Why Adventuring Parties Should Never Be Trusted
If you owned a tavern in a fantasy world, which group would concern you more?
A dragon.
Or seven adventurers.
The dragon probably wants livestock, treasure, or perhaps the occasional kingdom. Its goals are usually straightforward.
Adventurers, on the other hand, arrive with a remarkable ability to turn ordinary situations into memorable disasters. Within a few hours they will have discovered a conspiracy, offended a local noble, acquired a mysterious artefact, started a fight, and accidentally accepted responsibility for saving the world.
The dragon, by comparison, seems refreshingly predictable.
Every Adventuring Party Contains At Least One Liability
Fantasy adventuring parties are built around a simple principle:
No matter how competent the group appears, at least one member is an ongoing threat to public safety.
There is usually:
A knight with more courage than common sense.
A wizard conducting dangerous experiments.
A thief with an extremely flexible understanding of ownership.
A barbarian who believes every problem can be solved with sufficient enthusiasm.
An assassin who somehow makes everyone uncomfortable simply by standing quietly in the corner.
Individually these people are concerning.
Together they become heroes.
Fantasy has never adequately explained why.
Competent Parties Are Boring
The most memorable adventuring parties are rarely the most efficient.
Consider some of fantasy’s greatest groups.
They argue.
They make mistakes.
They disagree on plans.
Sometimes they disagree on whether there should be a plan at all.
The Fellowship of the Ring was compelling because its members had different goals, personalities, and perspectives. If everyone had immediately agreed on everything, the story would have been considerably shorter and substantially less interesting.
Perfect teams solve problems.
Dysfunctional teams create stories.
Readers generally prefer stories.
The Problem With Giving Adventurers Authority
Fantasy worlds routinely place enormous responsibility in the hands of adventurers.
This seems unwise.
Most sensible people avoid cursed ruins, haunted forests, ancient tombs, and mysterious portals.
Adventurers actively seek them out.
Presented with a sign reading:
DO NOT ENTER
Most people leave.
Adventurers interpret it as a challenge.
Presented with a sealed door guarded by ancient warnings, they immediately begin discussing how best to open it.
History suggests this is rarely a good idea.
Why Readers Love Them
For all their flaws, adventuring parties remain one of fantasy’s most enduring traditions.
The reason is simple.
They become families.
Messy families.
Loud families.
Occasionally destructive families.
But families nonetheless.
Readers enjoy watching friendships develop, loyalties form, and unlikely companions learn to trust one another. The arguments, disagreements, and mistakes often reveal more about a character than any heroic speech ever could.
It is not their strengths that make adventuring parties memorable.
It is their flaws.
The Companions of Ashes & Embers
The companions of Ashes & Embers possess many admirable qualities.
Reliability is not generally considered one of them.
A knight determined to do the right thing.
A mage whose ambition occasionally exceeds his caution.
A barbarian who spends more time reading than fighting.
A thief who sees opportunity everywhere, but carries a guilty conscience for it.
A priestess tasked with keeping everyone alive, and absolutely hating it.
A claustrophobic dwarf who is scared of the dark, attempting to maintain some semblance of order.
And an assassin who somehow manages to be the least alarming person in the room on certain occasions.
Individually they are capable.
Collectively they become something far more entertaining.
In Conclusion
If a group of adventurers arrives in your town, it is probably best to take sensible precautions.
Lock away anything valuable.
Secure any ancient artefacts.
Hide cursed relics.
Keep an eye on suspicious wizards.
Prepare for property damage.
The good news is they will probably save the world.
The bad news is they will almost certainly leave a mess behind.
Ashes & Embers is the first novel in the Voidshatter series, a humorous fantasy adventure set in the world of Axalar.
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