So, it's been bothering me for a while now, but I've really been wondering what this would look like? Is there any official data on this?
I've always assumed some sort of gamma distribution, mean of 5ish maybe, but I don't know what the scale would be. But I haven't take a prob stats class in almost a decade now, so I'm not really skilled enough to math one up of my own. Assistance anybody?
Thanks.
I really would like to know to.
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The majority are 2-4th level with 6th being not significantly uncommon
I remember a 2e book that had a chart for various levels, I remember it putting lvl 18 somewhere around 1 in a million 300k,
Do you have a source for that? Commoner is by far the most common class...and the average commoner is 2nd-4th?
A good rule-of-thumb that I was told in the past (just for a general D&D-style fantasy world, not Golarion in specific) is that the world population is about equivalent to the medieval era, and 1st level characters make up half the total population. Each level onwards has half of the number of people of the previous level.
Population in medieval times was roughly fifty million, so this would produce the following table
01 - 25000000
02 - 12500000
03 - 6250000
04 - 3125000
05 - 1562500
06 - 781250
07 - 390625
08 - 195313
09 - 97656
10 - 48828
11 - 24414
12 - 12207
13 - 6104
14 - 3052
15 - 1526
16 - 763
17 - 381
18 - 191
19 - 95
20 - 48
A good rule-of-thumb that I was told in the past (just for a general D&D-style fantasy world, not Golarion in specific) is that the world population is about equivalent to the medieval era, and 1st level characters make up half the total population. Each level onwards has half of the number of people of the previous level.
Population in medieval times was roughly fifty million, so this would produce the following table
01 - 25000000
02 - 12500000
03 - 6250000
04 - 3125000
05 - 1562500
06 - 781250
07 - 390625
08 - 195313
09 - 97656
10 - 48828
11 - 24414
12 - 12207
13 - 6104
14 - 3052
15 - 1526
16 - 763
17 - 381
18 - 191
19 - 95
20 - 48
I'm assuming the remaining 47 would be the PC's?
The remaining 47 would be people above the 20th level. This is just a geometic sequence that I plugged into a spreadsheet, not intended to be exact down to any significant digits, nor capped at the 20th level (though the numbers become negligible beyond that point).
A good rule-of-thumb that I was told in the past (just for a general D&D-style fantasy world, not Golarion in specific) is that the world population is about equivalent to the medieval era, and 1st level characters make up half the total population. Each level onwards has half of the number of people of the previous level.
Population in medieval times was roughly fifty million, so this would produce the following table
01 - 25000000
02 - 12500000
03 - 6250000. . .
This is good! I would probably use this if there weren't NPC classes. Given the existence of NPC classes, I prefer to treat 3rd level as the most common level, and make 90% of the population NPC classes.
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How do commoners level, as a rule?
Experts, adepts, warriors, aristocrats...I can see them leveling a bit...but commoners are the majority...and I would tend to see the majority of commoners as 1st level.
That progression that people say is good leaves the most common as 1st...how could you possibly get 3rd out of it?
Frankly, I don't see it as being quite accurate...I think there are a lot more 1st.
The inner sea world guide talks about this. People up to 5th level are pretty common, whereas 6-8 are uncommon. Teens are rare...
Something like that.
How do commoners level, as a rule?
The rules are designed for adventurers; non-adventurers gain XP ad-hoc.
Experts, adepts, warriors, aristocrats...I can see them leveling a bit...but commoners are the majority...and I would tend to see the majority of commoners as 1st level.
The distribution of classes is another matter entirely from the distribution of levels.
I'd imagine that NPC classes would be represented more strongly at lower levels, and PC classes more strongly at higher levels.
You get levels by overcoming obstacles- not just by murdering hobos.
So yeah, farming (or whatever profession Mr. Commoner has) nets him slow but steady experience.
Overcoming the problems experienced in the day to day business of.. his business- as well as driving off wolves, protecting the "sheep", assisting in the local militia, etc.
Sure he's not knocking on 20 or anything (due to the low CR nature of what he's doing, he may hit level 2 with relative speed but after that he's on a slow decline towards not being likely to ever hit 4 unless a war happens or steady Orc raids.)
-S
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You get levels by overcoming obstacles- not just by murdering hobos.
So yeah, farming (or whatever profession Mr. Commoner has) nets him slow but steady experience.
Overcoming the problems experienced in the day to day business of.. his business- as well as driving off wolves, protecting the "sheep", assisting in the local militia, etc.Sure he's not knocking on 20 or anything (due to the low CR nature of what he's doing, he may hit level 2 with relative speed but after that he's on a slow decline towards not being likely to ever hit 4 unless a war happens or steady Orc raids.)
-S
Oh, I agree that they get experience slowly, over the years...still, in civilized areas, I doubt many rise above 2nd. I usually make those in the outlying areas 2nd by the time they're 30 or so...and 3rd by 45 or 50...they represent the survivors in a dangerous area, and are pretty rare. That's commoners, the vast majority of people.
Of the NPC classes, the one that levels fastest...if they don't die...is warriors, a fairly decent minority...2nd by maybe 25...some few 3rd by 35-40. By then, they're sergeants.
Of course warriors level faster in outlying areas...and die more often, too.
All the other NPC classes fall in between there.
The reason I'm bringing up only NPC classes is they really are at least 80-90% of the population. The difference is...they aren't adventurers. They get nowhere near what the average NPC adventurer (PC class) does.
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I prefer an old school feel to my games and have been known to use the following table to randomly determine the level of NPCs:
D100 NPC Level
01-40 1
41-60 2
61-75 3
76-85 4
86-90 5
91-94 6
95-97 7
98-99 8
00 Special
For special NPCs, I use the following table:
D100 NPC Level
01-25 9
26-50 10
51-60 11
61-70 12
71-78 13
79-84 14
85-89 15
90-92 16
93-95 17
96-97 18
98-99 19
00 20
I've also got tables for class distribution, but those are off-topic...
I disagree with most of this, but only from a non-RP angle.
I posted a few thoughts in this thread.
It boils down to the ease of leveling based on definition and XP gained from "an encounter".
Following up on that other post, it stands to reason that if guards can do it, then everyone should. Very little point in a system that says guards could easily reach level 10, but blacksmiths can usually only reach level 2 after a whole lifetime at the forge. And if blacksmiths can do it, then so can farmers and merchants and stableboys and housewives.
OK, maybe not as fast as guards, but given the exponential-ish progression of XP, saying that a blacksmith's lifetime is worth half the XP of a guard's lifetime really only puts him 1 or 2 levels below the guard, possibly even reaching double digits too.
And that doesn't even take into account races with longer lifespans. Half of the elves in Golarion should be double-digit levels, even if all they do is sit around and write pretty poems.
Obviuosly, no AP or anything else shows this kind of distribution, at least not until you look at the levels of something like the bandits lurking around Rappan Athuk...
But mathematically it's a viable way to look at leveling progression.
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I disagree with most of this, but only from a non-RP angle.
I posted a few thoughts in this thread.
It boils down to the ease of leveling based on definition and XP gained from "an encounter".
Following up on that other post, it stands to reason that if guards can do it, then everyone should. Very little point in a system that says guards could easily reach level 10, but blacksmiths can usually only reach level 2 after a whole lifetime at the forge. And if blacksmiths can do it, then so can farmers and merchants and stableboys and housewives.
OK, maybe not as fast as guards, but given the exponential-ish progression of XP, saying that a blacksmith's lifetime is worth half the XP of a guard's lifetime really only puts him 1 or 2 levels below the guard, possibly even reaching double digits too.
And that doesn't even take into account races with longer lifespans. Half of the elves in Golarion should be double-digit levels, even if all they do is sit around and write pretty poems.
Obviuosly, no AP or anything else shows this kind of distribution, at least not until you look at the levels of something like the bandits lurking around Rappan Athuk...
But mathematically it's a viable way to look at leveling progression.
The problem with something like that is...a half-dozen lvl 6 warrior guards, and the average 5th level party can simply be overwhelmed. The 8th level Bbn gets beat half to death and tossed in the dungeon when he gets a bit drunk, and it's not even that hard. The elves...turn to a group of 8th level adventurers? Laughable.
You see, when those 4-5 guards handle a couple of drunks, they're level 1 commoners, 80% of the time. Because of their inebriated condition, they're worth half experience. Divide that up among the guards, and see how long it takes to level.
Then again, half of them go peaceably, and are worth no xp.
The problem with something like that is...a half-dozen lvl 6 warrior guards, and the average 5th level party can simply be overwhelmed.
Then maybe 5th level parties should be more law-abiding so it isn't an issue. The way you see it, the average 5th level party could overrun typical small villages and set themselves up as little kingdoms, probably get enough XP doing it to set their sights on a bigger villages and soon towns and before you know it, cities and entire kingdoms, say, by 10th level when nobody can stop them.
The 8th level Bbn gets beat half to death and tossed in the dungeon when he gets a bit drunk, and it's not even that hard.
Isn't that what happens everywhere in real life, except for "8th level barbarian"? Drunks get caught and thrown in jail (usually not beaten half to death unless they resist a lot).
Isn't that what would happen to a 1st level barbarian?
I see you clinging to the notion that 8th level is awesome. It isn't. It was back in 1st edition when it could literally take dedicated players over a year to dream of reaching level 8. Today's edition, that's about 50-60 encounters, give or take a bit.
In first edition, you'd be lucky if 50 encounters got you very far into 2nd level, but I still see world builders, campaign makers, and GMs everywhere treat pathfinder worlds as if it were still 1st Ed.
The elves...turn to a group of 8th level adventurers? Laughable.
Nah, they let the adventurers do it so they can keep writing their poetry.
You see, when those 4-5 guards handle a couple of drunks, they're level 1 commoners, 80% of the time.
Which still give XP, and they can handle lots of drunks in a single busy evening.
Because of their inebriated condition, they're worth half experience. Divide that up among the guards, and see how long it takes to level.
I'm not sure I agree, but OK, so it takes twice as long. I could still see level 4 town guards in their first year on the job.
Then again, half of them go peaceably, and are worth no xp.
Not true at all. Defeating encounters with non-violent solutions awards the same XP. If a group of PCs intimidate a bunch of orcs into submitting or fleeing instead of fighting, you still give them XP as if they had killed them - and guards intimidating drunks to submit rather than fight is the same thing.
*************
It's just simple math. When you read the definitions of what is an encounter, and how XP is awarded, divided, and applied toward leveling, then turn this system on the NPCs of the world, particularly the ones who actually have encounters (e.g. city watch), it's obvious that they level much more quickly and much more often than we generally assume.
And though the game doesn't really have rules for farmers leveling up, we either have to assume that guards do and farmers don't, or that farmers have a roughly comparable rate of leveling up. And everyone else.
Sure, it's not RAW, and the published material consistently shows towns, etc., that don't work this way, but the encounter/xp/leveling system really kind-of does, incongruously enough.
Most of the discussion here tries to apply the experience system to arrive at a conclusion about character levels within populations. However, experience points are a metagame construct, designed to give PCs a way to pace the advance from beginning adventurers to epic heroes. Rather than starting with the XP system and trying to answer the question, "Given the way experience points work, what level would a typical person be?" I prefer to ask, "Given what typical people are like, how many experience points (or levels) would they have?"
The way I see the world, even a fantasy world, most people are reasonably competent. get their early experience through deliberate study (apprenticeship, school, etc.), then slow down their experience gain. To make game mechanics show any significant distinctions between individuals, I feel that an average of 3rd level is appropriate for most adults.
CR = PC level -1 or CR 1 = Human Fighter 2
CR = NPC level -2 or CR 1 = Human Commoner 3
If you want people to be 1st level, do it!
If you want people to be 3rd level, do it!
If you want people to be 5th level, do it!
As a GM, it all depends on how powerful you want your world to be, but I like to rule of thumb average level 5 for NPCs.
Humans tend to be lower levels, demi-humans higher, mostly based on longevity.
A society of elves should all be high level. They just breed slow, so they're elites at what they do, they are simply few in number. Ditto on dwarves and Half-orcs.
Seeing Elite City Guardsmen at 7-10 in the capitol, alongside Elite nobles 5-12 and Elite Craftsmen 5-12 shouldn't be wierd. There should be a healthy smattering of 1-5s below them, but a group of "hero cops" that can contain the 8th level barbarian seems realistic to me in a world of magics. The guard of minas tirith did not seem level 1 to me.
Having a bunch of Level 5 farmers in the bandit counties doesn't seem weird to me either. Maybe the teenage son is level 1. Or the young midwife is level 2. But the Elder? The men who have fought off bandit raids, wolves and raised families on dying earth? These men have experience.
But thousands of first level commoners? Doesn't cut the realism cake for me. Level 3 commoners still die pretty fast. And the rank and file of NPC armies will be young men (or Kobolds), so seeing them at level 1 isn't that strange either. It's once you start fighting regulars and specialists that things get tough. A city of kobolds shouldn't die from a handful of fireballs.
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I am not a statistician. So I cannot really comment on averages standard deviations and the like.
I found this passage of text in the Inner Sea World guide that might address the OPs question.
“Power Levels: Throughout this book, particularly in
Chapter 2, key NPCs are mentioned by name. Experience levels and classes are not presented for these NPCs, in order to maintain a level of versatility and freedom allowing adventure writers, hobbyists and professionals alike, to adjust these NPCs as they wish. Nonetheless, there exist guidelines for how powerful most rulers and heroes and city guards are in the Inner Sea region. The vast majority of humanity are “standard,” ranging in level from 1st to 5th—most with NPC classes like commoner, expert, or warrior (it’s uncommon for a character with only NPC class levels to be above 5th level). A significant number of a nation’s movers and shakers, along with other leaders, heroes, and notables, are “exceptional,” ranging in level from 6th to 10th. “Powerful” characters, ranging in level from 11th to 15th, are quite rare—typically only a handful of such powerful characters should exist in most nations, and they should be leaders or specially trained troops most often designed to serve as allies or enemies for use in an adventure. Finally, “legendary” characters of 16th or higher level should be exceptionally rare, and when they appear should only do so as part of a specific campaign—all legendary characters should be supported with significant histories and flavor.” Page 253 Inner Sea World Guide
I hope this helps
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The problem with something like that is...a half-dozen lvl 6 warrior guards, and the average 5th level party can simply be overwhelmed.Then maybe 5th level parties should be more law-abiding so it isn't an issue. The way you see it, the average 5th level party could overrun typical small villages and set themselves up as little kingdoms, probably get enough XP doing it to set their sights on a bigger villages and soon towns and before you know it, cities and entire kingdoms, say, by 10th level when nobody can stop them.
The 8th level Bbn gets beat half to death and tossed in the dungeon when he gets a bit drunk, and it's not even that hard.Isn't that what happens everywhere in real life, except for "8th level barbarian"? Drunks get caught and thrown in jail (usually not beaten half to death unless they resist a lot).
Isn't that what would happen to a 1st level barbarian?
I see you clinging to the notion that 8th level is awesome. It isn't. It was back in 1st edition when it could literally take dedicated players over a year to dream of reaching level 8. Today's edition, that's about 50-60 encounters, give or take a bit.
In first edition, you'd be lucky if 50 encounters got you very far into 2nd level, but I still see world builders, campaign makers, and GMs everywhere treat pathfinder worlds as if it were still 1st Ed.
The elves...turn to a group of 8th level adventurers? Laughable.Nah, they let the adventurers do it so they can keep writing their poetry.
You see, when those 4-5 guards handle a couple of drunks, they're level 1 commoners, 80% of the time.Which still give XP, and they can handle lots of drunks in a single busy evening.
Because of their inebriated condition, they're worth half experience. Divide that up among the guards, and see how long it takes to level.I'm not sure I agree, but OK, so it takes twice as long. I...
It's not awesome to take out a hill giant? A dire bear? An allosaur...or a flesh golem? Really?
*sigh*
You must not like your heroes to feel very heroic.
It's not awesome to take out a hill giant? A dire bear? An allosaur...or a flesh golem? Really?
I would say that those range somewhere better than "meh" and less than "awesome". Maybe right around "cool". Awesome is taking out a balor. Or taking out a dire bear alone (no group), unarmored and with only grapple - that would be "awesome".
Since 8th level is, mathematically, easy enough for a city watchman to achieve in only a few years, a decade at most, and since most people work for longer than that, it's reasonable to assume, mathematically, that there are enough of them (and other similarly experienced commoners, experts, etc.) walking around to not be awesome. I see that level as being about like a modern black belt - it's pretty cool, and a noteworthy achievement, but it's not really "awesome"
Totally off-topic:
On the other hand, I am acquainted with two young girls, ages 10 and 7, who got black belts in Tae Kwon Doe after having been taking lessons for only a year - they showed me some of their technique and, frankly, it's pathetic (by black belt standards, pretty good by white belt standards), I wouldn't even have given them a brown belt or even close to a brown belt and I think their instructor must be insane, or greedy, or both.
So maybe, these days, having a black belt is not a very big deal after all. Might not even rate "cool" anymore.
“Power Levels: Throughout this book, particularly in Chapter 2, key NPCs are mentioned by name. Experience levels and classes are not presented for these NPCs, in order to maintain a level of versatility and freedom allowing adventure writers, hobbyists and professionals alike, to adjust these NPCs as they wish. Nonetheless, there exist guidelines for how powerful most rulers and heroes and city guards are in the Inner Sea region. The vast majority of humanity are “standard,” ranging in level from 1st to 5th—most with NPC classes like commoner, expert, or warrior (it’s uncommon for a character with only NPC class levels to be above 5th level). A significant number of a nation’s movers and shakers, along with other leaders, heroes, and notables, are “exceptional,” ranging in level from 6th to 10th. “Powerful” characters, ranging in level from 11th to 15th, are quite rare—typically only a handful of such powerful characters should exist in most nations, and they should be leaders or specially trained troops most often designed to serve as allies or enemies for use in an adventure. Finally, “legendary” characters of 16th or higher level should be exceptionally rare, and when they appear should only do so as part of a specific campaign—all legendary characters should be supported with significant histories and flavor.” Page 253 Inner Sea World Guide
I like this. It jives with my usual method of making "average" people be about 3rd level, since there will be plenty of young or otherwise inexperienced people at levels 1-2, and plenty more experienced folks at levels 4-5, who are still in the range of "normal people".
now, the problem with the Tae Kwon Doe girls is that they have either a really lenient or really greedy instructor.
in the united states, a Tae Kwon Do student can recieve a black belt in about a year, maybe two
the Real Technique in Tae Kwon Do
comes
not from witnessing a 10 year old girl that has trained for a year under a greedy and apathetic instructor
but in seeing a synchronized demonstration team of Korean Children who perform so well, they become like machines.
Hell, i'm a blue belt, in Tae Kwon Do, and a lot of Kenpo White Belts outperform me by a lot.
So Blake, i can see your point
Lets see. If you're a farmer...
And you have a wife and 10 kids because thats how rural farm families are...
Or your 10 'hired farmhands' we could say...
And every week your farm is attacked by a wolfpack...
We'll say 7 or 8 wolves worth 400 each divided 12 ways unless one of your kids 'didnt make it'...
We're talking about maintaining an average of maybe a wolf a day (34xp ish) to run a farm that is CONSTANTLY under siege by wolfpacks...
You'd expect at some point you'd have cleared out enough wolves that they'd steer clear of your farm, but lets say they dont. So far you've been farming for a year and killed over 350 wolves in your area, but they just keep coming...
Between the 12 of you, after a year of farming everyone on the farm should be level 3 on the slow xp track (that sounds 'farmy') or level 5 on the fast xp track... and after 10 years, if that siege never let up you could have a whole dozen farmers in the 9-11 range...
Thats of course assuming (cr1) farming-level assaults that never let up for 10 years solid. There's a specific mention that 'you shouldnt award xp for anything 10cr below apl,'...So if the only thing that attacks the farm is wolves and other cr1 things then level 11 would be the cap for a bunch of really persistant farmers who've inexplicably managed to kill off nearly 4000 wolves over the last 10 years who I guess... 'Never got the hint'... Then again if your 7 wolves of a wolfpack count as a higher cr because packs have a higher cr than individuals, well in that case the sky's the limit.
Any farmer who's in a dangerous area that fights back every time his farm is under siege could be a pretty high level from doing it all his life. One can only assume that most heavily populated near-city-farming communities simply dont see that much persistant action or have a much higher tendency to hide when the wolves are at the door'
Then again when most more dangerous monsters raid the farm most farmers probably go and hide. They may be protecting their livelyhood, but they still aren't the shotgun toting NRA farmers that we have today.
If I felt like creating something that 'feels right' I'd kinda want to go with a standard deviations style bell curve, but you have to modify it a bit, since a standard bell curve would insinuate that the average person you meet would most likely be level 9-11, and you'd have less than a 1% chance of meeting someone who's level 1 or level 20...
This obviously doesn't sound right. Presuming that the majority of the population is in the low levels I'd wipe out the part of the curve that is below 1 standard deviateion below. By the same token I'd lump everyone in the 17-20 range as being the 4th standard deviation above...
So we chop a bell curve from 1 below to 3 above into 16 'levels' and what we get is 40 percent of the population being below level 4, 80 percent of the population being below level 8, 95% of the population being below 12, and each of the final percentage points is eaten up by the remaining levels...
If i were to make a random percentage table for it, it would roughly look like this...
1-10 is level 1
11-20 is level 2
21-30 is level 3
31-40 is level 4
41-50 is level 5
51-60 is level 6
61-70 is level 7
71-80 is level 8
81-86 is level 9
87-90 is level 10
91-93 is level 11
94-95 is level 12
96 is level 13
97 is level 14
98 is level 15
99 is level 16
00 is level 17 or above...
Heck. Even what I'd consider to be the stodgiest distribution ever would still not be too bad on a percentile table, heheheh.
That table can be summed up as a formula:
Level=percentile minus 83, with anything less than 1 becoming 1.
Dot.
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Nostalgia for the Old Guard, and novelty for the New. I think all Pathfinder, Paizo, and especially, SKR fans will find this interesting.
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It isn't just wandering wild animals that farmers have to deal with.
"Convincing" the bull to go out to pasture, or to get out of the neighbor's pasture, without goring you a lot -- that's XP.
Getting the better of the grain merchant to get an adequate price for your crop so you don't have to sell daughter #3 into slavery to pay the taxes on the farm this year -- that's XP.
Facing down the Primievally Wrathful Father of the girl you want to marry -- bucketloads of XP. (Takes a lot more courage than facing orcs. Especially if you happen to know from the regular militia drills that the PWF has Weapon Focus: Pole With Lots of Spiky Bits On The End).
Defeating the next village's champion in a wrestling match at the annual farm festival -- that's XP.
Et cetera.
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It isn't just wandering wild animals that farmers have to deal with.
"Convincing" the bull to go out to pasture, or to get out of the neighbor's pasture, without goring you a lot -- that's XP.
Getting the better of the grain merchant to get an adequate price for your crop so you don't have to sell daughter #3 into slavery to pay the taxes on the farm this year -- that's XP.
Facing down the Primievally Wrathful Father of the girl you want to marry -- bucketloads of XP. (Takes a lot more courage than facing orcs. Especially if you happen to know from the regular militia drills that the PWF has Weapon Focus: Pole With Lots of Spiky Bits On The End).
Defeating the next village's champion in a wrestling match at the annual farm festival -- that's XP.
Et cetera.
Indeed. As SKR wrote in the article I linked above, the life of the average peasant farmer was challenging. He likened surviving a game month as an Encounter, and figured xp accordingly. I don't subscribe, wholesale, to all of his assumptions or conclusions, but it is a well thought system that works within the larger RPG rules, and yields satisfactory results.
I have always had room in my imagination for more 'advanced' commoners and other typical NPCs. As soon as I saw the NPC class charts in the 3rd Edition DMG, my mind soared with thoughts of high level (especially elven and dwarven) commoners and craftsmen. Ever since, I have been continually amazed at other gamers tendency to devalue and underestimate the possibilities for these 'typical' NPCs.
Having said that, as time has passed, I have come to accept that 20th level Commoners and other NPC classed characters are rather out of place. There is one train of thought on the matter that has 10th level being the upper limit for NPC classed critters (most notably and well done in the rare and difficult to find web postings of Szatany's Ultimate Classes, luckily they have been preserved here). The idea being that anything beyond 10th is, by default, heroic and deserving of PC class abilities. I think this is true.
-Cheers
It isn't just wandering wild animals that farmers have to deal with.
"Convincing" the bull to go out to pasture, or to get out of the neighbor's pasture, without goring you a lot -- that's XP.
...
Et cetera.
Indeed. As SKR wrote in the article I linked above, the life of the average peasant farmer was challenging. He likened surviving a game month as an Encounter, and figured xp accordingly. I don't subscribe, wholesale, to all of his assumptions or conclusions, but it is a well thought system that works within the larger RPG rules, and yields satisfactory results.
...
Having said that, as time has passed, I have come to accept that 20th level Commoners and other NPC classed characters are rather out of place. There is one train of thought on the matter that has 10th level being the upper limit for NPC classed critters (most notably and well done in the rare and difficult to find web postings of Szatany's Ultimate Classes, luckily they have been preserved...
I have to agree here, I think the idea of NPC Classes "only" going to Level 10 is fitting to their Type. The Heroic NPC's are going to be more like our PC's and be Leveling in a PC Class... At least that's often how I see it, and run it.
NPC Classes are the background/support NPCs, filling in the gaps between the NPC's with PC Classes, who tend to take Center Stage just like the PCs. I see the Commoner, Warrior, Aristocrats, Adepts, & Experts in the 1-10 Range, since the PC Classes are 1-20 with the 10-20 range not as often seen.
I like the "standard" "exceptional" "powerful" "legendary" split, and it's kinda fitting that the NPC classes can only be "standard" or "exceptional" if we do the 1-10 vs. 1-20 split, leaving the more main PC/NPC characters room to become "powerful" & "legendary" and shine even brighter.
As for the numbers spread for the NPC/PC levels on Golarion, I have a feeling the developers left that kinda vague so we could shape Golarion into our OWN worlds.
A good rule-of-thumb that I was told in the past (just for a general D&D-style fantasy world, not Golarion in specific) is that the world population is about equivalent to the medieval era, and 1st level characters make up half the total population. Each level onwards has half of the number of people of the previous level.
Population in medieval times was roughly fifty million, so this would produce the following table
01 - 25000000
02 - 12500000
03 - 6250000
04 - 3125000
05 - 1562500
06 - 781250
07 - 390625
08 - 195313
09 - 97656
10 - 48828
11 - 24414
12 - 12207
13 - 6104
14 - 3052
15 - 1526
16 - 763
17 - 381
18 - 191
19 - 95
20 - 48
By fifty million, you meant the world population in the medieval times? Does this account for Asia, America and Africa as well?
I also wonder what was the population of Europe. Actually, what was the population of France and Jerusalem? That'd be useful info for Absalom and Galt.
A good rule-of-thumb that I was told in the past (just for a general D&D-style fantasy world, not Golarion in specific) is that the world population is about equivalent to the medieval era, and 1st level characters make up half the total population. Each level onwards has half of the number of people of the previous level.
Population in medieval times was roughly fifty million, so this would produce the following table
[...]
By fifty million, you meant the world population in the medieval times? Does this account for Asia, America and Africa as well?
I also wonder what was the population of Europe. Actually, what was the population of France and Jerusalem? That'd be useful info for Absalom and Galt.
Fifty million is probably the estimate for Europe, but it may be a little low. See here.
Thanks for all the comments guys! Got a lot of useful information.