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What Roles do you have in your PC,s team?

It would depend on the adventure or campaign being run.

In a playtest of one of the adventures for Boxed Nightmares 2; it took place in the Ozarks of Missouri in 2008 or 2009. We had a random assortment of characters. There were three psychics (psi-mechanic, sensitive, & diviner), a new type of mage, and one ordinary person. In that game, the characters' affiliations and professions were more important than their classes (two were reporters, one was a bounty hunter, three were affiliated with the Lazlo, and one worked for After Midnight.)

I prepped a game for my face to face group yesterday. We did not end up playing it, but it was to start during World War II in a Nazi concentration camp for prisoners of war. The characters I prepped for the game were a French resistant fighter, a British R.A.F. pilot, a Jewish physicist, and a Belgium psychiatrist.

The current roster of my PC's include a Parapsychologist, a Medium, a Diviner and a Latent Psychic.

I have a group thats more intellect than combative it seems.

This really good for the investigation team though, maybe add a sensitive.

I have an NPC Sensitive they contact for help on occasion. Its hard finding people willing to play sensitives in my experience... it takes a lot of working with the GM and letting him act out or talk out your PC and such at times... most players dont like giving up that kinda loss of freedom.

For the most part its great, they really keep me on my toes and whatnot.

On the other hand, their cautious habits and lack of rash judgement and movement that the more physical PC's provide means I have to get more and more creative to spook and scare them.

Going on a paranormal investigation is like making a dungeon crawl in an old school fantasy game. In the dungeon crawl, the game just works better if you have a rogue, fighter, cleric, and wizard since these character concepts specialize in handling the four aspects of the game. In a paranormal investigation, the roles of characters and expectations of a game session are much less rigid. Nonetheless, there is still are still clear rolls for researchers (Parapsychologists, journalists, scholars,etc.), sensitives types (Diviners, Arcane Detectives, etc.), aHealers (Psychic Healers, paramedics, etc.), and combat characters (Night Hunters, Physical Psychics, Demon Hunters, soldiers, etc.). One character could conceivably fill all four rolls and do a fair job at each (probably a Latent Psychic, Firewalker, or Psi-Mechbanic). Going forward without one of these four rolls filled is asking for trouble. Yes, a GM can adjust any given scenario to match the strengths of the characters, but not every GM does this. I have plenty of times heard GMs brag about how they don't 'water down my adventures for weak characters.'

Lord Z wrote:Going on a paranormal investigation is like making a dungeon crawl in an old school fantasy game. In the dungeon crawl, the game just works better if you have a rogue, fighter, cleric, and wizard since these character concepts specialize in handling the four aspects of the game. In a paranormal investigation, the roles of characters and expectations of a game session are much less rigid. Nonetheless, there is still are still clear rolls for researchers (Parapsychologists, journalists, scholars,etc.), sensitives types (Diviners, Arcane Detectives, etc.), aHealers (Psychic Healers, paramedics, etc.), and combat characters (Night Hunters, Physical Psychics, Demon Hunters, soldiers, etc.). One character could conceivably fill all four rolls and do a fair job at each (probably a Latent Psychic, Firewalker, or Psi-Mechbanic). Going forward without one of these four rolls filled is asking for trouble. Yes, a GM can adjust any given scenario to match the strengths of the characters, but not every GM does this. I have plenty of times heard GMs brag about how they don't 'water down my adventures for weak characters.'

Those Gm's are jokes and they ruin a lot of good players by doing this.

The group forming for my new game includes:

Psi-Healer
Latent Psychic
Arcane Archaeologist
Ghost Hunter
Cursed Psychic

Seems like a fairly well rounded group. There are two undecided players still. If one of them were you, and you wanted to help round out the group, what PCC/OCC would you choose?

dhorn wrote:The group forming for my new game includes:

Psi-Healer
Latent Psychic
Arcane Archaeologist
Ghost Hunter
Cursed Psychic

Seems like a fairly well rounded group. There are two undecided players still. If one of them were you, and you wanted to help round out the group, what PCC/OCC would you choose?

My top 3 picks would be: ordinary person, wizard/magic item holder (HU2) or a pyrokinetic psychic (can't remember the PCC name).

We've just added a para-psychologist (non-psychic).

I think the PCC you're thinking of is the Fire Walker...

Yeah, that sounds about right thanks!

Im about to embark on a crossover campaign that takes my BTS PCs to teh Palladium Fantasy setting.

So far we have from the BTS game

a pyrokinetic
a healer
a sensitive
and a soldier of fortune

And from the PFRPG

two thieves
a warrior
& a mind mage

for NPCs

Ben Holister (yes I actually use him in my own gaming)
Azrael (an immortal)

This is the entire gaming group. Play it big, or not at all....

For my own game in where I run The Cypress Cove Annex I try to round out the group (primarily PCs & NPCs)
created from BTS-1 (with house rules). I allow such PCs as werewolves and vampires, and I even have a PC that I let play a ghost after his original character died. Its worked out well thus far.

Our currant team high School kids:
- Shifter ( Young Nerdy History Teacher)
- Ghost Hunter (Football Player)
- Nightbane (Teenage Dirt-bag with the form of a Dire Bear with three heads)
- Psi-Healer (Cheerleader)
- Savant (A real special girl in a wheelchair)

Runebo, that's awesome. It's a lineup for a new TV series!

Parapsychologist-Professor
Diviner-Archaeology Professor
Flamewalker-Stage Magician/Debunker
Psychic Sensitive-History Museum Curator
Psi-Mechanic-Police Detective
Ghost Hunter-Police SWAT
Child Savant-8 year old daughter of the diviner

I have a still ongoing game from 2003 that I run. The mix has changed a couple of times but here is the starting and current groups:

Starting Group:
Nun - Priest O.C.C. from Rifter 1
Private Investigator - Ordinary Person/Minor Psychic with Astral Projection
Ex-Soldier/Mechanic - Psi-Mechanic
Ex-Russian Mafia Hitman - Ordinary Person
Cryptozoologist - Cryptozoologist O.C.C. from Rifter
Monetary Backer - Antiquarian O.C.C. from Mystic China

Current Group:
Nun - Priest O.C.C. from Rifter 1
Private Investigator - Ordinary Person/Minor Psychic with Astral Projection
Apprentice Mage - Cybermancer O.C.C. from Rifter 2
Monetary Backer - Entrepreneur O.C.C. from Mystic China
Journeyman Mage - Astral Mage from Nightbane

I lost a couple players, gained a player, and had one PC die from an encounter with an elemental. They've always managed to find some crazy idea for every situation though.