Silver Griffon
Explorer
Same as lowest level works for me.
Starting level of new characters.
- Thread starter mmu1
- Start date
National Acrobat
First Post
Same level as the current party members.
I don't give out xp. I decide when it is time for the player's characters to level up, so to keep it easy I keep everyone at the same level.
I don't give out xp. I decide when it is time for the player's characters to level up, so to keep it easy I keep everyone at the same level.
Tsyr
Explorer
For characters that are replacements, IE, for a character that died or left the group, I start characters at the same level as the one they had that died, but minus any experience gained towards the next level.
"WHAT???", I hear you scream, "There is no punishment for death then!!!!111".
Yeah, there is. For my players, death itself (And the loss of a character) is enough of a punishment. I don't feel the need to punish them further.
For new players (In general)... hmm... Never came up that far into the game... Probably the same level as the lowest member in the party.
"WHAT???", I hear you scream, "There is no punishment for death then!!!!111".
Yeah, there is. For my players, death itself (And the loss of a character) is enough of a punishment. I don't feel the need to punish them further.
For new players (In general)... hmm... Never came up that far into the game... Probably the same level as the lowest member in the party.
the Jester
Legend
Generally two levels below the party average, but with a caveat that nobody starts out more than six levels below the highest-level pc.
DragonLancer
Hero
We bring new characters in at the level of the current lowest level character.
Magic Rub
First Post
Because I make it easy to return from the dead (especially at higher levels) in my campaign, I start "new" characters at 5 levels below the parties average level. It's basically a mechanic I have in place in my story driven campaigns to keep a consistency to the cast of (PC) characters. This allows for a player who is dissatisfied with his current character to play a new PC without a crippling penalty (thought it is generally a tough go for a while). But it still (generally) places the lure of keeping the current character above that of starting a new one.
In campaigns where we're more hack & slash I tend to be a bit more lenient.
In campaigns where we're more hack & slash I tend to be a bit more lenient.
Hmm... I would have expected more "old school" answers. 
Personally, I stick with the "same level as the lowest-level party member" method. I did have some DMs who insisted that it's "unfair" to the rest of the party to make the new guy the same level as everyone else, which never made sense to me - it's not as if the rest of the party were working for that xp, they were playing...
Personally, I stick with the "same level as the lowest-level party member" method. I did have some DMs who insisted that it's "unfair" to the rest of the party to make the new guy the same level as everyone else, which never made sense to me - it's not as if the rest of the party were working for that xp, they were playing...
sithramir
First Post
bah
As i just moved to Chicago i've been trying to get into a game. Seems most people like the idea of one level lower than either the group(all basically equal level) or 1 less than the lowest. I don't really get it. I suffer for joining their group because i'm new? Its not like its "preferable to being raised" as I am just joining! I understand that for character deaths of a player who isn't new.
Its rough because I can still make good characters but I often see the level difference hurting me. The other characters can sometimes have a huge power benefit from just one level and if they are depending on me that being weaker is rough.
For instance: They are level 6 and i'm level 5. Well the 2 fighter types have 2 attacks now(a ranger has 3) and they can dish out a heck of a lot more damage. If i'm defending their backs 3 rounds later I rolled 2 low attacks and maybe a little damage while they've already chopped through a few.
I understand if theres difference in party levels that i should start at lowest but if the rest of them are equal then i'll never be equal. You don't realistically catch up unless theres a lot of deaths (assuming you don't die also). Just seems to me that you should be equal to their level or the lowest lvl player.
I'm just whining because I joined a group that ranged from 10th to 13th level a bit ago. The 13th level guy was pure wizard who turned 14th the session I joined. I was level 9 thief/wiz and I couldn't do jack because there were 4 guys (levells 13/12/11/10) just did so much more. The 10th level guy and I were both semi new and suffereing while the 2 higher were just whomping stuff. The stuff they couldn't whomp was the stuff were I just kind of hide in the corner until it was over. Just kind of sucked because it'd have SR or immunities that 3rd level spells didn't do much (or my level couldn't beat for SR) while the other mage had to blast it.
Just my 2 cents
As i just moved to Chicago i've been trying to get into a game. Seems most people like the idea of one level lower than either the group(all basically equal level) or 1 less than the lowest. I don't really get it. I suffer for joining their group because i'm new? Its not like its "preferable to being raised" as I am just joining! I understand that for character deaths of a player who isn't new.
Its rough because I can still make good characters but I often see the level difference hurting me. The other characters can sometimes have a huge power benefit from just one level and if they are depending on me that being weaker is rough.
For instance: They are level 6 and i'm level 5. Well the 2 fighter types have 2 attacks now(a ranger has 3) and they can dish out a heck of a lot more damage. If i'm defending their backs 3 rounds later I rolled 2 low attacks and maybe a little damage while they've already chopped through a few.
I understand if theres difference in party levels that i should start at lowest but if the rest of them are equal then i'll never be equal. You don't realistically catch up unless theres a lot of deaths (assuming you don't die also). Just seems to me that you should be equal to their level or the lowest lvl player.
I'm just whining because I joined a group that ranged from 10th to 13th level a bit ago. The 13th level guy was pure wizard who turned 14th the session I joined. I was level 9 thief/wiz and I couldn't do jack because there were 4 guys (levells 13/12/11/10) just did so much more. The 10th level guy and I were both semi new and suffereing while the 2 higher were just whomping stuff. The stuff they couldn't whomp was the stuff were I just kind of hide in the corner until it was over. Just kind of sucked because it'd have SR or immunities that 3rd level spells didn't do much (or my level couldn't beat for SR) while the other mage had to blast it.
Just my 2 cents
