With only the exception of the hobbits, no member of the Fellowship of the Ring (or the major NPCs associated with the story) is just 'some guy'. Aragorn is the heir of Isildur, the lost king of Gondor, and the last scion of tha bloodline dating all the way back to the union of man and elf. Boromir is the eldest son of the Steward of Gondor, another ancient bloodline. Gimli is the cousin of Balin, the lord of Moria, and certainly dwarven nobility, if not royalty. Legolas is a prince of the wood elves. And Gandalf, of course, is one of the wizards.
By contrast, characters in D&D are invariably just 'some guy'. Typically, you'll get a bunch of mercenaries, or a random elf, or perhaps an exile. Occasionally, you'll get a minor noble.
Partly, this is because players have been trained to not make their characters important people. They would be the sons of nobility, but the DM won't allow it, because royalty carries with it money, prestige and power, which the DM doesn't want in the hands of 1st level characters. And the 'dispossessed noble' thing has long since lost its charm.
Partly, this is because players don't want their characters to be important people. Royalty carries with it a great deal of responsibility and attention, which the player probably doesn't want to deal with. Again, the 'lost son' thing has long since lost its charm.
Partly, this is because players don't think about their backgrounds before play has begun, or the world isn't detailed enough to provide the desired mechanism. You can't be the lost son of a dead royal line if the world doesn't have any dead royal lines, or if the DM just doesn't know, and your character can't suddenly become the last son of such a line after you've been playing him for three months. (And, if starting at 1st level, who would want to be the last son, when you might well be dead by the third hour of the campaign.)
And partly, I think, it's because D&D carries no mechanic for nobility and heritage. Aragorn gained long life, strong will, and healing power from his position as king. Boromir was the preeminent warrior of Gondor (and, it should be noted, he shared many traits with Faramir, but was considered far greater. The benefits of being the elder son in epic tales).
I've been reading "Unearthed Arcana", the new supplementary rule-book for D&D. It contains a whole load of variants, including rules for bloodlines. Now, as written, these are intended for celestial, devilish or demonic, elemental, or draconic bloodlines. However, perhaps they could be re-written for use in a more Lord of the Rings-esque campaign?
Archived comment by Mort:
ReplyDeleteOne thing that would be easy to do is to make a feat you can take only at first level, like those regional feats in the Forgotten realms book, which basically makes you nobility. Maybe it would give a bit more starting money and a free horse or something as well as some title or another. That could be pretty fitting perhaps?
Archived comment by me:
ReplyDeleteThe suggestion to have a feat for heritage does, indeed work (although it should probably grant the character more money as he goes up in level, or else it will quickly become worthless). The Bloodline rules are a more extensive version of the same idea, though.
What happens is that you choose a bloodline (minor, intermediate or major, or, indeed, none). Minor bloodlines give a small benefit to the character every 4 levels, intermediate every 2 levels, and major every level (a skill bonus, an attribute increase, or a special ability). However, at 12th, or 6th and 12th, or 3rd, 6th and 12th, the character must gain a level of 'Bloodline', a pseudo class that grants no benefits, except to re-balance the character against one who doesn't have a bloodline.
Basically, it's a case of trading power now for power later. It seems be quite balanced, at least over the course of a campaign. (For one-offs, of course, it sucks to be the guy who doesn't have the bloodline powers.)