Charlaquin
Goblin Queen (She/Her/Hers)
Yeah, I’m gong to echo the sentiment that if an encounter is only challenging to players who don’t know the monster’s weakness, then it’s not a very challenging encounter.
How about a seasoned strategist and admired leader who isn’t himself a fearsome 1v1 combatant?
In other words, how does the game term “level” correlate to the in-game fiction?
So would it be fair to say that at your table a character who had never encountered a particular monster would be free to use player knowledge, and that if the character/player knowledge divide were important to that player, he/she would be welcome to narrate whatever fiction explained it, such as luck, observation of a detail, flash of divine insight, recollection of an old folk tale, etc?
He doesn't have to be a fighter class. But seasoned/veteran/etc all point to being more then just a commoner off the street. High intelligence(strategist) and charisma(admired leader) alone isn't enough, those thing generally need some experience(levels) in something to account for seasoning. At least its how I see it.
Ok, so what separates an experienced...I dunno...merchant from an experienced general? Is the head of the Royal Order of Vinters and Brewers high level because he's experienced? He's led people, made decisions, resolved conflicts.
Or is it only people who have experience killing things that gain levels? And, if so, is it only people who have experience killing things that have knowledge of ferocious monsters? What if you are high level but you've only ever killed orcs? Does that leave you effectively "level 1" when fighting other monsters?
I haven't thought deeply about this before, so I'm really just making this up as I go along, but I think we're starting to bump into a problem between the game rules and the fiction. "Level" seems to be something we apply to the game world in order to keep the game itself fun, but it really starts to break down if we ask what it means, in a real-world sense.
I personally have no issue with a 3rd level barmaid being able to handle rowdy patrons.
Ok, so what separates an experienced...I dunno...merchant from an experienced general? Is the head of the Royal Order of Vinters and Brewers high level because he's experienced? He's led people, made decisions, resolved conflicts.
Or is it only people who have experience killing things that gain levels? And, if so, is it only people who have experience killing things that have knowledge of ferocious monsters? What if you are high level but you've only ever killed orcs? Does that leave you effectively "level 1" when fighting other monsters?
I haven't thought deeply about this before, so I'm really just making this up as I go along, but I think we're starting to bump into a problem between the game rules and the fiction. "Level" seems to be something we apply to the game world in order to keep the game itself fun, but it really starts to break down if we ask what it means, in a real-world sense.
Well, obviously level probably makes about as much sense as hit points ... it's a useful abstraction but beyond that I wouldn't think about it too much.
But I kind of like the idea of commoner classes from previous editions, a novice cook is level 1 a master chef is level 10, a chef that is unbelievably gifted talented and experienced is level 20.
I know that in my field (software development) there are certainly different "levels" of developer, we just limit to a handful of "levels" that broadly define responsibility, scope of influence and aptitude. A junior level developer and senior level developer will have extremely different capabilities.
But just because I'm a decent software developer doesn't mean I wouldn't get the snot kicked out of me in a street fight. Develop an application? I'm your guy. Fight orcs? Unless I'm rolling a D20 see ya later.
I grew to hate those classes. I feel like I let their very existence trick me into forgetting that D&D is a game about adventurers having adventures, and I spent far too much time and effort treating D&D as a world simulation instead of an adventure game.But I kind of like the idea of commoner classes from previous editions, a novice cook is level 1 a master chef is level 10, a chef that is unbelievably gifted talented and experienced is level 20.