Level 0 character's

[arkangel111]

So I am starting up a new campaign, and I want to start the character's at level 0. that's right 0. A few reason's for this I'll go ahead and explain, willing to hear arguments or suggestions, I just might not take em.

reason's for 0
1. Mostly because they are kobold's. I want them to feel weak and have to rely on one another. To make sure they don't die too easily they will be with a decent sized group of kobold's that I will slowly kill off
2. They are all pretty much brand new and no one wants to make a character, in fact they would rather i just give them a character and say "play this". I figure this way I can help them all slowly build their own character. do a quest, reward with a feat, etc. AND I can give them feat suggestions based on how they play.

One of the things I am looking to get from the forum.

They are all most likely going into PoW classes so I want to give them a stance and a strike or boost to use that would be thematic for kobolds. I am thinking something for swarm tactics but not 100% sold. I am just trying to keep them in line with a level 0 ability.

I have a few ideas for an adventure hook but I am hoping for a more over-arching story so feel free to give me some adventure ideas too.

Anyway's anyone have some experience at level 0 play?

[Grod_The_Giant]

I'm... not familiar with any "level 0" mechanics for 3.PF, but perhaps you could start everyone with just their one monstrous humanoid hit die? Then whenever they "level up," they replace it with whatever hit die is appropriate for their class and move on.

[Esprit15]

I'm going to say it, simply because it is driving me crazy: you don't need an apostrophe before every s, only those that are possessive or contractions.

[Ludic]

This sounds like it is going to become like the Goblins webcomic.

They became aware and took character classes. Then had epic adventures being chased by Minmax the Fighter . . . Laugh-roit that one is.

[Crake]

The closest thing available to "level 0" is, as suggested, a single racial HD that is replaced, however, kobolds don't actually have racial HD, so you can instead use a single NPC level as a substitute, warrior for melee types, adept for magic-y types, and expert for skill types. Start them off with the standard array, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, and slowly upgrade them to the elite array, or some other array of your choosing, before finally giving them their first class level, which will replace their starting level.

Remember that NPC classes do not get full hp for their first HD, so it will feel like "half" a level kind of thing, since, if you're doing proper dnd averages, they will get half their HD, so D8 will get 4hp, D6 will get 3 hp, D4 will get 2hp, plus their con modifier.

I have actually used this method on a character before as part of an "interactive prologue" sort of thing, and it seemed to be recieved quite well. For "leveling up" the ability array to elite, you can have the increments be +1 to all stats except your 8 (which gives 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 8) and then +1 stats to all except your 10 and 8 which gets you the elite array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8). That essentially gives you a 3 tiered process, allowing 3 "stages" of gaining your first level.

If you want more granularity, you can start them off without a feat, then let them pick a feat that represents their first level somewhat (rangers can pick track for example, or mages could pick magical training, martial initiators could pick martial study etc etc). You could also add skill points into the mix as well, it all depends on how granular you want the 0->1st process to be

[Coretron03]

I recommend for everyone to start off as a level 1 commoner then replace it with X class when they level up/not die for a bit, probably the closest you can get without home brewing a level 0 system.

[inuyasha]

Actually guys, there is a level 0 mechanic in 3.0 where you picked 2 classes and you got very minor abilities for each one, and then after that you gained class levels as normal. I don't think the rule got a lot of use, and was probably removed in 3.5

I'll see if I can find a link.

EDIT: I can't find a link, but I know for certain they're in the 3.0 DMG and are called Apprentice-Level rules.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by inuyasha
I can't find a link, but I know for certain they're in the 3.0 DMG and are called Apprentice-Level rules.

Yup, they’re on p. 40 of the 3.0 DMG. That’s according to this thread (http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2go30?Level-0-Characters) on the Paizo forums, which has an interesting homebrew approach in the fourth post.

And here’s a detailed subsystem (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=8498.0) for apprentice levels over on BG. And Paizo even has a brief PDF (http://paizo.com/products/btpy8gu2?The-Genius-Guide-to-ApprenticeLevel-Characters) in their store which provides a similar concept for Pathfinder.

[SirNibbles]

I'm going to say it, simply because it is driving me crazy: you don't need an apostrophe before every s, only those that are possessive or contractions.

He knows not to write "suggestion's" but for some reason writes "character's" and "kobold's"

___

More on topic, I would suggest starting with some racial HD.

Humanoids get a d8, 3/4 BAB, Good Fort, Bad Reflex and Will

[arkangel111]

After some looking around I have come up with the following 2 abilities, tell me what you think. (BTW posting from phone excuse the mess)

Swarm fighting Stance
Benefit
You can occupy the same 5-foot square in combat with any other allied Small or smaller creature that also possesses the Swarmfighting stance. Up to four creatures of Small size may occupy a 5-foot square (creatures one size category smaller count as half a creature). When you attack a Medium-size or larger creature with a melee attack, and at least one other ally with the Swarmfighting stance threatens the target, you gain a +1 morale bonus on the attack roll. This bonus increases by +1 for each additional ally beyond the first with the Swarmfighting stance who threatens the same target. This bonus increases by +1 per 8 initiator levels.


Thousand small cuts
Strike (std)
Benefit
The initiator deals +1d4 damage as they strike wildly. If instead the initiator is benefitting from swarm fighting stance with at least one ally he deals 1d8 damage +1d8 per 4 initiator levels.

Too strong for level 0?

[Grod_The_Giant]

Seem fine to me. You might get some use out of this stuff, as well: http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a

[ShurikVch]

I think rules for Commoners in Star Wars d20 are pretty close to "Level 0":
BAB +0
10 in all 6 abilities (before racial adjustment)
skill points = (1 + Int mod)x4; Craft, Knowledge, and Profession are "class" skills
no feats (except bonus feats)

[unseenmage]

The 3.0 DMG had rules for level 1/2, aka apprentice, characters IIRC.