The Universal Adventurer

[Kaucukovnik]

I came to a realization that I hate the world "adventurer" in fantasy RPGs. Recalling BG2's Adventurer's Mart almost makes me puke.

Knights fight for their sovereign. Clerics do the bidding of thir god(s). Mercenaries are hired blades. Mages seek knowledge, wisdom and power through the supernatural. Bandits prey on other (more or less) civilized beings.
But what do adventurers do? Of course, they seek experience and loot! And in nearly every RPG you play primarily adventurers, while the class in your character sheet is just to determine your character's abilities, not motivation or personality. You are simply an adventurer who completes given quests and kills stuff, because that's what is expected from you by the game, isn't it?

In any semi-realistic fantasy or pseudo-historical setting, it would be a pain in the ass to be an adventurer. In feudal society you were a property of your king, the pope or any other powerful person. And in order to experience an adventure, this person or the respective organization would have to send you on it for whatever relevan reason. As a freelancing "adventurer" you would be perceived as a little more than a bandit.

There are very few options to play anything but "generic adventurer" in most RPGs. How to roleplay a knight when there is no tie to any feudal? How to play a cleric when there is no structure or hierarchy of your church? How to play a mage when magic is just "click an icon - cast a spell"? Your character has no place in the world - only one "profession" suits that well - a wandering adventurer.

And until RPGs develop a way to make the player characters a part of the game world, we will be stuck with these impotent, bland adventurers.
The only other way around are smaller-scope games which give you no choice of role and all the gameplay is suited for the one character. Like VtM: Redemption, my favourite one .

 

[sheek]

In any semi-realistic fantasy or pseudo-historical setting, it would be a pain in the ass to be an adventurer.

A setting which would be super boring and gay.

RPGs are not historical re-enactment devices. Nobody wants to play a peasant or household knight or member of some hierarchical organization with the ton of restrictions that go with it. The concept of an adventurer is interesting because they have freedom and they have fun.

Even if you take a 'realistic' origin/background you're going to have to invent some excuse for leaving behind all the places and people you know to go on quests which you need to invent motivations for. It is more work for no point, much better to just start as an "adventurer".

 

[zenbitz]

It always amuses me when games like FO2 and PST mock the fact that you are an "adventurer" who runs around breaking into people houses, taking everything not nailed down, and pestering them with mindless questions.

 

[laclongquan]

Wait for the coming of Age of Decadence, boyos! VD promises us Heavan.

Just next Thursday! Very soon!

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Didn't knights travel in search of fame and richness?
Also, knightly tournaments could be cool for cRPGs.

 

[Unradscorpion]

Think Spanish traveling to newly discovered America for phat lootz, and finding there a bunch of shit to kill too( jaguars, natives). I always understood it's that sort of adventuring.

 

[Serious_Business]

In any semi-realistic fantasy or pseudo-historical setting, it would be a pain in the ass to be an adventurer.

A setting which would be super boring and gay.

RPGs are not historical re-enactment devices. Nobody wants to play a peasant or household knight or member of some hierarchical organization with the ton of restrictions that go with it.

I do. You're a faggot.

 

[zenbitz]

Didn't knights travel in search of fame and richness?
Also, knightly tournaments could be cool for cRPGs.

Well, kinda.
There were no dungeons to crawl, or dragons to slay, or dumb fedex quests to run
They didn't just rob people (but see below)
They were usually wealthier than any village worth saving. They pretty much had their way with anyone from lower social classes.

When they went "in search of fame and richness" they went to battle. They were soldiers. They went on Crusade, or joined a mercenary legion, or simply fought in the service of a greater lord, like a Baron or Count or what not.

They got rich either by getting paid, by capturing other knights and ransoming them, or by looting the less fortunate (especially in far away places, like the middle east).

This is obviously an oversimplification of 500 years or so of the Age of Chivalry

I guess you could work some (realistic) tournaments into a cRPG

 

[.Sigurd]

In any semi-realistic fantasy or pseudo-historical setting, it would be a pain in the ass to be an adventurer.

A setting which would be super boring and gay.

RPGs are not historical re-enactment devices. Nobody wants to play a peasant or household knight or member of some hierarchical organization with the ton of restrictions that go with it.

I do. You're a faggot.

 

[Brotherman Bill]

In any semi-realistic fantasy or pseudo-historical setting, it would be a pain in the ass to be an adventurer.

A setting which would be super boring and gay.

RPGs are not historical re-enactment devices. Nobody wants to play a peasant or household knight or member of some hierarchical organization with the ton of restrictions that go with it.

I do. You're a faggot.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

In any semi-realistic fantasy or pseudo-historical setting, it would be a pain in the ass to be an adventurer.

A setting which would be super boring and gay.

RPGs are not historical re-enactment devices. Nobody wants to play a peasant or household knight or member of some hierarchical organization with the ton of restrictions that go with it.

I do. You're a faggot.

 

[DraQ]

In any semi-realistic fantasy or pseudo-historical setting, it would be a pain in the ass to be an adventurer.

A setting which would be super boring and gay.

RPGs are not historical re-enactment devices. Nobody wants to play a peasant or household knight or member of some hierarchical organization with the ton of restrictions that go with it.

I do. You're a faggot.

This. Ok, not entirely - playing some ordinary peasant would not be particularly interesting, unless you're one of those sad fucks who LARP this way in oblibians, a PC should be a fairly mobile and independent character, however "adventurer" is a lame, one size fits all, excuse, necessitated by the fact that most games shoehorn all manners of PCs into the same story slot.

And maybe not realistic as in historical or pseudohistorical, but coherent game universes really do it* for me.

*) Induce nerdgasms, of course.

 

[Castanova]

Generic adventurer role is a symptom, not a cause. The main cause being the paradox that your character must play a central role in some kind of at least semi-epic story/adventure/battle and, at the same time, must start off as a complete nub in order for the character progression to be meaningful. The secondary cause is that now a lot of RPGs are far too obsessed with rigid storylines and, in order to allow the player to develop their own character without breaking the story, you must make the story as generic as possible.

 

[DraQ]

Generic adventurer role is a symptom, not a cause.

Yes.

The main cause being the paradox that your character must play a central role in some kind of at least semi-epic story/adventure/battle and, at the same time, must start off as a complete nub in order for the character progression to be meaningful.

No.
Observe how other gaming genres and other forms of narrative (film, literature) don't suffer from this. This is a typical RPG affliction and it's easily dealt with by either reducing the scope (or nature) of character's changes, or removing those changes altogether meaning static or almost static character build.

Regardless of that, starting out as a nub is irrelevant to the problem - it can even alleviate it, see BG where different possible PCs could easily fit the story in a non-forced manner.

The secondary cause is that now a lot of RPGs are far too obsessed with rigid storylines and, in order to allow the player to develop their own character without breaking the story, you must make the story as generic as possible.

This is the primary cause.