So, I've been reading through some of the basic modules, and thinking about levels in 2nd Ed. One thing I like about 3rd Ed is how experience points are the same for all classes, and you can pick freely.
Has anyone here tried playing 2nd Ed with a "free" advancement system like 3rd? Ie if you take 1 wizard level, and for the next you want a fighter level, as long as you earn the fighter xp for that level, then there you go? I'm thinking it might make my life a little easier. Will this work with kits as well? And did anyone try averaging all the level XPs for various calsses, to get an number that could apply to all classes (it would mean a little higher for fighters, a little lower for wizards, I'm guessing).
So, I've been reading through some of the basic modules, and thinking about levels in 2nd Ed. One thing I like about 3rd Ed is how experience points are the same for all classes, and you can pick freely.
Has anyone here tried playing 2nd Ed with a "free" advancement system like 3rd? Ie if you take 1 wizard level, and for the next you want a fighter level, as long as you earn the fighter xp for that level, then there you go? I'm thinking it might make my life a little easier. Will this work with kits as well? And did anyone try averaging all the level XPs for various calsses, to get an number that could apply to all classes (it would mean a little higher for fighters, a little lower for wizards, I'm guessing).
Thoughts?
The only thing I don't like about 3E's advancement system is that they set the experience levels so low that it encourages powerleveling. I could see a 2E game being run with 3E advancement rules, but I'd at least double at least the XP needed to level if you go that route.
I was actually thinking of keeping the experience levels from 2nd Ed, just freeing it up so you could take a level of whatever. For example, if you're a fighter 1, and you want you next leevl to be a mage, then you need the experience for a mage 1. Then, if you want another mage level, you need mage 2. It would make things a little harder when you get to higer levels, but I think it would all even out in the end.
The only thing I don't like about 3E's advancement system is that they set the experience levels so low that it encourages powerleveling. I could see a 2E game being run with 3E advancement rules, but I'd at least double at least the XP needed to level if you go that route.
When they were designing 3E, their research indicated that the average campaign ran for 1 year before expiring for one reason or another.
So they designed the xp system to allow players to take their characters to 20th level after a year of regular play.
That does explain why I'm struggling to keep my players from ascending too rapidly in our 17 year old campaign - and that is with them going through mods designed for pcs 4 levels lower than they are AND dividing the xp awards by 4! Yikes.
One of the better campaigns I played in did away with XP completely and simply awarded advancement because of play or when DM needed higher levels, I suspect.
Not only did it do away with the math but once everyone realised everything wasn't only walking XP, after a while the players actually stopped trying to kill everything in sight and began enjoying their characters.
That may actually be a decent idea. I know the one thing I hate in games is when you start mirco-managing your XP the closer you get to a new level. Maybe the key is for the DM to just decided when it's time for a character to advance... maybe their character does something they hadn't thought of before, so it's time to advance a level. It would be a nice idea, because really, all your level reflects is how many things you've killed or how much stuff you have. Interesting idea......
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