Forum > Shadow World
average level for a nobody ?
jdale:
What's the problem you're trying to solve, though? Is it that the NPC does not have the necessary skill bonus to fill the role you need them to fill? Then assign them the level they need. Is it that the rules don't adequately model the skill development of low-skill ordinary-person NPCs? Why should they? The rules are for PCs and adversaries. Is there some reason you need to track the gradual long-term development of low-skill ordinary people? If so, you could do sub-level progression and dole them out a few DP, but for the vast majority of campaigns it's never going to be relevant.
MisterK:
--- Quote from: jdale on April 12, 2022, 01:17:50 PM ---Is it that the rules don't adequately model the skill development of low-skill ordinary-person NPCs? Why should they? The rules are for PCs and adversaries.
--- End quote ---
Ah, I see where the issue is.
As far as I'm concerned, the rules are for *everyone* - PCs and all NPCs alike.
Because I never know when a nobody will become someone of interest.
And besides, I'd like to know the skill and level spread of the city watch, and those of the local gangs, and the aristocrats who have more pride than common sense, and so on. You know, potential allies and opponents that do not know when they will have to make a cameo or take center stage.
And I don't subscribe to the theory that the rules are only for PCs and adversaries. After all, even RMC 1 had a section about populating towns, with a profession and level spread. As far as I understood it, it included *everyone*, not merely adversaries.
Wolfwood:
--- Quote from: Hurin on April 12, 2022, 10:25:11 AM ---One last point I would make is that medieval notions of age are a bit different than ours. Apprentices were often very young, with apprenticeships often beginning around age 12. Many medieval people were doing things we would consider fully adult well before they left their teens. Many girls were married by the time they were 16. I like to tell my RMU players that their first level characters are essentially Harry Potters on their first visit to Hogwarts.
--- End quote ---
That's a good description. In Sweden, around the 16th/17th century, apprenticeships began at the age of 15 and an apprentice had to pass a journeyman exam to gain the freedom to seek their fortunes - BUT even when they passed the exam, they still owed one additional year of service to their master before they could leave (to pay back for their training, basically, and give the master time to find a new apprentice). So, if we follow real-world examples and want the characters to be free of their service to a master, i.e. journeymen, they should be around 18 and at about level 3-4.
MisterK:
To be honest, my very sketchy rule of thumb about "everyday accumulation of experience" would have gone with a geometric scale. Say, if (I use RMFRP reference), you're level 1 at the end of apprenticeship (with Adolescence ranks being allocated by culture and social status), you would gain a level after 1 year, another after 2 more years, another after 4 more, and so on.
A 20-year-old who has led a normal life would be level 2-3. A 60-year-old Shay that has led a normal life would be around level 6.
Shay would likely end up around level 6-7 depending on how they age. Laan would end up 1-2 levels higher, dwarves one more. Elves, being immortal, would have no theoretical level limit, but an elf who 'd have led a "normal life" all through the Third Era would be around level 13-14 (and no elf would have led a "normal life" for more than one Era, because the Wars of Dominion would have disrupted everybody's 'normal life' one way or another).
And I was wondering if it sounded about reasonable or completely outlandish.
Hurin:
--- Quote from: MisterK on April 14, 2022, 10:54:21 AM ---
And I was wondering if it sounded about reasonable or completely outlandish.
--- End quote ---
Seems reasonable to me.
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