Roleplaying explanation for experience points and great power

[Asmor]

I'd suggest not limiting the reason to "understanding", or else it tends to look funny when the character is a classic big dumb barbarian or the like. If I've got an Intelligence or Wisdom of 6, I'd better not become godlike due to "understanding" anything. I can barely manage tying my shoes, for cryin' out loud.

Well, it's definitely a wisdom thing, not an intelligence thing... But all that means is that you've just gotta redefine wisdom... Wisdom isn't your competence in worldly things, it's your ability to access what you know. The 20th level barbarian with 6 wisdom fully understands the meaning of life in his subconscious, he just doesn't realize it.

 

[Whimsical]

Here's how I was able to make sense of high level games, even though a character could have more hit points than a colossal dragon and could kill said dragon with his finger + power attack.

I imagine high level play to be the stories of legendary and mythical characters. Sort of like classical romantic or cinematic, but even more so. D&D is a setting where a party of six can take out a threat that 100,000 countryfolk just can't make a dent against. This is why the D&D world needs heroes.

The actions of 10th level characters are like the legendary adventures of literary and historical characters who could do amazing things.

The actions of 20th level characters are like the stories of mythological gods and godlike beings of the past, such as Hercules.

So, the "physics" of D&D reflect this. Basically, the universe loves and supports you if you are a badass. High-level characters have a reality-distortion field around them because the universe insistst that mythical legends shouldn't be easy to kill, even though that logic dictates that they could be.

The problems is this: to make that legendary story of steadfast heroes prevailing over impossible odds, thousands or millions of attempts had to occur with other people and groups to make the very rare exceptional story worth retelling and remembering. But the gaming session is attempting to duplicate this very rare occurance almost all of the time.

 

[fusangite]

I love D&D, but one thing that's always bothered me is that there's no real reason why a 20th level fighter is so inherently godlike. Minus all his equipment that's a given at that level, he'd still be able to take down a legion of typical peasents.

This is consistent with ancient history (remember Thermopylae?), literature and myth. It's a basically self-evident truth that heroes have this capacity. Why would any explanation be needed? Nobody needs to explain why Roland can blow his horn hard enough for it to burst asunder.

Thus, I propose that power-- true, raw power-- comes from rare and secret knowledge and insight into the very nature and meaning of existence. The sort of thing that is the bread and butter of an adventurer who faces mortal peril on a daily basis and discovers things not seen by mortal eyes in millenia.

I think this runs completely counter to the heroic archetypes on which D&D fighters are based. Galahad, Arthur, etc. -- these guys didn't know anything special -- they just were special.

There is no need for an "explanation;" the nigh-invincible heroic warrior is as much a part of D&D worlds as all the other things unlike our own that have nothing to do with knowledge (ie. sorcerors, druids, dragons, etc.). The specialness of powerful warriors is just a self-evident aspect of the very nature of the D&D universe whose rules, while different from those of ours, are self-consistent; and it is the self-consistency that matters.

 

[moritheil]

In the In Nomine system, this is handled so much more nicely. Characters who ascend to greater power begin to embody some aspect of reality itself. So the Archangel of War isn't some big guy with a huge axe that happens to know a lot about war; he is war, in a very real and metaphysical sense. He turns up on battlefields; he has a sense for where combat is taking place throughout the world, and the like.

I'm sure this is all old hat for anyone who reads Gaiman or Pratchett.

In DnD, I don't bother with justifications. That's simply how the world works, and asking to explain it is like asking me to tell you why water is wet.

 

[Dakkareth]

Power is inherent in all living creatures. Sorcery is omnipresent, although only few actually employ it consciously. As you survive through confrontations and master challenges you become more experienced, more able to control yourself and your inherent power. As you suffer sorcerous attacks and walk far through the world, you pick up the latent sorcery present in everything and bend it to your will, consciously or not. Thus your body becomes empowered by your very own magic, even if you can't cast a single spell. Thus your strength is boosted beyond what is humanely possibly by the sorcery flowing in your veins. A 20th level fighter is well on the way to godhood - the gods existing today once walked the same path as he does now. 'Inherently godlike' indeed.

 

[Umbran]

The 20th level barbarian with 6 wisdom fully understands the meaning of life in his subconscious, he just doesn't realize it.

I think the claim that the character grows in knowledge that he cannot articulate (that, in fact, no mortal can articulate) is pretty darned unsatisfying. You might as well say, "it is magic" - because understanding that nobody can communicate is pretty much magic.

And how does knowing the meaning of life make you better at the mechanical act of cleaving people with a sword, anyhow? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

 

[shilsen]

This is consistent with ancient history (remember Thermopylae?), literature and myth. It's a basically self-evident truth that heroes have this capacity. Why would any explanation be needed? Nobody needs to explain why Roland can blow his horn hard enough for it to burst asunder.I think this runs completely counter to the heroic archetypes on which D&D fighters are based. Galahad, Arthur, etc. -- these guys didn't know anything special -- they just were special.

There is no need for an "explanation;" the nigh-invincible heroic warrior is as much a part of D&D worlds as all the other things unlike our own that have nothing to do with knowledge (ie. sorcerors, druids, dragons, etc.). The specialness of powerful warriors is just a self-evident aspect of the very nature of the D&D universe whose rules, while different from those of ours, are self-consistent; and it is the self-consistency that matters.

fusangite pretty much covered everything I would have said.