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So I've been running my magic academy game I've talked about for about a month and a half now. So far the game's been going good, but after spending time running it on the rigid schedule I had set up I was starting to see that I might need to adjust the way I'm adjucating leveling up and character progression.
See, I am currently running the game with the following conventions:
1.Characters level up when they graduate to the next year of school
2.Characters have opportunities to earn traits in-game to give bonuses during the school year.
3.Characters have more financial freedom, but less availability than a standard game.
>The students all have high level adventurer parents, who regularly funnel gold or minor magic/alchemical items to their kids.
>The only shop they can go to is the 'school bookstore' which holds mostly, well, books. It also has other school essentials and does include some minor magic items for sale at expectedly high prices. It also doubles as the post office for the school where packages come and go through.
4.Other than the planned moments, every week of school has a random event as determined by a roll on a table of school events.
5.There are classes provided for almost every skill or application of adventuring out there, but all are taught with arcane casters in mind.
6.School is broken down into 4-2.5 month 'semesters' with large events in between them and school breaks.
7.Studying hard gives the student a floating +Bonus that lasts for the rest of the year for rolls involving that subject, which will help them pass finals and reward hard work.
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After having watched how the game played out, I feel that I should make some adjustments to improve the flow of the game. First I feel that I probably could afford to have them level up a little faster in order for the campaign to have slightly better pacing. Last game session it actually managed to capture the feel of the setting though, so maybe it isn't necessary. (The students got into a fight with another group of students, and it went mostly nonlethal until one of the players got hit with an acid splash and retaliated with a magic missile before threatening to blast the kid again (and surely killing him as he had 1 hit point left. Everyone backed off one the 'fist fight' became a 'knife fight', so to speak)
What idea I've been toying around with is:
Changing it so characters gain a level after midterms and finals, so they gain 2 levels a year.
Benefit: Characters progress faster, have a clearly defined sense of development in the world.
Possible problems: Growth is too fast; characters gain skills/features/spells that invalidate early challenges in the campaign.
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It would allow them to continue progressing, and improve the sense of development.
I worry that some of the characters will feel like they're not getting any better in their classes if they don't get more skill points to spend, etc.
What would you guys do? I'm explicitly nixing handing out XP per encounter or challenge; I'd rather tie their improvement to milestones in their academic career, not to how many other students they can beat up. :p
I'd welcome your opinions on my idea, and if you think you have a better idea please let me know!
So basically, you want more of a sense of advancement throughout the year, without them getting too powerful, too fast. Correct?
Maybe you could adapt the incremental advances system from 13th Age. Basically, the idea is that rather than getting everything from a level all at once, you get a bit at a time after every session or major plot point. So for example, rather than getting extra BAB, saves, skill points, HP, Class features, Feats, and spells all at the same time, you get to level one of those aspects up at a time, until you have the full level.
So basically, you want more of a sense of advancement throughout the year, without them getting too powerful, too fast. Correct?
Maybe you could adapt the incremental advances system from 13th Age. Basically, the idea is that rather than getting everything from a level all at once, you get a bit at a time after every session or major plot point. So for example, rather than getting extra BAB, saves, skill points, HP, Class features, Feats, and spells all at the same time, you get to level one of those aspects up at a time, until you have the full level.
Yeah that's exactly what I'm trying to get!
... O_O That is a very interesting idea! Let me read that link you gave me!
Okay so maybe I can break it down this way:
First Semester Complete ->Gain class features and saving throws for next level
Second Semester Complete ->Gain skill points for next level
Third Semester Complete ->Gain Hit Dice and BAB for next level
Fourth Semester/Year Graduation Complete -> Gain Spellcasting/Feats for next level.
[Edited] Changed it around and remembered to add BAB and Saves.