D&D 5E What proportion of the population are adventurers?

[Sepulchrave II]

I think that the implicit assumption that "Adventuring Parties" are kind of common has been around for a long time.

The 1e DMG has groups of human characters as one of the most common random encounters; B/X explicitly calls out "Adventurers (NPC Party)" in its random encounter tables, with 1 in 20 of all wilderness encounters falling into this type.

 

[Doug McCrae]

The 1e DMG has groups of human characters as one of the most common random encounters; B/X explicitly calls out "Adventurers (NPC Party)" in its random encounter tables, with 1 in 20 of all wilderness encounters falling into this type.

Which may derive from the very large numbers of PCs and henchmen in OD&D. OD&D recommends a ratio of 1 DM to 20 players. Each of those players would have numerous PCs in addition to NPC henchmen. If "The Dungeon" isn't unique, but one of many, then it's reasonable to assume that the world is full of adventurers.

 

[was]

IMO, about 1% of the population

 

[the Jester]

My campaign is centered on the last city after the fall of civilization. There are roughly 50,000 people in it- the final outpost of humanity and the 'civilized' races. Of these, I figure there are about 100 to 250 "adventurers" as we think of them, almost all of whom are either pcs or will be as more pcs get made over time. So, somewhere between 1 person in 200 and 1 person in 500 are actual adventurers.

 

[Legatus Legionis]

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[Charlaquin]

It depends on how you define “adventurer.” If an adventurer is just someone who goes on adventures, fairly common. If an adventurer is someone who makes their living primarily by adventuring, quite rare. If adventurer is a meta-game concept to describe characters who have, and advance in, class levels, basically just the PCs, their sidekicks if they have any, and maybe an occasional major antagonist or rival.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Heh. It really depends on which sources you want to read. FRCS pegs it at about 150 000 ish. In any case, 2 million is a ludicrous number for a city that size. I mean, the inside of the walls are less than 5 miles by 2 miles. 2 hundred thousand people per square mile? That's a bit much.

I agree, but you might be interested to know that Constantinople was 2.3 square miles within the Constantinian walls and 5.4 sq. miles within the Theodosian walls, and sported a population of 500,000 at the time of Justinian and 800,000 at its height. So population/walled area could be, without any Forgotten Realm logistic-shattering magic, be near the value you mention. Part of the population (but not 90%...) would be living outside the walls and still be counted as part of the population (for taxation purpose).

Let us be clear - Manhattan island has a population density of about 72,000 people per square mile. So, we are talking about Waterdeep thus having about 3 times the population density of the most densely populated urban area on Earth.

The city of Paris, within its 1860 boundaries, reached a population of 2.7 millions inhabitants in 1901, for an area of 40 square miles. It's basically the same as current Manhattan, without skyscrappers or modern logistics.

The Song capital of Kaifeng, estimated to have a urban population of 700,000 inhabitants, was enclosed within a 19 square miles wall (taking the outer wall dimensions, which included less densely populated areas). OK, it's half that of Manhattan but it was in the 11th century.

 

[NotAYakk]

0%. Adventurer is not an occupation. The PCs are unique, in that nobody else is a "member of that class".

Now, there are people who cast spells from spellbooks, but they aren't members of the "wizard class". The Champion is a pseudo-Fighter (like, 15th level), but isn't a 15th level Fighter.

The powerful elf-wizards did not become powerful by wandering through dungeons as kids. They got there via study and practice over centuries. Similarly, powerful human mages. They probably also cheated, with life-extension, borrowing or stealing power, etc.

The fact that the PCs can go from zeros to demigods that fast is extraordinary in world, and requires a plot explanation in each campaign.

 

[DND_Reborn]

0%. Adventurer is not an occupation. The PCs are unique, in that nobody else is a "member of that class".

Now, there are people who cast spells from spellbooks, but they aren't members of the "wizard class". The Champion is a pseudo-Fighter (like, 15th level), but isn't a 15th level Fighter.

The powerful elf-wizards did not become powerful by wandering through dungeons as kids. They got there via study and practice over centuries. Similarly, powerful human mages. They probably also cheated, with life-extension, borrowing or stealing power, etc.

The fact that the PCs can go from zeros to demigods that fast is extraordinary in world, and requires a plot explanation in each campaign.

Interesting. So, you don't have something like a "retired" adventurer that might be a 9th level Fighter or something?

 

[NotAYakk]

Interesting. So, you don't have something like a "retired" adventurer that might be a 9th level Fighter or something?

No, I don't want "adventurer" to be a job.

Think LOTR -- there are badasses out there. But they aren't people who "went on an adventure" and made a career out of it. The adventure -- destroying the Ring of Sauron -- is something that happened to some people, and it was a singular event, not a career.

The PCs are on an adventure. They aren't adventurers. This isn't their life.

They are someone sent to fix a trade problem, or a guard of a sage doing research, or a local guide. And they run into something strange and wondrous, and get swept up in something huge.