Primal Conundrum
Always assume I'm laughing
Ensig, I like you already.
To add to your list of reasons there, I'd include the fact that I (and I imagine plenty others) don't like it when the thing that makes my character unique is just some weird trait they were born with (bloodlines) or a magic item that they lean on. I will cheer more for a 3 HP peasant with a pitchfork getting in a fight with a 4 HP wolf than I will for some prophesied hero lifting the sword of light against the dark lord and his armies. The latter is just boring at this point, and even if the hero wins, who cares? It's to be expected, in the end. The peasant, on the other hand, doesn't have prophesy behind him. He doesn't have the shiny armor, the magic weapon, the hopes and dreams of a nation, or any of that. At most, he has his family back at home who don't even know that he's in danger, and if he dies he'll get dragged into the woods and nobody is likely to ever find his body. He wins or loses purely on his own abilities, his own tenacity, and his own desire to live. IMO, WAY more interesting.
So yeah, I'd rather avoid the bloodlines / artifacts thing as well, if that's an option.
With this many people though, we could run caravan guards pretty well. Always opportunity there, and it's the kind of work that'll see grizzled mercs working alongside bright-eyed optimists who want to go and be heroes someday.
To add to your list of reasons there, I'd include the fact that I (and I imagine plenty others) don't like it when the thing that makes my character unique is just some weird trait they were born with (bloodlines) or a magic item that they lean on. I will cheer more for a 3 HP peasant with a pitchfork getting in a fight with a 4 HP wolf than I will for some prophesied hero lifting the sword of light against the dark lord and his armies. The latter is just boring at this point, and even if the hero wins, who cares? It's to be expected, in the end. The peasant, on the other hand, doesn't have prophesy behind him. He doesn't have the shiny armor, the magic weapon, the hopes and dreams of a nation, or any of that. At most, he has his family back at home who don't even know that he's in danger, and if he dies he'll get dragged into the woods and nobody is likely to ever find his body. He wins or loses purely on his own abilities, his own tenacity, and his own desire to live. IMO, WAY more interesting.
So yeah, I'd rather avoid the bloodlines / artifacts thing as well, if that's an option.
With this many people though, we could run caravan guards pretty well. Always opportunity there, and it's the kind of work that'll see grizzled mercs working alongside bright-eyed optimists who want to go and be heroes someday.
