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This is a concept related to a campaign outline that's been rolling around in my head for a while now, and it's one that I haven't really found a completely satisfactory or, more importantly, comfortable method to handle it.
Basic non-spoilery concept breakdown:
Epic(in scope, not rules) campaign with apocalyptically dire consequences. One character who took the appropriate trait would be getting sporadic portentious dreams that became more intense as the campaign progresses. Eventually this character would recieve items left behind by a great figure in history that the group would at that point already be familiar with. Further along, ideally at a "darkest before the dawn" point, that character would discover that they are the reincarnation of that same historical figure, gaining most or all of his/her former memories and having a new and much needed perspective and well of knowledge to help deal with their current crisis, and the character now has to forge their own destiny with the tools and knowledge his/her former self left behind.
The group as a whole and the player of the character in question would not know all of this is coming at the start of the campaign.
As is, the current trait presented in any player's guide for this campaign would basically go on about great destiny and troubled dreams, granting a very minor bonus and possibly free proficiency with the item they could eventually discover, with the only requirements being: Must be Any X alignment, must have heritage from X ethnicity, available to only one PC.
Problem is, I'm second guessing myself on some issues. I really don't want this to wind up turning into a "controlling GM" sort of thing, which I consider a big no-no when behind the screen. I also want to strike a balance between it not being too terribly obvious where it's going but also letting the player have a bit of an idea of what they're possibly getting into.
The actual recieving of past memories and the reveal of their past lives wouldn't be a personality rewrite for the character, though the player could certainly incorporate what they discover into how they play their character as they see fit. Ideally, this would be done with as soft a touch on the player's character as possible.
(to head off one obvious worry that my come up for some reading this, every other character would also have plenty of opportunities to get superspecial things exclusive to their characters. This trait is just one way to tie certain themes together and add some dramatic and legendary scope to the adventure)
The historical figure in question would be Kahotep*, Pharaoh of Tomorrow, who in the history of this adventure would be the one responsible for casting out the influence of the Dominion from Osirion and being the one human who was able to stand against them without being corrupted. S/He also placed a number of relics across the worlds with the help of his alien colleages to help future generations stand against the Dominion.
The core item would be a khopesh forged with alien technology gained through alliances with the more benign neighbors throughout Golarion's system. This khopesh would fuction both as a magical weapon but also as a key to the many repositories of knowledge and power left behind to fight the Dominion. There would likely also be some sort of technomagical Pharaoh's Raiment at the very least.
The "destined" trait's requirements would be: Any Good, Must have Osironi heritage. In the guide itself, it would likely only grant free proficiency with khopeshes, a +2 to Diplomacy with "other races", and some talk of sporadic dreams.
*This is the same Kahotep metioned by Todd Stewart in The Great Beyond, whose soul currently rests in Nirvana awaiting a time of great need and is possibly the same Kahotep(s) mentioned at multiple points in Osirion's historical timeline
How would you approach this?
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Subverting the Ancient Aliens trope actually.
This way, Osirion actually owes most of its greatness to its own peoples' deeds, and in fact their footprint extends further than modern Osirioni would ever imagine.
Also, no(or very little) in the way of gates. Vercite Aetherships though...
Be careful with making only one PC the center of the campaign. Try spreading the joy around for everyone to have spotlight time.
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Jubal makes a good point. Why can't the entire party carry some fragment of the historical figure's soul? Maybe they each find an item that allows them access to it and additional powers? Something scalable and cool but also transferable in case of pc death. Just my $.02.
Jubal brings up the immediate worry I had.
This trait basically secretly makes the PC who has the trait the focal point of the campaign. He or she becomes central to the overarching plot, which raises both the problem of what to do if that PC dies or retires, and player discontent when everything centers on one PC.
You're better off making this something that the entire party can share... perhaps the reincarnation went badly (or it was an NPC, but he was killed, and there's no time (or energy) to reincarnate again before the crisis hits). So Kahotep instead ends up enlisting the party through some hook within the first couple of levels. Perhaps a selection of relics for every PC, or just contact with the spirit of the last reincarnation.
If you want the dreams to be happening, let the party as a whole encounter this core plotline by, say, being present, or at least nearby, when the reincarnated Kahotep is killed, either by a generic evil, or by agents of the Dominion seeking to destroy him for good. He manages to retain existence by seeding fragments of his essence in the PCs (perhaps as they disrupt the ritual).
Jubal makes a good point. Why can't the entire party carry some fragment of the historical figure's soul? Maybe they each find an item that allows them access to it and additional powers? Something scalable and cool but also transferable in case of pc death. Just my $.02.
That was my first thought too (I got the original idea from Alias and Dragonbait in Jeff Grub's FR novels). Maybe each PC inherited some different personality aspect from Kahotep? Hopefully the PCs will readily demonstrate some aspect of their personality that will already fit with Kahotep so you won't have to shoehorn something. If each (or several) of the PCs has a shard of Kahotep, that will hopefully bond them together more tightly.
Maybe each PC should be able to invoke a small bonus to one Knowledge skill? Or they gain a slightly higher bonus on aid another or flanking?
Perhaps one of the important NPCs is guided by a shard/half (or whole) of the soul of one of Kahotep's closest advisors? Or posing as an allied advisor, but secretly a former rival or enemy of Kahotep?
A couple more ways to share the joy:
1. To build on Phelan, have each PC receive/possess an aspect of the one focusing on their thing: magic, wisdom, combat, mercy, knowledge, etc. Their dreams would focus on how that aspect impacted the past and will help the future.
2. Or each PC could be possessed by a different high priest of this guy. They might be from different times or lands with different perspectives, but they all were the most powerful servants of this guy. He returned them all to the world at the same time to ensure that the guy gets what he wants.
Either of these connections are what unconsciously attract and pull the PCs together and allow you to reveal common and unique private information to them. They all feel special and integrated into the major plot. Maybe the guy is slowly revealing to the PCs who they really are in order to protect them from his enemies until they are ready to handle themselves.
cheers
You might want to consider something along the lines of the revelation of the Final FIve Cylons on Battlestar Galactica. Have multiple famous people (or a famours person and several followers) reincarnated, and do things that hint that various player characters may or may not be their reincarnations. Do not commit yourself as to the identities of the reincarnated player characters until the big reveal close to the climax of your campaign. With this approach, you avoid the problem of having your campaign depend on a single player character and thus having your campaign derailed if the player leaves, the character dies and is not raised, or the player loses interest in the character and replaces him. With multiple "destined" characters, losing one or two of them would not matter as long as most of them are still around -- and you should not lose too many if you postponed the revelation until near the end.
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Oh wow did I ever loose track of this one. Sorry guys.
A lot of you touched on my biggest worry with playing this straight. The whole "one PC overshadowing everyone else" idea.
The shards idea though...I can see this working very easily. Kahotep's soul had been waiting for ages in the afterlife to be reborn, and the Dominion could have managed a pre-emptive strike on his soul while it was there or while it was on its way to be reborn, basically throwing his scheduled reincarnation out of whack. Each shard eventually gets reborn without their memories unlocked properly and possibly incarnated way off target(as in not being born anywhere near Osirion). And with Kahotep having multiple lives on record already, it's easy to say that each shard is keyed into a specific past life of Kahotep, one adjusted to fit the personality of the PC...
I'm really thinking about rolling this way now. Thanks all. :)
Perhaps I can still leave it open for one or more PCs to claim the Kahotep "role" if they want to fully embrace that aspect, while leaving plenty of other possible Big Special Things for those that want to go their down their own path or just aren't into the reincarnation angle as part of their character. Still have plenty of time to think that through.
I like the idea of PCs having the option of being reincarnated members of Kahotep's court as well, a lot actually. But again that has me worried about the overshadowing problem, if any players feel like they're being cast in a subservient role even though there's nothing forcing them to be in this incarnation. Maybe if there's a way to present that choice in-game, non-intrusively? Like presenting a choice between relics that are related to specific members of the old courts...
That angle with some NPCs being both reincarnated/soulshards-of friends and foes is something I'm definitely going with. Spreading that across the various worlds in fact. :D
Thanks for the ideabouncing again!
Seems nice...