Running a campaign with some pre-determined characters (good/bad idea?)

[Sir_Chivalry]

Okay, in my RL game, the action will be winding down in a few months, and I'm getting ready for a new campaign. The current one was a sequel to the last one, both featuring a city (called Dorunsmere) heavily. Now some of my players have shown interest in playing a game as the founders of said city:


Dorun- skill monkey type, no one is quite sure what class he was, legends abound
Aurek- warrior, his original class lost to history as he ascended to godhood and was better known for that.
Shar- a wizard who now protects a small valley that bears his name
Halai'a- a nymph druid

Now the issue isn't that they have predetermined roles (I'm really flexible on the class issue, though Halai'a should be a nature based divine caster) I'm more worried about forcing at least four of my players into roleplaying straightjackets. They've met three of these people in the game, and I don't want to stunt their roleplaying opportunities.

Should I:

A) Run the game as these four plus others

B) Run a game in that time period (or at least before the first game), but leave the founders of Dorunsmere out of it?

[Scoot]

You should probably just ask your players which option they prefer.

I've run a group with pre-determined characters before, and everyone loved it. They liked reading about their character's past and trying to see things through their eyes. It was new to them, and an exciting challenge.

On the other hand, I've had groups that would rather die than play something that isn't 100% their's.

So it could either go horribly, or be a lot of fun. So it would be best to just talk it over with your players first if you don't want to take that gamble. :smalltongue:

[Volos]

Normally I would suggest away from the pre-determined characters but it seems that your players have shown interest in playing pivotal characters. Since you're creating the story, it would only make sense that you get to tell them about their backgrounds as well. Leaving the players the flexibility on classes is nice, and keeps them from feeling to constricted. You are right, some players rather have a concept that is all their own. For many that is most of the fun of the game is playing a character you've made. Others want to have roles given to them to challenge their roleplaying abilites. What you've described falls between the two. They get to choose their mechanics and you tell them what has happened so far. From there it is up to them to write the rest of their stories.