What would each level represent?

[Gwazi Magnum]

We know the more general deal of

1-5 being Hardcore Fantasy
6-12 being Fantasy
13+ High Fantasy

or variations there of.

But what about individual levels?
From a simulationist/world perspective, what would each level represent in your worlds?

Is Level 1 already a seasoned adventurer, miles beyond others?
Or are they rookies just starting their career?

Would level 2 be an effective sophmore of adventurers?

Would say you don't even design Town Guards below levels 4?

Would level 20 be seen as God Slayers?

Basically, how would you define or classify different levels in your worlds? May it be more thematic purposes, NPC design, etc?

[Mordaedil]

Pathfinder's NPC codex does a pretty good job of doing this and I recommend it as a book for 3.5 players as well, if only because it offers some really cool character concepts you never thought about before (like a fighter that uses magic devices to pretend to be a wizard)

Basically, a level 10 NPC would be roughly equivalant of a king who has carved the kingdom himself. A level 9 warrior or the like would be his most trusted knight.

A generic ruffian might be a commoner with a few levels under his belt instead of a level 1 rogue.

Generally I would scale the guards with the size of the city they are station in, where a simple hamlet might only have a level 1 sheriff, but the larger the hub, the higher exponentially level they are. The captain of the guards in a metropolis might be a level 8 warrior with a few level 5 fighters as his best men.

Rarely will I have NPC's exceed level 10, with the exception being when they are fighting on an entirely new level. (you gotta scale up and sometimes that can take the form of countries duking it out or planes intruding on the material plane)

[johnbragg]

My demographics strongly imply E6.

Say it takes 10 life-threatening encounters ("Average" difficulty) to reach level 2. Non-life threatening encounters yield half of that. So 20 encounters to earn 1000 xp to reach level 2.

For most of the population, their challenges don't scale with their levels. So 40 challenges for a 2nd level character to reach 3rd, 60 more to reach 4th.

So I figure 50% of the population are 1st level, and about 37.5% 2nd level, the rest are 3rd. A handful of NPCs are functionally higher level because the community bestows the position. (The High Priest of the Kingdom is endowed with 6th level cleric abilities, even if he or she is 3rd level by XP. The difference is made up by tapping the devotional power of the loyal population of the kingdom. Keeps the dragons and giants and devils out of the well-ordered kingdom.)

So 1st level adventurers are talented rookies. (I give them the stats to shine.) 2nd level adventurers are sophomore stars. 3rd level adventurers are veteran stars, if they don't retire into less life-threatening positions that their local fame can get them into.

On the other hand, there are no Commoners above 1st level. Retrain to Warrior or Expert sometime before hitting 2nd level.

[Morty]

Which classes are we using? How many splatbooks? How serious are the players about tweaking and optimizing their characters? The "level" of the game will vary wildly based on that.

[Gildedragon]

For me:
Level 1 is someone who is just starting our whatever endeavor they are to engage in. NPC classes: they just started working the farm, just started their apprenticeship with the local smith, they have just felt the divine calling and are barely initiates in their faith, they are just about to do their debut to Society.
PCs are a bit more seasoned: they have had their first parish assigned to them, they finished basic training and are sent to guard against evil, they are off to work on their thesis for the arcane academy...
PCs see a lot of these but probably don't interact with them (even at level 1).
At level 3: NPCs are journeymen, trusted with work... As long as supervised. an aristocrat is allowed to run a small estate... Or sit in some council meetings. This is an experienced squire or a herald. A religious sort stops being a temple sweeper and partake in the deeper mysteries/participate in ceremonies as a singer or incense burner. Most low rank NPCs PCs meet early on are this level.
At 5: NPCs are masters. They run their own shops/estates/are self employed. A squire becomes a knight. An aristocrat marries or handles an estate or has a solid place in the bureaucracy. An adept can run their own temple, or are privy to the deeper mysteries of the faith; can initiate others into the religion/officiate rituals. Virtually all the NPCs PCs deal with are this level (any smith or shopkeeper or cleric)
PCs can become squad leaders, professors of the mystic arts, they can become Officers in armies... and soon can start leading others as their master (leadership feat)

[Dr_Dinosaur]

I've unofficially adopted a system of tiers similar to 4e's but based on e8. 1-8 are the "Heroic" tier, the range most people operate in. 9-16 is "Paragon" and are the real movers and shakers of the world, power players on a countrywide or worldwide scale. 17-24 is "Legendary," demigods, leagues ahead of anything most people will ever even aspire to, and rarely adventure solely on the material.

[TotallyNotEvil]

I like to use the levels in which you get feats as cut-off points.

A fully grown adult I usually represent as having around 3 HD. It means he is reasonably competent at his craft, and if experienced, could go to 4 HD, if a great veteran, 5 HD. At 6 HD, you are a master of your area, perhaps not the leading expert, but doubtlessly a voice that is given due weight in any discussion you partake.

So an engineer fresh out of college is level 3, and with, say, five or so years goes to level 4, someone that has their feet under them. With ten~fifteen years, they get to 5th, a true veteran, and with 20~25 years they get to 6th, masters of their craft whom have seem it all.

Above 6th are truly exceptional people. The real geniuses and prodigies, the leading expert worldwide. Bill Gates, Elon Musk, that sort of people. At the very least, a talented person with highly unusual circunstances and extreme determination, whom managed to thrive under the pressure. Those may go to 9th. I would place, say, Oberyn Martell, James Lannister, The Hound, Quorin Halfhand, and so on, on this bracket. Higher enough they can massacre the common man like they normally do, but by no means invincible.

I distinguish, say, veteran mercenaries with knights by giving one Warrior levels, the other Fighter. Quality, instead of quantity. I feel it represents well such divergence, giving more depth, so to speak, instead of making "it" larger.

So a seasoned soldier and a freshly knighted Knight might both be fourth level, but one is Warrior 4, the other, Fighter 4.

[Fouredged Sword]

At level 10 you are considered to be a "legend" per the Legend Lore spell. This strongly suggests that level 11 is at least somewhat rare and people who reach that level are likely to be people who would end up in history books.

[heavyfuel]

At my tables, lvs 1 and 2 mean you're still an apprentice of sorts:

A lv 1 Cleric performs basic church keeping duties, like cleaning the floors and altars;
A lv 1 Fighter might is still in training for whichever faction is doing that training;
A lv 2 Wizard is still in Wizard School;
A lv 2 Rogue might be just a street urchin that pickpockets for a living, and has been doing so for some time;

At Lv 3, you've "graduated":

So the Cleric might now be in charge of actual religious duties, like delivering sermons to church-goers;
The Fighter has been fully trained, and only actual combat experience can help him grow now;
The Wizard now knows quite a few 1st level spells, and a couple of 2nd level ones. He also has a diploma;
The Rogue has proven himself worth of being part of a guild or even an army.

When you reach lv 4 or 5, you're above the average trained person, but you're still far from being recognised for your expertise in whatever

Lvs 6 and 7 are about as powerful as the trainers are (the local church bishop, the guard captain, a professor at Wizard School, or the urchin's older brother).

8 to 10 you're locally famous. Not necessarily only in your city, but in overall region of activity

11 to 14 you have some legends being told about your exploits. Bards sing about you in taverns and you are sometimes recognised on sight.

15 to 20 you are actually legendary.

[weckar]

And then came Eberron, and it screwed everything up. Compare it to a Forgotten Realms, and the relative power ascribed to a level is just completely different.