As the last (Cottage of Doom) campaign finished, we all questioned how Nobles, Priests and Wizards gained their positions and power if they didn’t adventure (kill monsters and steal their stuff) to gain experience.
I was thinking about this recently, as you’re going to meet a few of them soonish, and I think I’ve come up with a plausible, game related solution.
If you take the Experience/Level chart and just substitute the ‘000’ after the initial number for the word ‘years’, it could be applied to study, prayer and practice.
There’s the obvious precedent with the path from zero to first level. Characters train up from nought to first level by practice swordplay under a master or long-term study and prayer. Starting age is a demonstration of this.
One years dedicated, eight-hour, daily practice gets you to level two.
Two more years (Three in total) practice gets you to level three.
Three more years (Six in total) practice gets you to level four.
This means that if a Wizard studies every day, five days a week, in a dusty tower for forty-five years, he would be around Sixty-Seven-years-old and have attained 10th level.
He would also be classified as Old with -3 to his Strength, Dexterity and Constitution and +2 to his Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
(Slightly terrifying to realise Assif, David and I are also, D&D officially, ‘Old’ men now.)
This would make a kind of sense and explain why these Clerics and Wizards have chosen scholastic, non-combat useful Skills and Feats like ‘Magic item creation’ or why high status Nobles choose ridiculous levels of ‘Diplomacy’ etc.
You could apply this to Fighters too and this would explain why most of my solders are drilled to Second level but third level and above depend more on having seen actual combat or a long military career.
Does this system seem fair and reasonable?
Never thought of it that way but it makes total sense. Any books you read with wizards also work the same way. Sorcery/shamanism is a more practical skill though, but still requires years of training.
ReplyDeleteThen there is the prodigy who is able to out do an eighty year old wizard through complete instinct. Not sure how that works!
Dont worry, I’ve already considered that… :)
DeleteI like the way it sounds, as Kirk says it can even be used for skilled npc's. The child who apprentices at a forge/ kitchen then over years gets his own experience and could be called a 10th lvl blacksmith/ chef.
ReplyDeleteOne makes fine plate, one serves a fine plate.
There’s an NPC class called ‘Expert’ that this absolute applies to. :)
DeleteThere's a stat from psychology somewhere that says it takes 10 years of daily practice to reach 'professionalism' in something
ReplyDeleteSo training your way to level 10 without leaving the comfort of your mystical tower is probably easy if you start young enough
Like Mickey in Fantasia
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