Steve Posted September 26, 2012 Report Share Posted September 26, 2012 One of the ideas I've had in mind to do was a "Teen Champions" type of Fantasy Hero campaign, a sort of school for heroes setting. I'm inclined to do it as a more focused structure, such as an "all warriors" or "all priests" school. Has anyone ever done a campaign like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted September 27, 2012 Report Share Posted September 27, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero Not really, Steve, but I don't see why it should be that much different than Harry Potter or Percy Jackson though I admit I have never read Harry Potter. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickael Posted September 27, 2012 Report Share Posted September 27, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero In Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, there is a "school" for Aes Sedai (a kind of witches). That could be an example of a fantasy school. (There is also another later in the book but I don't want to spoil potential readers) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted September 27, 2012 Report Share Posted September 27, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero The Aes Sedai is a good example of an established school as magic is dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahuna's bro Posted September 27, 2012 Report Share Posted September 27, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero any super power is dangerous if you lose control of it just ask dr. bruce banner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ockham's Spoon Posted September 27, 2012 Report Share Posted September 27, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero Yeah, I did a campaign like this once. Most* of the players were apprentice wizards attending a wizardry school who were sent on quests as part of their course-work and final graduation project, with the professor wizards denying them equipment or interfering at times to make the test more challenging. Really this was a lazy way for me as GM to rationalize random quests for the heroes and set arbitrary rules of engagement. Ultimately a rival of theirs in the school got mixed up in some black magic and nearly caused armageddon which the heroes had to avert at the climax of the campaign. All-in-all it was a decent campaign, although my players did get a bit annoyed at times with the professor wizards and some of the arbitrary quests. Given the premise it was not destined to be a long campaign in any event. *One player was a rogue that was recued by the wizard players in the first session who subsequently tagged along with them for the adventure. I also ran a GM's character who was the bodyguard of one of the wizards who was secretly royalty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted September 28, 2012 Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero Haven't done it myself (I greatly prefer competent, middle-age characters in any genre), but can see interesting possibilities. The drow mage/cleric/warrior schools in standard D&D would be perfect for this type of thing. If I did do it, it would likely be a bunch of acolytes in some temple learning the ropes and assisting the senior priests in whatever they need done. A beginning fighter type would be allowed as a new temple guard, or the kid of any existing guard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjalund Posted September 28, 2012 Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero when I see this thread tile, I keep hearing a Katy Perry song is that so wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted September 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero Haven't done it myself (I greatly prefer competent' date=' middle-age characters in any genre), but can see interesting possibilities. The drow mage/cleric/warrior schools in standard D&D would be perfect for this type of thing. If I did do it, it would likely be a bunch of acolytes in some temple learning the ropes and assisting the senior priests in whatever they need done. A beginning fighter type would be allowed as a new temple guard, or the kid of any existing guard.[/quote'] This is much in line with my own ideas. I had forgotten about the Drow schools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haerandir Posted September 30, 2012 Report Share Posted September 30, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero I have toyed with doing something like this, based on Tamora Pierce's 'Song of the Lioness' YA fantasy novels. The PCs would be knights-in-training, starting off as pages and eventually earning their spurs and going off on quests. My plan was to do it as an episodic campaign, where each adventure constituted the most noteworthy event that took place in a given year (or perhaps 1 adventure per season). After each adventure, the PCs would gain xps normally, based on their accomplishments, and also get to choose a package deal to represent what they'd learned in classes/arms training that 'semester'. That way, the characters could start off very weak (essentially untrained 10-year-olds) and advance quickly, and the GM could provide a certain amount of setting reinforcement (through the pre-designed packages) and still allow for player customization (through the freeform xp and perhaps optional 'extra-curricular activity' packages). I imagine similar model would work for Harry Potter or what-have-you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbywolfe Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero I saw this thread and just keep seeing "Young Hercules", the live action kids show on Fox based on the Hercules/Xena universe. Anyone else remember that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Archer Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero I saw this thread and just keep seeing "Young Hercules"' date=' the live action kids show on Fox based on the Hercules/Xena universe. Anyone else remember that?[/quote'] Never heard of it. I've had GMs use a school/training setup as a prelude to a campaign - a few adventures, but never as a campaign in itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero I saw this thread and just keep seeing "Young Hercules"' date=' the live action kids show on Fox based on the Hercules/Xena universe. Anyone else remember that?[/quote'] I remember that. Percy Jackson is closer to my brain though especially since another book just came out. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahuna's bro Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero I saw this thread and just keep seeing "Young Hercules"' date=' the live action kids show on Fox based on the Hercules/Xena universe. Anyone else remember that?[/quote'] iremeberthe spinoff it came about after kevin sorbo injured his arm and couldn't play herc as much the firstYHstories were flashback tales made to satisfy contractual commitments to affilliated stations carrying the show Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuSoardGraphite Posted October 5, 2012 Report Share Posted October 5, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero If you follow the Wheel of Time model, you could have the campaign revolve around a school of mages but also have warriors training there as well (since each mage gets a warrior bodygaurd) so you can have mage or warrior characters. The mages in training and the warriors in training are encouraged to mingle and socialize to develop the bonds that will lqst them when a mage is raised to full status and is allowed to choose their companion warrior. Also, the school would probably have a nearby city/town that supports the school and thus you could have other character types like rogues or bards or rangers or preists that reside in the town that support and adventure with the mages (though this will likely be discouraged by thr school administration, at least until the apprentices are well into their magical education) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted October 5, 2012 Report Share Posted October 5, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero I saw this thread and just keep seeing "Young Hercules"' date=' the live action kids show on Fox based on the Hercules/Xena universe. Anyone else remember that?[/quote'] The premise is based on the actual Greek myth of Chiron, the wisest and most learned of centaurs, who was tutor to many renowned heroes in their youth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiron Several renowned Greek philosophers, such as Sophocles, established academies attracting the best and brightest youth due to their reputations. In a fantasy setting I could certainly see a retired famous polymath adventurer being sought out for training by others aspiring to such a career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ndreare Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero I have tried and failed on these games. They normally run 4 or 5 sessions before we fizzle and my players say they do not feel a sense of accomplishment. I have been thinking about doing one based on Name of the Wind though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foolish Frost Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero As someone who has run this kind of campaign, I can point out some aspects and pitfalls we ran into. The concepts of the game were: The world is a standard high-magic fantasy world. It has been long enough for some amount of industry and organization has begun based on magic. No, they can't mass produce magic, but magic can mass produce mundane things in factories, creating a culture that can actually support a luxury based economy. Books, entertainment, and other features of real life piecemeal 'infect' the world. For example, bards often have enchanted musical insturments that allow them to play concerts of aggressive (read revolutionary rock) music for large crowds, and the use of illusionists in performance are common. How much of 'modern' life has been adapted differs widely according to territory and economy Feel free to ignore the above, but facts are: Most people don't want to play a teen game that does not involve teen styles and concepts. That almost always involves popular media. The concepts of the school and students: Teachers are ALL adventurers. They come in to train students as a requirement of their licence to be a legal adventurer. The students are in the school to learn how to use their skills responsibly. Spell casters, for example not only learn academic skills, but practical training in how to deal with combat and restrict collateral damage. Students WOULD have to live on campus, and the school would DARN well police itself to prevent incidents. Do I need to tell you that they would be watched like hawks? Do you really want a child prodigy demon summoner to get a sudden idea that a few civilian sacrifices could get them quite a bit of power? There would be no "villain" training. It's silly. Truly sociopath characters would likely be removed from the school. ...and then life. Yes, evil characters would make it through school, but they would be able to hide their nature effectively. Character would be sent out to deal with issues akin to their skills. Sending out younger students with a few seniors and teachers to deal with a goblin infestation would be normal. I would like to point out a few animes that touch on this idea: Freezing (http://www.hulu.com/freezing) Demon King Daimao (http://www.hulu.com/demon-king-daimao) Harry Potter (read a book...) And a ton more that are even more improper for young audiences... Overall, the play style normally deals with players being the "problem teens", meaning they are often in the wrong place at the right time. They are often tolerated due to how effective they are, and quickly stomped on when they fail. The players normally define their own clique, taken from the oddballs from other school groups. You can run the story as anything from a high-power anime where all the characters have the power to raze a normal city to the ground, to scooby do, where the only thing they can rely on is their wits and tools. It's kinda a wide spectrum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Re: Teen Fantasy Hero That is an interesting post. Thank you and repped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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