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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Crazy Jerome" data-source="post: 6072828" data-attributes="member: 54877">Usually, the mistakes in D&D when it comes to this kind of thing is doing rough rules of thumb that work in lower levels, and then applying them blindly.  For example, if you want to let a fighter pick up a utility spell in the AD&D progression at low levels, you might be ok with a 5th level fighter getting a 1st, or possibly a second level spell.  Is that 2 or 4 levels behind the wizard, half the fighter's level as wizard rounded down, or something else?  Well, that depends on how levels expand in power, and how spell levels expand in power.  For some things, -2 or -4 levels or half the fighter's level will work for awhile, and others it gets sticky fast.  Then you get a somewhat different answer in AD&D with the changes at "name" level versus 3E with a more even growth.  (For example, the ranger/paladin spell selection in D&D might be a bit weak, but it isn't the near total irrelevance it is in 3E.)  But in general, I think that all major abilities (spells, class abilities, maneuvers, etc.) should be ranked in 3 to 5 tiers over the whole range of character growth, and then use those tiers for prerequisite rules--instead of a formula based on class level or spell level or whatnot.  Having character levels in appropriate classes would be the most common way to unlock tiers. That is, the tiers become explicit categories for solving this very problem.  Say for example that you have 5 tiers, one every four levels--i.e. tier 1 is levels 1-4.  So then you can have rules such as not allowing a fighter to take arcane abilities in his current tier (perhaps with more lenient exceptions for multiiclassing in tier 1).  So a fighter of level 13-16 (tier 4 martial) can't take arcane or divine tier 4 abilities--no matter what a feat or special ability says.  He may or may not have to stack feats/abilities to even get an option for tier 3, too, but at least he doesn't need one feat for spell level.  And this preserves the most important aspect of niche protection, that the very best abilities of a given category are limited to the characters dedicated to that category.  You simply never get tier 5 arcane abilities without being a dedicated arcane character.  Multi-class heavily, and you might get tier 4 late in the 17-20 level range.  Presumably spell levels would get rolled into tiers based on when wizards and clerics have traditionally received them, with some judicious tweaking.  So cantrips through 2nd level spells are tier 1, while you make sure to stick the 9th level spell into tier 5.  (I say that based on the obvious and traditional spike in power for 3rd and 6th level spells, but this could of course change.)That kind of scheme generally fits the somewhat exponential growth of D&D abilities as they have traditionally been.  It's entirely possible that 3 or 4 tiers might work better in Next if the powers break differently.  I can't see less than 3 working at all, and if you get much greater than 4, you might was well not bother, since you are back to the spell level problem all over again.  (I really think 4 is the best number in isolation, but I'm not sure it breaks down smoothly in traditional D&D.  You could cheat, and have 4 tiers that are not all the same length over 20 levels--perhaps character levels 1-4, 5-10, 11-16, 17-20--break points for 3rd, 6th, and 9th level spells on wizards and clerics.)</blockquote>

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