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Originally posted by rodrigoalcanza
Questions: Which are the criteria to determine the level of a NPC of Realms? How certain characters like Szass Tam or Priamon can have more levels than Khelben, Alustriel or Syluné for instance, what are much older and with a very special relationship with Mystra?

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Originally posted by edappel

"Be loves by others", "influence" and "looking good in Red" (Very good point, Marq ) aren't something that increases the essencial power of a guy.

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Originally posted by rodrigoalcanza

Questions: Which are the criteria to determine the level of a NPC of Realms? How certain characters like Szass Tam or Priamon can have more levels than Khelben, Alustriel or Syluné for instance, what are much older and with a very special relationship with Mystra?

Actually, Alustriel and Syluné seem to have (in stats) less personal power (if they didn't have the power of Mystra) that certain wizards of Realms less grandiose than them.

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Originally posted by rodrigoalcanza

Am I conscious what the “character's levels” are not the only way of measuring his personal power, but after all... what represent those levels? How would it be able to “young” Zulkirs have levels near or same to the of grandiose Seven Sisters?

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Originally posted by TheHoodedOne

Well, now. “Swordsmen” you say, so I’m going to narrow my reply down to: male living (not dead or undead) humans.
I’m going to further qualify my reply by saying that among the most skilled masters of bladework, “best” becomes a matter of opinion regarding style, and the average observer can’t identify (let alone properly interpret) most subtle differences because they’re either dead too quickly, or too dazzled by things that happen too swiftly for them to see properly and too deftly for them to measure or grasp the implications of (matters of shifting a foe just a little off balance, or forcing a movement in stance or location, that will lead to a killing stroke three or four maneuvers later).
Moreover, “best” is a steadily shifting title, even when one sets aside divine and magical meddling, because (as with real-world tennis) youthful speed and acrobatic suppleness, plus freedom from injuries and the slowing and crippling effects of aging (on, say, the human knee), must always be balanced against the experience gained in duel after duel after battle: young swordsmen are always rising to the fore, but only step into the ranks of the “best” when those more expert through real-life practice grow too slow to defeat the most skilled younglings (or the younglings overcome their inexperience).
I’m also going to restrict myself purely to matters of bladework, in a one-on-one fight in surroundings that favour neither combatant. In other words, I’m minimizing “street smarts” or dirty fighting or the adventurers’ experience in exploiting traction, lighting, obstacles, distractions, and all of that: factors that seasoned adventurers (like Durnan of Waterdeep) can use to defeat foes who might be a shade faster or a whit better in pure bladework. This will work against Artemis Entreri, for example, but also against a host of other adventurers whom I won’t even mention in this reply, but who might otherwise show up in my answer.
(Personally, I’d rather not do any “best of” rankings, because I think they’re subjective, snapshots of moments in time that are dated even as they’re made, and a bit pointless. Even in pure-skill tournaments, upsets occur, and if a DM wants to create an unknown who’s better than the individuals mentioned here, go right ahead.)

Now, some may say that the levels given on this list are a bit low for “best” wielders-of-blades, but I say again: the only meaningful way I could answer Feanor’s question was to narrow my consideration of best to a definition of: supreme technique (superior finesse, if you will) in bladework. Otherwise, there are too many variables (X is alive today because Y slipped, or a deity who smiled on X MADE Y slip, or because X knew the darkened room they were fighting in just a little bit better, or because when the guards burst in it was Y who got his swordarm jarred for a critical moment, not X, or because it was X whose friends burst in, or Y the startled guard happened to stagger into . . . and so on). I believe THO and I have sufficiently communicated the difficulty of choosing “best” bladewielders to Feanor, our most important point being that there are another forty or so individuals, some famous and some publicly unknown, who are so close in skills to those I mentioned as to be “practically as good” if you don’t happen to be the Creator of the Realms and thus able to split Faerûnian hairs better than anyone else. :} (And, I remind you, I’m leaving out creatures - - mariliths, just to give one example - - who have more than two arms, and so can fence with a forest of skillfully-swung blades.) There are certainly combat-active beings in the Realms with higher levels than these folks, who would probably beat them in most fights; the “best” swordsman doesn’t always win.

So saith Ed

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