Board Thread:Midian Ideas/@comment-24302820-20170203061140

One of the ways to tie the characters together at the start of a new campaign is to have a theme for the group. This gives everyone some direction, not only in how the campaign will start, but in how to craft their characters. This thread is for those ideas.

Military/mercenary: This one is probably the simplest and easiest to do. The only real requirement (if you are a small group of sellswords) is knowing how to fight, but even then there are other options. For example, a syndic could be the purser, an apprentice wizard could be the quartermaster, or a rogue could be the cook. A more hardcore version would have everyone in the same type of unit in a larger army: all spearmen, or armoured cavalry, or archers, for example. The hardcore variant can also specify a particular nationality and ethnicity, but military life is notorious for exposing one to a multitude of different people and backgrounds.

Pirates/privateers: Likely the second simplest and easiest, you are all working on the same ship. Like weapon skills in the previous example, some sort of nautical expertise is needed.

Band: Musicians on the road are pretty much player-characters with instruments already. Even in modern times, you can mostly just swap drug addiction for psychosis, and the similarities between pcs and musicians are uncanny. Investing in some performance-based skill and equipment is simple enough, and this theme allows for a broad range of other options for characters. Non-musician characters are certainly possible: managers, roadies, drivers, groupies, and the like.

Undead: The two biggest drawbacks of being the lone Vampire in a troupe are not being able to do things during the day (which is when most things get done) and difficulties in staying fed. If everyone is playing a Vampire however, then these stop being so problematic. Ghouls and Black Trolls have similar scheduling requirements, and can fit into an otherwise all Undead game. This theme not only allows for a hiatus that lasts years, but such a break can even be trivial or common.

Mages: In many game systems it is comically suicidal if everyone wants to play the wizard. Midian, however, allows this sort of thing with aplomb. A game where everyone plays a different type of mage--or variant thereof, just look at the different categories of necromantic spells to see how easily that tradition can be reskinned--can be a lot of fun. Trade spells or carefully guard your secrets, seek out new and strange lores, and just generally go about showing everyone the folly of messing with a group of wizards.

Family: You'd think this would be the easiest do do, right? Nope. Getting a bunch of players to willingly all be members of the same family is surprisingly difficult. Since most families are genetically related, a common ethnic, economic, and national identity is needed. The difficulty with this theme is that it takes more cooperation in character creation than the other themes, at least initially. The benefit is that family bonds can be the strongest of all, and can weather even the longest and most challenging campaigns.

Tech: This is the most 'out there' theme so far. Everyone plays one of the more technologically inclined character types. Shootists, warlandi, technological warriors, and of course, technomancers, are all viable options. It takes a special kind of gaming troupe to pull this one off, but in the right hands can really be a blast.

What are your ideas? 