WHO is he!? [Archive] - Wizards Community

WHO is he!? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Bergtann
02-24-08, 04:43 PM Or she. I may be a bit slow, but I just realized that there can be such a thing as a level 20 Commoner! Or more. Is there an epic progression?

Who would this paragon of ordinaryness be? What could have taken someone to such heights of everydayishness?

What kind of life story would produce a level 20+ commoner?
Malcaor
02-24-08, 07:46 PM I can;t thing of anything to type... it shouldn't be possible...
RationalParanoia
02-24-08, 07:59 PM Perhaps a peasant who's been in a lot of fights, but doesn't actively seek them... He lives the life of a normal commoner, but is is both incredibly unlucky and lucky at the same time, running into enough encounters to level him up to 20th, and yet, without any real combat technique, ability, or experience, is able to survive all of them.
McBAMF
02-25-08, 02:11 AM I'd suggest a cook for a large travelling army. He never had any intention to become a fighter but again and again the foes of his army would break through the lines and he'd have to brain them with a cooking pot.
Bergtann
02-25-08, 03:40 AM I was thinking about some farmer...utterly unfazable, and goes "Ayuh" a lot.

"Ayuh, theres a green dragon rampaging through the county. I gusee we better gather some bat-guano for the muchspreading. Green Dragons can't stand the smell of bat-guano. Let him ravage 'em on the other side of the valley. I think one of their kids ravished my goat."

Edit: Could Diskworlds Rincewind be described as a level 20 commoner?
Firaeki
02-25-08, 06:10 AM There's a vererable Male Commoner 20 in my games. He's always the same; the ancient farmer who's lived in one small village for as long as anyone can remember, and nobody ever recalls seeing him get off his porch, except to go use the outhouse. Even at night or in harsh weather, he lives his whole life there and never seems phased to do anything else.
I call him Theodore Markson. He's a wrinkled, stong old man with a short white beard and moustache, wiry white hair, and his left eye seems to either be missing or have some other reason to always be shut. His "good" eye is blue and beady, and he smokes a pipe. He's always got a jug of booze next to him, though nobody recalls anyone ever drinking from it, and he dresses in typical brown and white farmer's gear with a pitchfork on the porch beside him, stuck into the floorboards. He usually lets adventurers stay in his house in exchange for doing some work for him, and tends to tell them anything they need to know about the area.

...Funny thing, he pops up in at least three towns over the course of my worlds, and nobody who knows of this anomaly has a way to explain it.
NatanaX
02-25-08, 10:54 AM One must assume that commoners gain experience for "commoning" and that MOST commoners you encounter are more likely level 2, 3 or 4 commoners (especially since there are not that many peasants who died from "house cat" attack). They still get virtually no HP so it's not like they still can't be hewn in two by most adventurers.

Still, a Level 20 Commoner is probably nearly impossible, or very old, since I'm sure "commoning" doesn't grant much EXP, you'd have to kill something, or have something extraordinary happen to you to get some extra XP but with that in mind, most of these folk probably have levels in Warrior or Expert.
Master_Vega
02-25-08, 11:48 AM Joe Wood (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=763260) will be a twentieth-level commoner someday. :P
NatanaX
02-25-08, 05:06 PM That is one awesome thread and sounds quite hilarious and possibly even fun to play, I may have to give it a try one of these days.
Drackthor
02-25-08, 05:19 PM Incredibly lucky draws from a Deck of Many Things.
I_roll_ones
02-25-08, 07:52 PM Commoners don't have to be ordinary. If you take one of the joke commoner flaws, you can summon Orcus the Demon Lord of Undead. Whenever you want. With no components.

What you do with an angry Orcus is beyond me, however. But it might make for interesting suicide squads. Especially if you use orphans, making them morally awkward to kill. Leadership + fanatics + pig flaw = Orcus is probably going to kill you(And then torment your soul), but you might take down some targets first.

Rincewind, since he cannot cast spells(He probably has negative spell casting ability, but is rather intelligent, so he didn't use his spellcasting stat as a dump stat), would be either a commoner or an expert. He has a good comprehension of languages, since he can say a phrase in many different langagues. I forgot what it was, but it was either "Aiiiieeee" or "Don't eat me", I think. However, since his main skill is running away, I think the commoner classification is rather apt.

However, the DMG says that the world's greatest Blacksmith is in fact, a level 20 expert. So level 20's in NPC classes can exist, and they are the best at what they do. But what does a commoner do? They generally have two roles:

1) Get eaten by monster
2) Not get eaten by monster

I think we can rule out the first as the purpose of being a commoner, or they would constantly start flinging themselves at monsters in the hope of dying. Also, the flaw "Tasty" in which monsters are more likely to eat the commoner, is a flaw, not a trait.

Therefore, a level 20 commoner is a commoner that is the best in the world at not getting eaten by a monster. And if Rincewind is a commoner(As opposed to expert, given his...Uh, skills), he would be it.

What of epic progression? What is better then being the best in the world? Being the best in ALL of the worlds!

Rincewind did escape from another plane(The Dungeon Dimensions), an nasty, bad place. So he might even be a level 30-40 Commoner.
Bergtann
02-26-08, 06:28 AM I speculated that it may be some average Joe Farmer who has dealt with all the trouble of getting his turnip crop in a moster infested world.

And done so in an indirect and nonconfrontational way.

Make your crops smell bad, so monsters go to the next village over (a lot of commoners do not like the next village over)
Set out false rumors of treasure to attract adventurers when something needs exterminating. (The right rumor of buried treasure may mean the'll inadrvertently dig your new well. Placement is king when crafting rumors.)

Etc. All fullfilling the Commoners quest goal of getting the turnips in whithout being eaten.

Rincewinds thing is that despite the word "Wizzard" embroidered on his hat (spelling being among the many, many arcane arts he failed to master) he never cast a spell, and deals with things by running away from them.

Ubersorcerers, gods, heroes, lovecraftian horrors from beyond reality, even death itself. He has run away from them all. And he has seen worlds born, civilizations rise and fall, the brith and death of species, alien worlds, a jet plane, -he has run away from the all. Even an island full of nubile young women desperate for a man. (Ingrained refexes suck sometimes)

But running away completly fullfills Rincewinds criteria for dealing with these things.
PigFiend
02-26-08, 07:18 AM Ilda the Lucky

In their humble beginnings, the heroes found this stripling girl as the sole survivor of a destroyed village. A smart gnome, she added her innate magical abilities to the party. While traveling in hostile lands, at first she kept herself hidden whenever there was trouble, but soon enough she helped in desperate situations. It started with her retrieving a disarmed weapon. Then she began reloading the crossbow. She became the potion courier for the team. And when her aim developed, she even was given holy water vials to throw.
Since Ilda had no home, the heroes adopted her as their good luck charm. She hadn't the focus to learn any great skills, but she could be tutored well enough on how to protect herself, and she focused on survival skills in order to remain relevant to the group as their challenges increased. (Feats taken were to improve saving throws and hit points.)
So, even while some key members of this legendary band perished for good, Ilda truly did prove lucky, surviving it all. Her bosses departed this plane to achieve greater things elseworld, while the plucky girl, now a worldly and experienced woman with a treasure hoard any dragon would envy, assumed her role as queen of the multi-racial kingdoms.
Terjon of the Blue Rose
02-29-08, 01:29 AM Mike Resnik wrote a short story called How I Wrote the New Testament, Ushered in the Renaissance, and Birdied the 17th Hole at Pebble Beach.

The main character is a 20th lvl commoner but you'll have to read it to find out.
BigGus
03-01-08, 07:41 AM Commoner is capped at 10th level in my game, and I find even that hard to imagine. Commoners above 5th level are extremely rare; nearly everyone with the potential to get higher than that will have taken levels in another class by then.

The only way I can make sense of 20th level is if a Commoner somehow became immortal, but still just wanted a quiet life, and slowly accumulated experience over the centuries.
malisteen
03-01-08, 12:12 PM Lucky + run away.

Technically, avoiding an encounter is still overcoming it. This commoner got lucky when the terrasque attacked and ran between its legs, escaping as the thing was too focused on stuff in front of him.

He's run away from orc raids, dragon attacks, farrealm incursions, and at least one rampaging daemon lord who flubbed a spot check to see if anyone had escaped his indiscriminate rampage on the material plane.

At this point he's gained so many levels from 'overcoming' horrible monsters that he has to go out of his way to look for challenges to flee from. Running away from gnolls is just a waste of his time.
Neveroth
03-01-08, 01:28 PM Or maybe he just got a lot of roleplay xp. He portrayed the ordinary and unassuming with such realism, consistently, that the DM simply couldn't help but recognize the man's contribution to the believability of his world, and rewarded him accordingly.
Khadmus
03-02-08, 02:26 PM People seem to be stuck in "Commoner". Commoners aren't all common! If this person is high teens, then he can't be common - but he can be of the Commoner class. "Commoners" can be half-decent truenamers (Tome of Magic). "Commoners" can rack up large Diplomacy bonuses (Tome of Battle gives a feat that makes Diplomacy a class skill). "Commoners" (if evil) can rack up obscene Intimidate bonuses from all the +Intimidate feats out there.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Bergtann 02-24-08, 04:43 PM	Or she. I may be a bit slow, but I just realized that there can be such a thing as a level 20 Commoner! Or more. Is there an epic progression? Who would this paragon of ordinaryness be? What could have taken someone to such heights of everydayishness? What kind of life story would produce a level 20+ commoner?
Malcaor 02-24-08, 07:46 PM	I can;t thing of anything to type... it shouldn't be possible...
RationalParanoia 02-24-08, 07:59 PM	Perhaps a peasant who's been in a lot of fights, but doesn't actively seek them... He lives the life of a normal commoner, but is is both incredibly unlucky and lucky at the same time, running into enough encounters to level him up to 20th, and yet, without any real combat technique, ability, or experience, is able to survive all of them.
McBAMF 02-25-08, 02:11 AM	I'd suggest a cook for a large travelling army. He never had any intention to become a fighter but again and again the foes of his army would break through the lines and he'd have to brain them with a cooking pot.
Bergtann 02-25-08, 03:40 AM	I was thinking about some farmer...utterly unfazable, and goes "Ayuh" a lot. "Ayuh, theres a green dragon rampaging through the county. I gusee we better gather some bat-guano for the muchspreading. Green Dragons can't stand the smell of bat-guano. Let him ravage 'em on the other side of the valley. I think one of their kids ravished my goat." Edit: Could Diskworlds Rincewind be described as a level 20 commoner?
Firaeki 02-25-08, 06:10 AM	There's a vererable Male Commoner 20 in my games. He's always the same; the ancient farmer who's lived in one small village for as long as anyone can remember, and nobody ever recalls seeing him get off his porch, except to go use the outhouse. Even at night or in harsh weather, he lives his whole life there and never seems phased to do anything else. I call him Theodore Markson. He's a wrinkled, stong old man with a short white beard and moustache, wiry white hair, and his left eye seems to either be missing or have some other reason to always be shut. His "good" eye is blue and beady, and he smokes a pipe. He's always got a jug of booze next to him, though nobody recalls anyone ever drinking from it, and he dresses in typical brown and white farmer's gear with a pitchfork on the porch beside him, stuck into the floorboards. He usually lets adventurers stay in his house in exchange for doing some work for him, and tends to tell them anything they need to know about the area. ...Funny thing, he pops up in at least three towns over the course of my worlds, and nobody who knows of this anomaly has a way to explain it.
NatanaX 02-25-08, 10:54 AM	One must assume that commoners gain experience for "commoning" and that MOST commoners you encounter are more likely level 2, 3 or 4 commoners (especially since there are not that many peasants who died from "house cat" attack). They still get virtually no HP so it's not like they still can't be hewn in two by most adventurers. Still, a Level 20 Commoner is probably nearly impossible, or very old, since I'm sure "commoning" doesn't grant much EXP, you'd have to kill something, or have something extraordinary happen to you to get some extra XP but with that in mind, most of these folk probably have levels in Warrior or Expert.
Master_Vega 02-25-08, 11:48 AM	Joe Wood (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=763260) will be a twentieth-level commoner someday. :P
NatanaX 02-25-08, 05:06 PM	That is one awesome thread and sounds quite hilarious and possibly even fun to play, I may have to give it a try one of these days.
Drackthor 02-25-08, 05:19 PM	Incredibly lucky draws from a Deck of Many Things.
I_roll_ones 02-25-08, 07:52 PM	Commoners don't have to be ordinary. If you take one of the joke commoner flaws, you can summon Orcus the Demon Lord of Undead. Whenever you want. With no components. What you do with an angry Orcus is beyond me, however. But it might make for interesting suicide squads. Especially if you use orphans, making them morally awkward to kill. Leadership + fanatics + pig flaw = Orcus is probably going to kill you(And then torment your soul), but you might take down some targets first. Rincewind, since he cannot cast spells(He probably has negative spell casting ability, but is rather intelligent, so he didn't use his spellcasting stat as a dump stat), would be either a commoner or an expert. He has a good comprehension of languages, since he can say a phrase in many different langagues. I forgot what it was, but it was either "Aiiiieeee" or "Don't eat me", I think. However, since his main skill is running away, I think the commoner classification is rather apt. However, the DMG says that the world's greatest Blacksmith is in fact, a level 20 expert. So level 20's in NPC classes can exist, and they are the best at what they do. But what does a commoner do? They generally have two roles: 1) Get eaten by monster 2) Not get eaten by monster I think we can rule out the first as the purpose of being a commoner, or they would constantly start flinging themselves at monsters in the hope of dying. Also, the flaw "Tasty" in which monsters are more likely to eat the commoner, is a flaw, not a trait. Therefore, a level 20 commoner is a commoner that is the best in the world at not getting eaten by a monster. And if Rincewind is a commoner(As opposed to expert, given his...Uh, skills), he would be it. What of epic progression? What is better then being the best in the world? Being the best in ALL of the worlds! Rincewind did escape from another plane(The Dungeon Dimensions), an nasty, bad place. So he might even be a level 30-40 Commoner.
Bergtann 02-26-08, 06:28 AM	I speculated that it may be some average Joe Farmer who has dealt with all the trouble of getting his turnip crop in a moster infested world. And done so in an indirect and nonconfrontational way. Make your crops smell bad, so monsters go to the next village over (a lot of commoners do not like the next village over) Set out false rumors of treasure to attract adventurers when something needs exterminating. (The right rumor of buried treasure may mean the'll inadrvertently dig your new well. Placement is king when crafting rumors.) Etc. All fullfilling the Commoners quest goal of getting the turnips in whithout being eaten. Rincewinds thing is that despite the word "Wizzard" embroidered on his hat (spelling being among the many, many arcane arts he failed to master) he never cast a spell, and deals with things by running away from them. Ubersorcerers, gods, heroes, lovecraftian horrors from beyond reality, even death itself. He has run away from them all. And he has seen worlds born, civilizations rise and fall, the brith and death of species, alien worlds, a jet plane, -he has run away from the all. Even an island full of nubile young women desperate for a man. (Ingrained refexes suck sometimes) But running away completly fullfills Rincewinds criteria for dealing with these things.
PigFiend 02-26-08, 07:18 AM	Ilda the Lucky In their humble beginnings, the heroes found this stripling girl as the sole survivor of a destroyed village. A smart gnome, she added her innate magical abilities to the party. While traveling in hostile lands, at first she kept herself hidden whenever there was trouble, but soon enough she helped in desperate situations. It started with her retrieving a disarmed weapon. Then she began reloading the crossbow. She became the potion courier for the team. And when her aim developed, she even was given holy water vials to throw. Since Ilda had no home, the heroes adopted her as their good luck charm. She hadn't the focus to learn any great skills, but she could be tutored well enough on how to protect herself, and she focused on survival skills in order to remain relevant to the group as their challenges increased. (Feats taken were to improve saving throws and hit points.) So, even while some key members of this legendary band perished for good, Ilda truly did prove lucky, surviving it all. Her bosses departed this plane to achieve greater things elseworld, while the plucky girl, now a worldly and experienced woman with a treasure hoard any dragon would envy, assumed her role as queen of the multi-racial kingdoms.
Terjon of the Blue Rose 02-29-08, 01:29 AM	Mike Resnik wrote a short story called How I Wrote the New Testament, Ushered in the Renaissance, and Birdied the 17th Hole at Pebble Beach. The main character is a 20th lvl commoner but you'll have to read it to find out.
BigGus 03-01-08, 07:41 AM	Commoner is capped at 10th level in my game, and I find even that hard to imagine. Commoners above 5th level are extremely rare; nearly everyone with the potential to get higher than that will have taken levels in another class by then. The only way I can make sense of 20th level is if a Commoner somehow became immortal, but still just wanted a quiet life, and slowly accumulated experience over the centuries.
malisteen 03-01-08, 12:12 PM	Lucky + run away. Technically, avoiding an encounter is still overcoming it. This commoner got lucky when the terrasque attacked and ran between its legs, escaping as the thing was too focused on stuff in front of him. He's run away from orc raids, dragon attacks, farrealm incursions, and at least one rampaging daemon lord who flubbed a spot check to see if anyone had escaped his indiscriminate rampage on the material plane. At this point he's gained so many levels from 'overcoming' horrible monsters that he has to go out of his way to look for challenges to flee from. Running away from gnolls is just a waste of his time.
Neveroth 03-01-08, 01:28 PM	Or maybe he just got a lot of roleplay xp. He portrayed the ordinary and unassuming with such realism, consistently, that the DM simply couldn't help but recognize the man's contribution to the believability of his world, and rewarded him accordingly.
Khadmus 03-02-08, 02:26 PM	People seem to be stuck in "Commoner". Commoners aren't all common! If this person is high teens, then he can't be common - but he can be of the Commoner class. "Commoners" can be half-decent truenamers (Tome of Magic). "Commoners" can rack up large Diplomacy bonuses (Tome of Battle gives a feat that makes Diplomacy a class skill). "Commoners" (if evil) can rack up obscene Intimidate bonuses from all the +Intimidate feats out there.