{"id":4679,"date":"2003-07-24T15:49:12","date_gmt":"2003-07-24T22:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/?p=4679"},"modified":"2003-07-24T15:49:12","modified_gmt":"2003-07-24T22:49:12","slug":"for_starters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/07\/24\/for_starters.html","title":{"rendered":"For starters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Doyce has an interesting post on character advancement<\/a> in RPGs. Go ahead and read it first. I’ll wait …<\/p>\n

By and large I agree with him, at least in terms of what not <\/i>to do. <\/p>\n

I still find myself impatient with playing Level 1 characters. As has been observed before, I usually come up with a character concept long before I start screwing around with the rules to make that concept real. The image I have of a particular character is usually significantly higher than 1st level, and the threats I see the character having faced — and facing — definitely are. <\/p>\n

I got imprinted (as Doyce would put it) in college, where it seemed like most games started off around 3rd, 4th, 5th level — high enough to have some decent competencies, low enough that there’s room for growth. I still tend to think in terms of 5th level as being the “defining” one.<\/p>\n

That being said, I’ve found myself warming up to the concept of “starting from scratch” more over time, especially as various systems have tried to deal with giving people a thrill, even at Level 1. I mean, nobody really joneses going after a band of five rabid kobolds. But give the players something interesting they can do at 1st level, and you can get them hooked.<\/p>\n

Besides which, it’s more about story, right? For me, at least. The story (in my head) usually presupposes a certain level of competency, true. Ultimately I have more fun in a campaign where I can be true to the character concept — competency and role-playing combined — than in one where either is forced to fit into too narrow boundaries. Doyce is right — that’s where something like Amber, or even Nobilis, has a lot of appeal.<\/p>\n

I remember a game, very long ago, where I had a certain character concept. And being a kick-ass fighter was part of that, part of who he was, what had brought him to the place, personality-wise, where he’d come. I thought that was quite doable.<\/p>\n

And it just didn’t work. The GM had in mind a lower level campaign, and somehow the disconnect never got discussed. My bad for at least my half of that. I went from being a competent guy with serious personality problems to being an incompetent guy with delusions of grandeur. Which can be fun to play, I suppose, but wasn’t what I had in mind. It ruined a lot of the fun in that particular series.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, starting off with a decent scratch character, then advancing them, has a lot of long-term satisfaction, too. I can look back at some recent ones I’ve had and say, hey, look how s\/he’s grown. It requires an investment from both the player and the GM to make that happen.<\/p>\n

I guess what it comes down to is that there are times when it’s very appropriate to start things off at a higher level, and times when it’s appropriate to start things off from scratch. A good game system will allow both possibilities, and players should be able to swing both ways, depending on the campaign involved.<\/p>\n

And, of course, it’s a judgment challenge for the GM — one that I face as much as any other GM out there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Doyce has an interesting post on character advancement in RPGs. Go ahead and read it first. I’ll wait … By and large I agree with him, at least in terms…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gaming"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":133875,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/07\/17\/gaming-with-pictures.html","url_meta":{"origin":4679,"position":0},"title":"Gaming! With Pictures!","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 17-Jul-17 10:27am","format":false,"excerpt":"So I need to share (or at least generate a link for myself) some cool pictures +Michael Williams did for the Dungeon World game +Doyce Testerman is running. The first three characters, left to right, are played by our household: Eduard Zitherhands the Bard (me), Torwin the Bold Fighter \/\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14979,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/06\/08\/playing-or-working-up-to-playing-the-mouse-guard-rpg.html","url_meta":{"origin":4679,"position":1},"title":"Playing (or working up to playing) the Mouse Guard RPG","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 8-Jun-09 2:48pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Which was our Saturday afternoon \/ evening, along with dinner and thankful-lack-of-fireworks\u00a0at Doyce and Kate's. I'd read through the rules some time back, and I've read (and since reread) the \"Fall\" graphic novel, so I had some idea of what I was coming into. I'd been thinking of running this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gaming"","block_context":{"text":"Gaming","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/gaming"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":137449,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/11\/09\/i-attack-the-darkness-2.html","url_meta":{"origin":4679,"position":2},"title":""I attack the darkness!"","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 9-Nov-18 8:59pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The world is no less terrifying, but marginally more amusing, if the Trump Administration is seen as the world's most inept D&D campaign. Originally shared by +Doyce Testerman: D&D Party Member With -3 Charisma Keeps Trying to Fucking Roll Deception Sarah Huckabee Sanders was seen attempting a Deception roll despite\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4806,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/01\/03\/comes_a_preache.html","url_meta":{"origin":4679,"position":3},"title":"Comes a Preacher","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 3-Jan-04 2:05pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Which Firefly Character are You? 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System: Dragon Age comes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gaming"","block_context":{"text":"Gaming","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/gaming"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9476,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/06\/28\/failure_is_an_o.html","url_meta":{"origin":4679,"position":5},"title":"Failure is an option","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 28-Jun-06 5:29pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Doyce linked to this a few days back, from the HeroQuest site: Failure is Always An Option: Character Defeat is Player Victory, Too. 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