NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 7481418" data-attributes="member: 92305">THE COST OF TRAINING/LEARNING/ADVANCINGWay back when, when I ran my long-term campaigns playing AD&D and AD&D 2E, one of the rules I used was that character level advancement usually (not always) required some sort of mentor/teacher/trainer.  This could be some grizzled old war veteran who could teach a new move, or this could be some long, lost grimoire that revealed new spells and new secrets about the true nature of the universe.  Sometimes, it was an angel/avatar/servant of some god sent to the faithful to guide them along their spiritual path.The one thing all these methods of learning had in common was that they cost money.  They took up tie and resources.I note that the Xoth Player's Guide above suggests stiff payment for training.  That book suggests this as a method for keeping the PCs low in coin, in the true Sword & Sorcery style.For a Conan campaign, I suggest that the GM consider training as an option but not to assign any hard and fast rules to them.  It is clear, at least to me, that Conan improved by himself through his many careers.  There was no master thief that mentored him Shadizar, but Conan probably learned the use of the bow from someone during his journeys.I suggest, from time to time, use trainers, mentors, and teachers in your game--but don't require it for every level advancement.  If a player wants is character to have a specific Feat, then maybe a teacher is required for that one feat.  Or, maybe a Nomad classed character wants to multi-class into a Pirate.  Obviously, that's a strange combination, and the GM is within his rights to require the character to spend some time at sea among pirates.  Maybe, in your campaign, the players become slave gladiators, or maybe northern pit fighters, or maybe soldiers in some mad king's army.  The GM can skip time, advancing the campaign's timeline a year or two (or even play out the PCs time as a mercenary), allowing this to open up the Soldier class as a multi-classing option.Books can be found that will help characters learn a new language.  An old, one-eyed thief can be employed to teach a character how to pick locks.What I'm suggesting here is to not just allow character to improve by themselves all the time.  That should be the norm, but use common sense.  If a player wants to pick up the Herbalism skill, but doesn't have a background that fits the character knowing that skill, then the GM should step in and require a teacher.  Maybe the GM can even make an adventure out of it.And, as suggested by the Xoth Player's Guide, learning new things can be very expensive--depending on how the learning is applied or how much a teacher requires in compensation.No rules.  Keep it organic and part of the story.</blockquote>

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