Would you allow an extra background instead of Feat?

[plisnithus8]

We’re about to start Dragon Heist.
And maybe start as zero-level characters (picking up classes later) - she’ll be a glamour bard eventually.

And, thanks to you all, we will blend a little Entertainer into Noble for Granducha Vigorella Operata (her stage name).
Her servants: a pair of forest gnome twins stands on each others’ shoulders to help her get in costume, do make-up, hair, etc. and travel with her using their minor illusions if things get scary. The other servant is a rock gnome who has 3 clockwork devices: a metronome/tuner, an alarm clock, and an auto pen that can (only) forge GeeVO’s name for her fans.

That leaves a Feat available so she’ll probably take Inspiring Leader.

 

[neogod22]

I never saw the point in starting characters at lvl 0. Is this supposed to be 10yrs before the characters decide to become adventurers, or do they all of a sudden magically acquire the skills that they should've spent years of training before starting the adventure when they reach lvl 1? Or do you just skip lvl 1 all together since it only takes 300xp to reach lvl 2?

 

[BookBarbarian]

My current character background is a blend of Uthgardt Tribe Member and Mercenary Veteren. I only got one feature and equipment, but I mixed and matched the skills to fit both.

I works well and I like how it feels unique.

 

[Satyrn]

I'd allow it.

Indeed, if it worked well in this case I'd be considering rewriting the variant human so that's how it works all the time. It sounds far more flavorful than getting a feat.

 

[plisnithus8]

I never saw the point in starting characters at lvl 0. Is this supposed to be 10yrs before the characters decide to become adventurers, or do they all of a sudden magically acquire the skills that they should've spent years of training before starting the adventure when they reach lvl 1? Or do you just skip lvl 1 all together since it only takes 300xp to reach lvl 2?

The point - for us at least - is that playing level zero is fun.
We run into a single orc and run away because he has a bow and we are unarmed since we are only using what backgrounds give us.
We have to role-play and talk our way through almost every situation, and we don't have much skill at anything.
It's a great contrast to a higher level character with multiple attacks or buckets of spell slots.
It brings a party together in many ways.

Why would going from level zero to level to level take 10 years and then going up from there be almost instantaneous?
Ten years seems like an incredibly long time to get to first level anyway, and gaining levels (and all that goes with that) without additional training seems to bend logic anyway.
We don't skip level 1, not sure why that would happen.

 

[MNblockhead]

Not as part of level advancement. Your background is where you came from. What you were doing before becoming an adventurer. But I will work with players to come up with custome backgrounds.

 

[Salthorae]

It’s not too bad a swap but like others have said I’d just do a blend of the two and then take prodigy feat to get expertise in Perform!

 

[plisnithus8]

Not as part of level advancement. Your background is where you came from. What you were doing before becoming an adventurer. But I will work with players to come up with custome backgrounds.

It’s meant for just 1st level (or zero level in this specific case).

 

[MNblockhead]

I never saw the point in starting characters at lvl 0. Is this supposed to be 10yrs before the characters decide to become adventurers, or do they all of a sudden magically acquire the skills that they should've spent years of training before starting the adventure when they reach lvl 1? Or do you just skip lvl 1 all together since it only takes 300xp to reach lvl 2?

Well, first-level characters are already assumed to have some experience under their belt and, in most settings, are already more skilled and powerful than most people in the world. Zero level is pre-class.

I love level-0 games. I use the Dungeon Crawl Classics zero-level funnel and apply to 5e. Basically each player get four zero-level characters. In a way, because of backgrounds, it is more fun than DCC. In DCC you just have your stats and some equipment that make sense for your mundane background.

The idea is that most of the characters are going to die. Typically, the first adventure will either be a group of brave non-adventurers brought together by some event that would lead a fairly large group to come together to address, e.g.:

• A posse is put together to hunt down some baddies, free someone captured from the village, exact justice on someone who wronged the people of the village, etc.
• A sink hold appeared below Abe's house, and Abe and his house fell into some ancient ruins that nobody knows were located under his farm. A brave group goes to investigate and hopefully save Abe.
• A group of people of all walks of life is enjoying a traveling circus, which is actually a group of cultist who plans to perform dark rituals and human sacrifices.

You get the idea. In a four-player game, there will be 12 characters, in a 6 player game there will be 24, so it needs to be a scenario where that will work. It won't be a stealth job. The idea is that most of them are going to die. Of those that survive, you select one and choose a class.

I work well because it gives an origin story to the party that the players play an active role in making. It works best as part of a session zero so that nobody is disappointed if they were expected to come in with a 1st level character with a rich backstory written up and expecting to have plot armor protecting their precious, single character.

 

[Harzel]

The point - for us at least - is that playing level zero is fun.
We run into a single orc and run away because he has a bow and we are unarmed since we are only using what backgrounds give us.
We have to role-play and talk our way through almost every situation, and we don't have much skill at anything.
It's a great contrast to a higher level character with multiple attacks or buckets of spell slots.
It brings a party together in many ways.

Why would going from level zero to level to level take 10 years and then going up from there be almost instantaneous?
Ten years seems like an incredibly long time to get to first level anyway, and gaining levels (and all that goes with that) without additional training seems to bend logic anyway.
We don't skip level 1, not sure why that would happen.

Well, first-level characters are already assumed to have some experience under their belt and, in most settings, are already more skilled and powerful than most people in the world. Zero level is pre-class.

I love level-0 games. I use the Dungeon Crawl Classics zero-level funnel and apply to 5e. Basically each player get four zero-level characters. In a way, because of backgrounds, it is more fun than DCC. In DCC you just have your stats and some equipment that make sense for your mundane background.

The idea is that most of the characters are going to die. Typically, the first adventure will either be a group of brave non-adventurers brought together by some event that would lead a fairly large group to come together to address, e.g.:

• A posse is put together to hunt down some baddies, free someone captured from the village, exact justice on someone who wronged the people of the village, etc.
• A sink hold appeared below Abe's house, and Abe and his house fell into some ancient ruins that nobody knows were located under his farm. A brave group goes to investigate and hopefully save Abe.
• A group of people of all walks of life is enjoying a traveling circus, which is actually a group of cultist who plans to perform dark rituals and human sacrifices.

You get the idea. In a four-player game, there will be 12 characters, in a 6 player game there will be 24, so it needs to be a scenario where that will work. It won't be a stealth job. The idea is that most of them are going to die. Of those that survive, you select one and choose a class.

I work well because it gives an origin story to the party that the players play an active role in making. It works best as part of a session zero so that nobody is disappointed if they were expected to come in with a 1st level character with a rich backstory written up and expecting to have plot armor protecting their precious, single character.

I had not really thought much about starting at level 0 before, but it sounds kind of interesting. How do you decide when to level up to 1st level? (Not looking for one 'right' answer, just wondering what each of you chose to do.) I guess it could even be just whenever the PCs themselves decide they are tired of getting their butts kicked and want to get on the road to being a badass.