Famous Ancestor
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Basic Information

A character with a Famous Ancestor is someone who is a descendant of someone who did something really spectacular. The implications for the character vary - maybe he only gets bragging rights (which might or might not be accepted by those around him), but he could also inherit a fortune or magical artifacts, or even supernatural powers.

See Also

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Bibliography

Game and Story Use

  • A good way to justify special powers, equipment and so forth in a character's backstory. It also gives the game master all sorts of plot hooks - an extended family, missing relatives, various secrets surrounding the ancestor, and so forth.
  • The Famous Ancestor may also appear occasionally as an NPC, either as a ghost, or possibly as advice in an old journal or past-life flashbacks or maybe he's still alive living in an Old Heroes Home or something.
  • Having a Famous Ancestor could also be the reason why the character does what he does; he feels he has to live up to his family's reputation.
    • Or maybe live it down, if his Ancestor was famous for something he's ashamed of. How would you like to be Benedict Arnold's great-great-grandson?
      • This could be a two sided thing - for example, whilst most people still respect the legacy of, say, Cecil Rhodes and obnoxious minority have recently begun to declare it something to be ashamed of - being descended from that man himself could garner different reactions depending on who you're dealing with. Characters such as Custer, Pershing and the like can easily be substituted for US readers…
    • Just as likely, everyone else expects far more from him because of his ancestor.
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