| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Jorin Embersmith |
Posted - 11 Dec 2010 : 06:32:50
Ho the fire!
I was wondering how you other DMs handle your characters' leveling up?
Do you make them pay their levelx100 in gold? Do they just reach some arbitrary plateau? Do they have to go back to a sizable town?
I was never too pleased with the "just level up" scheme.
Got any suggestions?
Strong Beer and Silky Beards to you all! |
| 16 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Fizilbert |
Posted - 29 Dec 2010 : 15:55:52
I run a 2E game. I give my players the first 2 levels free. In other words, they can freely level up to 2nd and 3rd level instantaneously and without cost. Once they are ready to level up to 4th level, they can increase their HP and saving throws, but new combat abilities, new spells, and any proficiencies that may come along with the level require that they go and get trained.
I give them the first couple of levels because new players just aren't going to have the money to afford to level up to 2nd level or 3rd. Usually by 4th they should have enough free gold to afford it. As someone else had mentioned, requiring them to spend gold on leveling up is a way to help control excess gold. I also find it a good way for players to introduce new characters to the group and have them build up a potential replacement character. While their main character is off getting training, they can bring in a new character and get some experience for that character. If anything ever happens to their main character, they have a replacement ready to go. |
| Marc |
Posted - 29 Dec 2010 : 13:45:26
We have removed leveling up, it matters what the pc's do with their time between the fights, fights can only increase character's experience with a sword, but the weapon skill increase from that is very limited. |
| Saxmilian |
Posted - 22 Dec 2010 : 14:13:26
I allow the level to be gained as soon as it is earned. Story is a key-component to my game and skill points are placed in skills that were actively used, those that have been lacking get the bonuses but require explaniation. The barbarian suddenly sinking skill points into Diplomacy Screams at the bard "You botched that negoation with those orcs, you should have asserted your superiority by...". Even my players grumble about getting skills out of nowhere. "The Druid took 3 ranks in Open Locks? She's never SEEN a lock!" then again, if they justify it, "well Darrsison has been showing her a thing or too during their watch" make it far more understandable.
Wizards are supposed to acquire a free spell per level and the (research) is supposed to have been an ongoing process. I had a player knew he was going to level up scream in the middle of battle "I just realized how to conjure forth those enchanted spider's webs I have been working on!" (having announced he was going to take webs as his next spell). It was comical because he never survived the battle and his fellow wizard was saddened that he too wouldnt copy his friends spell. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 15 Dec 2010 : 02:00:21
I use something of the opposite approach on that, Gray. Players who miss sessions Polymorph Into NPC and do not gain as much XP. I have made exceptions when unavoidable/important reasons explain lack of attendance, but there's sometimes a player who is notoriously unpunctual/unreliable and, I feel, shouldn't be rewarded for inconveniencing everybody else.
I tend to give XP at the beginning of each session and allow a short time for level-up paperwork. In addition to individual XP there is also "party" XP (for achieving party victories/goals, etc) which the players can divide evenly or distribute in any uneven manner they agree upon; it sometimes helps "nudge" borderline PCs over the edge or "pay back XP debts" or whatever. |
| Gray Richardson |
Posted - 15 Dec 2010 : 01:40:15
Also, I now have a house rule that everyone levels at the same time. People who miss a session or two still get to level up when everyone else does. It saves on the jealousy, whining and feelings of inadequacy. My players seem to be way more satisfied with that and feel like that is more fair. |
| Gray Richardson |
Posted - 15 Dec 2010 : 01:37:04
Here's another simple way to give out xp. Just give out one point per session. Then the players can trade in an equivalent # of points to gain the next level. 2 pts for level 2, 3 points for level 3, 6 points for level 6 etc.
That way, lower levels go quicker, and it takes a little longer to level through the sweet spot.
As a DM, you can award an "extra" point for great game play, and you can start doing that around level 6 or so to help the leveling along. Some sessions you may only hand out 1 point, some 2, on rare occasions 3 pts, but never more than that or you'll overshoot up into epic levels pretty quickly.
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| mensch |
Posted - 14 Dec 2010 : 11:11:54
quote:
Originally posted by Mr_Miscellany
For my 3.5 Realms game I let players level up after resting.
That's how I do it as well. Leveling up to me is just a game mechanic, not something that has to be explained by IC situations or roleplay. The characters just get better because they get more skilled performing the tasks they're given by the NPCs or the goals they set themselves.
It's nice and rewarding if a PC chooses the skills and feats he/she has been using extensively during the journey to a new level. So that somebody doesn't suddenly become extremely skilled in Diplomacy if that character has barely spoken during all the sessions amounting to the level up.
The introduction of prestige classes is something else though, they're incorporated in my overall campaign plot. |
| Dalor Darden |
Posted - 13 Dec 2010 : 23:27:26
The game I'm currently running is 1st Edition. I award xp for monsters killed, but not for treasure (either coin or magic) as I don't feel that FINDING a thing makes you any more experienced than waking from a dream...though the dream might give you more experience than waking!
I do give experience based on my own twisted and sometimes inconsistent manner for role-playing and problem solving... |
| Mr_Miscellany |
Posted - 13 Dec 2010 : 20:56:42
For my 3.5 Realms game I let players level up after resting.
A big change from 2E to 3E was the assumption that characters are always practicing and researching ways to get better in their class(es) during downtime, so there was no longer any need to have characters find tutors and pay fees in gp just to level. |
| Daviot |
Posted - 13 Dec 2010 : 20:45:49
quote:
Originally posted by Diffan
I often let my group level up after an extended rest (6 hrs for 4E or 8 hrs in v3.5/Pathfinder). This allows them some downtime and the can role play themselves gaining a new spell or ability.
...
As for suggestions, it's really up to the DM. I've played in games where the DM didn't care if you leveled up all your abilities after a battle (with very little rest time) and where the DM allowed leveling up completly in a safe haven or town. As a PC, I just went with the flow because I hate arguing with a DM over something so silly.
This is generally how my group rolls (pun optional). If the party has prepared the math for leveling up, then whenever there's a safe place and a night's rest, leveling happens, and we move on. If it's going to take more time, I'll generally hold back on calculating/awarding XP until the end of a session (or another good stopping point), and then allow time for people to discuss options and crunch numbers.
If a player talks to me about roleplaying training, I sometimes let that PC "borrow" towards a feat or other small ability ahead of time, with the understanding that they're confirmed to select that at the next level. And overall, I try to make suggestions for mechanics that fit with characters or how they've been roleplayed—the best characters are those whose numbers and RP mesh together well. |
| Diffan |
Posted - 11 Dec 2010 : 19:01:49
quote:
Originally posted by Gray Richardson
I used to calculate XP meticulously based on encounters by the book at the end of each session. It was time-consuming and confusing. Players would end up leveling at different times. Now I just give out a level every 3 or 4 sessions and everyone always is the same level.
I could see this being confusing if calculated XP for each individual character (which might vary depending on how they performed) instead of Level of Party vs. CR adjustment = total XP given out across the board.
Where my group had the problem was sometimes people would miss a sessions 'cus of work or school or weather so what we did was if they weren't there, their character would still gain XP (off to the side) along with the rest of the group. They would, however, miss out on gear, gold, magical items.
What it comes down to is how fast you want your group to progress. I've recently felt my group gaining levels too slowly so I've been giving out XP for role-playing, how they handle situations, and for going out of their way to be more in character. This usually means anywhere from 100 to 350 or as high as 500 per character if they do well. |
| Gray Richardson |
Posted - 11 Dec 2010 : 17:24:33
I used to calculate XP meticulously based on encounters by the book at the end of each session. It was time-consuming and confusing. Players would end up leveling at different times. Now I just give out a level every 3 or 4 sessions and everyone always is the same level. |
| Thauramarth |
Posted - 11 Dec 2010 : 16:48:38
quote:
Originally posted by Diffan
I can't say I've ever heard anyone making PCs pay levelx100 in gold. That's just crazy talk.
Not sure where this exact amount comes from, but back in the old days of 1E, levelling up required a character to find a higher-level character of the same class, and be trained (which, overall, was supposed to cost the trained character 1,000 gp per level - a very handy way of relieving PCs of excess gold pieces).
In my 2E games (and I would apply the same in 3.5E games), whether PCs get to level up depends on their class. Rogues and fighters (or other class without magic abilities) get their level increases straight away, after the next rest period. Spell-casting classes need a month (30 days) worth of training/study whenever they gain access to a new spell level (in 2E, this means at 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 14th, 16th, and 18th levels of experience for wizards). Psionicists gaining a level will need 5 days per additional devotion, and 10 days per additional science they acquire upon levelling up. These study times presume uninterrupted by intense action (DM discretion - a long, drawn-out battle, or being in a storm at sea would count; a quick spell cast at an attacker or ordinary, relatively tranquil travelling would not). Every interruption causes the day spent in study to be "lost". Interrupting the study (say, after two days) adds a day to the overall duration required. For wizards, training does not require a tutor, but it does requires access to some source of magical knowledge (which can be a tutor, or a mage guild library). for priests, this usually involves praying at a shrine or temple. For psionicists, meditation is the order of the day.
In order to acquire a new proficiency, the character needs to study with a character that already knows the proficiency. However, I allow characters to study proficiencies beforehand (30 days per proficiency slot, main penalties for interruption as above), and it becomes "active" after one day of training once the character levels up and gains the proficiency slot or skill points. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 11 Dec 2010 : 16:16:39
My characters momentarily radiate a glowing energy, accompanied by a divine chorus and clarion trumpets, healing them up to full strength, and making them grow somewhat "bigger" and more "defined" ...
(Just kidding.) |
| Diffan |
Posted - 11 Dec 2010 : 12:06:35
I often let my group level up after an extended rest (6 hrs for 4E or 8 hrs in v3.5/Pathfinder). This allows them some downtime and the can role play themselves gaining a new spell or ability.
I can't say I've ever heard anyone making PCs pay levelx100 in gold. That's just crazy talk.
As for suggestions, it's really up to the DM. I've played in games where the DM didn't care if you leveled up all your abilities after a battle (with very little rest time) and where the DM allowed leveling up completly in a safe haven or town. As a PC, I just went with the flow because I hate arguing with a DM over something so silly.
And I actually like idilippy's idea a lot. I think i'm gonna steal that scheme for my Hereos of the Moonsea campaign. Thanks! |
| idilippy |
Posted - 11 Dec 2010 : 07:59:59
I let them gain hp, saves, and attack bonuses immediately, even in the middle of a wilderness or dungeon, and skills, feats, and new spells when they have downtime in a town(if one is nearby) or a safe campsite if one is not. The game is full of abstractions after all, and while I used to get annoyed with how leveling up just suddenly made new skills and abilities appear out of nowhere now I just look at it as the abstract way of showing the slow improvement the character has been experiencing all along. I don't use training in either 2e or 3.5e/Pathfinder, though for PrC's or unusual spells I do want them to role play finding someone to introduce them to the PrC/teach them the spell, or the time it took to research the spell if they go about it that way. |
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