D&D 3x and 4 are all about having a smooth, regular levelling of the characters. Sure, 3e spellcasters are very happy to get a new spell level, but a 9th level character is only marginally more powerful than a 8th one, especially if he don't get new equipment.
That's great, it allows balanced play.
However... The three tiers of D&D 4e (heroic, paragon, epic) reminded me that, sometimes, a big badass power-up may be very cool, from a RP point of view. Think about all those stories, where the heroes are confronted to ennemy who is far, far more superior to them. Somehow, they escape, and they understand that this enemy (and many others of the same kind) are on an entirely different level. Then, they usually have some quest/training to do that allows them to fight on par with this new kind of enemy. You can see this kind of mechanism in starwars (Luke before and after his training with Yoda is nothing alike) or in many manga.
I wonder if there are RPG with rules build to emulate this kind of development, or if someone has already done a similar houserule for some D&D edition.
For D&d, there is an added difficulty in devising such a rule, because of the variety of the power source. If I say "past the 10th level, fighter may learn the secret of the Ki, which allow them to realize exploits they could only have dreamed of at 9th level", then what can I do about wizards, clerics or monks ?
Likewise, if I want to keep the three tiers structure of D&D 4e, I need to fin a second big power-up to the characters at level 20. It requires a lot of work, both in terms of world background (what are those power-ups ?) and in terms of rules (how does it work ?)
If you have any idea or reading suggestion, please post them !
That's great, it allows balanced play.
However... The three tiers of D&D 4e (heroic, paragon, epic) reminded me that, sometimes, a big badass power-up may be very cool, from a RP point of view. Think about all those stories, where the heroes are confronted to ennemy who is far, far more superior to them. Somehow, they escape, and they understand that this enemy (and many others of the same kind) are on an entirely different level. Then, they usually have some quest/training to do that allows them to fight on par with this new kind of enemy. You can see this kind of mechanism in starwars (Luke before and after his training with Yoda is nothing alike) or in many manga.
I wonder if there are RPG with rules build to emulate this kind of development, or if someone has already done a similar houserule for some D&D edition.
For D&d, there is an added difficulty in devising such a rule, because of the variety of the power source. If I say "past the 10th level, fighter may learn the secret of the Ki, which allow them to realize exploits they could only have dreamed of at 9th level", then what can I do about wizards, clerics or monks ?
Likewise, if I want to keep the three tiers structure of D&D 4e, I need to fin a second big power-up to the characters at level 20. It requires a lot of work, both in terms of world background (what are those power-ups ?) and in terms of rules (how does it work ?)
If you have any idea or reading suggestion, please post them !
