There are relationships like parents, friends, townsfolk, farmers, jarls, lendermenn, etc that respond to the adventurers in ways that are not typical to a setting like Forgotten Realms or Lord of the Rings. Heroes in those settings follow the epic tradition and often—although not always—enjoy a triumphant return back into the community after doing something heroic. In most heroic quests, the adventurers are welcomed back into the fold of civilization or at least not shunned. At no point are your typical fantasy heroes overwhelmingly feared, cast out, disowned, ridiculed, looked down upon, or systematically taken advantage of by the average townsfolk.
In Torchbearer, adventurers are literal “zeroes” and have no Precedence. They are in the same social strata as thralls and outcasts, have no clan accountability, live outside the norms, and are feared because of it. That doesn’t mean they are bad guys or anti-heroes though. I think the whole ‘adventurer as an outsider’ concept creates a sympathetic pathos that makes us love these characters all the more for their flaws and the adversity that they face.
The Dread Crypt illustrates this disparity. On SG, p. 258, at the conclusion of the adventure, Lady Gry enacts a new law that makes defiling a tomb punishable by execution. There’s a lot to unpack there (certainly this is aimed at preventing future problems), but the subtext is also clear that the adventurers have dodged a bullet this time but not the next.
On the next page, SG p. 259, again the subtext continues:
You’re No Hero
No matter what the adventurers do, they will never be welcomed as heroes in the village.
Even if they should rescue Jora and drive out Haathor-Vash, they will be shunned. The villagers will see in them their own shame for tampering with the crypt; they’ll see in them the memory of the dead children; and they’ll resent the adventurers because the village required outsiders to solve its own problems.
Still lots to unpack for another time within there, but the key piece is that the adventurers are outsiders—the source of the villager’s shame.
If players expect to start as heroes and always to always be loved, lauded, and praised for their good deeds, then they might bump up against a few passages and mechanics that really only make sense if you follow the general conceit that adventurers are outsiders and outcasts. In my experience, players that assume to be treated as ‘heroes’ get confused when a result in town means you get kicked out, or can’t use the market, or because you’ve outworn your welcome.
In the Middarmark, a hero is typically a deceased ancestor that did some notable deed, but adventurers are clanless orphans and outcasts. For example, Beren is an oathbreaker and an outcast. There is no real path back into the clan within the strict confines of dvergar society. There is nothing for him but blood and treasure (and Karolina perhaps). He will never be triumphantly welcomed back in Nidavellir, however, he can make a name for himself, accomplish legendary deeds, increase Precedence, and gain titles and status within a heroic character arc.
To contrast, in Forgotten Realms, there are more living heroes running around than you can shake a wand at. Every day there is some archmage defeating some demon, there is an adventurers’ guild, and villagers often throw their hard-earned coins at these heroes to save the day. Those things don’t exist or aren’t very typical in Torchbearer. In Torchbearer, you may be rewarded, make friends, and be heralded as a savior for the day, but you will not be welcomed to stay because you are a clanless outsider and considered an unknown entity, a wild card, or a dangerous force on the edge of Chaos.
To bring it all together, when you create your character, you are asked to explain how you got into this mess (the context of being a destitute adventurer with no other options).
Maybe you stole from your parents or friends, the book suggests. If you are an orphan, there is some heirloom that you possess that at some point you might have to sell just to buy some torches. Under normal circumstances, even if your parents were too poor to support you, the point of a tribal structure and life within a clan is that there would be some relative that would take you under their wing and you would work for them. But you’re not living with your tribe and doing the family trade. You are no longer contributing to your clan. All you do is take from your poor parents. You can stay with them for free, and in a base camp they will feed you at their own expense. Your friends will loan you money just to be rid of you.
Elsewhere, peasantfolk are forbidden from interacting with you.
LMM, p. 180
In most settlements, it is illegal for adventurers to so much as talk with laborers, farmers and herders; it is likewise illegal for the peasant folk to do any business whatsoever outside of a market. Violating these terms is punishable by hanging.
Furthermore, lendermenn treat you as “guests” to do their dirty work, and you are not welcome in the mead halls of the karls.
None of these things are dealbreakers, and you can reframe them to fit most settings. Many of these points are so subtle that maybe your players won’t even notice. You certainly don’t have to make any tweaks to play the game, but, in my experience, you either need to set player expectations toward ‘not-starting-as-a-hero’ or account for some of those town results and mechanics.
