Level Spread in Your Party?

[Schmoe]

In the game in which I'm a player, we have two 15th level characters, a bevy of 11th level characters, and a 9th level Bard. Combat basically amounts to the two mages plus the two 15th level characters (Cleric and Fighter), while the rest stand around and watch. Personally, I think the level spread decreases the enjoyment of the game, especially for the bard's player.

In the game I DM, the level spread is 5-6. I plan on implementing an experience system that will gradually work to even everyone's level.

My opinion can basically be summed up as such:

Those who show up every session to play usually do not feel cheated if characters of those who aren't present get a share of experience. After all, they had the enjoyment of playing. Those who play characters that begin to lag significantly will typically find their enjoyment of the game likewise lagging, causing them to miss more sessions. The solution is to keep everyone on a relatively even playing field.

 

[SableWyvern]

I'm not certain whether or not this system will work - the party is currently level 3-4 (plus one character on 2999XP), and it's my first 3e campaign, so I'm not wholly aware of higher level balance issues.

Anyway, a new character will start at the following level, based on average party level:

APL/New Character Level
1-3/1 4-5/2 6/3 7/4 8/5 9-10/6 11-12/7 13+/APL-5.

 

[S'mon]

In the absence of a TPK I tend to start new PCs with half the XP of the player's previous character. Totally new players' PCs can start at the same level as the lowest-level current PC, with minimum XP for that level.

OTOH if I'm running a low-level game with no PCs over 2nd level I like to start all new PCs off at 1st level on 0 XP.

 

[Rashak Mani]

At most we have 2 lvls behind... anymore and its too hard for them to survive. Since they do need less XP to progress they tend to catch up fairly quickly.

 

[Kiir]

I don't mind a slight level spread in my party, but I don't really like anything more then about 2 levels, or the lower level players feel frustrated. In the game I am playing in the group ranges from level 4 to 7, and that is about as far as I would want to go, in most of my games, we haven't actually had any combat with the level 4 character involved yet, so I am not sure how well she will do combatwise.


In the games I DM I tend to let new players or players who's characters died come in at the lowest level of the group so that the level spread isn't too bad. In one game I have a group of level 4s and 5s, and in the other I have a group of level 2s and 3s. It doesn't bother me, as long as the group stays within about 3 levels of the highest player.

 

[Darklone]

Grrrw

In the group where I play, we got all from lvl5 to lvl11.

lvl5 monk
lvl4/2 fighter/rogue
lvl6 sorcerer (henchman of the fighter)
lvl3/2/1 bard barbarian rogue (died lately)
lvl9 fighter
lvl9 priest
lvl6/5 wizard/priest

It's awful. My char started quite low and was slowly (with a lot of munchkinminmaxing) starting to influence the outcome of the parties actions a bit, then he died. Consider the fact that even the 2nd char henchman of the big basher is as high as the three "newbies" (we joined 3 years ago!)

Now two of the three biggies died... all without level loss. the youngster keep dying more often.... and get raised. Situation was even worse when we still had another henchman lvl7 dwarven fighter (played by the player of the lvl11 char).

Problem is: the lvl5 monk sucks in combat compared to the lvl9 fighter a lot. The fighter rogue is our trapspringer, but only his tendency towards archery from behind the mages keeps him alive. My char is a jack of all trades and thus useful for nearly everything the party does, but since he lost the lvl4 bard he's gonna be at a loss now too. Since the sorcerer is a simple buff up char for the fighter (fly, invisibility for the fighter all the time), we are often merely watching. And if combat starts, we have to fight lvl10 fighters and lvl12 clerics. To challenge the high level party members.

My char died with a lot of bad luck as he tried to help out (what he did) the lvl5 monk against a fighter who kicked the ass of our fighter before that one got held (person). I first dragged the fighter away then nearly killed the enemy priest then hurried to help the monk. Who survived. I guess the player of the monk would have quitted if she had died. Or at least started a new char.

 

[Wolfspirit]

I try to avoid having more than one or two levels in the games I DM. From my own experience, a character that is half the level of the rest of the party either is going to be bored or dead most of the time (This includes if you're 3 and the rest of the party is 6).

Just my 2cp

 

[hong]

I try to avoid having more than one or two levels in the games I DM. From my own experience, a character that is half the level of the rest of the party either is going to be bored or dead most of the time (This includes if you're 3 and the rest of the party is 6).

If you're not already, you should try using the FRCS rules for XP awards. They really act to equalise character levels quickly.

 

[Skullfyre]

My party ranges from level 7 to level 9. But the level 7 characters are close to being level 8 and the level 9 characters can not advance to the actual level nine status until I get them into a town or a hamlet

 

[EOL]

Re: Grrrw

In the group where I play, we got all from lvl5 to lvl11.

Problem is: the lvl5 monk sucks in combat compared to the lvl9 fighter a lot. The fighter rogue is our trapspringer, but only his tendency towards archery from behind the mages keeps him alive. My char is a jack of all trades and thus useful for nearly everything the party does, but since he lost the lvl4 bard he's gonna be at a loss now too. Since the sorcerer is a simple buff up char for the fighter (fly, invisibility for the fighter all the time), we are often merely watching. And if combat starts, we have to fight lvl10 fighters and lvl12 clerics. To challenge the high level party members.

Yeah I think this definitely illustrates why too much spread is a bad idea. This doesn't sound like a lot of fun.