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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 463359" data-attributes="member: 4937">&quot;Also, the idea that people learn less in small communities is an old attitude I thought died out long ago.&quot;Not among people who grew up in small communities.I generally wouldn't bring a PC to 10th level in a single game year.&nbsp; But that is beside the point.The real point is that if you assume some relatively fast rate of advancement (and by that I mean more than a level every 10 years or so) for NPC's, very quickly it becomes pointless to adventure at 'low levels', and in fact you begin to define 'low levels' as anything below 7th.If armies are composed not of 1st and 2nd level fighters, but of 5th and 6th level ones (and higher than that for elves and dwarves), then what real purpose is a party of green 1st level characters serving?&nbsp;&nbsp; Persumably, aren't there always NPC's around that could do the job better than the PC's?&nbsp; Persumably, if NPC's can gain levels quickly enough that thier average level is 5th or so, could mere 1st level characters ever dare enter the Orc lair or go chasing after the bandits?&nbsp;&nbsp; Shouldn't average orcs be 4th, 5th, and 6th level warriors?&nbsp; Sure, it is nice to have some checks and balances on PC power, but if you are overboard in that you trivialize the PC's accomplishments, render them unnecessary, and punish them for thier success.&nbsp; It's bad enough trying to figure out why the 1st level PC's don't just go to the far more capable NPC's in the community for help, if the AVERAGE person is more capable than a PC why (or how) would they ever become heroes in the first place?&nbsp; It is bad enough trying to design a dungeon crawl for 1st level characters that explains why some higher level characters haven't come along and looted the place earlier, how are you going to design one if Farmer Brown and his wife could have looted the place?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 463359, member: 4937"] "Also, the idea that people learn less in small communities is an old attitude I thought died out long ago." Not among people who grew up in small communities. I generally wouldn't bring a PC to 10th level in a single game year. But that is beside the point. The real point is that if you assume some relatively fast rate of advancement (and by that I mean more than a level every 10 years or so) for NPC's, very quickly it becomes pointless to adventure at 'low levels', and in fact you begin to define 'low levels' as anything below 7th. If armies are composed not of 1st and 2nd level fighters, but of 5th and 6th level ones (and higher than that for elves and dwarves), then what real purpose is a party of green 1st level characters serving? Persumably, aren't there always NPC's around that could do the job better than the PC's? Persumably, if NPC's can gain levels quickly enough that thier average level is 5th or so, could mere 1st level characters ever dare enter the Orc lair or go chasing after the bandits? Shouldn't average orcs be 4th, 5th, and 6th level warriors? Sure, it is nice to have some checks and balances on PC power, but if you are overboard in that you trivialize the PC's accomplishments, render them unnecessary, and punish them for thier success. It's bad enough trying to figure out why the 1st level PC's don't just go to the far more capable NPC's in the community for help, if the AVERAGE person is more capable than a PC why (or how) would they ever become heroes in the first place? It is bad enough trying to design a dungeon crawl for 1st level characters that explains why some higher level characters haven't come along and looted the place earlier, how are you going to design one if Farmer Brown and his wife could have looted the place? [/QUOTE]

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