Named Adventuring Groups / Bands
Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2015 10:59 pm
My group adores DCC RPG so far, but one of the things they often lament is that they wish they could play something akin to DCC RPG with all the cool stuff classes could do (Mighty Deeds, Halfling luck, etc.), but also keep with the grandiose storytelling that they got with Pathfinder and 4e. We jumped in DCC RPG after two of a 7 player game who had been playing the same campaign off and on since 2003 became demi-gods. An attempt was made to use the divine rank rules for giggles, it was a bit too much. Long story short, they adore DCC RPG and feel it is a hard return to roots.
I had a talk with my brother and after reading a lot of forums and listening to Spellburn (which is where I think I picked up this nugget), I feel that DCC RPG really focuses more on the party than one single character. It's not a characters arc, but a party's history.
Meanwhile, unrelated at the time, I was building a setting to contain my DCC RPG game. The games had all been very vague, but I wanted to at least build a pantheon of my own and use a few connecting themes to unite my games so that they might all take place in the same world. I always appreciated Greyhawk's feel since a lot of its most famous dungeons and adventures felt like we were the -second group- to arrive. Gygax's original squad of PCs becoming legend not only in their game, but to D&D in general. I'd like to give my players' just as much chance to create their own Citadel of Eight. I also need a world where I can copy paste ANY adventure I want in the world without fear of losing the setting's "spirit" (Letting the players do a level or two of Dwimmermount or Barrowmaze before they head up to Barrier peaks or Shudder Mountains).
This line of thinking really got me going: a setting based on adventuring parties. I've always liked the idea. I can let the players go nuts with building a "coat of arms" or symbol. If one group TPKs, I can let them start another or let them try and rebuild their previous group, keeping a real lineage feel to it. The names of the PCs would mean more for their heroics as they're tied not to just the whole setting, but to a famous group. I've got plenty of ways to kind of build this up and, fortunately, kept two or three issues of Dungeon magazine with Challenge of the Champions adventures. I want to get as many names and ideas for these types of parties as I can, as to show the PCs are not alone. I'd also like to impose some strange and exotic membership frills and the like. So, if you guys have any ideas for mercenary groups to NPC adventuring parties, I'd love to hear them. Throwing out a line for any inspiration and figured this would be the best place to start!
I had a talk with my brother and after reading a lot of forums and listening to Spellburn (which is where I think I picked up this nugget), I feel that DCC RPG really focuses more on the party than one single character. It's not a characters arc, but a party's history.
Meanwhile, unrelated at the time, I was building a setting to contain my DCC RPG game. The games had all been very vague, but I wanted to at least build a pantheon of my own and use a few connecting themes to unite my games so that they might all take place in the same world. I always appreciated Greyhawk's feel since a lot of its most famous dungeons and adventures felt like we were the -second group- to arrive. Gygax's original squad of PCs becoming legend not only in their game, but to D&D in general. I'd like to give my players' just as much chance to create their own Citadel of Eight. I also need a world where I can copy paste ANY adventure I want in the world without fear of losing the setting's "spirit" (Letting the players do a level or two of Dwimmermount or Barrowmaze before they head up to Barrier peaks or Shudder Mountains).
This line of thinking really got me going: a setting based on adventuring parties. I've always liked the idea. I can let the players go nuts with building a "coat of arms" or symbol. If one group TPKs, I can let them start another or let them try and rebuild their previous group, keeping a real lineage feel to it. The names of the PCs would mean more for their heroics as they're tied not to just the whole setting, but to a famous group. I've got plenty of ways to kind of build this up and, fortunately, kept two or three issues of Dungeon magazine with Challenge of the Champions adventures. I want to get as many names and ideas for these types of parties as I can, as to show the PCs are not alone. I'd also like to impose some strange and exotic membership frills and the like. So, if you guys have any ideas for mercenary groups to NPC adventuring parties, I'd love to hear them. Throwing out a line for any inspiration and figured this would be the best place to start!