Power 19 Ashcan - At Home (working title)

Hello Ara,

I have one or two observations, apologies but these aren't really specific to any of the power 19 questions that you requested help on.

First off, great idea! I like the potential that the game presents for exploring the nature and value of heroism itself, which brings me to the question; 'why SHOULD sacrifice be necessary to achieve hero status?' Don't get me wrong, I think you're onto a winner here, but I think the answer to that question might help provide some focus to the creative agenda inherent in your game. A clear theme in your game is that heroism and sacrifice are intrinsically linked, and, thinking about it, the reason for this is that there is something inhuman about a hero. Your game taps into a dynamic, inherent in many RP scenarios i've encountered; the characters in a given adventure are heroes, but the player's who've created and control them are not. What's the distinction? What is it about being a hero or an adventurer that makes us want to play that role? On the surface the answer seems simple, heroes recieve huge rewards for their efforts, be they gold, glory, defeating the bad guy, saving the girl or whatever, but it's been my experience that the real enjoyment of roleplaying in a high fantasy setting isn't in the great homecoming glory parade or rolling around in piles of looted treasure, it's the times when your character is being tested to his limit, and prevailing only by virtue of his superiority over 'normal', non-heroic human beings. So it's what the hero 'is' that's usually the meat and bones of an enjoyable fantasy roleplay, not what he 'gets'. In your game, I suppose it's what the hero 'isn't' and what he's lost that would drive the narrative and create some potentially really interesting roleplay situations.

In the context of you prime directive 'what players are willing to give up for their characters to become advenutres/heros' you might want to explore a game mechanic that takes the focus away from resolving the usual set of adventure/fantasy encounters (combat, negotiation, infiltration etc.) and create an environment where the characters' ability to succeed in these kind of endevours is never called into question, instead looking into the impact on the psyche of the character of the progressively greater sacrifices he has made in pursuit of his goals, be they in material wealth, personal relationships or, crucially, in their own humanity. This is very off the top of the head, but maybe a pile of 'hubris counters' which each character amasses in exchange for any heroic feat they may wish to perform, awarded by the DM based on the excessiveness of the particular heroic endevour, with a loose framework of character effects tied to the character's current level of hubris. Perhaps in conjuction with this, a seperate pile of 'insanity counters', 'sanguinary counters' and so on, I suppose reinforcing the notion that for every act of heroism a character achieves, they lose touch a little more with their humanity, which can manifest in a myriad of archetypal hero personality traits. Also, heroism walks hand in hand with death, so perhaps by the end of any game the characters must have died, measuring success by the legacy of fame they leave behind?

One point that i'd like you clarify, with relation to 13, i'd be interested to know if you're referring to what happens to the character's 'normal' life while they're away adventuring and being a hero, or what happens to the WORLD when there are no heroes to save it? I think either could add some interesting depth to the game if represented in the mechanic.

Hope at least some of that was relevant and helpful! Good luck with the game, keep us posted.

Jacob