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<blockquote data-quote="Technik4" data-source="post: 3385062" data-attributes="member: 7211">I think 3rd edition has caused a huge element of over-balancing and stressing balance between characters that was not present in previous editions. If the party is 8th level, there is no reason to introduce a new PC at 8th level (or even 6th, or 7th). First, that belittles your long-time players and their characters. Second, it is like spoiling a kid (the new player). They didn't earn the levels, the gold, or the items they are getting. Especially for new players, I think this is a bad approach.However, at 8th level combat can be very messy. The periphery of battle could cause enough shrapnel to kill a neophyte character. Therefore, I would suggest starting at 3rd level. This gives a very good starting character that can still meaningfully help an 8th level party (albeit not much). Also, they will naturally gain experience quickly under the CR/EL system (or as a DM, you can simply arbitrarily level them up quickly). The key here is that a 3rd level character is still just starting out. With a couple high-level items they can contribute to the party and with reasonable experience (lets say they hit 6-7th level by the time the party hits 10th level) they can catch up though for a long time they will be beneath the general party's strength. Thats the price you pay entering an existing campaign.If a long-time player died with an 8th level character in an 8th level group, I would be more lenient and allow them to re-enter at 6th or 7th level, depending on the concept.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Technik4, post: 3385062, member: 7211"] I think 3rd edition has caused a huge element of over-balancing and stressing balance between characters that was not present in previous editions. If the party is 8th level, there is no reason to introduce a new PC at 8th level (or even 6th, or 7th). First, that belittles your long-time players and their characters. Second, it is like spoiling a kid (the new player). They didn't earn the levels, the gold, or the items they are getting. Especially for new players, I think this is a bad approach. However, at 8th level combat can be very messy. The periphery of battle could cause enough shrapnel to kill a neophyte character. Therefore, I would suggest starting at 3rd level. This gives a very good starting character that can still meaningfully help an 8th level party (albeit not much). Also, they will naturally gain experience quickly under the CR/EL system (or as a DM, you can simply arbitrarily level them up quickly). The key here is that a 3rd level character is still just starting out. With a couple high-level items they can contribute to the party and with reasonable experience (lets say they hit 6-7th level by the time the party hits 10th level) they can catch up though for a long time they will be beneath the general party's strength. Thats the price you pay entering an existing campaign. If a long-time player died with an 8th level character in an 8th level group, I would be more lenient and allow them to re-enter at 6th or 7th level, depending on the concept. [/QUOTE]

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