I recently posted on Bluesky that in 5E you could call Level 1 "Level 0" and Level 2 "Level 1/2", and then level 3 becomes level 1 - because there was an expectation that experienced players would start at level 3.
And then apparently Mike Mearls had already had the same idea for his new RPG (something similar at least!)
Levels 1 & 2 are there to teach new players the mechanics of their class slowly. (This is somewhat ruined by 2024 and weapon masteries).
The problem is, levels 1 and 2--and to an extent even levels 3 and 4!--have to serve
three masters.
Master the First: "New players don't know what's going on. They need a gentle introduction that won't overwhelm them, so they can develop confidence and become happy, engaged players."
Master the Second: "Old-school fans need to have at least a
period of extreme, ever-present danger, otherwise they won't feel their victories are earned. They need a brutal introduction that won't coddle them, so they can feel comfortable with their successes (and failures)."
Master the Third: "Various subsets of the fanbase desire observable, organic growth, so they want to
see the character develop. They need a baseline introduction that won't presuppose things, so they can feel their characters actually journeyed and evolved."
The problem is, all three of these masters demand
different results. You cannot meaningfully serve all three masters with one, singular, equally-applied set of rules. It just isn't possible, and throwing DMs to the wolves by telling them "eh, we made a system,
you figure out how to squeeze the game you want out of it" is not an acceptable response.
It's more than a little annoying, though, that Mearls and others are
finally discovering the benefits of Novice Levels + Incremental Advances and how such things can make for a much smoother, better experience for all three groups, by enabling a single set of rules that can be
tailored to each group's needs and preferences. Folks introducing totally brand-new players can confidently use Novice Levels where the PCs have a lot of
health, but not very many
actions, so that the new players aren't overwhelmed but also aren't being blitzed by the meatgrinder--all without having to put on "kid gloves" with fights or being hyper-selective about what opponents the PCs face. Old-school fans can have their mega-brutal ultra-lethality meatgrinder introductory experience, and they can stretch out the levelling process almost indefinitely while still
feeling progress in concrete, but small, steps. And folks who want organic growth now have a whole
spectrum of options to choose from, everything from "you start out with nothing, build your character through your choices" all the way up to "you're basically an nth-level character, but without a class...
yet" and anything in-between.
I don't get on a soapbox about this for nothing. It really, truly is a way to serve
all of the different masters here, AND do so in a way that doesn't shortchange any players. Everyone gets the same content--everyone plays through all 20 or 10 or 30 or whatever levels--but some play through it more....thoroughgoingly than others.
