While bored at work, Radiostorm and I will sometimes hop on Facebook to discuss mundane and nerdy things. One of our recurring topics is that of The Ultimate Fantasy Party. That’s party as in “a group of people”, not party as in having a grand ol’ time with your friends. We generally debate the merits of classic and contemporary fantasy characters, and their place within an organized group.
A few weeks ago, RS suggested that we should do a write-up on this topic for the website. I agreed whole-heartedly, but eventually decided to take it a step further by opening it up to the community. That’s right, we want to hear what your ultimate fantasy group is! Do a quick write-up for us and we’ll feature it on the website. The rules are as follows:
1) Your party must consist of five characters. The first four must fit broadly into the traditional fantasy archetypes (fighter, rogue, priest, wizard), with the addition of one wildcard character of your choice.
2) Your characters must be drawn primarily from fantasy sources (not science fiction). I’d like to keep technology to a minimum, so let’s say nothing more advanced than steampunk
3) Although the focus is on medieval times, going back further (greek, roman, mesopotamian, etc…) is alright too.
4) Movies, books, television, video games and mythology are all fair game.
5) No super-uber characters. I don’t want to see the medieval equivalent of Superman popping up.
6) Finally, characters cannot be user created. PCs made in a player’s own video games or PnP adventures are not applicable. This includes “blank slate” characters, who don’t really have an inherent skillset (the protagonist from Skyrim, for example)
A good party example would be: Sir Lancelot (Fighter, Arthurian Legend), Aladdin (Rogue, Middle Eastern Folklore), Rosa (Priest, Final Fantasy IV), Gandalf (Wizard, Lord of the Rings) and Drizzt Do’Urden (Wildcard, Forgotten Realms). A bad party example would be: The Incredible Hulk (Fighter), Batman (Rogue), The Pope (Cleric), The Ice King (Wizard) and Dan Marino (Wildcard). Please take the time to write up why you picked each individual character, and why you think the character is the best in their respective archetype. Deadline for submissions is Friday, February 17th. If I receive submissions from more than 5 people then I will offer up a meager retro-gaming prize to whomever has the most creatively explained, well constructed party. You can email your party setup to me directly, or just post it in the comments section below.
