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<blockquote data-quote="clearstream" data-source="post: 7147827" data-attributes="member: 71699"><p>I guess I don't buy the "math" objection. 1/100, 2/1000 etc is easily handled by DMs who can run a game using hundreds of pages of rules. And working by tier is quicker than by level! I hope you can also see that your "<em>strict adherence</em>" objection is a strawman. Our intent is to propose guidelines, not straitjacket DMs into them. Here again, working by tiers promotes a greater sense of flexibility than going level by level.</p><p></p><p>I certainly agree with you about consistency. Remember Tolkien's comment about <em>consistency</em> lending <em>credibility</em> to fantasy worlds? Guidelines like these help DMs bring their world to life for players.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I feel like our construct for density of character class individuals should at least be able to explain the baseline D&D world, i.e. Faerun. So it must yield some tier 4 and epic characters in cities like Waterdeep because in the fiction there are characters like that in those cities! Other worlds will differ of course, but your 1/100 rule of thumb feels broadly sound as our tier 1 baseline.</p><p></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>Tier 1</strong> - Choose a simple %age for tier 1 character class density e.g. <strong>1/100</strong></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>Tier 2</strong> - Assume 1 in 5 make it out of tier 1 i.e.<strong>2/1000</strong></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>Tier 3</strong> - 1 in 10 make it out of tier 2 i.e. <strong>2/10,000</strong></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>Tier 4</strong> - 1 in 10 make it out of tier 3 i.e. <strong>2/100,000</strong></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong>+Epic</strong> - 1 in 10 make it out of tier i.e. <strong>2/1,000,000</strong></li> </ol><p></p><p>The tuning values depend on your world, and they could differ by culture and polity in that world. The ones above seem to yield reasonable numbers for both large and small polities in Faerun. Whatever function is used should have explanatory power in your world! The above attempts to explain the baseline D&D world i.e. Faerun by yielding values consistent with what we observe there. By using the granularity of tiers I believe it better respects <strong>accuracy</strong> over <strong>precision</strong>.</p><p></p><p><strong>Waterdeep (pop 2,000,000)</strong></p><p></p><p>Tier 1 = 20,000</p><p>Tier 2 = 4,000</p><p>Tier 3 = 400</p><p>Tier 4 = 40</p><p>+Epic = 4</p><p></p><p><strong>Small Town (pop 7500)</strong></p><p></p><p>Tier 1 = 75</p><p>Tier 2 = 15</p><p>Tier 3 = 1-2</p><p>Tier 4 = 0</p><p>+Epic = 0</p><p></p><p>There could be tier 4 and epic character class individuals in some small towns, but they are not expected in <em>every</em> small town! (If desired, they can be roughly estimated by aggregating such towns.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="clearstream, post: 7147827, member: 71699"] I guess I don't buy the "math" objection. 1/100, 2/1000 etc is easily handled by DMs who can run a game using hundreds of pages of rules. And working by tier is quicker than by level! I hope you can also see that your "[I]strict adherence[/I]" objection is a strawman. Our intent is to propose guidelines, not straitjacket DMs into them. Here again, working by tiers promotes a greater sense of flexibility than going level by level. I certainly agree with you about consistency. Remember Tolkien's comment about [I]consistency[/I] lending [I]credibility[/I] to fantasy worlds? Guidelines like these help DMs bring their world to life for players. I feel like our construct for density of character class individuals should at least be able to explain the baseline D&D world, i.e. Faerun. So it must yield some tier 4 and epic characters in cities like Waterdeep because in the fiction there are characters like that in those cities! Other worlds will differ of course, but your 1/100 rule of thumb feels broadly sound as our tier 1 baseline. [LIST=1] [*][B]Tier 1[/B] - Choose a simple %age for tier 1 character class density e.g. [B]1/100[/B] [*][B]Tier 2[/B] - Assume 1 in 5 make it out of tier 1 i.e.[B]2/1000[/B] [*][B]Tier 3[/B] - 1 in 10 make it out of tier 2 i.e. [B]2/10,000[/B] [*][B]Tier 4[/B] - 1 in 10 make it out of tier 3 i.e. [B]2/100,000[/B] [*][B]+Epic[/B] - 1 in 10 make it out of tier i.e. [B]2/1,000,000[/B] [/LIST] The tuning values depend on your world, and they could differ by culture and polity in that world. The ones above seem to yield reasonable numbers for both large and small polities in Faerun. Whatever function is used should have explanatory power in your world! The above attempts to explain the baseline D&D world i.e. Faerun by yielding values consistent with what we observe there. By using the granularity of tiers I believe it better respects [B]accuracy[/B] over [B]precision[/B]. [B]Waterdeep (pop 2,000,000)[/B] Tier 1 = 20,000 Tier 2 = 4,000 Tier 3 = 400 Tier 4 = 40 +Epic = 4 [B]Small Town (pop 7500)[/B] Tier 1 = 75 Tier 2 = 15 Tier 3 = 1-2 Tier 4 = 0 +Epic = 0 There could be tier 4 and epic character class individuals in some small towns, but they are not expected in [I]every[/I] small town! (If desired, they can be roughly estimated by aggregating such towns.) [/QUOTE]
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