Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Starting Off in Greatholm

You want to play a demi-human or a spellcaster?

Those are for earners, bucko, and you ain't earned squat yet.

One of the things I've wondered how to handle in my Lamentations of the Flame Princess game is how to handle the potential conflict between a Lawful Cleric and a Chaotic Magic-User/Elf.  I decided not to handle it and instead let the players handle it themselves.

The campaign will start off with the PCs making Neutral Fighters and Specialists.  As the game moves on, they can encounter various groups that could, for lack of a better term, "unlock" the demi-human and spell-casting classes.  And there may be some other options out there to compete with Clerics and Magic-Users.  Just sayin'.

I want my sandbox to be a sandbox where exploration is rewarded in many different ways: treasure, experience points, and even character options.  With my method of multiclassing, you'll be able to eventually play a magic-user or a cleric if you can be initiated into their mysteries, you'll just be paying your dues as a fighter or a specialist to begin.  Now, once the party unlocks the different options, you'll be good to bring in these new classes and races as henchmen, or start new 1st level characters in the unlocked race/class.

The only thing I'm wondering is how to reconcile the multiclassing with demi-humans.  Something to work on over the next month.

2 comments:

  1. This is an interesting decision, and one I've considered in other games. I've declined to do so, though, because I feel like I'm telling players, "Yes, the character you're rolling up is just a starter character until you get to play the character you really want, at which point I'll take away all of your XP."

    The theoretical problem with playing a Fighter or Specialist until I can multiclass into the class I really wanted is that they're conflicting ways to build a character. It's possible that your answer to this is "tough noogies," but it runs counter to what I've been willing to do in running games.

    I want to make it clear that I'm not criticizing your decision here - it's one that I would like myself, because it creates an interesting sense of immersion and achievement within gameplay. Instead, I'm musing on how your approach is different from mine.

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  2. Let them hire these race/classes (if they are rolled up)as henchman. They can take over the henchman if their fighter pc bites it.

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