Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
What if? Levels...
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Andor" data-source="post: 3477887" data-attributes="member: 1879"><p>I had a thought just now...</p><p></p><p>I've always been a bit iffy on the idea that levels don't exist inside a D&D world. They are too central to how things operate. And while it may be hard to tell a 4th level fighter from a 5th level fighter by looking at him, no such confusion can occur with a wizard. The 5th level wiz is the one who's flying. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> </p><p></p><p>So what if levels are a perfectly known and familiar element inside the game world? They probably would not called 'levels' to be sure, but still known. My idea for how to work this into a positive story/rping element is this: The players don't know how much experience they have. When the character thinks he's earned a level he calls upon [His god, the powers that be, the supreme judge, the purple monkey, whatever] and is recites a list of worthy deeds. If he is judged worthy (IE has enough XP) he get's his level miraculously. If not he get's zotted by a bolt from the blue and loses some unknown amount of exp. (Say 1d4 X Level X 100 xp. Which only the GM rolls and he's the one who knew how much XP was needed in the first place.) Perhaps this zot is rumoured to possibly be much worse sometimes. This then explains the generally low levels of commoners. They have not dared to risk a curse merely for another d4 hp. </p><p></p><p>So Paul the Paladin kills the Big Orc who was stirring up the local trouble and figures that ought to be enough to tip the scales and allow him to earn a level. So when he gets back into town (It could probably be done anywhere, but levels are a big deal so why not do it right?) he goes to his temple and organizes a ceremony where he calls upon Heironeous to judge him. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: Orange">"Oh great and good Heironeous! I Paul the Paladin call upon you to judge me this day! If I am worthy grant me the power of the 5th rank that I may better serve you, Oh Lord of Smiting. Since my last rank was achieved I have journied far from the temple where I was trained. Along the road I slew many bandits thus bringing Order to the world. Also a wandering ooze which was Good for it might otherwise have preyed upon the innocent. I came to the town of Ignatz where I learned of the depredations of the orc raider Greentusk and came to value the friendship of the locals. I then did many battles with Greentusks raiders and their associated monsters. I have even this last day slain Greentusk himself thus ending a force for evil and chaos in this world!"</span> </p><p></p><p>(Pauls player crosses his fingers and hopes he really did get a roleplaying award for that tavernwench in Ignatz.) </p><p></p><p>A cloud of Glory appears before Paul and proclaims <span style="color: PaleTurquoise">"PAUL THOU ART WORTHY IN MY SIGHT. HERE IS THE POKEBALL OF THE 5th RANK."</span> and a bolt of silver lightning zots Paul and gives him a HD. The watching commoners shiver with fear and awe and decide that the fall harvest really wasn't much to boast about before a God.</p><p></p><p>Would something like this add to your game?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Andor, post: 3477887, member: 1879"] I had a thought just now... I've always been a bit iffy on the idea that levels don't exist inside a D&D world. They are too central to how things operate. And while it may be hard to tell a 4th level fighter from a 5th level fighter by looking at him, no such confusion can occur with a wizard. The 5th level wiz is the one who's flying. :D So what if levels are a perfectly known and familiar element inside the game world? They probably would not called 'levels' to be sure, but still known. My idea for how to work this into a positive story/rping element is this: The players don't know how much experience they have. When the character thinks he's earned a level he calls upon [His god, the powers that be, the supreme judge, the purple monkey, whatever] and is recites a list of worthy deeds. If he is judged worthy (IE has enough XP) he get's his level miraculously. If not he get's zotted by a bolt from the blue and loses some unknown amount of exp. (Say 1d4 X Level X 100 xp. Which only the GM rolls and he's the one who knew how much XP was needed in the first place.) Perhaps this zot is rumoured to possibly be much worse sometimes. This then explains the generally low levels of commoners. They have not dared to risk a curse merely for another d4 hp. So Paul the Paladin kills the Big Orc who was stirring up the local trouble and figures that ought to be enough to tip the scales and allow him to earn a level. So when he gets back into town (It could probably be done anywhere, but levels are a big deal so why not do it right?) he goes to his temple and organizes a ceremony where he calls upon Heironeous to judge him. [COLOR=Orange]"Oh great and good Heironeous! I Paul the Paladin call upon you to judge me this day! If I am worthy grant me the power of the 5th rank that I may better serve you, Oh Lord of Smiting. Since my last rank was achieved I have journied far from the temple where I was trained. Along the road I slew many bandits thus bringing Order to the world. Also a wandering ooze which was Good for it might otherwise have preyed upon the innocent. I came to the town of Ignatz where I learned of the depredations of the orc raider Greentusk and came to value the friendship of the locals. I then did many battles with Greentusks raiders and their associated monsters. I have even this last day slain Greentusk himself thus ending a force for evil and chaos in this world!"[/COLOR] (Pauls player crosses his fingers and hopes he really did get a roleplaying award for that tavernwench in Ignatz.) A cloud of Glory appears before Paul and proclaims [COLOR=PaleTurquoise]"PAUL THOU ART WORTHY IN MY SIGHT. HERE IS THE POKEBALL OF THE 5th RANK."[/COLOR] and a bolt of silver lightning zots Paul and gives him a HD. The watching commoners shiver with fear and awe and decide that the fall harvest really wasn't much to boast about before a God. Would something like this add to your game? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
What if? Levels...
Top