Basic Fantasy RPG Forums

Dimirag wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 1:37 pm

I am pretty sure the wizard and fighter will never reach this level but the rogue and cleric might. Are there any rules or ideas for expanding the progression beyong level 20? I am not talking about further improving saves, I mean rules cyclopedia does but I propably wouldn't go that route. Maybe keep improving the attack bonus? At the very least Fighter would get extra weapon proficincies per Combat options and maybe thiefs would still increase skills and maybe certain improved uses or new skills would be available. I could also see cleric and wizards accumulating more slots though not higher spell levels.

It really depends on what kind of game you want it to be after level 20, that would put the base for the XP value of each level. Should it be double XP like for the first 9 levels or increase in the same amount as previous levels? Should it be a new value?

Dimirag wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 1:37 pm If you base it on just level numbers, due to the difference on XP the thief will always reach the new level before other classes, and when a class hits the new max level you find again the "what's next?" scenario.

Dimirag wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 1:37 pm Attack bonuses do not increase linearly, so its a matter of choice and taste how the new rate should be.
Giving the Fighter more "weapon proficiencies" work as long as that optional rule is used
Increasing the thieving skills percentage by 1% per level can be done, at level 40 he will have a 99% on 6/7 skills.
Spell slots and the turning undead table can be extended, spell slots also do not increase linearly, so the AB point remains here; by level 27 the cleric would do autodamage to any undead (maybe a HD limit could come handy here)

Dimirag wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 1:37 pm Maybe you could put somekind of "Epic Level" reached at the same XP for every single class with a high enough value that it cames into play after the Magic User has been level 20 for quite some time (something like 4000000 for single-classed and double for dual-classed)

Dimirag wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 1:37 pm Options and possibilities are almost limitless but they are bound to each person's view or ideas of what those levels should bring.

SmootRK wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 1:49 pm I have houserules that cover ever increasing levels... but I utilize a different XP/level system that goes along with the expanded levels.

I saw no problem with continuing progressions beyond 20... though I do suggest the XP progression be quite expensive. Few characters in a given world/campaign should go very many levels beyond twenty, ever.

Malfi wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 2:22 pm I gave a very cursory look at the first two field guides but the highest hd I saw was 14 or so.

I think it should remain the same.

In that case I would rather there be an xp limit then than a level limit.

I would propably the slowest possible progression, since I would keep the same rate of xp per level needed.
Thieving skills could also increase by 10% total per level, which would necessitate more thief skills, or allowing higher than 99% percentages and pehaps even advanced skill uses for already existing skills albeit with a penalty.
For the cleric and the wizard I could see using sth close to the rules cyclopedia cleric one minus one level.

You mean like an epic progression?

Dimirag wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 3:31 pm Don't rely solely on HD, although it indicates several abilities, monsters with low HD can be really dangerous due to special abilities and appearance numbers.

I agree, but I simply didn't want to invest the time to check this. It quite possible I will do so in the future.

Dimirag wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 3:31 pm I think it should depend on the overall benefits of the earned level, remaining the same means that when the MU is level 20 the thief would be like level 25, doing double really puts them closer.

Agreed, I felt the benefits i mentioned were incremental enough to not go with any doubling. Also doubling xp per level is basically saying you can't level up. I could see doubling xp once at level 21 and then keeping them the same as in Smoots houserules.
Regarding the thief and magic user, I am not sure they are supposed to be close. A level 20 thief has around the same xp as a level 14 magic user. A level 30 thief the same as a level 18 magic user.

Sigh* I lost my next responses will write them again later I guess.

Malfi wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 2:44 pm
My real problem is that it can break the credibility of the world.
If very high level characters exist and nothing can challenge them, why don't they defacto rule the world? If monsters or whatever can challenge them, then you need high level characters for the setting to make sense.
You can get around this with certain in world explanations, but it always stresses the limits of the setting further and further and thus may diminish anything that happens in a smaller scale.

Dimirag wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 3:31 pm Increasing thieving skills by 10 points is a whoopping increment, skills at final levels increase 1-3% unless you mean 10 points among the skills as in levels 16-20. Doing 5 per level is a doable thing.

Dimirag wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 3:31 pm Not a progression, a one-time thing, you reach that XP you get a benefit, similar to how demihumans work on some other games, but if you want to create a progression, each with its own benefit or a list to choose from, its also doable.

Dimirag wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 5:25 pm Yes, those numbers are close enough, I said about bring them closer as to brake the different rates at which each class reaches the level ceiling.
If using the same progression as of level 9+ at the moment the MU hits level 20 the Thief would be level 35, when the Thief reaches level 40 the MU will be Level 33.

Dimirag wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 5:25 pm I would use either a new derived value, like 50% of the increment or other percentage, or just an arbitrary or more balanced number.

Edit: I tried using the same progression as for levels 9+ with the 20th level xp value, yes, it means level 21 is double XP, but makes a 20th level MU equal to a 21st level Thief, after that the Thief is obviously ahead, but not as much, but, when the Thief reaches level 40 the MU is less than 5% close to reach 30th Level.
The number does not mean much, its a matter of how close one wants them to level up.

GrimlinJoe wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 3:38 pm Though I know this isn't necessarily and answer to what you are asking but something a friend of mine does in his games that he DMs is once that character hits max level he allows a prestige system where the play is allowed to start back over at lvl 1 and gain a few points to put into their stats to raise them up alittle. This does create a grind complex to the game but its an interesting concept.

Another option is once you reach max level, if you haven't employed the quasi-classes into you campaign then once you hit max level you can choose a quasi-class to begin leveling in somewhat like a master class/profession