Finally on Adventuring Groups, Last One Promise

Get a Job!

[Apparently I hadn’t made the case against Adventuring Groups clear to myself up to this point, hence another rant.]

I’m talking about your characters, of course, your D&D ones specifically. Now, this might seem unnatural and awkward, but is only so in context of D&D, not other RPG’s, or real life.

In other game settings, the characters have professions: superhero, smuggler, trader, rebel, soldier, gunslinger, scientist, journalist, businessman, pirate, etc. Okay maybe in the White Wolf games, characters don’t have occupations, unless you consider being a vampire or a werewolf a full time job. (Being dark and brooding can take up a lot of time, but you’re not getting paid for it, unless you start a band.)

These characters, with different skill sets, form some sort of professional organization with a stated or implied purpose. The group’s function has a basis in the real world; past, present, or future. Even superheroes are essentially law enforcement or a defense organization. (Presumably, they keep secret identities so that they can earn a living, without whoring out their powers.)

In D&D though, the characters are adventurers. In the real world at any point in history, “adventurer” is a nebulous word, but it is always used in conjunction with a profession, like explorer, archaeologist, mercenary, or merchant. “Adventurer” is a gift word, like poet or lover. It’s something someone else calls you, in this case, after you’ve had adventures. The point is that it’s not a job.

Just to pick two literary fantasy examples. Conan was an adventurer. But he got that title while being a thief, a bandit, a pirate, a mercenary, and a soldier, and while in the company of other such people. The Fellowship of the Ring had adventures. They certainly went into a dungeon-like underground and killed Orcs. They’re even the prototype for the multi-classed, multi-raced adventuring group. (No Cleric though. They must have been using the 4e rules.) But, they weren’t looting all the way and looking for fights so they could level up. No, these guys had a purpose, a limited and sharply defined one. Their adventures came while pursuing that goal.

In either example, we see a company formed for a purpose and the characters joining to make it happen. The group may be part of a larger organization, like a warrior order, or perhaps just a couple thieves casing their next rich target. It could be a broad goal, like joining a pirate crew to plunder the seas, or maybe a narrow one, like a mercenary troop formed to escort a group of merchants to a destination. If the group has a narrow task and completes it, they can move on to getting another job, task, or quest, or even managing the consequences of their success.

Fortune or fate, incurred by the characters’ actions or perhaps outside of their control, may dissolve or evolve a long-standing group into a new group, like Conan’s horsemen raiders getting wiped out and while on the run, he ends up joining a group of pirates. Or, after the Fellowship to destroy the ring is broken up, Frodo and Sam decide to carry on, while Aragorn and the others focus on rallying Rohan against Sauroman.

[Well, this is at least a bit more coherent and convincing. What are my current thoughts on the subject? Standard Adventuring Groups are okay, I guess, but really, can we do at least a little better just strangers in tavern, gathered to investigate a rumor, or worse, a bunch of characters with voluminous, unrelated backstories before the adventures even begin?]

Your patience is about to be rewarded.  Next up is the Fantasy Island setting.  Yes, your characters will be sent to an island where all their dreams will come true.  Or will they? 

Wait. 

I misread that. 

Next up is the Fantasy Ireland setting.  Okay, that makes more sense.  I remember doing a whole 10 minutes of research on Wikipedia about Ireland, so I'm pretty much an expert on the subject.  Yeah, Fantasy Island would be way harder.  I'd have to stat up Mr. Roarke and Tattoo, because you know the first thing the players would do is try to kill them to take over the island.  How much XP for Ricardo Montalban anyway?  What's the AC of that white suit?  It's gotta be magical.  Nevermind, just have a pint of green beer ready for a belated St. Patrick's Day post.