Training

[Macbrea]

Well, lets assume a soldier in modern day is a 1st level fighter. It takes him 8 weeks to be trained to reach that point. So, about 100 to 150 exp a week probably wouldn't be a bad sum.

 

[James McMurray]

I would think a soldier would be a 2nd level fighter or warrior at least.

 

[Hammerhead]

I think he means a guy just out of basic training, because professional soldiers will end up with more than 8 weeks of training. Then a soldier probably gets some more from specialized training, plus reduced awards from excercises, plus real XP from from actual combat, if any.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

XP is not only earnable via adventuring. You gain it for any encounter. Under the right circumstances, getting a bowl of milk for your cat could earn you a few XP (say for instance the milk was still in the cow, and you don't have any legs or wheelchairs available). Sounds like at least a CR2 encounter to me as far as challenge level goes.

The simplest way to overcome that encounter would be to throw something at the cat so it would stop meowing and you wouldn't have to get it any milk. Since cats can only have what, 1 or two hit points, I'd say it's more like a CR 1/4.

 

[James McMurray]

That makes sense, thanks for the clarification.

 

[Dreaddisease]

I would handle training this way:

You cannot train beyond 1 levels. So a ftr 4 starts training with a ftr 9 and gets 500 XP/Month (arbitrary #). When the ftr gets to 5th level I would not allow him/her to advance any farther inside training.

Also I would not allow a character to advance beyond 1 level with self training. So he is getting 100XP/Month (another arbitrary #) so once he gets to within 100 of the next level then he just stops until he actually adventures.

That is a personal opinion. A person, under these other systems could jump from trainer to trainer their whole life without ever actually being in one fight and somehow be ready to face a dragon.

I do not think that a character adventure class should be advanced outside of an adventure.

I like the NPC rule provided.

 

[James McMurray]

You cannot train beyond 1 levels. So a ftr 4 starts training with a ftr 9 and gets 500 XP/Month (arbitrary #). When the ftr gets to 5th level I would not allow him/her to advance any farther inside training.

Also I would not allow a character to advance beyond 1 level with self training. So he is getting 100XP/Month (another arbitrary #) so once he gets to within 100 of the next level then he just stops until he actually adventures.

So even after 20 years in study under the world's finest minds, a person is stuck at wizard 2 with 5 ranks in alchemy?

That is a personal opinion. A person, under these other systems could jump from trainer to trainer their whole life without ever actually being in one fight and somehow be ready to face a dragon.

Their attack bonuses will be up there, as will their spellcasting capabilities. However, their tactics might be a bit lacking, resulting in their death.

I do not think that a character adventure class should be advanced outside of an adventure.

I disagree, it should be difficult, especially at higher levels, but one should be able to hone their skills through practice.

 

[Dreaddisease]

Their attack bonuses will be up there, as will their spellcasting capabilities. However, their tactics might be a bit lacking, resulting in their death.

Um if their tactics are lacking then they shouldn't be at the equivalent level. Levels and XP are an example of survivability of similar CR as well as abilities.

If you have a person who is training their whole life and honing these skills then I have 3 initials for you... NPC.

Thats why I mentioned the NPC vs adventuring classes. A naked warrior 20 is almost as scary as a naked fighter 20, but how they earned those XP is different. You would expect the warrior to have less money according to the DMG and the Fighter to have more exotic items (when he is fully dressed) because of his adventures.

So I disagree.

 

[James McMurray]

The simplest way to overcome that encounter would be to throw something at the cat so it would stop meowing and you wouldn't have to get it any milk. Since cats can only have what, 1 or two hit points, I'd say it's more like a CR 1/4.

But then you've failed the encounter, as the cat is now dead. Since he was the king's cat, your life is forfeit. I reckon maybe you should have tried a non-combat approach.

 

[Silver Dragon]

I was thinking about this yesterday and though it would be interesting to offer skill points for training. This way the player trains in a specific thing, and they get one or two skill points for it.
Progress would most likely advance exponentially, so as they train it takes longer and longer to gain another skill point in their subject of choice. If you use a method like this you might want to decrease their per-level skill points so that your players don't get too many