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Starting level of new characters.
- Thread starter mmu1
- Start date
My game is still pretty youngish, so all the characters started at 1st level, and completely new PCs started at 1st level while the rest of the party was still first level. Then, I didn't get any new players until the party was a mix of 2nd and 3rd level, so the new PCs started at 2nd level, but only just enough to be 2nd level (while the existing PCs were somewhere around halfway to 3rd). Character deaths thus far have all been due to departing players, and at the current party level, character death is permanent (should I ever get one of the PCs whose player is still active. I came close once, with a PC down to 1hp).
MarauderX
Explorer
We have had a few players join a campaign I am a player in and they started out at about the average party XP. Then my PC was killed, and my next PC started out with EXACTLY HALF of my old PC's XP. Now you may think this is about equivalent to starting at one level lower, it is not.
My 3rd level PC that almost died was luckily almost 4th, or else he would have been the only 2nd level character hanging out with everyone else who was 4th. Again I hear the Iron DM's say, "what's wrong with that?" and my reply is lack of equality. While I shouldn't worry about it and go with the adventure, having an arcane caster with half the XP that the rest of the party has doesn't make you very effective in an encounter, let alone multiple ones on the same day. It sucked, I am done venting, and since I felt I couldn't compete with the other PCs I took a PC that is all about role-playing now instead of skills, feats and abilities (a Bard) and am happy again.
My 3rd level PC that almost died was luckily almost 4th, or else he would have been the only 2nd level character hanging out with everyone else who was 4th. Again I hear the Iron DM's say, "what's wrong with that?" and my reply is lack of equality. While I shouldn't worry about it and go with the adventure, having an arcane caster with half the XP that the rest of the party has doesn't make you very effective in an encounter, let alone multiple ones on the same day. It sucked, I am done venting, and since I felt I couldn't compete with the other PCs I took a PC that is all about role-playing now instead of skills, feats and abilities (a Bard) and am happy again.
Mathew_Freeman
First Post
Equal to the lowest level character.
However, my DM gives out a LOT less starting gold than recommended, which makes a lot of difference.
However, my DM gives out a LOT less starting gold than recommended, which makes a lot of difference.
Eldragon
First Post
I have my own system that seems to work pretty well.
The New PC loses a level and is at 1/2 the XP towards the old level (just like Raise Dead). However. The PC also gets to retain all XP from that day's session, including XP gained from the (now dead) character.
If the Newly dead character would have leveled up, but I had not handed out XP yet (I do it at the end of the day), I generally apply the new level, Then apply the XP penalty.
However if the PC died from being stupid, or betraying the party, I will set the new PC 2 levels belows the lowest member of the party.
The New PC loses a level and is at 1/2 the XP towards the old level (just like Raise Dead). However. The PC also gets to retain all XP from that day's session, including XP gained from the (now dead) character.
If the Newly dead character would have leveled up, but I had not handed out XP yet (I do it at the end of the day), I generally apply the new level, Then apply the XP penalty.
However if the PC died from being stupid, or betraying the party, I will set the new PC 2 levels belows the lowest member of the party.
I wasn't really talking about replacing dead characters as much as just newcomers to the group, but... The way I've been handling character death lately is as follows:
1. You get any XP that was due you (including the XP for the session in which you died).
2. You loose 1/2 as much XP as it cost you to go up from the previous level to the one you died at (so, a 4th level character looses 1500 xp, for example) - this is subtracted from any XP you got in #1 first.
3. See what level you're at with your new XP total.
I do this mainly because I really dislike the fact that by the core rules, you loose any XP for the session that killed you outright, regardless of amount, and then again loose a random amount of XP based on how close you were to leveling - which means that because of chance, someone who just leveled might effectively loose little more than 1/2 a level, while someone who was, say, 250 XP from leveling, will suddenly end up being 2 level lower than if he lived through the ecnounter. Too much inequality for my taste, and too much potential for putting party members far apart in terms of power.
1. You get any XP that was due you (including the XP for the session in which you died).
2. You loose 1/2 as much XP as it cost you to go up from the previous level to the one you died at (so, a 4th level character looses 1500 xp, for example) - this is subtracted from any XP you got in #1 first.
3. See what level you're at with your new XP total.
I do this mainly because I really dislike the fact that by the core rules, you loose any XP for the session that killed you outright, regardless of amount, and then again loose a random amount of XP based on how close you were to leveling - which means that because of chance, someone who just leveled might effectively loose little more than 1/2 a level, while someone who was, say, 250 XP from leveling, will suddenly end up being 2 level lower than if he lived through the ecnounter. Too much inequality for my taste, and too much potential for putting party members far apart in terms of power.
I always start new characters at the same level as the lowest level PC currently in the game. It doesn't make sense to me to penalize someone for being new or dying.
As far as experience loss goes, here is how I handle it. As with the regular rules the spell that you use to bring a character back from the dead determines the amount of experience lost.
If it is Raise Dead you lose enough experience points to bring you down to the starting point of your current level.
If it is Resurrection or Reincarnation you lose half of the experience points that you have earned for your current level.
If it is True Resurrection or True Reincarnation you lose nothing.
As far as experience loss goes, here is how I handle it. As with the regular rules the spell that you use to bring a character back from the dead determines the amount of experience lost.
If it is Raise Dead you lose enough experience points to bring you down to the starting point of your current level.
If it is Resurrection or Reincarnation you lose half of the experience points that you have earned for your current level.
If it is True Resurrection or True Reincarnation you lose nothing.
PaulGreystoke
First Post
Other
I start the new character at 75% of the maximum inidividual XP awarded in the campaign. So far this has always worked out as 75% of the XP of the highest level character(s) because I have always had 2 players that always show up for every session. If we game, they are there.
This works out to about 1 level, which feels right. I don't want to penalize a new player much, but I also want to reward the players that have been making the commitment to play since the start. In 1e & 2e I used 50% of the maximum individual XP awarded in the campaign, since the XP required to level back then more-or-less doubled up to "name" level (about 10) & we didn't play much above that.
I start the new character at 75% of the maximum inidividual XP awarded in the campaign. So far this has always worked out as 75% of the XP of the highest level character(s) because I have always had 2 players that always show up for every session. If we game, they are there.
This works out to about 1 level, which feels right. I don't want to penalize a new player much, but I also want to reward the players that have been making the commitment to play since the start. In 1e & 2e I used 50% of the maximum individual XP awarded in the campaign, since the XP required to level back then more-or-less doubled up to "name" level (about 10) & we didn't play much above that.
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