Author Topic: Higher starting levels  (Read 1135 times)

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Offline Ruffie

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Higher starting levels
« on: November 30, 2020, 08:16:32 AM »
Hello,

As you all might well know, RMSS is a system which presents dangers to your players which have a high probability of death. In our group players start at the same level als the lowest player in a party. The problem now presents that a PC's from the party who have levelled up from 1-10 (or any level) have picked up special items but also sometimes gain little boons.

For instance, my party was taught some goat herding skill by a magical goat herder. They gained a rank in goat herding.

Now a new PC does not have the advantage of extra skills, items etc.

Conundrum:
I don't want the powergap to be too high between a PC of lvl 6 who starts at that level and a PC who has been around from lvl 1-6 and gained 'extras'. At the same time the player who starts at lvl 6 did not achieve the same things which the sitting player has. I don't want to 'reward' a new character with things the other guys had to work very hard for.

I can not be the only one with this problem. How do you guys solve this?

Offline Hurin

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Re: Higher starting levels
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2020, 08:42:27 AM »
We don't use extra 'boons'. That seems to be the root of the problem. Without them, I don't think the problem exists.

That doesn't really help you now though. For now, is it really that bad if existing characters have a few more perks than a new one?



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Offline markc

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Re: Higher starting levels
« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2020, 03:02:28 PM »

Levels:
I have played D&D (1st) in a group that was level 5 through level 20 and it was a lot of fun....but not every player/group can do that type of game.
You can have the new PC start a lower level and then have them get accelerated Exp to gradually rise to the level of the party.[size=78%] [/size]


SkillsI have found new PC's can be more powerful then old PC's at times because of the fact older PC's tend to have skills in lots of areas and newer PC's can focus more in specific areas.


Items:
This area is almost always an issue and I tend to have the newer Pc have lower items then the group, but that can also depend on the PC background and other factors.


In general I tend to have new PC's com in at one lower level and it has worked well.


Note: in Rm2 I have found that SLA or spend DP then roll to get spell list can be more unbalancing in terms of PC power where as if you use spend DP get spell list rank method it tends to be more balanced.
I mention this because I have seen some people try and use SLA with RMSS/FRP.


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Offline markc

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Re: Higher starting levels
« Reply #3 on: November 30, 2020, 03:28:25 PM »
Training packages:
Note in general I restrict TP's to 1 per level but if you allow TP for a new PC at every level it can give them a boost in DP vs a PC who spends DP as the game goes on.


When I look at a new PC I analyze how the new PC is vs the group's PCs (easier to prevent issues now with PC aided software vs pencil, paper and calculator PC gen in the old days. You may still have to check some players PCs as in a few groups I have found a player or two that would tweak the rules or even the software to give their PC and advantage. These small changes do not show a lower levels but at higher levels it becomes easier to see.


MDC 
Bacon Law: A book so good all PC's need to be recreated.
Rule #0: A GM has the right to change any rule in a book to fit their game.
Role Play not Roll Play.
Use a System to tell the story do not let the system play you.

Offline jdale

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Re: Higher starting levels
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2020, 03:42:00 PM »
It's definitely true that more training packages will increase the power level in RMSS. If you generally don't let the existing characters take them once in play, it would be sensible to also limit the higher level new character from doing so beyond first level. Characters created at higher level also benefit from being tweaked a little more for the campaign and optimized to omit skills that didn't work out.

I don't give freebie skills or abilities, so I don't have that issue. I suppose it depends on the magnitude of what you are giving out. A couple ranks in goat herding is not going to create enough of a gap in power level to worry about. If you've given out a lot, you might look at it on a case-by-case basis and try to assess whether the new character will fall behind, and perhaps give them their own boon based on their character history. But given the advantages they have already, I'd be cautious. I think it's better if the new characters need to earn their stripes rather than suddenly coming in and outshining the veterans. If you let them pick their own boons (and especially if you are also boosting them up with items too), it may be more like the veterans are joining them than the other way around.
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Offline markc

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Re: Higher starting levels
« Reply #5 on: November 30, 2020, 06:29:54 PM »
Freebee Skills or other Free Stuff:
In general it would be good to track this is some way, either on your computer gen PC tracker or in your GM notes. Then when new players come in you can see which PC's have what free stuff and make an educated guess on what to provide new players with.


Also if a PC died it can be an incentive to not get free skills/stuff on their new PC. This is a way to prevent video game style playing if it does not fit your role playing style. ie the I will just create a new PC if I die so it is not a problem what my PC does (ie 100% attack OB all of the time).


MDC
Bacon Law: A book so good all PC's need to be recreated.
Rule #0: A GM has the right to change any rule in a book to fit their game.
Role Play not Roll Play.
Use a System to tell the story do not let the system play you.

Offline Spectre771

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Re: Higher starting levels
« Reply #6 on: December 01, 2020, 06:44:58 AM »
We never gave out freebie skills  during game play as an example, you have the free goat herding skill.  If there is only a 1-3 level gap between the new player and the group, that's not much to overcome.  In RM, there are hefty bonus XP for the "First times" of a lot accomplishments; first kill, first time encountering undead, first time encountering beast, first E-crit, etc.  There are also XP increases for fighting bad guys of higher levels, where the is an XP decrease for the higher ranked players fighting lower level baddies.  This slows the XP gain for the higher ranks while boosting the XP gain for the lower ranks.  The higher level PCs could help the lower level PC survive a battle longer allowing the lower level PC to gain that precious XP.  It also takes less XP for lower ranked PCs to level up.

When we started a PC at the same level as the existing party for expediency, usually level 5, the new player didn't get any freebie skills or items.  It simply meant that this PC started their adventuring career at this age with these skills and really has nothing to show for it as they haven't been in any adventures.  However, in RM2, there are plenty of Background Options tables that players can roll on and nearly all of them get a +5 to +20 magic or non-magic item to start the game with and if the other party members have a cache of goodies already, most would share the loot to help the new player gear up a little better and to help their own chances of success.
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Offline OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol

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Re: Higher starting levels
« Reply #7 on: December 01, 2020, 09:15:39 AM »
From experience, I give a new player's character items and skills as close  as possible as the current other players' characters, regardless of for how long one has been playing. The reason is easy: otherwise, not only is the new character a burden to the others, it's also not fun for the new player, who usually has enough to chew with understanding the plot and NPCs' relationship, not to be burden with the additional fact his character is pretty much useless, compared to the others.
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Offline markc

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Re: Higher starting levels
« Reply #8 on: December 03, 2020, 10:32:48 AM »

General Game Note:I also wanted to note that specific systems that have very tight math tend to have more issues with PC's at different levels in that the game assumes that the PC's have specific numbers and if they do not the players can be punished for it. It is also called falling behind the curve in some game speak.


PC vs PC or DP vs DP:
As just about any RM players knows even if you have multiple PC's at the same level it does not mean they are the same usefulness to the game. You can have new and or experienced players spend DP in areas they think will be beneficial for the game and find out they have wasted a lot of DP or even picked a profession that does not fit the game.


MDC
Bacon Law: A book so good all PC's need to be recreated.
Rule #0: A GM has the right to change any rule in a book to fit their game.
Role Play not Roll Play.
Use a System to tell the story do not let the system play you.