1st level forever: an experiment

[DaveMage]

I think it may be a fascinating experiment to try (or rather, for someone who is not me to try, and report back to me) - if characters were, say, 10th level all the time. You can throw a very wide range of monsters at PCs this way - from multiple CR 1s to a CR 14(ish).

This way, spellcasters have a solid power base; fighters can stay in a fight for a while; and monks and druids don't suck.

 

[Saeviomagy]

I'm in the camp that says no advancement is boring.

Really, really boring.

Basically every game out there has some sort of "the characters get a bit better". If nothing else, it lets you develop a character.

With your system, suppose I make a wilderness character and the game moves into a king's court? I'm stuffed. Totally and unavoidably stuffed. I can NEVER get good at chatting up royalty. I'm stuck with my now-useless survival skill.

I'd suggest if you want grim-n-gritty, either use unearthed arcana's damage save mechanic (where every hit could be crippling) OR just use a different system altogether. My personal fave would be godlike/wild talents.

 

[Kelleris]

I've considered running a mid-level game where I give out no XP and instead advance the PCs by means of storyline-type things, like gaining a level in Sorcerer when you bind the demon lord into your service. First level always would be horrible, though. *shudder*

 

[Dorloran]

I've been toying with the idea along the lines of a 5th level forever campaign--I think this could be fun. As Andy Collins once remarked, all the interesting monsters are around this CR anyway. And that CR 12 Dragon that lives in the hills?? Better have a plan before you go there.

Rewards would still be needed for "leveling," though--this IS DND after all. I'm trying to figure out what kinds of level-up rewards to give.

I was thinking about things like rewarding Action Points when a level is gained, allowing the characters to do heroic things but in a more "story based" way. Instead of gaining a +1 BAB that the character has in every battle, suddenly the character would have to choose her moment to make the herioic charge, strike the fatal blow, etc.

Other rewards could come in things like reputation or prestige, or more story based awards--maybe increased contacts, guild ranks, etc.

Does anyone else have ideas on the kinds of rewards that might work??

 

[Abisashi]

I think greatly reducing hit point and magic item aquisition accomplishes this very well. Giving characters 1/3 as many hit points (fractions are kept for the purpose of advancement, but not for use during play - just like half-ranks for skills) and some fraction of the items will make it a lot grittier while keeping the advancement.

 

[Turanil]

1st level D&D characters ever? Just try to find players interested in this.

Frankly from what it sounds like you are looking for, you'd be better off playing something like Gurps <...> D&D is intended for "heroic" game play, if you want to keep them as dirt scratchers you are better off using a different system.

I second this opinion.

 

[Dr Simon]

Of course as 1st level characters they probably wouldn;t last all that long so their lives would be nasty, brutish and short. Even as a diehard RQ player no advancement would be horrific (ok in RQ your hitpoints went up very slowly, but at least your skills could improve steadily).

The difference with RQ is that characters have more active means at avoiding damage - you have skills in Parry and Dodge which are very useful, plus armour acts as a Damage Reduction mechanism. Furthermore, everyone has access to minor buffing magic which can bump protection up a bit further.

So, RQ characters are more fragile than D&D characters, and susceptible to a lucky hit. In terms of skills, though, a beginning RQ character is about equivalent to a 3rd-4th level D&D character.

I think the easiest way to create what you want is to use D&D as is, except that when a character increases a level they get either no HP or (better) a small amount. (This, BTW, is what is used in the Babylon 5 d20 RPG - the B5 RPG has one other difference in that rather than give you bonus HP, high Con grants you a better chance to stabilise).

I think an increase in HPs of some sort is vital for a D&D-based game without completely overhauling the system since a lot more damage can be dealt in D&D than it usually is in RuneQuest and you without some extra defensive capabilities you will end up with a lot of dead PCs, even if the players are clever and use tactics rather than "Hit 'em".