Standard Characters and Power Levels in The D&D Campaign

[Voadam]

That and people are justifiably loth to give extra levels to normal folks for normal jobs since levels in D&D, even NPC levels, mean lots of extra Hit Points (and a small increase in BAB and Saves).

Should your manager at work really have twice as many Hit Points as his underlings? Should you really have twice as many Hit Points when you get promoted?

Should the high level master wizard have more hp, BAB and iterative attacks than a young low level barbarian? It is the way the system works. Compare the manager's attack skill progression to a wizard's.

 

[SHARK]

Greetings!

LOL! Voadam!

I remember the first time I ate those things in the field!...my god, I never knew that MacDonald's could be viewed as delicious, gourmet food!

I didn't think anyone would discern the lineage of the magic item! I thought it was a beautiful idea, with a certain distinctiveness that the Legionnaires would, like the modern day legions, just be thrilled with!

I believe that there is a proposal before the Emperor of Vallorea to authorize appropriations to change the "Field-Pack of Wonder" to include the extra items that you mentioned!

Thanks!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

 

[Garmorn]

I am with Henry and the other that think most NPC's should be above 1st level. If bring a crop in is a CR 1 challange for a farmer then he/she is earrning 300 xp per farming season. Just making food stretch in times of need is a challange. Maybe a CR of 1/6 but that adds up over the years.

Look at the average city guard. He will have to bust up a tavern brawal at leat once a month on the shading side of town, less often on the rich side. Or track and help capture a thief or two on a regular basis. These could easly be higher CR then 1, even when divided amoung the guards that took part probaly will net him at least 200 to 300 xp per year. May will be as high as 1000 a year if he live in a rough town. Towns near the boader or in moster infested areas will likely get into a fight at least once per year, giving them even more xp over time.

On the other hand an adventuring band will get into several major fights in a matter of weeks or over come major challanges in with in a short period of time.

The big diffences is not that challanges are unknown to the common people, but that they don't seek them out. Take three 20 year guys from our times. One enters the military, another goes to collage, while the third gets a low end job. Which is the most experence of the three? It will be either the collage kid or the military one because the faced and met the greater challages.

 

[mmadsen]

To get back to the issue of standard characters and power levels, I think SHARK has a strong point -- not as strong as his Legionnaires or Hobgoblins, but strong nonetheless.

In a game with Feats appropriate to trained soldiers (e.g. Endurance, Combat Rotation, Side By Side, Team Flanking, Shield Expert, Shield Charge), trained soldiers should have those Feats, right?

And in a game where the lowliest soldier is a 1st-level Warrior, the supremely professional soldiers of a quasi-Roman Empire should stand head and shoulders above that.

I don't think D&D supports this well, because Skills and Feats (and BAB) don't progress nearly as quickly as Hit Points. Your Welsh longbowman needs to be third or fourth level to capture his skill with the bow -- even +4 BAB isn't that great -- but now he has heroic Hit Points. Your young French knight should reasonably have a very high Ride skill and most of the mounted Feats, but then he needs to be third or fourth level too -- and he gets all those epic Hit Points.

Perhaps we need a class for technically-trained warriors who haven't necessarily seen much combat? A variant Fighter with more Feats and more Skill points, but smaller Hit Dice?

 

[Melkor Lord Of ALL!]

Well, an 18th year old commoner in my game would propably at 2nd level, but he most likely isn`t going to achieve higher than 4th during his life. Average soldier is 2nd level Commoner and 1 to 3rd level fighter( depending on experience). Average elf is an 7th level character: 3rd level Expert( they are more sophisticated as humans so get Expert levels instead of Commoner)/2nd Ranger/ 1st Fighter and 1st level Illusionist.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Just wing your NPC's. I don't see why Johnny Averageman needs classes anyway.

 

[bwgwl]

Perhaps we need a class for technically-trained warriors who haven't necessarily seen much combat? A variant Fighter with more Feats and more Skill points, but smaller Hit Dice?

even though it seems a lot of people don't like the Vitality/Wound Point system used in Star Wars, this is one of the reasons why i really like it.

in Star Wars, you can have a 20th-level stormtrooper who has a +20 BAB, great skills, lots of feats, etc. -- but since he's only got NPC class levels, he has no Vitality Points. he'll still go down with one good hit.

using this system, you can have NPC warriors who are technically proficient in combat, can still have a good chance of attacking and challenging PCs, but still can be mown through by the dozens by a high-level PC.

 

[Snoweel]

In Aquerra, even one of those Legionairres would be equivalent to a local hero of legend considered better than most men he will ever meet in his entire life.

As I see it, anyone with a non-NPC class level is someone VERY special - does that mean they are amazing or should be a "great hero"? No, because the world is a dangerous place and the odss are stacked against you, and even a first level fighter is most likely going to be killed by the dangers out there.

To get to seventh level would take a series of encounters, events and experiences that even the average soldier for hire will never have because he will be dead before he gets there.

/me nods.

Nemm, how can you be such a punk and still be so right all the time?

How?

 

[rounser]

I have verisimilitude problems with too many low level NPCs in D&D worlds.

Basically, if the town guard can't fight off a wandering encounter of four trolls without PC help, why does the town still exist?

 

[bwgwl]

I have verisimilitude problems with too many low level NPCs in D&D worlds.

Basically, if the town guard can't fight off a wandering encounter of four trolls without PC help, why does the town still exist?

for a low-magic / low-level world, i guess the answer would be because 4 trolls would only come wandering around like once every 20 or 30 years. it's just not going to happen often enough to cause any lasting harm to the town.

though given the default assumptions of the core rules, you pose a very good question.