Musings on Level Progression
Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:56 pm
This is not a rant one way or the other about variable versus standardized level progressions. It is, as the title suggests, simply some shared musings on how the various character classes progress up to some natural campaign end-points, and how they compare.
After the unfortunate event of this week, I found myself determined to plan a longer campaign rather than remaining satisfied with playing the occasional module here and there. Part of my planning was getting to know the C&C character classes a bit better, in particular the way that they related to each other as levels progressed towards 10 or 12, the likely end-point of a campaign.
I quickly found my various scribblings to be rather inadequate to the task, and so started to organize the effort in a spreadsheet. I broke down each class, level by level, to see what the actual progression of power was. I then charted out the integrated progression of all the classes from levels 1-20, to see how the variable XP charts affected the balance of power at any particular point of average XP progression. The end result can be downloaded here:
http://koti.welho.com/ctenwold/C&C_Classes.zip
Within the spreadsheet, the first sheet is called "Levels" and is simply a sorted list of level progressions for all the classes, i.e. a list of how much XP each class requires to level up to levels 2-20, sorted by XP. It's rather more obvious in viewing than in my description! Each class also has its own sheet, detailing its power progression from level 1 to level 20.
My own goal was to get a feeling for what level various character classes would be if and when a campaign reached a point where everyone was, for instance, around 500,000 to 1,000,000 XP - in other words, what the eventual class and level mix would be during the final stages of a campaign, and what players could expect to achieve with their characters.
It quickly became apparent that there were three natural breakpoints in the combined level progression. The first was at what used to be called "Name" level, in other words around level 10, when the last HD for a class was awarded and, in theory, the majority of the special powers had been awarded as well. It turns out that the Barbarian and Knight both need 600,000 XP for 10th level, so that became the XP cap for "Name" level in a campaign. In the spreadsheet, this level is colored yellow.
An interesting thing about the 600,000 cap is that, while most classes would be 10th level, the Paladin would only be 9th, while the Druid would be 11th, and the Rogue 13th. This means that all the fighting classes would be pretty well balanced, except that the Paladin would lag behind a bit. All the spell-casters except the Druid would be casting 5th level spells, but the Druid would get 6th level spells. The Rogue, due to its three extra levels, would not only be better at attribute checks and such, but was also almost as good as the Cleric and Druid in combat. Most classes would have received all or most of their class abilities at this point, with some notable exceptions such as the Barbarian's Primal Will, the Knight's "army level" Inspiration and Demoralize, the Paladin's Divine Healing, the more powerful versions of the Bard's Fascinate, and likewise for the Druid's Totem Shape.
The next logical break came at 1,000,000 XP, where the Fighter and several other classes reach 12th level, the maximum level explicitly listed in the charts. In the spreadsheet, these levels are colored light yellow. Once again, the Paladin lags behind at 11th level with a 1,000,000 XP cap, while the Bard gets to 13th, the Druid 14th, and the Rogue 16th. This retains the general balance of the fighting classes, with the Paladin again the weaker link, as well as the level advantage of the Rogue. Spell-casters are casting 6th level spells, but the Druid again has an advantage and gains 7th level spells. Most classes have all of their special abilities at this stage, except the Paladin.
If we want to set an XP cap that allows the Paladin to gain all of its class abilities at 12th level, we need to set it at 1,300,000 XP. In the spreadsheet, these levels are colored gray. This cap results in a more varied level progression for the other classes, with the Cleric, Ranger, Barbarian, Fighter, and Wizard at 13th, the Bard, Illusionist, and Knight at 14th, the Druid at 15th, and the Rogue almost max'ed out at 18th. The Knight's and Bard's extra level helps them gain on the Fighter in melee capability, while the Paladin continues to lag behind. Spellcasters are casting at 7th level (although the Illusionist gets more spells due to the extra level), but the Druid again has a level advantage and can cast 8th level spells. At this point almost all class abilities of any note have been gained, with the notable exception of the Barbarian.
In general, these trends indicate that the fighting classes are pretty well balanced against each other, although the Paladin consistently lags a bit behind. Likewise, the spellcasters are fairly well balanced against each other, however the fast progression of the Druid provides a spell level advantage. The Rogue's extremely fast progression provides that class with much more ability, strength, and combat power than would first seem to be the case. Of all the classes, the Barbarian stands out as having the most dispersed and least attainable ability package, which complicates an already problematic selection of core abilities (e.g. Primal Fury). Some classes, especially the variants of the fighting classes such as the Knight, Paladin, and Bard, would require a campaign willing to leverage their special abilities and status in order to provide a balance to their lesser combat abilities.
Well, that's quite enough I'm sure! Some pretty straightforward observations, doubtless old hat to the more experienced players. However, I took heart in the overall balance of the "unbalanced" level progression tables, when seen in the perspective of an entire campaign, and as a DM I feel I now know a bit more about what to watch for if players choose certain classes.
Cheers,
Christopher
After the unfortunate event of this week, I found myself determined to plan a longer campaign rather than remaining satisfied with playing the occasional module here and there. Part of my planning was getting to know the C&C character classes a bit better, in particular the way that they related to each other as levels progressed towards 10 or 12, the likely end-point of a campaign.
I quickly found my various scribblings to be rather inadequate to the task, and so started to organize the effort in a spreadsheet. I broke down each class, level by level, to see what the actual progression of power was. I then charted out the integrated progression of all the classes from levels 1-20, to see how the variable XP charts affected the balance of power at any particular point of average XP progression. The end result can be downloaded here:
http://koti.welho.com/ctenwold/C&C_Classes.zip
Within the spreadsheet, the first sheet is called "Levels" and is simply a sorted list of level progressions for all the classes, i.e. a list of how much XP each class requires to level up to levels 2-20, sorted by XP. It's rather more obvious in viewing than in my description! Each class also has its own sheet, detailing its power progression from level 1 to level 20.
My own goal was to get a feeling for what level various character classes would be if and when a campaign reached a point where everyone was, for instance, around 500,000 to 1,000,000 XP - in other words, what the eventual class and level mix would be during the final stages of a campaign, and what players could expect to achieve with their characters.
It quickly became apparent that there were three natural breakpoints in the combined level progression. The first was at what used to be called "Name" level, in other words around level 10, when the last HD for a class was awarded and, in theory, the majority of the special powers had been awarded as well. It turns out that the Barbarian and Knight both need 600,000 XP for 10th level, so that became the XP cap for "Name" level in a campaign. In the spreadsheet, this level is colored yellow.
An interesting thing about the 600,000 cap is that, while most classes would be 10th level, the Paladin would only be 9th, while the Druid would be 11th, and the Rogue 13th. This means that all the fighting classes would be pretty well balanced, except that the Paladin would lag behind a bit. All the spell-casters except the Druid would be casting 5th level spells, but the Druid would get 6th level spells. The Rogue, due to its three extra levels, would not only be better at attribute checks and such, but was also almost as good as the Cleric and Druid in combat. Most classes would have received all or most of their class abilities at this point, with some notable exceptions such as the Barbarian's Primal Will, the Knight's "army level" Inspiration and Demoralize, the Paladin's Divine Healing, the more powerful versions of the Bard's Fascinate, and likewise for the Druid's Totem Shape.
The next logical break came at 1,000,000 XP, where the Fighter and several other classes reach 12th level, the maximum level explicitly listed in the charts. In the spreadsheet, these levels are colored light yellow. Once again, the Paladin lags behind at 11th level with a 1,000,000 XP cap, while the Bard gets to 13th, the Druid 14th, and the Rogue 16th. This retains the general balance of the fighting classes, with the Paladin again the weaker link, as well as the level advantage of the Rogue. Spell-casters are casting 6th level spells, but the Druid again has an advantage and gains 7th level spells. Most classes have all of their special abilities at this stage, except the Paladin.
If we want to set an XP cap that allows the Paladin to gain all of its class abilities at 12th level, we need to set it at 1,300,000 XP. In the spreadsheet, these levels are colored gray. This cap results in a more varied level progression for the other classes, with the Cleric, Ranger, Barbarian, Fighter, and Wizard at 13th, the Bard, Illusionist, and Knight at 14th, the Druid at 15th, and the Rogue almost max'ed out at 18th. The Knight's and Bard's extra level helps them gain on the Fighter in melee capability, while the Paladin continues to lag behind. Spellcasters are casting at 7th level (although the Illusionist gets more spells due to the extra level), but the Druid again has a level advantage and can cast 8th level spells. At this point almost all class abilities of any note have been gained, with the notable exception of the Barbarian.
In general, these trends indicate that the fighting classes are pretty well balanced against each other, although the Paladin consistently lags a bit behind. Likewise, the spellcasters are fairly well balanced against each other, however the fast progression of the Druid provides a spell level advantage. The Rogue's extremely fast progression provides that class with much more ability, strength, and combat power than would first seem to be the case. Of all the classes, the Barbarian stands out as having the most dispersed and least attainable ability package, which complicates an already problematic selection of core abilities (e.g. Primal Fury). Some classes, especially the variants of the fighting classes such as the Knight, Paladin, and Bard, would require a campaign willing to leverage their special abilities and status in order to provide a balance to their lesser combat abilities.
Well, that's quite enough I'm sure! Some pretty straightforward observations, doubtless old hat to the more experienced players. However, I took heart in the overall balance of the "unbalanced" level progression tables, when seen in the perspective of an entire campaign, and as a DM I feel I now know a bit more about what to watch for if players choose certain classes.
Cheers,
Christopher