Topic: Levels Low, Mid and High

[markc]

 After reading some of the posts in the "What type of Magic Pole" this question poped into my head. To you what level is low, what level is medium and what is high level? If you could also list what version of RM, SM, Harp or other game you play that would be great.

Thanks
MDC

[giulio.trimarco]

I have years of experience with RMSS.

Personally:
High level means whatever "effective level" that put PC in strong position against whatever odd.
Low level means whatever "effective level" that put PC on their toes, against diverse situations (combat, adventuring, social environment, etc.)
Medium level is midway between the two.

[RandalThor]

I have posted this before on different threads, but here goes:

Apprentice: 1-3
Low: 4-8
Middle: 9-14
High: 15-25
Totally Cool:26-50
Uber Awesome: 51+ (Something I would love to play in, at least once.  )
God-like: 100+ (Something else I would love to do....  :'()

This isn't DnD, where a 50th level fighter automatically has a base +50 attack (on a d20 scale, of course).

[thrud]

I tend to agree with RandalThor.
Low would be something like 5, medium 10 and high +15. (Or somethig along those lines...)

At the moment we play RMC.

[Temujin]

I'd separate into Very Low(Apprenticeship) 1-4, Low 5-9, Mid-level 10-19, High Level 20+.  I could think of other brackets, but they haven't come into play yet (Still have no level 20+ PCs).

[rdanhenry]

Interesting. The context of the original post would suggest the question is about what constitutes low, medium, or high levels of magic (although the post does not state explicitly what the intent of the question is), but all the replies have been about character levels, except one that has to do with PC power, something orthogonal to setting magic level.

There are multiple factors involved in classifying a setting as to magic level and I'm not sure a single-valued description is really very meaningful. I will say that I consider any setting where the dead can be restored to life through a spell (as opposed to 'direct' divine intervention) to be high magic.

[markc]

 I was talking more about PC levels. But after some thime thinking about it it could apply to PC levels or magic level or even ranks in a skill. IMO for ranks in a skill I believe that 20 IMO would be a high number and 10 is medium and 0-5 low. Also IMO a skill score of 51 or above is the min required to rise above the basic trainee level.
 If you start looking at PC's in terms of skill bonus or number of ranks in a skill then IMO you have moved beyond the whole PC level or profession vs job arguament.

But again I had thought other GM's and players would think 50+ is high level, 20-25 medium level, 10-20 mid level and below 10 low levels. I did add another category of mid level just because it seemed to fit my train of thought.
 
MDC

[GrumpyOldFart]

I did my "Definition of terms" in the other thread, but here it is again:

Low/weak: Light the fire, purify the water in your canteen. Both simple and local.
Moderate: Fireball, lightning bolt, Black Channels, permanent walls. Powerful perhaps, but still very local. Raising the dead is at the upper end of this.
Powerful/High: Hurricane, rain of fire, plague. Things that are both complex/powerful and on a large scale.

[giulio.trimarco]

An 50+ level PC that has developed utility skills (even if absurd), can't be classified as "powerfull" or "high level".

So, to me, it's the general power gauge that define high or low level of play.
When I was still playing RM I like to have players with high level PC, but developed all around. This means that compared to a standard, lower level PC, they could be beat to pieces in combat, but the Role part of the game was much more deep.

[Grimburgoth]

I did my "Definition of terms" in the other thread, but here it is again:

Low/weak: Light the fire, purify the water in your canteen. Both simple and local.
Moderate: Fireball, lightning bolt, Black Channels, permanent walls. Powerful perhaps, but still very local. Raising the dead is at the upper end of this.
Powerful/High: Hurricane, rain of fire, plague. Things that are both complex/powerful and on a large scale.

I find this to be quite in the right direction. The thing is, it also depends on the rules you are using. We have always used all the rules from all the extra books. (playing RMSS) If so then you can use magic ritual to cast level 50 spells when you are as low as 8th level.

I also find that you max out your skills around level 8 or 9. The diffrence between a full fighter at level 7 and level 20 is not that much. Ofcourse the level 20 fighter has much more skills. On the other hand, the diffrence between a level 8 and level 20 magician is enormous.

[markc]

Grimburgoth,
 You might try and get a hold of RMC Combat Companion or RMSS Martial Arts Companion, the last being hard to find and $. But both have martial art weapon and hand to hand styles that can add a lot to fighter types past 15 or 20 ranks.

MDC

[GrumpyOldFart]

I did my "Definition of terms" in the other thread, but here it is again:

Low/weak: Light the fire, purify the water in your canteen. Both simple and local.
Moderate: Fireball, lightning bolt, Black Channels, permanent walls. Powerful perhaps, but still very local. Raising the dead is at the upper end of this.
Powerful/High: Hurricane, rain of fire, plague. Things that are both complex/powerful and on a large scale.

I find this to be quite in the right direction. The thing is, it also depends on the rules you are using.

Well the only reason I did it was so if I say "I like a medium magic campaign, myself..." you know what I mean by "medium".

[OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol]

Removing the references to my world, it gives...

• Low Human.
  This power level is the level of normal adult human beings, living normal 'boring' lives, practising their profession. A beginner, fresh out of apprenticeship would be level 1 when someone at the end of his career and soon to retire would be level 10. The majority are thus level 4-6.
• High Human.
  This power level is the level of elites, hard-trained people whose life only consists of hard training and actual practice, such as mercenaries always on a battlefield. An elite 'rookie' would be around level 10 when a veteran with eighty years of constant adventuring would be level 16. These people have seen and lived through everything a normal human can see and experience (war including civil war, calamities, revolts, famine, etc.) and have even lived through several confrontations with supernatural or divine entities.
  Ordinary human beings cannot normally exceed level 16 without divine intervention because one would need to live more than what any human being can live, or an extra-ordinary experience, for a human life, even an heroic one, doesn't give enough experience about reality and the world to reach level 17.
  Above them, you have the legends: people who, through a way or another, lived a dozen lifetimes, hundreds of thousands of years, travelled over the world, met on a regular basis supernatural or divine entities, fought them and are part of the stories, legends and tales of whole Islands, yet are fundamentally human in essence. These people are level 17 to 20.
• Low Angelic.
  This power level cannot be reached by normal human beings, without divine help; a human body and a human mind can reach this state but they'd need knowledge or training means not usually accessible to them. This power level is also the power level of most "human beings above human beings"; "enhanced" human beings, if you want. A mature dragon is about this power level. At this power level, a being is rumoured to be able to single-handily take down a whole city... or even a whole Island. It covers levels 20 to 30.
• High Angelic.
  There's no way for a human being to reach this power level, as it's way beyond the limits of a human body and mind. Only a few creatures are of this power level. At this power level, taking down single-handily  a whole City or a whole army is child's play. This category covers levels 31 to 50.
• Archangelic.
  With this power level, we're entering the domain of gods. Demi-gods and assimilated are of this power level. Utter-powerful, yet limited on what they can actually do because of divine intervention rules. This category covers levels 51 to 100.
• Divine.
  Well, gods.