Quote from: Cole;458444Here's an open question for you guys. When you're starting new PCs in a campaign, especially for a fantasy/sci-fi setting with a different geography than the earth, do you prefer to have the PCs be native to the campaign starting area, or travelers from somewhere else? What do you see as the ups or downs of either approach?

Generally I prefer to have the PCs be new to the area so that they learn about their environs along with the players; other side of the coin is it asks some questions about the other parts of the world where the PCs come from, which can be a good opportunity or extra work depending on how you look at it.

I'm not sure. I'd say I'm strongly biased towards "newcomers", but I have no problem with "native" PCs; then again, my campaigns do move around a lot, and exploration/discovery is a big deal for us, so today's native is tomorrow's newcomer. Not sure if I'm making any sense here.

Even when I run a campaign constrained to a given geographical area (e.g. almost all my World of Darkness games, my aborted "Ill-Met in Luskan" Forgotten Realms campaign), characters may be technically native to the area, but they'll be "newcomers" to the secrets of the setting (e.g. the intrigues of Elysium in Vampire, the monsters hiding among the masses in Hunter, or the ruins of Old Illusk and the cold war between the Five Captains and the Arcane Brotherhood in the FR game).

Quote from: Cole;458473Here's another question for you guys - does your preference change depending on how exotic the setting is?

Exotic settings may take some getting used to, and using "newcomer" PCs whose ignorance mirrors the players' is a cheap but honorable trick. Empire of the Petal Throne is the textbook example.

And of course, taking on a familiar setting, like modern-day Earth or a pseudo-Medieval European fantasy world, with a "newcomer" character (e.g. an alien stranded on Earth, or a modern-day Earth man transported to a fantasy world) is not as important as with "exotic" settings (assuming players are sufficiently genre-savvy), but it's a lot of fun, if the player's up to it. I'm playing a stranded 20th-Century Earth human in a D&D game right now, and loving it. Hell, I think everyone should try it sometime.

Oh, I should note that Oathbound was a D&D3 fantasy setting that was highly weird and intentionally unbalanced.  The core story was that other fantasy characters were pulled to the world (called the Forge) where they would find themselves evolving as they advanced in power. The Big Powerz of the setting were essentially making demigods in order to save the multiverse from massive uberpowerful evil oblivion type stuff, and enjoying the cosmic-gladiator-style antics of the evil and good mortals growing in power and fighting each other.  Pretty great. They recently released a  new edition that's more compatible with Pathfinder.

Dungeon World did this too, but not in as detailed/weird a way.

Quote from: JDCorley;458523Oh, I should note that Oathbound was a D&D3 fantasy setting that was highly weird and intentionally unbalanced.  The core story was that other fantasy characters were pulled to the world (called the Forge) where they would find themselves evolving as they advanced in power. The Big Powerz of the setting were essentially making demigods in order to save the multiverse from massive uberpowerful evil oblivion type stuff, and enjoying the cosmic-gladiator-style antics of the evil and good mortals growing in power and fighting each other.  Pretty great. They recently released a  new edition that's more compatible with Pathfinder.

Sounds interesting though I have to admit saving the world/universe is not a favored motif in fantasy gaming for me. How strictly built in is that aspect?

Quote from: JDCorley;458523Dungeon World did this too, but not in as detailed/weird a way.

You mean the one that's based on Apocalypse World? I didn't catch that but I've only seen the fairly brief downloadable PDF - was there a more expansive version?

Quote from: Pseudoephedrine;458521I'm getting detailed backgrounds from them this week, so I'll make the judgment then, but my inclination is FOB since they're wandering knights. I've got hooks for them starting from day 1 they're in town.

Cool - how do you address the part of the world they hail from in play?

No, Dungeon World was a Fast Forward Games production that was basically a world/ecosystem that was entirely a single gigantic megadungeon.  Characters appeared there after they died in other campaigns/situations.  It didn't turn out to be as cool as it sounded.  There was actually a novel series in the 1980s that had a similar premise, can't remember it very clearly though.

As for Oathbound's "save the multiverse" thing, it really only comes in if you take your characters all the way up to the epic levels that the superbeings in charge of the setting are trying to farm.  If you're "merely" level 18 or whatever, it's not relevant.

Quote from: Cole;458516For a couple years now I've been giving some thought to running the PCs as sort of psychic/dream visitors to an otherwise straightforward fantasy setting ala the Dreamlands or (loosely) Worm Ouroboros. I thought it might be interesting if instead of being from the modern world though, if they were basically historical knights and monks and so on in their "real" lives.

That sounds terrific.

Quote from: JDCorley;458528No, Dungeon World was a Fast Forward Games production that was basically a world/ecosystem that was entirely a single gigantic megadungeon.  Characters appeared there after they died in other campaigns/situations.  It didn't turn out to be as cool as it sounded.  There was actually a novel series in the 1980s that had a similar premise, can't remember it very clearly though.

This one? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_series

GURPS Time Travel had a really interesting psychic projection scenario that was set in the 1920s and in a past time of your choice. You could definitely see a lot of cool ideas in it, especially when changes in one time frame began to affect the other, and also when unscrupulous persons in the present day also developed the same technique and used it for their own benefit.

Quote from: Cole;458534This one? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_series

Yep, that was it!  Pretty uneven, though I liked the main dude.

Quote from: Benoist;458531That sounds terrific.

It's one of those things where I think many players might not buy into the concept, you know, maybe it might come off as a little precious. But I often think "is this a good fit for that concept" when I'm sketching out setting ideas.

Quote from: Cole;458527Cool - how do you address the part of the world they hail from in play?

I try to work it in as we go. If someone does or says something strange, I'll let the PCs know if it's a normal kind of expression or action, or if it's unusual.

I prefer natives. I like to play characters who have roots in the community and gives a damn about what's happening there.

It's certainly easier to have PCs come from outside the setting. However, some games encourage the oposite. Those with backgrounds that give you allies or group contacts or have skills that can get you contacts (liek the Sub-culture skills in Davedevils for example) encourage players to be from the area.

I find that a Player who puts a lot into their background makes a great 'local' you just ask them to help you build the location and build their ideas into it that was they are embedded. When I run an Amber Campaign for example a lot of the players want to do a lot of background so I get them to design castle Amber and the city. I basically take their idea for a tower as their 'quarters' or a tavern they frequent or a museum they founded and build that into the fabric of the city. If they want contact with a noble house then I let them design it then I build it into the game.

Amber is a particualr beast but I am happy to do that with any system. Basically, incorporate the Players ideas into the world which makes them feel like part of the world. In modern games if a guy has lived in Toyko and we are runnign the game in Toyko let them be the local.

Nothing spoils the flow of a game like the guy who is the local PC constantly asking questions about local geography and people. I am happy for the local guy to spin off this stuff, 'I know a tavern where ...' , 'the gaol is just down by the docks ..' etc I have rigth to veto all that of course and I know some folks who regard this as swinery and Story gaming or some such, but I feel if it embeds the PCs in the world and helps create immersion then roll with it.

Natives.  The whole "we come from some faraway place" thing is just a cheap excuse for not having to actually play the culture.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;458698Natives.  The whole "we come from some faraway place" thing is just a cheap excuse for not having to actually play the culture.

I call bullshit. An outsider interacting with an unfamiliar place is a staple of the adventure genre.