Adventurers: their place in the world?

[Unoriginal]

How do you prefer seeing the activity of adventuring and its practitioners be treated in-universe?


Personally, I prefer when adventurers are not unknown nor extremely rare, making them an acknowledged profession, but that they're basically "people who either seek fortune exploring dangerous areas or are hired for handling dangerous tasks in small groups", and that those willing to take that kind of risk, especially successfully, are generally uncommon. I'm not a fan of the idea to have one unified adventuring guild or similar organisation that administrate a system professionally all over the realm(s).

[Eradis]

I personally tend to go without the "adventurer" tag in my games. The protagonists go on adventures for specific reasons. Those reasons give them their titles. If the characters are on a crusade, then they are seen as crusaders, if they investigate local mysteries, they might be inquisitors or investigators, if they are guarding something or escorting someone, then they are sellswords... I see adventurers more often as travelers than anything else. Mercenaries if they do not engage in a bigger scheme, otherwise it is mostly in regards to their affiliations. In other words, citizens of my worlds normally see them as people to hire rather than adventurer. The later would be more inclined within children vocabulary when they look up to them in awe. (Exceptions implied)

[Asmotherion]

I kinda like the "adventurers represent and are represented by guild networks" idea, but at the same time are freelancers most of the time, only taking jobs from the guild when they want to.

Adventurer Guilds being the medieval equivalent of unions for Adventurers really, and a guild defending the standing of (rengistered) adventurers in the hold (for example, what would be seen as assult, could be seen as aresting a potential criminal, in law, as long as one was an "official adventurer").

This "Adventurer" is kind of a mix of a mercenery/bounty hunter who will also do odd jobs for the right amount of money. And, in the mix, there are the "good hearted fellows" who do this for a good cause, some "bad ones" who won't play fair game, and even some megalomaniacs who will try something big (either succeed or fail) for better or for worse. But the average adventurer does adventure for the money, if not for the thril of the lifestyle, and all the interesting experiance, knowlage and rare mementos one gathers in the way.

[PhoenixPhyre]

How do you prefer seeing the activity of adventuring and its practitioners be treated in-universe?


Personally, I prefer when adventurers are not unknown nor extremely rare, making them an acknowledged profession, but that they're basically "people who either seek fortune exploring dangerous areas or are hired for handling dangerous tasks in small groups", and that those willing to take that kind of risk, especially successfully, are generally uncommon. I'm not a fan of the idea to have one unified adventuring guild or similar organisation that administrate a system professionally all over the realm(s).

See, I go the other direction.

For me, all PCs are Sanctioned Adventurers. They are officially part of an organization known as the Adventurer's Guild, although it's not really a guild in the standard sense. It used to be, but then was co-opted by a newly formed international treaty organization and simply retained its name. This organization is the paramilitary force for this treaty organization, and the SA's are effectively the special forces/SWAT teams.

The Guild exists for two purposes, one overt and one more sub rosa. The open purpose is to promote international agreement and lessen the need for national militaries, thus reducing the risk of war. Adventuring groups are trained and formed from all nations, and are authorized to go into each of the nations and fulfill assignments that would otherwise need "official" handling. These might range from hunting beasts to clearing out ruins to "meddling" in sensitive political issues that the locals can't (or won't) handle. The second, less public, reason is to identify those with significant potential (ie those that can gain power equivalent to class levels), train them so they don't die quickly, and cull those that pose a risk to the security of the contracting nations or to the world. There are moral checks along the training process as well as simple talent ones. No one wants another Cataclysm. The Guild is overseen by a trio of retired adventurers (a group of former PCs) who were the ones that strong-armed the relevant governments into this whole treaty organization in the first place.

Sanctioned Adventurers, in return for following orders and trying to stay out of trouble (and the extreme risks they face), get legal immunity from most of the normal legal procedures of the nations. They can't be sued in normal courts, count as (minor) nobility for those nations where that matters, can go places and do things that others can't. They also have established contacts to whom they can sell baubles recovered from their adventures for a fixed sum (the Guild then reselling those to collectors for a profit). They also gain (level-gated) access to the network of teleportation portals (think Stargate) around the area.

While there are non-Sanctioned adventurers, they're considered to be little better than bandits and get none of the benefits of membership in the Guild.

OOC, this gives me a stable starting point for campaigns (they're always newly-graduated SAs) and an excuse for why this disparate group is working together (since they became a team in Adventurer's School). It also gives me an excuse for why they know things about monsters, tactics, spells, etc--Adventurer's School. It also gives me a way to introduce "quest seeds"--the large-scale objective of a campaign arc while having a living world with multiple groups going simultaneously in the same world.

[JackPhoenix]

"Adventurer" is generic term that doesn't really tell you anything. Some adventurers are travelers and explorers. Some people use that term because it sounds better than "we're a bunch of anuses that cause troubles, kill people and desecrate graves". Some are traveling mercenaries of various kinds of moral integrity. Generally, it implies visiting places decent people should avoid, certain amount of exposure to danger, whether natural perils or violence, usually for a reward of some kind.

There's no general attitude towards people who call themselves adventurers. It varies between individuals. Different people will react differently to royally-sponsored explorers, unscrupulous tomb robbers or members of mercenary companies seeking fame and glory, even if they could all call themselves adventurers.

And there's definitely no single unifying "adventurer's guild", because that's stupid.

[Asmotherion]

"Adventurer" is generic term that doesn't really tell you anything. Some adventurers are travelers and explorers. Some people use that term because it sounds better than "we're a bunch of anuses that cause troubles, kill people and desecrate graves". Some are traveling mercenaries of various kinds of moral integrity. Generally, it implies visiting places decent people should avoid, certain amount of exposure to danger, whether natural perils or violence, usually for a reward of some kind.

There's no general attitude towards people who call themselves adventurers. It varies between individuals. Different people will react differently to royally-sponsored explorers, unscrupulous tomb robbers or members of mercenary companies seeking fame and glory, even if they could all call themselves adventurers.

And there's definitely no single unifying "adventurer's guild", because that's stupid.

Depends on the setting man. In a realistic setting, I'm with you, it sounds stupid, and like some half elaborate con man's ploy to do all sort of morally grey things and get away with them.

But in a setting like Eberon, it's basically one of the founding pillars of society, and nobody questions it.

[PhoenixPhyre]

And there's definitely no single unifying "adventurer's guild", because that's stupid.


Depends on the setting man. In a realistic setting, I'm with you, it sounds stupid, and like some half elaborate con man's ploy to do all sort of morally grey things and get away with them.

If, by "guild" we mean something like the guilds of the medieval times in Europe, sure. But if we extend the concept to the more common idea of a clearinghouse of work, basically a labor union/job-search organization/self-help group for people engaged in such work then it makes more sense.

My setting's AG is such in name only--it's a recognized governmental agency in truth. But in other settings you could have a bunch of local "guilds" that have agreed to pool resources and share information and privileges, since adventurers tend to be more mobile than crafters.

As a framing device to enable traditional adventuring, it works wonderfully and puts some push-back against pure murder-hoboing because it's not just you with your reputation on the line, and there are people with both power and motive to come stomp on you if you go off the deep end. It's also a trope that's easily recognizable by new players and old ones alike, easing the "why are we working together again?" issue.

[JackPhoenix]

Depends on the setting man. In a realistic setting, I'm with you, it sounds stupid, and like some half elaborate con man's ploy to do all sort of morally grey things and get away with them.

But in a setting like Eberon, it's basically one of the founding pillars of society, and nobody questions it.

By "one of the founding pillars of society", you mean "there are two 'adventurer guilds' in Sharn, and nobody else cares much about them"? Because that longer text above describes how it works in Eberron. "Adventurer" is a term both for actual explorers from Morgrave University and other places, government-sponsored treasure seekers, various kinds of "will kill people and/or commit other crimes for gold" murderhobos for hire, Valenar mercenaries looking for stuff to fight it for fun and religous reasons, actual heroes, deniable corporate House assets, and lot of other stuff.

[rahimka]

In my homebrew setting, the Adventurer's Guild has been around for a few centuries (ever since the Old Crusades, when all the local soldiers and government affiliated mages were off fighting half-way across the world). The nations and local governments rely on them to handle rapid response crises and specialist jobs, because the actual armies and townguards are busy defending the borders (or fighting wars) and manning the walls of towns. When the local lizardfolk start raiding nearby villages, it easier and more effective to hire a handful of specialists to clear them out than it is to divert several dozen militiamen from their posts to go march through the swamp...

That said, the organization doesn't have a monopoly on this kind of work. There's competition from- and work for- Freelancers, Independent Contractors, Mercenaries, etc. But the Guild is influential and connected, so they often get offered the government contracts and approached by wealthy nobles with jobs they need done. For "Adventurers" working for the Guild offers the advantage of a fairly steady supply of gigs and the resources/support to get equipment you want/need and magical healing/utility. Of course it also means doing the jobs they send you on, be willing to hand over (or at least reporting) any loot and important magic items you find, and answering to Guild Inquisitors if you break contract (or turn into murderhoboes)

There is also the Mage Guild, who are mostly an academic organization; they train young wizards and sorcerers and focus most of their efforts and time on research and containing the really powerful/dangerous **** that NOBODY should have access to... To this end, and so they can be left alone to do their own thing in their towers and libraries, they maintain a strict policy of political neutrality, especially during times of war. The only exception to this is that they will provide a kind "job placement" service for court wizards and such (but those guys have to sign elaborate magical contracts regarding their loyalties to their new employers which essentially break off their official responsibilities/affiliations with the Mage Guild for the duration of their employment). Like the Adventurers, there's still plenty of Freelancers around, and the various nations have plenty of their own arcane magic users in their actual armies. But the Mage Guild exists to protect the ones who want to just do their own thing AND to make sure there is a neutral party that can coordinate efforts against serious magical threats beyond the scope of any single nation's resources...

[Sigreid]

In my setting nobody starts out thinking of their occupation as adventurer. Instead even the player characters start out just going about their day job until a situation presents itself that needs resolving and they're the ones to do it being the people in the village both strong enough to have a chance and young enough to be willing to try. After their first profitable outing they decide what they are interested in accomplishing and set about it.

[Xetheral]

In my campaign world it varies greatly by region.

In the eastern countries, adventuring isn't even a recognized profession. Adventuring is mainly something done out of necessity or desperation, and rarely by choice.

In the more tongue-in-cheek western Imperium, where the political system has been largely stable for millenia, most professions--including Adventuring--are regulated by powerful guilds. It purposefully gets a little silly: Adventurers Guild wayhouses are built to resist adventurer-scale barfights featuring Fireballs (I houserule Fireball to damage objects rather than just igniting them), and function as Post Offices: adventurers can earn some extra money carrying mailbags when travelling between wayhouses. The Guild also sells extremely-expensive Adventurers Insurance (which is basically a corpse-retrieval service combined with a prepaid Raise Dead). They'll also buy and sell magic items, arbitrate disputes regarding party charters, and provide other quality-of-life services for adventurers, all at ridiculous prices.

[JakOfAllTirades]

The group I'm currently with are nothing if not adventurers, but they have actually made a name for themselves in-game as monster hunters, so that's what we're going with. In between hunts, almost everyone in the group has a "day job" they can do. Our barbarian is training as a tanner, but he's also an accomplished wilderness guide. The dwarven fighter is an excellent smith. The elven rogue is an operative (aka spy) who reports to the Margrave. (Not that our PCs know that.) The Wizard has his arcane research to keep him busy. The divine sorceress is a holy woman who spends her days feeding the street urchins. (And training them as informants, of course.)

So that's five out of six who can properly claim to have a legit occupation other than "adventurer."

The warlock (my PC) spent his formative years training as an acolyte in the cult of an evil god, which is completely useless in civilized society. So now he's just... an adventurer? He has no useful "day job" type skills whatsoever, but he's the group's negotiator, and he deals with the hired help because nobody else wants to. Nights, he's teaching the divine sorceress to speak Drow, so that's something useful? (Long term, we're planning a job in a Drow city, so she's trying to learn... yeah, we're doomed.)

[solidork]

My Warlock/Fighter magical detective who used to be a member of the magical police of Waterdeep has a pretty negative view of adventurers (always rushing in without thought of consequences, never sticking around to clean up the messes they make, etc) and is vaguely horrified that he seems to have become one.

[SociopathFriend]

There should always be a bit of a variance between 'cool guys to look up to' and 'loose cannons just one bad call away from being an enemy'.

Sure, Adventurers are awesome, but they're also inherently a different kind of person compared to what you're used to and it's always possible for them to go rogue and stop playing nice.

[GlenSmash!]

To me an Adventuring Party is like a very small Mercenary Company. Except they are engaged for more than just war.

So how it will be treated will vary vastly by location, reputation, and whim/favor of ruling parties.

[hymer]

Looking back at my current and recent campaigns, there have been several ways to perceive adventurers. In a current Forgotten Realms 3.5 campaign, the party are the top enforcers of a Cormyr-affiliated order of knights and paladins. They are much like elite Cormyr soldiers, and led by a highly respected paladin of Tyr. So they aren't really seen as 'adventurers' as such.

In a recent 5e homebrew West Marches style campaign, the PCs were a highly eclectic group. Some were definitely 'adventurers', as in just a few paces shy of murder hobos. Others were agents of some official capacity, whether religious, national, or factional. They were not seen so much as a coherent group. Rather, they were treated as individuals, and according to their individual reputations.

I guess I don't usually see 'adventurers' as a specific subset of society.

[strangebloke]

I mean 'adventurers' aren't rare in that some NPCs have pretty monstrous power, and ultimately if there are monsters to fight and tombs to explore tombs to explore, wealthy people will want to hire powerful people.

So yeah, adventurers exist.

But more commonly fighters will be working in the army, or clerics for the church, monks for a monastery, so adventurer parties aren't really an organized group.

[Darth Ultron]

I think of Adventurers as semi-professional people that have chosen it as a way of life.

The modern equivalent would be a Private Eye or Bounty Hunter.

The ''Classic Adventurer" is always on the move. Like Banner in the Incredible Hulk or Kane from Kung Fu or even Sam from Quantuim Leap. Or even Hunters, in Supernatural.

Most good and neutral societies put up with Adventures as ''needed". The average common folk can't take on monsters and ghost and dragons. A lot of places might treat adventures a bit stand offish....but not too much, as they don't want to offend them too much. Local law and rules don't like them much...but again do need them from time to time.