Comments on: Zero Level

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:07:52 +0000

@King Nate: Interesting… yours is a good bit harsher than mine, though. I think it’s probably closer to the old-school zero level, but the power jump between your 0 and 1 is even more marked than the one between my 0 and 1. Yours is likely to be a lot deadlier, with the lack of second wind; mine reduced healing surges to cause an increased attrition effect.

I think it’d work, if that’s the sort of game everyone’s after. It’s not my taste, though. ^_^

By: King Nate

King Nate — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:08:15 +0000

I don’t know how I missed this blog while researching my rules for 0-level characters in 4e. Our idea starts off similar but I cover some things differently in my blog at enworld.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/blogs/king-nate/1527-0-level-characters-d-d-4e.html

By: Samuel Van Der Wall

Samuel Van Der Wall — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:53:41 +0000

Cool idea. I know that in some other d20-based systems, they have a Level 0 option. For example, Spycraft v2.0 has it. It definitely gives you a great option if you really want your players to start out at the bottom of the barrel and work their way up. Samuel Van Der Wall´s last blog post: Miniatures and 3D Gaming For Modern Campaigns

By: Zachary

Zachary — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:05:45 +0000

Interesting! I'm not sure it completely does what I want from zero-to-hero gaming (I think there may be too much of a jump between 0 and 1; I think for personal preference I'd have to space out the gradation more), but it's good food for thought, and another good article regardless! Zachary´s last blog post: Weird Notes From Old Campaigns

By: Wimwick

Wimwick — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:44:20 +0000

Interesting ideas. While I have no desire to play below first level what you've created appears to be balanced. Similar to you in 3.5 my group typically started campaigns at 3rd level as this power base felt balanced. 4e does a much better job at this as you mentioned. My view on D&D has always been that the PCs are the hero's and their actions should influence the world. PCs are always smarter, stronger, faster etc than the rest of society. That's why they are the hero's. So being tougher than everyone else at level 1 makes sense from a story point of view as well. Wimwick´s last blog post: Necromancer Paragon Path

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:49:41 +0000

@Swordgleam: I’d considered ability score penalties, but I thought that the -1 to attacks was a little easier to handle. Practically, players would assign the penalties to their dump stats if they got to choose. You could always say -1 to the two highest abilities, I suppose, but that would hurt some ability score arrays more than others.

You might extend the -1 to skill checks, I guess.

HP was intended to be low, for the “fragile” feeling, and easy to calculate. Might be a little too steep a drop though. That’s something I’d need to revisit after more playtesting.

By: Swordgleam

Swordgleam — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:40:50 +0000

Looks really good.

Half HP seems a little low to me, and full ability scores seems a little high. I would probably go with 3/4ths HP and -1 to two ability scores, but that’s just my gut. I have no idea which would be more playable and/or better simulate “classic low-level” play.

By: Anarkeith

Anarkeith — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:03:50 +0000

This is great! Seems very well thought-out. I think it’d be worth revisiting later if people want to playtest it and report on their experiences. I’m currently in a group that has a bunch of folks grumbling about powerful 4e characters, so you’ll be getting some new readers soon!

By: Wyatt

Wyatt — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:51:00 +0000

One of the first reasonable propositions I've seen for "0th level" Wyatt´s last blog post: The Primus Libris: Chapter 1