Must-have advancement options for a playtest?

[Olgar Shiverstone]

One thought -- I see you're using random additions to scores and whatnot on gaining a level. While this has an "old school" feel, from a playability perspective I advise against it, particularly if you are flattening levels so that multiple levels can play together. Fixed progressions can help you better control power balance, plus it has the benefit of avoiding the bad roll vs. munchkin syndrome: when you've rolled a "1" and a "2" for your last two hit point rolls while the guy across the table with the same class has miraculously rolled a "10" for the last four times he leveled up. IMO PCs should be differentiated in construction by the choices the player makes, not random fate.

Unless shooting for random swing in that part of the game is a goal, I recommend using fixed numbers where player choice in character construction is involved (such as leveling) and using random for the in-play events (attacks, damage, checks, etc).

 

[the Jester]

One thought -- I see you're using random additions to scores and whatnot on gaining a level. While this has an "old school" feel, from a playability perspective I advise against it, particularly if you are flattening levels so that multiple levels can play together. Fixed progressions can help you better control power balance, plus it has the benefit of avoiding the bad roll vs. munchkin syndrome: when you've rolled a "1" and a "2" for your last two hit point rolls while the guy across the table with the same class has miraculously rolled a "10" for the last four times he leveled up. IMO PCs should be differentiated in construction by the choices the player makes, not random fate.

Unless shooting for random swing in that part of the game is a goal, I recommend using fixed numbers where player choice in character construction is involved (such as leveling) and using random for the in-play events (attacks, damage, checks, etc).

Thanks for the feedback!

I've actually given a great deal of thought to this particular issue. I do want to increase the 'swinginess' of things, at least compared to 4e (albeit not to 1e levels). Here are my thoughts on the two random elements involved in leveling up:

As far as ability increases go, I'm pretty sure this will even out over time, especially as different classes advance different stats. Also, since there are no bonuses derived from stat, there is no overwhelming power gain from a higher stat.

As far as hit points go, every time a pc gains a HD they will reroll all of their hit dice and take either the new value or their old value, whichever is higher. Again, that should help ensure that things even out in the end- I hope.

Of course, these are things I can't really test without an extended, campaign-style playtest. But I'm almost ready for (something like) that!