Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Everyone starts at 1st level
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 4850198" data-attributes="member: 3192"><p>Based upon the original post's questions:</p><p></p><p>I guess I'd have to ask, which game? I figure you mean D&D, but D&D hasn't been the same game throughout its' history. I think most rules would need to be changed within the current version. </p><p></p><p>However, I believe 4E did go back to a flatter "curve" reminescent of earlier pre-d20 versions of D&D. The progression slope is lower than 3E. This could work, but not for 30 levels. It might work if all new PCs started at the starting level for a tier (the lowest level of the tier). ...and no PCs in the party spread across two tiers. Essentially the whole party retires and ends the game after one tier and then begins the Paragon or Epic game.</p><p></p><p>How many hit points per level? At least 1 HP for starting level PCs. At least 10 for 10th level. Hit Die works as well for greater variation and enjoyment for the players. 20th level fighters? Way out of bounds unless you half again the progression slope. And giving half a hit point per level is a little sketchy IMO. </p><p></p><p>Suggestions? I suggest every PC have a base chance for failure and a base chance for success regardless of their level for ALL class related challenges. (Ignoring gear, assistance, negotiation, etc.) fighters have a 5% chance of success at 1st level against a 10th level monster and 50% against a 1st level monster. The success chance becomes completely inverted upon reaching 10th level: 95% chance of success against 1st level monsters, 50% against 10th level monsters.</p><p></p><p>D&D does (or did) this full progression across one die, one die roll being the simplest. Think THAC0 progression. Do you need an 11 to defeat the enemy or a 20? A 2 or an 11? Are they the easiest to defeat or the hardest? As always the difficulty of the game depends upon one's level bonuses earned so far. </p><p></p><p>Of course going up against a 10th level challenge makes little sense even if it is possible at 1st. The key factor for why players wouldn't normally take such foolishly low odds for success is failure would likely mean they would begin the game again with zero points and level 1 bonuses. As one goes up in level the amount of effort lost upon failing to beat a challenge goes up too. So players will almost certainly become more cautious at higher levels. A good thing, if the point is to stay alive and retain one's XP total. However this desire to stay alive is mitigated by the player's desire to actually gain more XP and access to even higher bonuses, so I think it works out well in the end.</p><p></p><p>In terms of XP rewards, I'd award players for roleplaying well enough to overcome the challenges with a similarly progressive XP chart. Those playing 1st level PCs receive very big ##'s for overcoming a 10th level monster, those playing 10th level PCs receive very small ##'s for overcoming a 1st level monster and those who overcame a level equivalent monster receive the level standard. But as levels go up, so must the standard point reward for any given level. Therefore we get a logarithmic XP reward progression for monsters / challenges. And because of this a logarithmic progression is best for level requirements too. This also helps those with lower level PCs catch up as, with XP charts which double each level, the highest level PC is only going to advance a single level in the same amount of time it takes for everyone else to attain that high PC's level when they began play. (I hope that makes sense) Of course, this is all depends upon individual play results too.</p><p></p><p>Our group has been playing with every PC starting at 1st level for over 5 years now and the game has worked well throughout. We've had young to old, very experienced to complete newbie players. No one has really had a problem with it either as so much of the game is about personal success even in the midst of working together as a team. </p><p></p><p>I find it's best to remember that players are not in competition with each other, but against the game. Just because someone has more points or a higher level PC does not mean they are beating you. I've seen 1st level 1 hp PCs do things my 5th level PC never could as their players outwit high level monsters (not to mention my PC on occasion - a "monster" to the other PCs technically anyways).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="howandwhy99, post: 4850198, member: 3192"] Based upon the original post's questions: I guess I'd have to ask, which game? I figure you mean D&D, but D&D hasn't been the same game throughout its' history. I think most rules would need to be changed within the current version. However, I believe 4E did go back to a flatter "curve" reminescent of earlier pre-d20 versions of D&D. The progression slope is lower than 3E. This could work, but not for 30 levels. It might work if all new PCs started at the starting level for a tier (the lowest level of the tier). ...and no PCs in the party spread across two tiers. Essentially the whole party retires and ends the game after one tier and then begins the Paragon or Epic game. How many hit points per level? At least 1 HP for starting level PCs. At least 10 for 10th level. Hit Die works as well for greater variation and enjoyment for the players. 20th level fighters? Way out of bounds unless you half again the progression slope. And giving half a hit point per level is a little sketchy IMO. Suggestions? I suggest every PC have a base chance for failure and a base chance for success regardless of their level for ALL class related challenges. (Ignoring gear, assistance, negotiation, etc.) fighters have a 5% chance of success at 1st level against a 10th level monster and 50% against a 1st level monster. The success chance becomes completely inverted upon reaching 10th level: 95% chance of success against 1st level monsters, 50% against 10th level monsters. D&D does (or did) this full progression across one die, one die roll being the simplest. Think THAC0 progression. Do you need an 11 to defeat the enemy or a 20? A 2 or an 11? Are they the easiest to defeat or the hardest? As always the difficulty of the game depends upon one's level bonuses earned so far. Of course going up against a 10th level challenge makes little sense even if it is possible at 1st. The key factor for why players wouldn't normally take such foolishly low odds for success is failure would likely mean they would begin the game again with zero points and level 1 bonuses. As one goes up in level the amount of effort lost upon failing to beat a challenge goes up too. So players will almost certainly become more cautious at higher levels. A good thing, if the point is to stay alive and retain one's XP total. However this desire to stay alive is mitigated by the player's desire to actually gain more XP and access to even higher bonuses, so I think it works out well in the end. In terms of XP rewards, I'd award players for roleplaying well enough to overcome the challenges with a similarly progressive XP chart. Those playing 1st level PCs receive very big ##'s for overcoming a 10th level monster, those playing 10th level PCs receive very small ##'s for overcoming a 1st level monster and those who overcame a level equivalent monster receive the level standard. But as levels go up, so must the standard point reward for any given level. Therefore we get a logarithmic XP reward progression for monsters / challenges. And because of this a logarithmic progression is best for level requirements too. This also helps those with lower level PCs catch up as, with XP charts which double each level, the highest level PC is only going to advance a single level in the same amount of time it takes for everyone else to attain that high PC's level when they began play. (I hope that makes sense) Of course, this is all depends upon individual play results too. Our group has been playing with every PC starting at 1st level for over 5 years now and the game has worked well throughout. We've had young to old, very experienced to complete newbie players. No one has really had a problem with it either as so much of the game is about personal success even in the midst of working together as a team. I find it's best to remember that players are not in competition with each other, but against the game. Just because someone has more points or a higher level PC does not mean they are beating you. I've seen 1st level 1 hp PCs do things my 5th level PC never could as their players outwit high level monsters (not to mention my PC on occasion - a "monster" to the other PCs technically anyways). [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Everyone starts at 1st level
Top