RadiantMan
First Post
Unearthed Arcana presented a variant for giving characters backgrounds, suggesting 1d6 months per level in the background.
That got me to thinking about how quickly characters level up. However, in lower magic campaigns, characters tend to level up slower, at least in the literature that inspires them. So I wondered if I could not develop a system for this.
I decided to use Conan as a basis. Conan's adventuring career spanned approximately thirty years and twenty levels (I'm using stats from Mongoose's Conan RPG, which the King Conan stats are freely available for download from the Mongoose website).
I believe this system could prove useful for the creation of PCs and NPCs, especially where a character is age-specific. Standard d20 assumes adolescence for a starting PC age. However, during the Middle Ages, people actually began training for careers at age 10. So, a much lower starting age is possible.
Below, I have listed the time to complete levels. This should be modified by the character's Will save, using the following formula: 100% - (Will x 5). For example, a normal human (all stats 10) 1st-level commoner (Will +0) takes the full amount of time to complete a level. Conan (statistics derived from King Conan stats provided on website) at 1st level possessed a Wis 15 and a Will Save +5. So Conan took only 75% (100 - [5 x 5]) of the time to complete 1st level.
Note: All times are for that specific level and do not reflect accumulated time for all previous levels.
Level Time to Complete
1 7 mos
2 9 mos
3 11 mos
4 1 yr, 1 mos
5 1 yr, 3 mos
6 1 yr, 8 mos
7 1 yr, 10 mos
8 2 yrs
9 2 yrs, 5 mos
10 2 yrs, 7 mos
11 2 yrs, 10 mos
12 3 yrs, 4 mos
13 3 yrs, 7 mos
14 4 yrs, 3 mos
15 5 yrs
16 5 yrs, 4 mos
17 5 yrs, 7 mos
18 6 yrs, 8 mos
19 7 yrs
20 7 yrs, 4 mos
In the previous example, the human commoner will take a total of 66 1/2 years to reach 20th level. Conan in less than half that time. A PC or NPC with a greater Will save could reach 20th level in even less time, reflecting the determination of a strong will.
NPC application: If you wanted a middle-aged commoner to enter the campaign, you would see that he should be 13th or 14th level. His eighteen-year-old son, following in his father's footsteps, would be about 4th level. (Based on starting age of 15).
I look forward to your feedback.
Thanks
That got me to thinking about how quickly characters level up. However, in lower magic campaigns, characters tend to level up slower, at least in the literature that inspires them. So I wondered if I could not develop a system for this.
I decided to use Conan as a basis. Conan's adventuring career spanned approximately thirty years and twenty levels (I'm using stats from Mongoose's Conan RPG, which the King Conan stats are freely available for download from the Mongoose website).
I believe this system could prove useful for the creation of PCs and NPCs, especially where a character is age-specific. Standard d20 assumes adolescence for a starting PC age. However, during the Middle Ages, people actually began training for careers at age 10. So, a much lower starting age is possible.
Below, I have listed the time to complete levels. This should be modified by the character's Will save, using the following formula: 100% - (Will x 5). For example, a normal human (all stats 10) 1st-level commoner (Will +0) takes the full amount of time to complete a level. Conan (statistics derived from King Conan stats provided on website) at 1st level possessed a Wis 15 and a Will Save +5. So Conan took only 75% (100 - [5 x 5]) of the time to complete 1st level.
Note: All times are for that specific level and do not reflect accumulated time for all previous levels.
Level Time to Complete
1 7 mos
2 9 mos
3 11 mos
4 1 yr, 1 mos
5 1 yr, 3 mos
6 1 yr, 8 mos
7 1 yr, 10 mos
8 2 yrs
9 2 yrs, 5 mos
10 2 yrs, 7 mos
11 2 yrs, 10 mos
12 3 yrs, 4 mos
13 3 yrs, 7 mos
14 4 yrs, 3 mos
15 5 yrs
16 5 yrs, 4 mos
17 5 yrs, 7 mos
18 6 yrs, 8 mos
19 7 yrs
20 7 yrs, 4 mos
In the previous example, the human commoner will take a total of 66 1/2 years to reach 20th level. Conan in less than half that time. A PC or NPC with a greater Will save could reach 20th level in even less time, reflecting the determination of a strong will.
NPC application: If you wanted a middle-aged commoner to enter the campaign, you would see that he should be 13th or 14th level. His eighteen-year-old son, following in his father's footsteps, would be about 4th level. (Based on starting age of 15).
I look forward to your feedback.
Thanks