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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Li Shenron" data-source="post: 6110829" data-attributes="member: 1465">I liked this article so much that I am now convinced that in fact it is and April's fool <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />I've been writing many times in this forum, that I thought 1st level characters have too much stuff and too much power (except HP), and that I would have wanted a more gradual start, that grim'n'gritty old-school adventures are a bit hard to do when characters start high, and that expecting the DM who wants that to make up her 0th level classes and keep them balance is harsh (always easier to balance while adding than while subtracting).Furthermore, I totally like how they seem to be getting free from the nerdy constraint that all tiers must be equally long. There is no fundamental reason for that other that it looks good on paper, but it then creates serious design constraints that there really needn't be.Overall, I would still like stuff such as "rule a kingdom" to be optional, and to be possible to locate differently across levels depending on gaming groups, so that you don't have to start worrying about domains management at level 15th if you prefer to still go dungeon crawling, while another group can anticipate that to level 5th if they want so. It shouldn't be difficult to let this stuff "slide" to whatever level, but let's see with what they come up with.Also, in general I think what really changes the heroic/epic tone of the game, is not numbers and is not the size of monsters, but rather the nature of the spells the party has access to: flying, invisibility, teleport, scrying, resurrection... these are all example of stuff that truly changes the nature of adventures, and thus define whether the party is "heroic", "epic" or "god-like". And each of these may individually meet the favors or the woes of a gaming group (which can still ban some, or move them higher level, but clearly the Standard game can at most just put a warning sidebar for critical spells to mention how they can change your gaming experience).It doesn't give enough room, it's over too quickly and not even one step of progression is included. There was such option in 3.0 but it was seldom used because of that. 2 levels is already better, 3 would be even better, but if 3rd level PCs would be what 1st level have been so far (except with more HP) then I'd say you can still call yourself an apprentice until level 4, and 5th level is where your heroic career effectively starts.Note that IMXP 3rd level is exactly the most common level in 3ed to start at, once you've played the game for a year or two already. It's what most gaming groups I've played with used, and it's also the most common I've seen in PbP. Just to say that IMHO most people who've played the game for a little while are already used to start at a higher level anyway.One side benefit of this new approach is that if 3rd is the new standard starting level for non-beginners, it also has enough HP so that you won't be killed by one lucky swing. It is debatable and very gamestyle-dependent, but many of us think that starting HP are still too low: the current 1st level PC are capable of doing great things offensively (spells, maneuvers, special abilities...) but their low HP don't match that.All that said, I still think the article is just an april's fool...</blockquote>

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