Expert Leadership and Starting at First Level After Dying

[cranewings]

So we are doing something new and interesting with my current sandbox game: when a character dies, for any reason, he comes back at first level + whatever experience he would have gotten that night. One guy came back at 2nd. Another came back at 3rd. They are traveling with characters about to hit 6th level.

While the gap does close over play, it never really -closes-. A first level character can almost make it to 6th on the fast track by the time a 5th level character makes it to 7th. That isn't bad.

On the one hand, it adds in the feature that the characters that hit high level can start playing a cohort or underling and send them on quests with the lower level PCs, and I would enjoy that.

Something else I could do is grant a 20% experience bonus to any PC traveling with a PC 2 or more levels above himself as a leadership / learning from an expert in the field kind of bonus. A 20% bonus every week, especially on the fast track, would do a lot to boost the weaker characters up.

I'm torn on the issue because on one hand, additional low level games can spawn out of the main game because the survivors can send lower level characters out to do stuff. If I add the bonus, people will WANT to always travel with the higher level character and I help create a faster character change out treadmill where people are constantly leveling their character.

I'm not sure what to do about the situation.

[Dragonamedrake]

It seems to be a cool idea. Pathfinder Hardcore edition lol. I do see a few issues however.

1. You have the potential for a very large headack keeping up with alts, cohorts, mains, ect. I forsee a lot of extra work on the DM. Just a friendly warning.

2. Creating a Balanced encounter could become a true nightmare. Consider you have a TPK except for one character that gets away, or kills off the last of the encounter. Now you have a party of 1st level characters and one 10th level character. How do you create a balanced encounter for that?

What if you have a 2 1st level characters, a 4th level character, a 5th level character and a 10th level character.... What do you throw at that party?

You will either need to rule that characters cant have to much of a level gap to party together, or watch level 10 characters wade through legions of level one goblins while the rest set back and soak up the xp.

3. You might run into a very hesitant group with these rules. The threat of death could cause your party to spend all thier gold, effort, ect in becoming unkillable. The longest game I ever played in (5 years out of game) finally broke down after we hit epic level. Not from over powered characters but because no one ever wanted to do anything. They where too worried thier beloved characters of 5 years would die. The DM finally threw up his hands and ended the game.

I know for one I would play a Beast-Bound Witch and just try and survive untill level 10. Then when Im immortal I would use the rules to my advantage. So watch out for survival builds if you want there to be real threat of death.

My 2 cents.

[Umbral Reaver]

Last time I played in a game like that, it was hideous and pointless. By the end, the highest level member of the party was 14, followed by 5, and a few 3s and 4s. The 14th level character could steamroll anything that was appropriate for the others, and the others couldn't participate in any event the 14th level character was involved in. They weren't even cohorts. They were as commoners to the monsters set up for the 14th level character and could be istakilled by a stray AOE.

It resulted in everyone hiding while the party's resident god took on everything, for fear of dying instantly if they got involved.

[Dragonamedrake]

Umbral Reaver basicly proved my second point. Balance would be a nightmare.

[cranewings]

Well, balance is just a matter of values. Of course if you play this way you don't care in the least about keeping the players even. Personally, I never, ever have. Most of the RPGs I've enjoyed have players with hugely different power levels. We might have a normal human ex government agent solving problems with a Superstrength / Flight super being in Heroes Unlimited, or a well balanced gunslinging faceman with a specialty super character in GURPS.

It is mostly just the 3.x fan crowd that cares about balance. Take balance out of the equation and there are a lot more ways to play Pathfinder.

Right now, the party is already learning to find their own ways to contribute during fights where they can't deal damage. Outside of fights where the super character has to fight alongside weaker ones, there is going to be a lot more splitting the party up, assigning tasks, and dealing with problems for each individual. I don't run a simplistic, U is for Umberhulk, fight a parade of monsters kind of game. There are always things to do and fights to fight, for solos, groups, powerful characters and weaker ones.

[Belle Mythix]

@ cranewings, if your players like it, good for them... but not everyone would like this.

[cranewings]

Belle Mythix wrote:

@ cranewings, if your players like it, good for them... but not everyone would like this.

Could you quote in my OP when I said everyone would like this? I don't think I said I cared if anyone did.

I was asking for opinions on the 20% XP bonus vs. encouraging splinter groups. Sorry if you were confused on that.