Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerakSpielman" data-source="post: 515980" data-attributes="member: 7464">[shrug]I noticed this problem as well. My solution (such as it is) for my next campaign is as follows:The campaign starts out in my world's Underdark, where all races have taken refuge from a cataclysm that has rendered the surface uninhabitable. Life in the Underdark is hard, so the average level of any NPC of adult age is 5th. Generally, they start as a 1st level commoner/expert at about age 12, when they start being able to work for a living. By the time they reach 20, they're usually toughened by hard life and are level 5.Also, most commoners and experts are drafted into the local militias. They gain at least one level of warrior around age 18 if their strength is above 9. If their strength is above 13, they are taught one level of fighter at that time. In remote, particulary harsh areas they might pick up a level of barbarian or ranger.PCs and major NPCs are assumed to have been in professional training from around age 12 to age 18. They start off at first level, having been isolated from the realities that toughen the daily lives of the common folk. Most such folk are members of orginizations like fighting schools, temples or monestaries, and remain there, serving their local communities as guards, healers, or scholars. Such folk can be of any level, though they also "clump" around fifth. Most communities have at least 3 such organizations and their accompanying NPCs. Woe to the PC who causes trouble in a community that houses a monestary of 50 monks averaging 5th level and getting perhaps as high as 15th!Of course, in this campaign, truly small settlements are rare and get wiped out quickly by the non-stop monster raids. So we're always talking about communities of at least one or two thousand people, most of whom have a level (or occasionally two) of warrior or fighter. I have a feeling my PCs will behave themselves and not consider themselves that much more powerful than the villagers.</blockquote>

Verification