Player: "I need to level up so I can do cool stuff!"

[Dannyalcatraz]

And it's been a good run for three sessions now, but last week one of the players said something that sort of "stuck in my craw" (a.k.a., the subject line of this post)--"I need to level up so I can do cool stuff!"

And is it just me, or is there something inherently.....not wrong, but disingenuous? Misguided, perhaps, in saying that?

I can't speak for your player, but when I make statements in that general category- which I fully confess to doing- I usually have a particular cool thing in mind that I want to do with that PC, something that I may consider to be so much cooler than all the other cool things he can do that it will almost be like a "signature move." So, for me, at least, it's not that the PC is not doing other cool things, it's that I want to do THAT cool thing.

And believe me, I'm SO not a munchkin or optimizer. In any given campaign in our group, my real name gets slapped on any PC who is at the tail end of combat effectiveness. As in "Bob is playing a "Danny character!*""







* no, "Danny" is not my name.

 

[fuzzlewump]

When it comes to offense, some times people choose to be offended. To take umbrage, to get their feathers ruffled.

Particularly over something that has no effect on you if you ignore it.

I think being offended is an emotional state one cannot help feel, at least initially, and emotions are just as real as kool-aid spilled, to the one feeling it. The question is what to do about those emotions, but I think it's more complicated than simply choosing whether or not to be offended. It's being offended and trying to ignore the emotion and move on. It's more difficult than just a choice.

We may very well agree completely here, so this isn't meant as an argument, just something I think needs to be brought up.

 

[The Shaman]

"I need to level up so I can do cool stuff!"

No, Grasshopper - you need to do cool stuff so you can level up.

Satori.

 

[Pentius]

Didn't catch what class he is, is it possible one of the abilities he gets at a certain level is core to his conception of the character?

 

[Rechan]

But at the same time, this attitude is very much the type of thing I'm frankly sick of dealing with when I roleplay. When he said it, I wish I would have said, "Why is 'doing cool stuff' limited to the stuff that's on your character sheet? You're telling me your character can't explore, interact, plot, discover, and fight using interesting tactics based on your current capabilities? As if suddenly when you get your next feat/spell/class ability you'll suddenly be able to 'play your character' better?"

I don't know you, and I don't know your game style or adventures.

But, in my experience there are quite a lot of DMs who like to throw "uncool" adventures at low level PCs. "Go kill the rats in the basement". "Go fight some skeletons." And if you don't want to go on that adventure, then you're not playing this week because hey that's the adventure. Typical first level adventures involve "delivering a message" or other paltry tasks. Many published dungeon crawls for first level PCs are "Hey there's some spooky lights in the woods, let's go look!" or "Hey guys let's poke around those old ruins at the edge of town".

There's an entire philosophy built on the idea that "In order to do cool things (at higher levels) you gotta earn your lumps being a nobody because that's who you are at level 1, a farmer who picked up a sword". Some may like it, but I find it condescending. "Aww he thinks he's a hero! Here, go fight some skeletons".

As a player I want to save the kingdom, not some farmer. I want to slay epic beasts of myth, not rats. I want to devise cunning defense strategies, stealth missions or clever cons, but those plans are wasted on the types of threats often thrown at low level PCs, because not only are those threats able to be overcome easily, but rarely is one in a situation to unleash those plans in the first place. I want to explore far and wide, and exploring as a 1st level PC means getting eaten up by powerful stuff in other areas.

Then there's the capabilities. If I'm a mage, it's "cool" to blow things up, to polymorph enemies into chickens, to dominate my enemies, to throw curses and summon great monsters. I can't really do that with the capabilities presented to a first level spellcaster. "Hey guys I can cast magic missile and summon a dire rat! They shall fear me."

As a DM, I try very hard to give a real serious, and important, tone to what the characters are doing - even at level 1.

 

[Hussar]

Like DannyA, I've been known to make the same sort of complaint from time to time. But, typically it's because I have some sort of goal for the character and I can't achieve that goal until a certain point in time.

For example, some time ago, I was playing a 3e Cleric that wanted to start his own following. He believed he was a chosen one and that he had all the right answers, so on and so forth. So, every chance I got, I preached to the crowds, tried to convert people, all the usual stuff and I was having fun doing it.

But, I also knew that I wasn't really going to get into the whole "cult leader" thing until at least 6th level when I could take Leadership because I knew the DM wasn't going to give me henchmen - he just wasn't interested in the idea of tracking groupies. Fair enough, I have no problems with that.

But, I was still stuck doing more or less the same thing over and over again for six or so levels until I could reach the next plateau in my plans. Later goals would have been building churches, gathering funds, the usual stuff. So, I had, more or less, achieved my immediate goals of preaching to the masses. I was perfectly willing to wait for my long term goals. I was just killing time until I could reach my intermediate goals.

So, yeah, I can empathize with the player who wants to reach level X so he can achieve his goal.

And, just to add something here. I've played in way more failed campaigns than successful ones. Campaigns that ended before achieving intermediate goals, never mind long term ones are far more common IME than not. So, never mind that I didn't achieve a particular goal in this campaign, it's entirely possible I haven't achieved a goal in the last four campaigns either. Tends to make me a bit antsy.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

* no, "Danny" is not my name.

Are you saying that Danny Alcatraz is your prison moniker?

The Auld Grump, we used to call him 'Jam', 'cause of how he made jelly out of glycerine in the tub at the old speak....

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Obviously I'm not going to fundamentally change him as a player, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do circumstantially to get him to temporarily look at his character from a different angle other than, "I can't cast level 3 spells yet, my sorcerer sucks"?

As a gamer sick to death of the low levels, I can generally sympathize with this sort of sentiment. (Even if for slightly different reasons.)

That said, if you really like the low levels, I suggest a friendly reply to his message in which you subtly remind him that you'd rather be playing. And maybe step on the XP pedal, just a little.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Are you saying that Danny Alcatraz is your prison moniker?

Not yet, but it may be some day.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Obviously I'm not going to fundamentally change him as a player, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do circumstantially to get him to temporarily look at his character from a different angle other than, "I can't cast level 3 spells yet, my sorcerer sucks"?

D&D is fundamentally a system where every level you can do cooler stuff than you did last level.

Spellcasters feel that even more keenly than other characters. Sorcerors even more (because at least a wizard can have the perfect spell in his spellbook. Sorcerors rarely do).

I'm not a pathfinder player, so perhaps the game has remedied this, but let's face it, outside of spells, a sorceror is pretty much a peasant. In fact he's often a little worse off than that, because he'll usually feel pressured to burn his precious 2 skill points per level on concentration and arcana, at the same time focussing on charisma as his primary stat which limits his "cool things that aren't spells" even further than most spellcasters.

You're not going to be able to stop him from looking at the greener pastures that come with being able to drop high level spells. Don't try.

But do try to give him some cool things to do now.