padding lower levels

[big teej]

I read recently of a game where the DM granted all the players 3 levels in Human Paragon for free, and the game proceeded from there.


in a related vein, I had a thought. "the PCs were, theoretically, normal people at some point in their lives."

and I thought, in order to help pad the lower levels (1, 2, and maybe 3)

to give the players (up to) 3 "free" levels of an NPC with the same purpose as their PC class

and run it as if they were first level.

I.E. the 1st level fighter doesn't have 1 HD,
the 1st level fighter has 4HD (3 warrior, fighter 1) but for all intents and purposes is treated as a first level character.


now, realizing that might be a bit much, I have a very similar idea, but with less numbers

instead of different NPC classes, give them all 3 levels of commoner.


thoughts?


for the record I'm not actually planning on implementing this, it was simply a thought and I was curious about what would occur IF it were implemented.

[Shadowknight12]

Hinges too heavily on your definition of "is treated as." Do they get extra HP? Extra BAB? Extra skill points? Saves? Does a first level fighter (with 3 levels of commoner) get an ability increase? Does he get a third-level feat? What CR will you be using with him? 1st? 4th? Something in between?

I've personally found that a much more elegant way to implement the fluff you've suggested is to give them four to X ranks (depending on the characters' starting level) on a Craft or Profession skill of their choice. Maybe a free feat along the veins of Alertness, Persuasive, Nimble or Skill Focus.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I like the idea of strting out as a 4th level character, with one level in a PC class and three in an NPC class, then trading the NPC levels for PC levels unil level four, when all your NPC levels are gone.

[Kylarra]

I'd just give them extra hps and call it a day. Starting off with racial paragons is a fun idea, but not ideal for all characters.

[Tvtyrant]

Can I ask why you aren't simply maximizing their HP roles? It would definitely de-squishy them a bit.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Can I ask why you aren't simply maximizing their HP roles? It would definitely de-squishy them a bit.

That's the default, I thought he was already doing that. :smallconfused:

Though now that you bring it up, are you doing it?

[Tvtyrant]

That's the default, I thought he was already doing that. :smallconfused:

Though now that you bring it up, are you doing it?

Nope. I make them roll them. It has never been a problem so far.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Nope. I make them roll them. It has never been a problem so far.

I was talking to the OP, I should've made that more clear.

[big teej]

it was just a thought,

my group takes full HD at first level and rolls afterwards with one add on.

if you don't like your roll, you can roll the next die down.
for instance.

let's say you're playing a barbarian. you've levelled up, roll a d12
and you get a 2
ick. you don't like that, so you step down to a d10 and roll that

get a 4....still not really happy. step down to a d8 etc all the way down to d4 if you need to.

stole that from somebody on these boards

[Godskook]

I ran on similar rules, and the low-levels were *VERY* sumo-wrestler-y.

Specifically:
Character creation:
1 class level and 3 'temp' HD that provide BAB, saves, and HP(8+con)

At level up, lose 1 'temp' HD, and gain the normal benefits of your class at that level.

At any point that you can afford it, you may spend an amount of xp to maximize a HD you've previously gained. This is equal to 250 for your 2nd level HD, and an additional 250 for each HD thereafter(your 4th level HD costs 750xp, your 9th level HD costs 2000xp, etc).

[Seerow]

it was just a thought,

my group takes full HD at first level and rolls afterwards with one add on.

if you don't like your roll, you can roll the next die down.
for instance.

let's say you're playing a barbarian. you've levelled up, roll a d12
and you get a 2
ick. you don't like that, so you step down to a d10 and roll that

get a 4....still not really happy. step down to a d8 etc all the way down to d4 if you need to.

stole that from somebody on these boards

I actually like that at first glance, as it is a way to add a little extra value to the higher hit dice, since currently they are worth 1 hp per die size.


I just did some quick math, and it's not a particularly huge increase (a d12 goes from being worth 6.5 hp per level to ~8 hp per level, if my math is right. I was making the assumption that you reroll only if below average. ie on the d12 roll you'll accept a 6, but reroll a 5, because the d10 will average slightly higher than a 5.

Math:
d12: 6-12
d10: 5-10
d8: 4-8
d6: 3-6
d4: 1-4





58.3333% of the time average is 9
25% of the time average is 7.5
10.4375% of the time average is 6
4.175% of the time average is 4.5
2.0875% of the time, average is 2.5


Weighted Average: 5.247+1.875+.62625+.187875+.0521875 = 7.988

[Person_Man]

1st and 2nd level are indeed deadly difficult. Some of it like it that way. In particular, with a good DM, it forces players to AVOID combat and spend more time on roleplaying, puzzles, solving mysteries, setting up or disarming traps, exploring, making allies, setting up ambushes, etc. If you don't I fully understand. Lots of different opinions on the best flavor of ice cream. But instead of mucking around with house rules, you might just want to start at 3rd or 4th level, without shoehorning in levels of Paragon or Commoner. It's much simpler that way.