Six months on, I’m still pingling around with Palladium Fantasy. Still enjoying it too!
Today, I spent the day building a party for my project of creating a beginning to playing Palladium with my friends. Here’s what I discovered…
Palladium Provides Fun Characters
Without a doubt, Palladium Fantasy Roleplaying helps players to create really fun and heroic characters. And, although I would really prefer to give the guys a nice long session in which to create their own heroes, this first game of Palladium will be a stand-in one-off session… so we need some nicely designed heroes upfront.
Here are the three character ideas I knocked up so far:
- Temerrus, Human Air Warlock
- Valburg, Wolfen Mercenary Warrior
- Eddard Warden, Dwarf Ranger
The fourth will probably be a Priest of Light.
But what makes these fun? For me, it’s the way in which each character starts as a fairly standard concept but slowly comes to life. Palladium gives you a long process through which, step by step, each character begins to take shape as a unique being.
At the end of each creation process, I find myself truly wanting to play the character. They have become more real than anything I usually get to game with.
Palladium Works The Group
Because fantasy roleplaying is a group activity, Palladium makes sure that the party functions as a group.
Although each hero is distinct and capable, the party is more than the sum of its parts. For example, the three heroes listed above each provide distinct and necessary abilities and skills to the group: in combat the Mercenary is the close-combat “tank”, the Dwarf is the ranged support, and the Warlock brings the magical thunder; out of combat, each hero has their own niche of skill and expertise.
And it’s out of combat where Palladium shines too. Because the rules are lightly drawn, in the Old School manner, and you have a clear sense of who the character is, you can roleplay them properly and distinctively too. Your hero is not just a collection of powers or skills, but brings with it a distinct sense of place and personality.
Character Suggests Story
Each of these heroes begins to suggest story ideas.
The Warlock, the Ranger, and the Mercenary form a curious group with their own distinctive goals and interests. I was minded to add in some Elemental encounters, for example, arising from the ability of the Warlock to sense and interact with them. For the Dwarf and the Mercenary, perhaps a search for an ancient Dwarven weapon would be fun for the players: they can each bring their interest and expertise to the quest.
Not many games suggest adventures so readily as does Palladium Fantasy… at least once you begin the play. And that’s my point, really: starting to play with character generation strongly begins your game long-term.
It’s hard to imagine leaving these heroes alone after just one scenario. Surely that’s a good thing?
