demographics by level

[big teej]

greetings playgrounders,

to get straight to the question,

I am at a point where certain matters I was able to easily hand wave away and put off are coming to matter in the context of my weekly game.

one of these, is the idea of "level demographics"

to put it another way

how common is a level 10 character? are they rare, powerful lords holding much of the wealth and power? or are they dime-a dozen, a handful in each and every gathering of peoples?


I have a strong aversion to the idea of "tripping over epic level characters" I've had far too many bad experiences with them to even lightly sprinkle them over my world thus far.

however, my players are reaching a high enough level where I need to at least form a skeleton of these demographics (they've reached the point where they are, technically, the strongest beings in existence..... except for their enemies)



but I'm at a loss as to where to begin..... even the simple model that suggests itself "each major city is ruled by an epic character" is abhorrent to me.


so.... not as straight to the point as I intended... but oh well.

TL:DR -

1) what should the percentages of any given level be across an entire
campaign setting?

2) how did you arrive at this?

3) what sorts of things influence your decisions?

4) other things you think would be helpful to this line of inquiry.


thanks a bunch yall

[jojolagger]

the actual distribution would like need to factor for for the setting background. However, for actually doing the math, a shape somewhat like a decay graph.

For quickly doing the numbers, I'd have 90% of the population be level one, 9% be level 2, .9% level 3, ect.
Or possibly 90% for one, 5% for 2, 2.5% for 3, 1.25 % for 4, ect. if you need more high level people.

[Yora]

It depends entirely on the setting. The important numbers are the entire population, the amount of people who are first level, and the level of the highest leveled person. Based on that, it's not too difficult to calculate the numbers of individuals for each level so there's a steady rate of decrease in people as levels get higher.

[big teej]

hey, related question....


the Forgotten Realms setting.... does it have charts for level demographics? given that's what I'm going for size wise at least... it'd be really helpful.

[Jeraa]

No, it doesn't. The only place I can think of that deals with level demographics is the Dungeon Masters Guide, starting on page 136. But that only deals with the levels of characters in individual towns/cities, not the total population.

[big teej]

No, it doesn't. The only place I can think of that deals with level demographics is the Dungeon Masters Guide, starting on page 136. But that only deals with the levels of characters in individual towns/cities, not the total population.

-shrugs-

it's a start.

[Wyntonian]

Something I did while thinking about my own world's demographics...

Odin is a badass, right? He's the god of death, poetry, victory, inspiration and the unending travel that everyone's taking part in. After hanging on the tree Yggdrasil, pierced by a spear, for nine days, he touches the runes of knowledge and learns nine spells of power. Now, let's take a look at what these nine spells did, mmkay?

1. Getting help. This is kinda vague, so let's ignore it for now. Still, it could be done with something as simple as Charm Person.

2. "I know a second that the sons of men
Must learn who wish to be leeches." I assume this is a reference to the old practice of using leeches in medicine. From that angle, it could be anything from Purify Food and Drink to Heal.

3. Blunting swords. There's a spell for that, forget what it is. Nothing too high-level though, eh?

4. Escaping bonds. Ok, this really does sound like Freedom of Movement. That's what, fourth level?

5. Stopping arrows. Refluffed protection from arrows. Next.

6. Reflecting spells. Spell Turning is seventh level, so that's a new record, but still. If spell levels are a measure of relative power, it seems like a spell that counters other spells would be reasonable considered to be of a lower level in a low-magic setting like that of the Norse Myths.

7. Protection from fire. Please, wizards have been doing this since they got 2nd level spells.

8. It's Charm Person. Maybe Calm Emotions. Either way, nothing too groundbreaking.

9. It's Control Weather.

10. Ghostbusting. Magic Circle against X. Yawn.

11. Keeping people from "scathed". Can you say buff? It sounds like an AC or concealment sort of thing, maybe a mass version of Shield of Faith? Barkskin?

12. Speak with Dead. That's all.

13. Splash a guy and he won't drop. How about Vigor for constant healing or Bear's endurance for extra Con? Sounds good.

14. Names?

" I know a fourteenth, that few know:
If I tell a troop of warriors
About the high ones, Elves and Gods,
I can name them one by one.
(Few can the nitwit name.)"

15. A song that someone sang someone else once. Not a d&d style spell, really.

16. Charm Person.

17. Charm Person

18. Not specified.

So, what does a oh-my-god-it's-a-god get in the way of spell levels? Up to seventh, in two instances out of eighteen. The rest are something any low-level caster could pull off, and this from the god of wisdom. I know Odin is fairly low-magic as deities go, but I feel like if a god does this stuff only after huge sacrifice, your 1st level wizard needs to be pretty epic to pull this off.

This, combines with the weird skill stuff that happens at high levels made me decide to stay lowish in Patria, my campaign setting. If you're casting 5ths, you're about as good as anyone alive, roughly. Most are fa

[Zap Dynamic]

Like everyone else has said, it depends entirely on the setting. Fortunately for you, that means you can make it up!

I'll point you to this link (http://www.autarch.co/2011/07/the-demographics-of-heroism/), which is the only actual level demographics chart I've seen in a tabletop game. It only goes to 14th level, but it has a lot of economical and mechanical calculation to back it up.

The suggestion to use the DMG stuff about highest level per city population is good too. It would be really easy to determine higher levels amongst larger populations.

I'll second what Yora said especially. Figure out how many people are in your world, then figure out what percentage of that population are the highest attainable level, then go from there.