Favorite commanders for RPG

[Makinus]

I'm thinking in doing an dom3 themed RPG campaign and i'm rattling around some ideas of player characters and wish to know the opinon of dom3 players of recruitable commanders.

Just to see the more popular choices, please name for me 1 recruitable commander (of any nation/era) that is not capital-only, 1 that is capital-only and 1 independent commander that you would like to play in a pen-and-paper RPG. Keep in mind that as a player you would not be able to chose random magic paths - they would be rolled by the GM.

Thanks

[Ishamoridin]

Niefel Jarl. Seriously.

Stargazer is Recruit-Anywhere, indie commander would have to be Circle Master.

[Foodstamp]

Pan, Sidhe Lord and Gnome.

[Adept]

I did something like this a few years back. A dark fantasy cross between Conan & Dominions with some Tolkienesque elements thrown in.

We had a Vanir swordswoman, A few small things that would have been hoburgs, a druidess N2 and a F1 E1 mage/thief. Another vanir (or sidhe) female storm mage S2 A3. A human assasin, and a vanir human herse.

I used the undead & summoned creatures of Dominions as a bestiary. Game was loosely run with the "Dead Gods and Demonlands" setting for Unisystem.

[Fantomen]

I´d begin deciding the origin of the players. Perhaps one could be an exile from somwhere else. Let´s say they come from Pythium but one of them are from Agartha.

Then I´d let them start out as lower tier commanders that could eventually be promoted if that fits the campaign.

So you could have any of: theurg acolyte, centurion, hydra tamer, assassin or battle deacon for the pythian players while the Agarthan is that strange foreign mage (earth reader).

Rince and repeat with any other nation. Really I think it´s better to start out with the setting, storyline and scale of your campaign and then see what alternatives seem natural for player characters.

[Squirrelloid]

Some general thoughts to follow, but first my list:

Abysian Warlock, Skratti, hmm... Witch or Bloodvine Druid. Mostly because those sound interesting in appropriate settings.

Unless you really like the TSR-era Gygaxian idea of players don't have control of their character creation (and its a bad idea, it really is), the DM rolling randoms is just bad for the game. Instead, rather than using the existing chassis as a definition of the characters, start them off with thematic choices of magic paths, and let them earn higher rankings and additional paths as they gain experience. But the key is to always let them choose. So the Witch might have Nature and Earth choices to start with (start with one or two total paths), and can gain earth and nature ranks faster than ranks from other paths. This provides both a mechanism for character advancement, and keeps character development in the hands of the players - where it should be.

I'd also not allow path boosters, just to keep advancement somewhat controlled. Which lets you, the GM, be able to plan better and stops player power from growing out of control. (the real problem is that it will almost certainly lead to asymmetric growth in power between players, so it'll be hard to make an encounter that all players will be challenged by).

I wouldn't let any non-mages play. Everyone should have access to magic, otherwise magic-users will just dominate non-magic users. Of course, this still leaves thug-style casters vs. pure casters as legitimate niches outside the scope of differential path access.

Finally, I wouldn't have the players be part of a large military organization - it crimps player choice too much and leads to one player having rank over the others (which is never much fun). Small mercenary outfit is probably the best way to go if you want to run a military-style campaign, especially since the PCs will probably quickly be an elite unit.

Edit: changed cap-only choice

[Quitti]

Is there any specific ruleset you have thought about using with that RPG? I've been playing out with ideas about dom3 RPG as well, nothing solid yet, but I know at least one other guy who's made pretty big plans already about a campaign in a dominions 3 world.

What I see as a potential problem would be the overpowerdness of magic. Simple chaff simply die in droves when people cast orb lightnings or flame storms or whatnot. And larger foes would simply drop down into petrify/soul slays and so on. That'd mean the magic system would need to be reworked quite a bit to make it "balanced", if it would have to be taken seriously. Or just ban higher level paths from players, make them npc only, making players favor melee characters. Which again would rise up the question about what if the opponent starts using magic.

But about units.
Not cap only: Skratti.
Cap only: Hmm. Helheim/Vanheim dwarves might be fun to play. Haven't played Helheim in ages, but I know at least Van dwarves were cap-only.
Indep: Bloodhenge druid.

[Jarkko]

Pan for recruit anywhere
Black Dryad for capital only
Atavi chief for independent


Reasons:

Who doesn't love Pans? The attract naked women, can cast killer spells, and when the going gets tough (with proper equipment) they are quite some beasts in melee too. And if they need to get away, they get away, as they are sneaky too!

Black Dryad has it all. Stuningly beautiful they leave others gaping with awe, but they really are pretty mean. And they too are sneaky!

Avati Chieftain. Ok, here we have an ape who can do it all. Need a scout? Need somebod who can carry *all* the necessary items to the Thrice damned demon from nether hell, who happen to be waiting for *somebody* to deliver all the required items? Need a commander to taxi units? Need a sniper to who you want to give the "Bow of painful death" to snipe at enemies? The avati chieftain can do it all, you'll never be sorry for recruiting one! Oh, and they *also* are sneaky!

[Burnsaber]

I have a personal dislike against magic using characters. The less mages in the group, the better. The more magic and unhuman races you have in the mix, the less roleplaying is involved (at least in my experience). If you have a lot special abilities, they start to define your character. Example: A group with four humans, the players are quite alike so they differentiate themselves from one another by developing character traits (I'll be the noble one, etc). But if your group is composed by an Jotun, Pan, mage and abyssian, players tend to stick with stereotypical characters just based on their race/supernatural abilites (I'm the guy with the heat aura!). In order for 'supernatural' characters to be intresting, their abilites need to be heavily restricted. Humans as player characters also mean that you can place a bit more 'mundane' obstacles for the players (like chasms & cliffs).

As for what I'd like to play:

1. Capitol only: MA Agarthan Oracle (I have a soft spot for tragic characters)
2. National, but not cap only: MA Marignon Witch Hunter (moral ambiquity!)
3. Independent: Barbarian Chief

[Foodstamp]

The pan for me wasn't so much for his abilities as much as I think it would be a fun roleplay character. I would probably run him stereotypical (Which is what Burnsaber is suggesting is a bad thing) but I don't think it always is. In a fantasy setting, I would expect most characters to be stereotypical to an extent, with their own unique personalities creating the difference. The alternative is large populations of chaotic good Drow rangers dual wielding scimitars.