Leveling Characters

[Dykstrav]

Back in my 1E and 2E days, I used the training rules until the characters got to "name" level. After they got a stronghold/followers, they no longer needed training--the characters were the ones training others at that point.

In 3E, 4E, and my current Pathfinder game, I dropped formal training rules. I do have a policy where you have to take some time off to catch your breath and recharge your batteries before you gain a level, however. I assume that you had to rest up and recuperate for approximately one week. Why?

In my own real-world experience, I've observed that most people deal with taxing situations (extreme conditions like long hours, danger, high stress) by barreling through, doing whatever they have to do to get the job done, and taking time off to decompress once it's over with. The vast majority of people aren't "learning as they go" while they are in the field doing the job.

My experience is not military, so I can't speak to that. In my field of employment, the vast majority of jobs are intense for around two months straight. Twenty-hour days for six (or seven) days per week, poor-to-mediocre food, hauling truckloads of gear through all kinds of weather in all kinds of wilderness or urban environments... I think it maps reasonably well to adventuring. The entire crew is downing Red Bulls by the end of the first week and catching naps whenever they can. We start rotating crew out because fatigue becomes a safety concern. In situations like that, you're not giving any thought to what you're "learning" on the job, you're just trying to get through the day.

It's not much of a stretch for me to imagine adventurers getting poor sleep on hard ground and eating trail mix for days on end, and it's not difficult to imagine how that sort of living wears you down over time. Compound that with daily battles (often against superior forces), climbing or swimming, and other feats of general athleticism... I think it's very reasonable to make someone rest up before they have a chance to reflect on what they have learned.

I don't charge people gold to learn their skills, but I certainly think that requiring people to take some time off is reasonable.

 

[Traveon Wyvernspur]

I can see taking some time off to level up or train up a bit, but how do you do this in-game [MENTION=40522]Dykstrav[/MENTION] ? Do the PCs have to go to a town and rest for a week and then you just hand waive the week or do they role play for a week's worth of in-game time before you tell them to level up? Just trying to figure out the logistics of this especially if they are in say the middle of a dungeon and "level up," would they have to try to leave the dungeon, travel back to a safe location, then level up before being able to use their new abilities, take advantage of increased hit points, then head back to the dungeon to complete the quest they were on? Because, to me as a player and DM, that's a bit unfair to the players especially if it's been a while since they've leveled up and were looking forward to the increase in power to get through the adventure they are on.

 

[Dykstrav]

I can see taking some time off to level up or train up a bit, but how do you do this in-game @Dykstrav ? Do the PCs have to go to a town and rest for a week and then you just hand waive the week or do they role play for a week's worth of in-game time before you tell them to level up?

Mostly, the "week off" is hand-waved. The characters are busy with resting, and maybe brushing up on their new techniques. I don't worry about the specifics, just like I don't worry about exactly what is in a character's rations or if they are carrying spare shoelaces or whatever.

As for application... I try to design adventures so that the characters get a chance to rest up and level approximately each level. It might not work out for someone that misses a session here and there, but I'm fine with assuming that a character is busy training and the like when they are off-screen.

I've never really had a problem with it. Part of that, however, is that my group are the sort that pry up the marble tile work and decorative moldings from bookcases. They literally take wagons trains to dungeon complexes because they strip them to the foundations for anything of conceivable value. They love to go back to town and sell anything of conceivable value, so I just let it happen.

If it were ever important to the group to level in the middle of an adventure, I'd probably let it happen unless there was a compelling reason not to. What I wouldn't let happen, however, is someone to level during the middle of a session. If I can spend three hours of my week prepping an adventure, a player can certainly take thirty minutes during the week to level their character.