What is the median level of the population of your gameworld?

[Mark]

World-building GMs - what level is the median adult inhabitant of your game world?

In practice, that tends to fluctuate based on the needs of the campaign at the time.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

A little more in depth response now that I've given more thought.

I have regionalized my campaign continent with 'provincial' leaders the sole 10th level character and multiples of 2 downwards until level 6 when it fills out more proportionally. Higher level characters have influence on a greater scale; principalities, kingdoms & regional/continental empires. The current province is actually a minute kingdom with a population of 4000.

Individually characters are 1st level commoners until teens where they acquire their first class which overrides Commoner (granting a hd reroll, no 1hp people please). 2nd and 3rd level are attained somewhere in the 20s, 4th in the 30s when aging kicks in. 5th+ usually accompanies mature middle age, 7th level is something special as noted above.

The people are pretty self reliant and hardy, so I'll stick with level 3.

 

[S'mon]

As opposed to asking what is the level of the typical inhabitant of your game world? Which would have been both more accurate and less confusing. Or even 'what is the most common level for NPCs in your game world?'

The Auld Grump

Both those questions are asking what the modal level is. :\
But I wanted to know what the median level was.

eg: IMC the most common (modal) level is 1st, the median level is 2nd, the average level (sum of levels divided by number of inhabitants) is 3rd. I thought everyone was taught in school what a mode, median & average were, so I didn't think it would be confusing.

 

[glass]

There are three statistical terms which must not be confused: Mean, Median, and Mode.

The mean is better known as the average. Sum of all values, divided by number of values.

As I was taught it, they are all measures of average, although when people say average, they do generally mean mean.

EDIT: I googled this up:

Whenever you find yourself writing the words, "the average worker" this, or "the average household" that, you don't want to use the mean to describe those situations. You want a statistic that tells you something about the worker or the household in the middle. That's the median.

I voted 4th. Not sure why, just a gut feeling. The mode would be 2nd or 3rd.


glass.

 

[glass]

Both those questions are asking what the modal level is. :\
But I wanted to know what the median level was.

Actually, you asked what level a 'median adult' was. You then (in post 28) told off those who had interpretted you question as meaning median level, despite the fact that that is really the only way it can be interpretted given that there is relly no such thing as a median adult.

Not trying to pick on you, but you are rather giving mixed signals.


glass.

 

[Aristotle]

I don't use any charts or statistics really. I just use whatever levels tend to feel right. The age of adulthood differs from culture to culture. I use 20 years as an approximate age of maturity, where others see the person as mature enough to take care of their own business or give sound advice. I assume both the upper and lower class start to soak up the world around them and make decisions about what sort of person they will be at around the age of 10. I assume they are doing everything they can to become independent, and that everything they are doing is a new experience shaping them in some way. So They gain about 1 level per year in those first 10 years. Making the average adult 10th level. Advancement beyond 10th is much-much slower, but commoners and nobles of 20+ level are not unheard of (although they are usually venerable).

Yes, this means that the average, adult, villager might be able to kick the butt of some upstart 1st or 2nd level adventurer (I like that)... but the significant combat advantage of the PC classes far outstrips that of the NPC classes allowing adventurers to best such people long before reaching their level of experience. (for the record I use only two homebrew "NPC classes". My personal take on Commoner and Aristocrat. Both offer some advantages that make them worthy as secondary classes for PC's as well.)

 

[Celebrim]

Roughly 1/3rd of the population is assumed to be under 15. The overwhelming majority of these are assumed to be 0 level, unless like Paul Atredies they are prodigies with access to superior education and training.

After that, the vast majority of the remaining are split evenly between 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th level. The average (human) 2nd level character is in his mid-20's. The average 3rd level character is in his mid-30's. The average 4th level character is in his mid-40's. For most classes, that's a fairly hard limit. Few fighters can continue to practice thier profession regularly into thier upper years, and higher level characters get increasingly rare and usually older and hense more frail. Commoners, who are presumed to gain experience in thier class just through daily living, regularly reach 7th or 8th level, but that is an exception - and its worth noting that the average 7th level octogenarian commoner has no more h.p. or combat ability than they did back at 1st level simply because of detiorating strength and constitution.

Upper class members of society often multiclass through life, perhaps beginning with a few levels in fighter, then as they get older add the demands on thier time change, they pick up perhaps a few levels of aristocrat, and latter still perhaps a level or two of expert. It would not at all be unusual for an older aristocrat, a community leader, to be a Ftr2/Ari2/Exp2.

I voted for 2nd level, but actually the real average is probably somewhere between 2nd and 3rd. Nonetheless, the average 1st level PC - outside of profession and craft skills and the like - is far more capable than the average member of society.

I should add that I use homebrew takes on commoner and expert, which make them more well suited to meeting the ordinary challenges of life. For example, commoners have an improved weapon selection and good fort saves, where as experts gain the full 8 skill points per level that rogues recieve.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Actually, you asked what level a 'median adult' was. You then (in post 28) told off those who had interpretted you question as meaning median level, despite the fact that that is really the only way it can be interpretted given that there is relly no such thing as a median adult.

Not trying to pick on you, but you are rather giving mixed signals.


glass.

Heh, beaten to it! I think he is just showing of his covabulary, err, vobabulary, err, big wurds! If he really had wondered if people were going to interpret his question (accurately) then he shoud have reworded it before posting.

And in my campaign the answer to the question he meant to ask was 1, 1, and 1.

The Auld Grump