Reynard said:
I agree ith you after a fashion. If the player desires to take a monk level because they want to qualify for a PrC, make their character more effective, etc... it is incumbant upon them to provide an in-character motivation to whatever extend is appropriate to the group and campaign. Of course, it is also the responsibility of the DM to provide opportunities to do so, if in-game actions or motivations are required.
A related issue is whether character classes are considered in-world social constructs of some sort, or merely collections of mechanical benefits to be interpreted however the player sees fit. I know some people that refuse to allow PCs to take levels in Barbarian or Sorcerer unless they do so at 1st level, because they consider those classes to be the result of background, and people that refuse to allow wizard levels without long periods of downtime because "magic takes a long time to learn". Often, it seems, these decisions are made as ways to reduce powergaming as well as ways to enforce versimilitude. To me, this is a cheap, heavy handed way to enforce either balance or setting coherence. It is better, I think, to roll with it and let the player's desires inform the world.
By definition, prestige classes are often supposed to be in-world constructs in some cases. For example, you can't be a Red Wizard of Thay (strictly as written) in an Eberron campaign. How did you get to Thay?
A lot of concern is also "When do you gain a level?" - In older systems, XP could be given out on the fly, sometimes during a combat. "
You downed the owlbear! 600XP! Now the gnoll attacks!". That leads, IMO, to awkward situations that don't make sense in-game.
Gaining a level, to me, implies that you have achieved a level of worldly experience that allows you to expand your knowlege and horizons. Some in-game explanations:
BAB, skills and saves increase: As you've been fighting, you've been working on making your strikes more accurate, practicing over time that particular maneuver to get your axe around the enemy's defense. The moment you get the increase reflects the fact that this practice is now second nature. Skills are similar. If you're learning a totally new skill, you have to either have been using it untrained or have gone off during downtime to practice it. If you've been scaling Mount Doom for the entirety of 6th level, when you reach 7th you'd better have a darn good reason for becoming a better swimmer. Saves are like BAB - over time your reaction time improves, you become a little tougher, more resolute. Once you mechanically get the increase, it represents these improvements becoming instinctive.
Gaining feats and special abilities: I tend to think these take training, or some kind of in-game explanation. Simple things like Combat Expertise, Power Attack, and Cleave can be explained as "Hey, I've been trying this in combat and now I think I got the hang of it!". You just gained Extend Spell? Means you finally got the hang of altering your spell formula to make it last longer. Sure, it's harder to memorize (increased level) but you can do it now. Sneak attack damage goes up? "Hey, if I tilt my wrist like so, I can hit the kidney AND the artery in one shot!"
Gaining a level in a new class: If it's a class that someone in your party has? Maybe they've been teaching you some of the secrets. The monk teaches the fighter some of the secrets of meditation, unarmed combat, etc. The fighter teaches the rogue how to properly use a shield. Maybe it's active, maybe it's just by watching them. But gaining that level represents the point at which this learning becomes natural. Of course, if it's a level gained in an absolutely new class -- where did your PC learn this stuff?
This is why I tend to think the best time to hand out XP, especially if a party member is close to gaining a level, is only after an adventure is done and the party's at a resting point where they can logically regroup and refit themselves.
I think the mechanics should exist to serve character concept. It's like the old joke where the 2nd Ed. thief walks into the general store and asks "Do you have any items a thief can use?" When players are designing PCs in a game I run, I always get a concept from them before they start putting numbers down.
"I want to play a wandering swordsman type, not a big armor-wearing brawler, but the kind of guy who lives by his wits and solves problems with his brain before violence." goes a lot more towards telling me, the DM, what the player is interested in more so than "I want to play a rogue."
