|
Very interesting concept, here.
The notion of 0-level PCs has rarely been done; there were rules in the 1st-Edition Greyhawk hardcover, where you were able to pick'n'mix from any class during your apprenticeship, but once a class was chosen, you had to drop any superfluous abilities unless you paid an xp tax (a foretaste of 3.0 multiclassing?).
During the '80s, I flirted with the rules from Imagine magazine (RIP), where the classes were reverse engineered, to give the abilities of a half-trained level 0 character, and further back, to the implied baseline abilities of the 0-level peasant (0LP).
Using these, I toyed with a system for what were, in hindsight, gestalt characters, though the term gestalt was never used. Every PC would be a Fritz Leiber-style, hybrid Fighter/Magic-User/Thief, xp being allocated (unequally) between the three classes by the GM according to the challenges faced. Xp to unlock Clerical abilities were at the discretion of the higher (or lower) powers, in reward for advancing their goals.
This product write-up takes me back to that.
Cool experiment. Sanctuary doesn't seem like the kind of place to favor 0s making it to 1st level. :)
|
|
Cool experiment. Sanctuary doesn't seem like the kind of place to favor 0s making it to 1st level. :)
One option for using the 0-level rules is to allow multiclass characters at 1st level. Envision your character as having been raised on the mean streets but have a natural talent for magic? In a 1st level game you could start as a 0-rogue/0-sorcerer, becoming rogue 1/sorcerer 1 at 2nd level. Or if you are a scout for a tribe of berserkers, you can start as barbarian 0/ranger 0 at a 1st level character.
In fact I've already has a customer write me and say she *only* plans to allow multiclass characters if they start as 0/0 multiclass at 1st level. Not what I was thinking when I wrote the rules, but I'm glad they met a need for her. :D
As always Owen thanks for pushing the boundaries.
|
|
As I recall, the 3.0 DMG had rules for this as well. Nice to see them revisited though.
Yep, it sure did! In fact my first-even non-playtest 3.0 character was a human 1/2-level fighter--1/2 level rogue with a spiked chain, named Javril. [Groucho]And why we named the chain Javril, I'll never know![/Groucho].
I strongly suspect any complaints about the spiked chain being overpowered you have ever heard can be traced back to that character. :)
As always Owen thanks for pushing the boundaries.
I'm not sure this really counts as pushing the boundaries, but you're welcome!