Why Do PC’s Do It?
For those who “get into” gaming a little more than others, they have concerns about how to make sense of why this ragtag group of more or less psychopathic strangers, is hanging around together and venturing off into the dark and certain danger. Here are some thoughts on the matter, though not the reason the party is together – that could easily be its own post, or even series of them.
Look at it from a PC point of view. What WOULD entice you to go out dungeon crawling, risking your very life? It had better be something pretty DAMN awesome, don’t you think? Would you want to crawl around dangerous caves and sewers and swamps and ruins, populated by who knows what, knowing nothing about the geography, stability of the structures, etc? Especially if you rolled up family members and friends and maybe have a job and a place in town somewhere. That can be an end in itself, as noted, maybe they just want to keep things safe for others, or provide them a means to support themselves, and feel this is the only way to do it – altruistic motives, while rare, are indeed the things heroes are made of.
Some of this, if you’re going the more narrative and coherent way, is going to depend on the players coming up with ideas themselves for their characters – don’t make it your job to tell, make it your job to ask, “Why IS your character doing this?” and let THEM come up with something, and if they can’t, let them think about that, too. If they manage to come up with something plausible such as revenge, pure thrillseeking and adrenaline, a promise made, fulfilling a prophecy or vision, retrieving a very specific item or performing a specific task, or even the perfectly reasonable (if suicidal) justification “I’m broke! I need money! I’m desperate!” then that’s terrific. If not, you will have to “hook” them in somehow, which is a subject that has been treated on its own merits by hundreds of GM advice writers so I won’t even try here.
I don’t see anything wrong with them finding “treasure”, that DOES tend to be the point for most dungeon crawls; it’s the point of tomb robbing and archaeology and even science – people are looking for SOMETHING, whether it’s a chest full of gold coins, an ancient tablet or a rare insect whose venom can cure the plague, there is ALWAYS “treasure”, which in turn can have its own effects, such as raising social status and notoriety and possibly allowing for people to “sponsor” PC’s, hire them out as mercenaries, experts, meaning even more money and fame.
I don’t see the problem with giving Experience either – there isn’t any particular reason there should be a lot of difference between the PC’s “levels” at any one time, as you can give active PC’s XP as normal, and either full or half, etc. XP to the ones not directly involved but which are also assumed to be taking care of the other necessities in their lives, because really, XP is “experience” after all, whether it’s stocking shelves or slaying orcs – sure one is more dangerous, but it doesn’t really make it any MORE “experiency” than grooming a horse.
The main thing PC’s get from adventuring is knowledge of the cultures, people and dangers, as well as rumors and superstitions of the area, which will make for great stories themselves, when they get back to civilization. If you’re talking about PC’s getting killed and the new ones having far less XP than the ones that survive, that’s up to you – in our group, we just give a number of advances or XP equal to a third, half, or even equal to what the other surviving party members have, so there isn’t this huge gap you perceive – after all, if you only meet every now and then, like our group does, what is the point of continually busting the players back down to pondscum again with each new character – they’ve played one from scratch to a certain level, it was fun, they understand and appreciate the work and creativity it takes and the satisfaction they get, so let’s move on and presume this new character has been off doing this exact same thing elsewhere until now.
About The Author
Comments