Adventurer children


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion

Sovereign Court

Something my friends and I discussed in our last roleplaying session is that retired adventurers almost never have children. We had run into two now who had no wife or children and it made us think. In almost every game we have played if there is a retired adventurer they do not have any children. Most are usually running a business.

We also discussed the fact that no one had ever really played the child of an adventurer or even grand child. Mechanically I understand this, after all what dm would want a character whose parent or grandparent is a 12th level barbarian running about. When the gang you have been attacking strikes back at you in the night and then your dad chain lightnings all of them in one round you don't really feel like the hero. Yet we were surprised with the realization that it never really been done in our group.

Even in just a background sense the idea is interesting. Trying to live up to their legends or even resenting that you are constantly compared to them trying to break out from their shadow. Maybe your character didn't even want to be an adventurer but it was hard to argue with grandma and her +2 greatsword training you every morning, telling you that back in her day she took out 50 goblins before breakfast so don't be complaining.

So has anyone ever been the child of an adventurer? Did it cause any major issues in the campaign? Do you have any fun or interesting stories to share? Do you think lots of magical healing makes people sterile and that is why adventurers rarely seem to have children? Got any theories


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Considering what they do to goblin babies, I don't think we should allow adventurers anywhere near children.

But in seriousness, my game contains the daughter of a priestess of Fharlanghn, so there's some adventuring heritage there. Otherwise, I can't think of anyone.


I think I've seen a few PFS players mention they had characters who were children of previous characters. I've also seen mention of a few generation home games.

Personally, I prefer "adventurers" to be few and far between, so having a PC being the child of one doesn't really occur to me. I don't think I've ever used the "retired adventurer" trope either.

Sovereign Court

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kobold cleaver wrote:
Considering what they do to goblin babies, I don't think we should allow adventurers anywhere near children.

As long as your children aren't trying to eat you I can't imagine why roving bands of adventurers would be murdering them

thejeff wrote:
Personally, I prefer "adventurers" to be few and far between, so having a PC being the child of one doesn't really occur to me. I don't think I've ever used the "retired adventurer" trope either.

I think it tends to come up in pre written stuff more often

1. It lets players think about an 'after' for their adventurers
2. It gives a reason for strong people to be in the back end of no where to keep up with players. Though sometimes it leads to a question of why the 9th level wizard and cleric aren't teaming up with the 4th level ranger to get rid of the nearby goblin issue.


alair223 wrote:
...<snip>... Though sometimes it leads to a question of why the 9th level wizard and cleric aren't teaming up with the 4th level ranger to get rid of the nearby goblin issue.

Welcome to the Forgotten Realms? :D


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

My gaming group once made a full party of characters who were all "family" and children of a pair of adventurers. The adventurers had retired and opened an inn/tavern and over the years in addition to their own children, they adopted stray orphans that other adventurers would come across. Knowing what evil the world contained, they made certain to train their children to carry on the family tradition.

Since we only played as a full party over the course of several conventions, we definitely messed with the heads of a few GMs. I recall a puzzle encounter devolving into discussions about the girl one of the characters liked when he was 15 and another using stuffed animals as "practice targets". We played up both the sibling rivalry ("I want to be the hero when we tell this to Mom") as well as the fierce loyalty ("Nobody picks on my little brother but me!"). We still run into GMs who comment about that band of characters - mostly in a good way since we had a rip-roaring fun time with the role-playing, but sometimes not since we had a tendency to overrun a GM who was insistent on things being done in a certain way. (For instance, the one who said after we explained the party, "You can't do that. You need to not know each other or the scenario won't work.")

I wouldn't want the child of adventurer to be overused, but I also see it as a good way to start a character who isn't first level. It explains some of their skills and allows some interesting role-play.

Sczarni

During Iron GM at TotalCon, I played in a campaign where the basic premise was that the PCs were all children of paladins and knights who had fought and died at the Worldwound. The campaign began the day after the funeral of the last living parent among us (my character's mother), and I was approached by a woman claiming to be my long-lost sister (who was later revealed as the villain).

The GM later told us that WE were supposed to be the paladins, as he'd given us "7th-level Good" as the basis for us to build our characters and assumed we'd all build paladins, clerics, and holy crusaders. Instead we went for a Good-aligned "classic party" (fighter, rogue, cleric, sorcerer, bard) so he made us their children


When my current campaign ends most of the PC's will have families. They are founding a kingdom and so each of the new noble houses will need at least an heir and spare. They will also, as a group, write up two new regional traits that will be available for characters from our next game cycle (one of the current players will rotate into the DM chair) and PC's from the next group could be the children of the current PCs (but probably won't). Oh, and one PC already has a semi-adopted ward.

In previous games we have had characters pair off and raise families, just not while those characters are in play. Pregnant spouses and infants are the sort of DNPC that the BBEG just can't resist, so keep them in a pocket dimension while you are out adventuring.

Shadow Lodge

I have pfs character whose vanities (herold, squire) are his children.

Spoiler:
Mum is his eidolon.
And the intent is that one of the kids will become pcs upon his retirement.

I've also thought of writing a convention one shot where kids are the PCs saving their parents. Thinking of things like a kid proto summoner has an imaginary friend. The bully and the stand up kids have some paladin/antipaladin powers etc.

Hope that was helpful.

Kerney


My game has former adventurers who settled down and formed a small town. Two of them have children (one has a daughter and the other has 2 sons)

I also have a future campaign story line planned. It'll involve new characters getting sent to prison for some reason (individually) and they will have to meet up, plan their escape, escape, probably get recaptured and sent to a stronger prison where they will meet a villain from our current campaign. They will escape and he will want revenge so they will track down my current characters house (villain used to be my current characters squire) where they will meet my characters two daughters.

They will actually form a team together similar to my character and the squire (both cavaliers, one being melee based and charge focused and the other being a luring cavalier) save for neither being a cohort.


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My players often have their characters settle down with a significant other and have/adopt children. Of characters I've played there have been a few who were children of adventurers, such as...

Aelwen Avalon, half-elf child of a human stormblooded sorcerer who saved an elven realm from a great disaster and married the local princess. She was a ranger and the other player characters went back to meet her folks exactly once, I don't think we ever came across a situation where she was like "I bet I could call my father to help", it just never seemed practical (we were usually on other continents) or in character.

There's also another character I had who's parent was powerful, but not really an adventurer. In fact, she was kind of the opposite...

Andraste Morgan, human dragonblood sorcerer was the adopted daughter of a red dragon (I believe she was somewhere between mature adult and ancient in age category, I remember sending the GM a list of her sorcerer spells for their own clarity). The red dragon in question had sent her daughter out to learn about the world and she had inevitably (as a PC) become an adventurer. The one time Andraste's mother showed up it was to discuss her birth family, and again there wasn't a single time in the adventure where it seemed practical (red dragons attract a ton of attention, she was often far away from her homeland) or in character (if your mission is to go out on your own and you go calling Mom for help it seems a little bit of a failure) to exploit the fact her parent was formidable.


Quark Blast wrote:
alair223 wrote:
...<snip>... Though sometimes it leads to a question of why the 9th level wizard and cleric aren't teaming up with the 4th level ranger to get rid of the nearby goblin issue.
Welcome to the Forgotten Realms? :D

Haha! Can't take a 5-ft step without tripping over a legendary protagonist who is more important and powerful than your entire party combined will ever hope to be.


alair223 wrote:
kobold cleaver wrote:
Considering what they do to goblin babies, I don't think we should allow adventurers anywhere near children.
As long as your children aren't trying to eat you I can't imagine why roving bands of adventurers would be murdering them

I'm guessing that's a reference to Rise of the Runelords, alair. Without revealing spoilers, what to do with creatures that are inherently evil but presently helpless is a popular moral dilemma to throw at PC's.


Azraiel wrote:
alair223 wrote:
kobold cleaver wrote:
Considering what they do to goblin babies, I don't think we should allow adventurers anywhere near children.
As long as your children aren't trying to eat you I can't imagine why roving bands of adventurers would be murdering them
I'm guessing that's a reference to Rise of the Runelords, alair. Without revealing spoilers, what to do with creatures that are inherently evil but presently helpless is a popular moral dilemma to throw at PC's.

Something for our group to look forward to. At least our LN cleric and CN barbarian can have an interesting discussion.

Sovereign Court

azraiel wrote:
I'm guessing that's a reference to Rise of the Runelords, alair. Without revealing spoilers, what to do with creatures that are inherently evil but presently helpless is a popular moral dilemma to throw at PC's.

I can't remember what it was from

In case of actual spoilers:
but my character had just died in a goblin dungeon and the DM put my new character in getting chewed on in a goblin nursery. Since my new character was morally dubious and rather vengeful he burned them all alive as soon as he got his spell component pouch back. That got on the paladins nerve when he heard about it.
Qaianna wrote:
Something for our group to look forward to. At least our LN cleric and CN barbarian can have an interesting discussion.

We had a group once with a paladin of all evil must be SMASHED! and a paladin of Sarenrae all about redemption. Watching two LG characters yell at each other in and out of combat was quite amusing.

P sar "Why did you kill those monsters they could have been redeemed?!"
P SMASH *boggles* "They just attacked a caravan and killed people!"
P sar "And look at their lair. They were starving and desperate."
and on and on


What they never tell you about casting spells over level 3? They make you and those around you impotent. Whoops.


I remember playing Carrion Crown as the daughter of my Kingmaker ranger, he wasn't the ruler, he was the Warden and a loyal friend of the Queen.

Needless to say, the GM was wondering why Daddy didn't give his little girl his +5 vorpal longsword that he made and had enchanted. I told him, "She's a sorceress! She doesn't need a sword!"


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Well if an adventurer is successful, he/she will have enough money that his/her children can work at nice safe jobs like as a wealthy merchant. If an adventurer is not successful, well its hard to have children when you are monster chow.
Might say one of the character in my current game is a half elf fey sorcerer whose Dad is a retired human Ranger and Mother is a Dryad.


I did this in a campaign once. My character, to avoid an infernal contract where he'd go to hell upon his death, accepted immortality in exchange for watching a magic tower for eternity so my next character was the child of the first and one of Asmodeus' daughters. He acted sweet and innocent but gave murder-hugs and played up tropes from the Omen series. (The dad was a human made into a tiefling.)


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I've played with parties that are descended from previous campaigns. I've also had characters marry and settle down. It's rare while people are adventuring because some people see children as merely hostages.

Liberty's Edge

None of my characters have had children yet, but I do believe that if one of the parents is a kitsune then the offspring will also be a kitsune, even if they have some unique traits. For instance, the other parent might be an Elf, a Dragon, an Orc (must call for an... Interesting childhood), or even an Android!* The most common case though would be a kitsune either having two kitsune parents or one human parent.

*It would theoretically be possible for an android to produce offspring with an organic creature via their Nanite Surge ability.

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