D&D 5E Earning Levels In Game? (+)

[doctorbadwolf]

Like in Zelda BoTW or the new ToTK, what if you had to seek out and find new abilities?

What if everyone learned new features like a wizard learns spells, but little to no automatically learned stuff?

Maybe even having to do something to gain more HP or a higher proficiency?

Has anyone done this in a D&D style game? Am I just sleeping on cool indie games that already do this?

Does it sound fun?

Obv it changes the play loop on the story arc scale, with more digressions to learn how to ride like a cavalier from the famous horse trainer and racer in the village to the south of our destination, but D&D is a distracted game IME anyway.

Idk what do y’all think?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

To be clear, this would also mean that you could seek out and earn magic items, strongholds, etc.

You’d probably need to still have levels, to show when you have the power to cast spells of a certain level, or the few automatically increasing features like probably sneak attack or spirit points, etc

Completing challenges to gain more HP or proficiency bonus or get expertise sounds fun, but in order to still have level one feature packages to start from that are familiar, and to allow the game to still be a type of D&D game, maybe trials to gain levels would be better.

 

[MGibster]

It's a pretty cool idea, but it might be challenging to implement in a table top role playing game. In a Zelda game, you've got one protagonist to worry about, but in your typical TTRPG, you've got 4+ players to worry about.

 

[payn]

Not D&D like, but my Traveller games work like this. I actually prefer it.

 

[Hriston]

In my rules for playing through level 0, characters assemble the suite of features of a 1st-level character by finding tutors with which to train in downtime or learning on the job. Here's a link to the title on DMsGuild which has a full size preview.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Removed. + threads aren't for criticism.

 

[aco175]

Like in Zelda BoTW or the new ToTK, what if you had to seek out and find new abilities?

Sunday public safety announcement (PSA). Please write out the acronyms in the opening post (OP) so everyone knows what you are talking about.

I can see some sort of video game advancement and how it might work, but it seems that all the advancement would be on the DM to control. It might also need a highly detailed setting to place all the advancement points, especially if they are going to be in dungeons.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

If the game is about gaining those powers, it's fine.

However, much like the 'you must quest for magic items and the related 'you must quest for expensive components'... I'm not really in favor of taking up time from a real plot and story to get the characters their basic class abilities, let alone their not-die juice.

if the game is structured with less HP bloat, and thus lower damage, you don’t really need to get hp automatically, you just need ways to get it.

If you split advancement between new abilities and number improvement, and make levels and number improvement largely automatic, but specific abilities not, then no one is questioning for basic class abilities. Stunning strike isn’t a basic class ability, in such a game, only the level 1-3ish abilities are.

 

[el-remmen]

This sounds like the training rules I used from 1E through 3E and dropped when I started running D&D again after a 10 year break with 5E. While some things were automatic (spell slots, hit dice/hit points, attack progression, save improvements, etc), others required seeking out a trainer who had access to what you need (new spell levels, most feats, new class abilities, etc).

 

[Vaalingrade]

Removed. + threads aren't for criticism.