s blog for the one-year anniversary of his first guest post ever on the blogosphere, which he wrote for ChattyDM last year. Without further ado, onward with the guest post!
“Hello. My name is K’taluk the Bloodthirsty. And I’m an Adventurer.”
“Hello K’taluk.”
“It’s been three months since my last dungeon delve.”
*Light Applause*
An often overlooked aspect of most fantasy roleplaying games – regardless of system and setting – is the true meaning behind the fact that the players are taking the role of Adventurers. That’s Adventurer, with a capital A – a proper noun like Doctor, or Hippopotamus Tamer – because it’s not just a character descriptor, it’s a profession. Adventuring is a way of life.
“Adventurer” is an umbrella term of course, under which many specialties lie (such as Paladin, Rogue, Arcane Hippopotamus Tamer, etc.), but regardless of what facet of adventuring you’ve chosen as your forte, there is no denying that you’ve made the life choice to become an Adventurer.
Every Adventurer worth their salt could tell you why they picked up the noble mantle of adventuring. Whether they were driven out of their home by tragedy, fueled by a desire for vengeance, hopeful for fame and fortune, or simply guided by wanderlust, there are hundreds of reasons your Average Joe might decide to cast off the shackles of a normal life in favor of venturing forth into lands dangerous and unknown. What many don’t understand is truly what it means to be an Adventurer.
Adventuring: It’s Not For Everyone
The two men emerged from the dense woods, entering a small clearing. Brandishing a broadsword carefully in front of him, Anthony the Blacksmith scanned the area quickly before sheathing his weapon.
“Looks safe,” he called back to Brenton.
The tailor lowered his bow and came up to join his companion. “How far did they say we had to go?”
“Not far,” replied the Smith. “They just said, ‘go wander around in the woods and sooner or later you’ll find some treasure.’ Darn adventurers always make it sound so easy, right Brent?”
The tailor gave no reply.
“Brent?” As the smith turned, his companion was gone, and an unsettling chorus of childlike giggles began to echo from the treetops above. Looking up, Anthony’s eyes went wide as he tried to wrestle his sword free of its scabbard. “BRENT?!”
The life of an Adventurer is a dangerous one. Common tales of adventuring follow the stories of the most powerful and successful heroes, while little thought is ever given to the hundreds of unfortunate souls who regularly leave their homes behind in search of a quick fortune only to fall in their first battle with Goblins.
The backbone behind the Adventurer profession is simple enough – with great risk comes great reward. By putting their lives on the line, and battling the evil creatures which plague the world, Adventurers stand to gain great fortune, skill, and glory. Taking on such dangerous foes however can be a deadly task. While wealthy and powerful Adventurers can even overcome death, young fledgling heroes put all of their metaphorical eggs into one adventuresome basket – making each new quest an all or nothing gamble.
For these reasons, Adventurers are few and far between, while most of the world is content to see old age – living a safe life at home.
So the interesting question becomes, what does the world think of Adventurers?
There are many ways a world may view Adventurers, from overlords to annoyances to even gods! A good way to inject something fresh into your campaign is to give this question some thought – what does this town/nation/world actually think of Adventurers? The prejudices and pre-conceived notions that people have about such a profession may add some interesting flavor to your next campaign.
Let’s look at some options…
A Dime A Dozen
“Let me guess, you’re another Adventurer right? Figured as much. Well, the basic healing wands and potions are over on that counter there, and the rest of my items are individually labeled with their appropriate pre-haggled prices based on this years Adventurers Guild Approved price guide. No, I cannot make special orders. No, I don’t have any local rumors. Yes, you break it you buy it. Now make your purchases and get out – there’s a line behind you.”
One option is to make Adventurers abundantly common. Maybe adventuring is simply the thing to do, or perhaps one community forces all children – upon reaching adulthood – to go and travel the world for a year before they can become adults. Whatever the reason, in this world, adventuring is commonplace, and the public at large knows how to deal with your kind.
In some ways, this can be great! Such a rebellious and impulsive lifestyle is not frowned upon, but neither is it exalted. Villages keep a hefty sum of gold kicking around in their coffers knowing that every week or so a party will roll into town looking to sell off their latest treasures.
Perhaps even city planners will argue over the “prime” settlement location nearest to a Dragon’s Lair – knowing that sooner or later the Dragon will be defeated and the city’s economy will boom from the victorious adventurers and their celebration.
This could also, however, be unfortunate for Adventurers.
When adventuresome sorts are indeed a dime a dozen, cities may shop around for the cheapest party of heroes to come to their aid. Why sacrifice some of the church’s tithes to raise a fallen hero from the dead, when another group is going to show up in town within the week?
When everyone’s a hero, no one really is.
There’s A First Time For Everything
“You’re going to do what exactly, foolish husband of mine? Go and fight the dragon? What are you daft? No one’s ever fought a dragon and lived. Hell, no one’s ever fought a dragon PERIOD! Why? Because they’re not crazy! Well, it seems like you’re set on this but you should be warned I’m planning on remarrying the second you leave town. This is one woman who’s not going to just wait around to be widowed on account of her husband’s ignorance!”
Everything’s got to start somewhere, even adventuring. Maybe you’ve always dreamed big, or maybe you just got really drunk at the tavern with your buddies one night and started spouting nonsense about battling the forces of evil. Maybe you’re actually crazy! Whatever the reason, the life of an Adventurer is calling to you, even though you don’t really know what that means.
It is much more common, when using this approach, to simply be the first of a cloistered community or village to set out in search of something better.
The idea of being the first Adventurers in the whole world however, is almost too good to pass up. (First pick of all the artifacts!)
Without the guidance of Adventurers past, through stories, lore, and clearly defined encyclopedias of monstrous creatures, you’re on your own. The foundation of the adventuring profession rests on your shoulders! You’re writing the myths as you go! How exciting… and deadly. With no one to fall back on for support, you really are on your own. Don’t expect any reinforcements coming over the hill – everyone pretty much thinks you’re insane (and they might be right).
The Stuff Of Legends
“An Adventurer?! My word, are you really? I – well, I’ve never actually seen an Adventurer before. I know you must have a busy schedule but, if you’re interested, my wife and I would love to have you over for dinner tonight. You can tell us of your accomplishments! Oh, and I don’t supposed I could have your autograph as well?”
When all a small secluded town has to go off of for entertainment are the tales and stories of great Adventurers, such visitors are not unlike celebrities, superheroes, and gods all rolled into one.
Perhaps they’ve never seen a real Adventurer, or if they have, they witnessed god-like feats of magic and skill. Simple-minded citizens with no knowledge of magic might quickly declare arcane and divine spells the miracles of demigods.
Whatever the reason, when Adventurers wander into this part of the world, they should expect to be hounded by fans, worshippers, followers, and likely a bachelor and bachelorette or two hoping to be betrothed to such legendary figures.
Some downsides of such fame are the complete lack of privacy the Adventurers may find, along with the annoyingly endless line of questions they may receive about their latest adventurers – both of which make it hard for such heroes to lay low and avoid detection by villains who may seek to make their famous lives short-lived.
In the end, whether it’s a tribal community that worship Adventurers as gods, or a city buzzing with diehard fans, it should give a healthy boost of ego to any traveling heroes who pass through.
Pain in the Assimar
“You think you’re better then me? Huh? You come into my tavern, slap a platinum down on the counter and ask for four rooms for the night. You son of a – You know, not all taverns are inns you egotistical little prick. Gods, why do I even the question the intelligence of someone like you. You were probably raised in a barn, or by wolves, or through some other unlikely infantile scenario that I don’t have the time or energy to decipher right now. Listen pal, I don’t care what childhood tragedy made you think it would be a good idea to go play judge, jury, and executioner out in the world – but this is my tavern, and the only executioner in it is me. Some of my best friends are goblins you jerk. Get the hell out of my bar.”
So… sometimes Adventurers aren’t exactly… welcome. Heroes set themselves on a pretty high pedestals and take some “freedoms” in their work – such as the power to kill monsters willy nilly in a dungeon – more often then not without checking with local law enforcement to make sure it’s ok.
Such actions do not always cast Adventurers in the most flattering of light, and the sheer amount of power, money, and influence heroes throw around can attract some pretty negative prejudices.
Some communities may dislike Adventurers out of greed. Many would take up the mantle of the Adventurer, but are either too weak or too cowardly to do so. It’s only natural that they would then project these insecurities on the very profession they could never take up themselves.
A sort of “how dare you do what I was too chicken to do” kind of thing.
On the other hand, some towns or cities may have been wronged by Adventurers or put into peril because of them – even if accidentally. If a dragon chases a party of heroes back to town, or a villain scorches half the village in search of them – a lot of innocent people may die because of the sheer presence of Adventurers, and that’s enough to make anyone upset.
Maybe when the Adventurers killed off the local tribe of oppressive Lizardmen, it stopped them from extracting “protection money” from the nearby town, but also stopped the protection – leaving the villagers open to even more dangerous threats. By upsetting the Ecosystem of Evil, Adventurers may be harming more then helping.
Think Happy Thoughts! Think Happy Thoughts!
“Oh Gods! Is that a spell component pouch?! AHHHHHHH!”
Power is a dangerous thing, and if there’s one group of people who have power, it’s Adventurers. Putting aside the wealth, fame, and attractive swimsuit models following you around, the one thing that separates Adventurers from commoners is power. This is no secret.
Adventurers have the potential firepower needed to level small countries with their magic, cleave through hundreds of foes, turn invisible, and call down the power of the gods themselves. To your average everyday seamstress or blacksmith – that can kind of be terrifying.
Thankfully, most Adventurers are the “good guys”, and fight the “good fight”. Most evil Adventurers gain the “Villain” title/bull’s-eye painted to their back, and are quickly flattened by the heroes. There are, however, some Adventurers out there living up those lovely shades of gray who don’t mind throwing a fireball or two if it means getting a discount on magic shoes.
Maybe a group of Adventurers founded a city and enjoy casting spooky illusions over the town square whenever taxes aren’t properly paid. Or maybe a rumor gets out that the detect thoughts spell exists, which in and of itself is terrifying.
Whatever the reasoning, it doesn’t take much for a society to go from being in awe of Adventurers, to being terrified of them. Knowing that folks in that profession essentially kill and pillage for a living is an unsettling thought – especially when they’re asking for a discount on the most valuable items in your shop, idly toying with the hilts of their weapons.
A Rose By Any Other Name
Whatever they may call you – Heroes, Adventurers, Hippopotamus Trainers Extraordinaire – remember well that it is a noble profession, not simply an abstract adjective. And so, noble thrill seekers, hoist your weapons high and ready your spells. The world may think you are gods to be worshiped or tyrants to be feared. You may sail high among other travelers, or walk the dark paths alone.
None can know for sure.
But be not ashamed of who you are, and think not on how the common folk of these lands may judge you. Raise your goblet high and shout, “Behold! I am an Adventurer!” For in these coming days of battle and victory, one thing shall be made clear to all of the laymen and neophytes of this world, and one thing alone!
That seriously, if they were worth the XP you would pwn the town before lunchtime.
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