In my last two campaigns, one set in Hollowfaust, the other set in Freeport, each PC had a mentor from among the NPCs either already present in the town, or of their own design, or of my own design. Each was assumed to be 'getting trained' off-screen in-between adventures, and occasionally, we'd deal with side-treks involving those mentors.
The druid's first mentors got arrested (for growing and selling herbs that were used as drugs), and he had to find another one, and promptly got a mission from that new mentor to rescue a kidnapped relative. In return, as he was training up, he learned a few non-core spells (lesser vigor and snake's swiftness).
The fighter said 'I want to learn Dodge for my next feat,' and his mentor, a polynesian-esque monk/fighter who ran a bodyguard school, threw coconuts at him as part of the training process, saying, 'If you can dodge a coconut, you can dodge a sword!'
The wizard had to rescue his mentor from her other apprentice, who was working against her, and any new common spells he wanted to learn were conveniently in her books, and via her contacts, he could barter for less common options (from the spell compendium or whatever).
The mentors and training became an important part of the campaign, tying the characters into their community.
But, I'd be completely unable to use this sort of thing in a game that wasn't set in / near a city or community, and if I decided to run something like World's Largest Dungeon, would have to settle for the 'ding' method where spells mysteriously appear in one's spellbook because your blue bar filled up to the proper line.
The druid's first mentors got arrested (for growing and selling herbs that were used as drugs), and he had to find another one, and promptly got a mission from that new mentor to rescue a kidnapped relative. In return, as he was training up, he learned a few non-core spells (lesser vigor and snake's swiftness).
The fighter said 'I want to learn Dodge for my next feat,' and his mentor, a polynesian-esque monk/fighter who ran a bodyguard school, threw coconuts at him as part of the training process, saying, 'If you can dodge a coconut, you can dodge a sword!'
The wizard had to rescue his mentor from her other apprentice, who was working against her, and any new common spells he wanted to learn were conveniently in her books, and via her contacts, he could barter for less common options (from the spell compendium or whatever).
The mentors and training became an important part of the campaign, tying the characters into their community.
But, I'd be completely unable to use this sort of thing in a game that wasn't set in / near a city or community, and if I decided to run something like World's Largest Dungeon, would have to settle for the 'ding' method where spells mysteriously appear in one's spellbook because your blue bar filled up to the proper line.
