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So, I was just thinking, how many of you see level and age as linked?
For example, you can do an AP where you start off as level 1 and play to the end of the AP where you are around 16 or so. But how long does that AP take? A few months? A few years? A few decades?
Or, you can play a game where you start at level 1 and play for years in game, only gaining 10 levels or so.
So, that brings me to the reason for my question. How would you (as GM or as player) see a character concept at level 1 that is a human (with the Reincarnated trait) whose backstory is that she was in her 40's when she was reincarnated by a witch? So, she still has all her memories of before, but being as this is a level 1 campaign she's not the high level one would think a 40 year old should be?
I've always myself seen level as a mechanic necessary because its' a GAME... but to say that one can't be any age you want (granted, she of course doesn't get any bonuses for being that old... again, mechanic vs. concept) and your level only matters in the context of the story narrative.
What is everyone else's thoughts?
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It's also determined by how much you learned. A seasoned war veteran might only be first level because they never really learned how to improve until they joined the party.
Age and level is not linked. I mean, you can be a level 1 old person rather easily by simply staying away from conflict your whole life.
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Remember, level isn't determined by age, it's determined by experience, the 40 year old could easily have lived a relatively quiet life.
Yes, but what if conceptually she didn't? Say she was a slave in the Katapesh arena that survived many, many fights. Again, level mechanic vs. story narrative.
To use a published example, look at Gaedrin Lamm in Curse of the Crimson Throne. He's a well-established powerful crime lord who is in his 70's. Yet, he's only level 3. Why? Because that's the level he needs to be for the players to have a chance to defeat him as the story calls for.
Or, branch into video games. Why is a rank and file soldier (let's say Imperial Soldier) assigned to the planet Quesh (visited around level 40) more powerful than a high ranking named officer (Let's call him Grand Moff Rankin) assigned the planet Balmorra (visited around level 15)? Their level is tied to the level mechanic of when you encounter them, not anything to do with their accomplishments or lack thereof. Actually, as much as many players hate it, the recent "level sync" changes in Star Wars Old Republic solve this problem... when you visit old content your level is lowered to that of the area. You keep all your abilities, you just use them at a lower effective level.
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Well, being level 1 still involves some real skill and power, especially in Pathfinder. The way I see it, your entire backstory is an explanation for how you got as good as you are—why you aren't just an NPC class. A first level barbarian with a raging 24 Strength could kill quite a few warriors, for instance. A first level wizard with 20 Intelligence could hypnotize a whole crowd of commoners, or knock a whole mob unconscious. Or summon a small gang of eagles to do his job for him. First level PCs are powerful.
With regards to video games and Gaedrin Lamm, those are NPCs. The XP mechanic is mainly designed as a device to enable PC progression.
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This is a weakness of level based systems.
Experience level shows how many risks a being takes (combat, social, or plot line risks). A speed run type adventurer might gain levels rapidly at a young age, yet is far more likely to die with an unrecoverable body. An adventurer that reaches middle age has either great fortune, skill, allies, or the sense not to take too many unnecessary risks (and gains levels more slowly).
It is simply easier to take a slow and steady rate of gaining experience rather than becoming super impulsive to become 20th level before reaching a human equivalent age of 20. Also remember, adventurers are a rare and eclectic lot. They take odd races, often have magic users in a group, fight more often than career soldiers, wear more gp worth of magic items than the value of a castle, and so on. These are supposed to be the exceptions to a society, certainly not the normal people.
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Okay, so here is a scenario for you.
Say that my katapesh slave was a catgirl forced to fight for many years in the arena, and she was tired. She wanted it all to end, but... she still didn't really want to die.
Enter a witch who, in a rare case of empathy, takes pity on her and decides to help her. This witch poses as a necromancer and arranges with her master to purchase her corpse. Her master agrees since he's already been thinking her value is going down due to her age, so this is a good deal for him. He arranges to have her killed in one last great battle that makes him a lot of money, then sells the corpse to the 'necromancer' who then secretly reincarnates her giving her a new life (simply resurrecting her would be suspect, she needs to be a new person so she can be free of her master).
Now, these two are friends. Both level 1. Wait, what? A level 1 witch can't cast reincarnate.
Would you allow this scenario between two PCs? Could one say that while the witch technically doesn't have the ability to reincarnate the catgirl yet from a game mechanic standpoint, from a story narrative standpoint, she was able to?
This disparity between age and level is part of the reason E6 gained the popularity it did. If the level cap is 6, suddenly a level 1 PC is a pretty big deal, and that war veteran being a level 2 or 3 warrior (maybe even multiclassed into a level or two of fighter) makes perfect sense - same with the level 3 crime lord.
But, in a more "normal" view of the setting, a level 3 crime lord might just not ever be the one that gets his hands dirty.
More on-point, our group has occasionally used the story device that due to a curse or traumatic event, an experienced character with a rich background becomes "locked out" of their abilities and has to re-acquire them from level 1.
The first PC with this backstory was a 2E wild mage who had reached 17th level as part of her backstory, but accidentally set herself back down to 1 through a wild surge gone horribly wrong (which also blew up her wizard's tower and everything in it, leaving her with level 1 wealth as well.)
Necromancy and level drain could accomplish this as well, or a divine curse, or amnesia. The Nameless One from Planescape: Torment pretty much was hit by all of the above, and you discover through the course of the game that he's been very high level quite a few times. Samsarans have this baked into their racial identity.
Perhaps the witch reincarnated the character and simultaneously cursed her to truly start life anew in order to give the character a chance to redeem themselves, stripping away knowledge and experience as well as age and identity. Perhaps the character even asked for that.
Of course, if someone was just using this to try and acquire free stat boosts through advanced age or switching races to retain previous abilities while stacking new ones, they'd be laughed out of that planning session.
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I wouldn't allow her to have reincarnate from a story narrative standpoint. That just wouldn't make any sense.
I'm not sure why she'd need to reincarnate her, though. If he was willing to kill and sell her, why wouldn't he be willing to just sell her alive?
Ah! Now I understand what you really want.
There is no rule to say you can't start at a level higher than 1 if the home table agrees to it (everyone starts at level 10, for example). This is not the way that PFS does it, yet that's a topic for another thread.
As a GM, I do want background stories that match a PCs rough experience level. A level 1 PC should not have a background as being a powerful spellcaster or career gladiator. You can still have a rich, tragic background, yet not a long history of XP gaining events.
On the flip side, if everyone stats with level 10 PCs, I want more background from players than "I wander the world hitting stuff". You don't need a long list of accomplishments, yet a general idea of what kinds of trouble the PC has stirred in the past (i.e. plot hooks).
The Katapesh catgirl gladiator works best by saying she wants to escape before her first match. The witch character at 1st level would have to find a more creative way to assist the escape than reincarnation. Either that, or have the GM start the PCs off at higher levels to show their backgrounds match their experience.
Okay, so here is a scenario for you.
Say that my katapesh slave was a catgirl forced to fight for many years in the arena, and she was tired. She wanted it all to end, but... she still didn't really want to die.
Enter a witch who, in a rare case of empathy, takes pity on her and decides to help her. This witch poses as a necromancer and arranges with her master to purchase her corpse. Her master agrees since he's already been thinking her value is going down due to her age, so this is a good deal for him. He arranges to have her killed in one last great battle that makes him a lot of money, then sells the corpse to the 'necromancer' who then secretly reincarnates her giving her a new life (simply resurrecting her would be suspect, she needs to be a new person so she can be free of her master).
Now, these two are friends. Both level 1. Wait, what? A level 1 witch can't cast reincarnate.
Would you allow this scenario between two PCs? Could one say that while the witch technically doesn't have the ability to reincarnate the catgirl yet from a game mechanic standpoint, from a story narrative standpoint, she was able to?
In that case I'd just have them start at a higher level/have the witch be an NPC/have the witch have performed a ritual (UA or OA) rather than having cast the spell.
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I didn't give enough information about why I put reincarnate in there, sorry. The character is human, but the concept is that she is a reincarnated catgirl. As for level, no they are both intended to be level 1. So does that mean that this concept simply cannot work, since the story narrative is so strictly tied to the level mechanic?
That's kind of my point in this thread, where do you draw the line between Great concept, but it's game mechanically impossible and Mechanically this shouldn't work, but it's a great concept so we'll go with it.
As for why selling her alive wouldn't be ideal, she can still fight for now. However, if he were to be able to arrange her death and make a lot of money by manipulating the odds, then the witch could buy the corpse cheap. Note where I said 'in a rare case of empathy'. Said witch is... not really willing to pay market value.
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One thing to factor also is travel times and down time that was "behind the curtain". The AP might take a few months to a few years overall in-game to play out, but they're densely packed months. Those weeks you were stuck on an island at the start of your AP were busy. You were struggling to survive, exploring, dealing with wildlife and undead, getting attacked by natives... All leading up to when you eventually found a way off the island. Then you spend three months traveling towards a destination and getting into all kinds of (mis)adventures on a nearly daily basis.
Meanwhile another group thwarts an evil wizard's plans in a small town. Then they hire on as caravan guards for several weeks during which nothing really happens. This happens a few times before they find their next big adventure. They take a few months off traveling and adventuring while the fighter learns how to forge weapons. The wizard insists they settle in one place for a while as he painstakingly crafts them some new gear.
So all told while the group going through an AP gained their levels rather quickly, the wandering adventurers might have spent ten years in-game reaching the same point.
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I don't mind characters that used to be powerful as long as they don't try to capitalize on it. You can have an epic backstory about how an army bound you and limited your power, but you can't use that to be on good terms with the king.
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One thing to factor also is travel times and down time that was "behind the curtain". The AP might take a few months to a few years overall in-game to play out, but they're densely packed months. Those weeks you were stuck on an island at the start of your AP were busy. You were struggling to survive, exploring, dealing with wildlife and undead, getting attacked by natives... All leading up to when you eventually found a way off the island. Then you spend three months traveling towards a destination and getting into all kinds of (mis)adventures on a nearly daily basis.
Meanwhile another group thwarts an evil wizard's plans in a small town. Then they hire on as caravan guards for several weeks during which nothing really happens. This happens a few times before they find their next big adventure. They take a few months off traveling and adventuring while the fighter learns how to forge weapons. The wizard insists they settle in one place for a while as he painstakingly crafts them some new gear.
So all told while the group going through an AP gained their levels rather quickly, the wandering adventurers might have spent ten years in-game reaching the same point.
Right, but that still doesn't answer the question of should the starting level of the campaign mean that a good backstory has to be thrown out?
Also, I should clarify that I don't really think there are any right or wrong answers here, and that's not my intent to find a 'right' answer, I'm just looking for thoughts.
I personally think that a good background can be glossed over mechanically as long as the character fits the level the campaign starts. Maybe the witch had a friend secretly bet against the catgirl and they made enough money to buy a scroll of Reincarnate?
I don't mind characters that used to be powerful as long as they don't try to capitalize on it. You can have an epic backstory about how an army bound you and limited your power, but you can't use that to be on good terms with the king.
Haha, what about being on BAD terms with the king? He showed mercy and had you bound instead of executed, and you have to prove you've changed from the wizard that ravaged his kingdom.
Doesn't really matter what I'd allow, this is entirely up to your GM.
But since you've asked, given the full story, I'd say no.
Immediate concerns:
1) A 40-year old human is middle age, which imparts a bonus to Int, Wis, and Cha and a penalty to Str, Dex, and Con. The bonuses are retained and penalties lost in reincarnation.
2) Most beneficial racial bonuses are retained after reincarnation. You'd be a catfolk with an extra bonus feat, and if you just-so-happened to place your human ability score increase into a mental stat, that's retained as well. You'd then acquire all the catfolk benefits on top if those, minus the Wisdom penalty, so now your stats are up to +2 Dex, +1 Int, +1 Wis, +1 Cha, +2 to the mental stat of your choice, all the catfolk features, +1 feat, +1 skill point, etc, and no stat penalty, and you've been allowed to choose the reincarnation race of your choice, so no chance to risk accidentally turning into something useless. No way in the world I'd allow it.
3) Do the mechanics of being high enough level to cast a spell matter? Yes, of course they do. I suppose the witch could have acquired a scroll...
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Right, but that still doesn't answer the question of should the starting level of the campaign mean that a good backstory has to be thrown out?
It can vary on a case by case basis. Some players write a good backstory simply because they enjoy writing a good backstory. In the catgirl and witch example, they should include an explanation of how the resurrection was enacted and why it can't be done again right now. This seems like a good example of players who just want a good backstory.
Other players want an epic backstory simply as an excuse to have the spotlight shining on them specifically. They then expect this to be reflected in them getting unique benefits. As an example, I use to game with someone years ago who made a level 1 druid who was supposedly the reincarnation of his old level 20 druid from a previous campaign. Mind you, I have no way of knowing if said lev 20 druid had actually existed. He then as part of his backstory implied he was reincarnated with full memory (but not power) because he's a Destined Hero who Will Save The World Again. ANd because of his backstory, he expected to get concessions such as being on friendly terms with a Lawful Good band of demons who were tired of being evil, an entire village of them according to him. As well as a list of high tier magic equipment from his previous life... two centuries ago.
Another example of an epic background which is just that, background would be a character I've played a few times named Shardrena. She's the unknowing daughter of an elven wizard and a red dragon. The couple is based on an old 2nd edition game I was in (the wizard was my character) where we accidentally brought the red dragon we were hunting to the side of Good. My character left that old campaign after marrying an elven bard that had traveled with us for a while and retiring. Only after the campaign end did the GM tell me the red dragon WAS the elven bard the new player in the group was running.
I use that backstory to justify my half elf sorcerer who goes into Red Dragon Disciple. And part of the backstory gives the GM a ready made plot hook and interesting background character, if they want to use it. No benefit to me, I would be taking the prestige class anyway. My background just gives an alternate take on the prestige class. The only things that benefit from Shardrena's backstory is her character's backstory, the the GM having details they can use to craft interesting stories.
So as I said, it varies. A great backstory can give the GM fodder for the imagination when crafting adventures. Or it could be a bald faced grab for goodies by the player. It's up to the GM to judge on a case by case basis. I usually like it when players come up with interesting backstories. Not all heroes can be the fresh faced farm boy who's just set out into the world after all.
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Doesn't really matter what I'd allow, this is entirely up to your GM.
But since you've asked, given the full story, I'd say no.
Immediate concerns:
1) A 40-year old human is middle age, which imparts a bonus to Int, Wis, and Cha and a penalty to Str, Dex, and Con. The bonuses are retained and penalties lost in reincarnation.
2) Most beneficial racial bonuses are retained after reincarnation. You'd be a catfolk with an extra bonus feat, and if you just-so-happened to place your human ability score increase into a mental stat, that's retained as well. You'd then acquire all the catfolk benefits on top if those, minus the Wisdom penalty, so now your stats are up to +2 Dex, +1 Int, +1 Wis, +1 Cha, +2 to the mental stat of your choice, all the catfolk features, +1 feat, +1 skill point, etc, and no stat penalty, and you've been allowed to choose the reincarnation race of your choice, so no chance to risk accidentally turning into something useless. No way in the world I'd allow it.
3) Do the mechanics of being high enough level to cast a spell matter? Yes, of course they do. I suppose the witch could have acquired a scroll...
I would assume that the age and racial benefits from the previous incarnation of this new character are assumed already baked into the newly created character. If it's a 15 point buy for example, whatever the player chose for attributes... that's assumed to have already factored in the previous incarnation. If the player chose 12 Str as part of their stat buy, one assumes that 12 Str is after reincarnation benefits instead of before.
Am I explaining my thought process well enough? Here, I'll try again. Assuming it's a 15 point creation game....
Normal procedure would be
1. Make 15 point buy character
2. apply leveling, age, and catfolk attribute modifiers
3. die and reincarnate
4. make 15 point buy for new incarnation
5. apply age and catfolk attribute modifiers from previous life
6. apply racial modifiers for current incarnation.
This is what you're thinking right? I think what the player wants to do is the following:
1. Make 15 point character
2. apply human racial benefits
3. say in backstory they were reincarnated via the spell from a middle aged catfolk.
4. zero mechanical benefit from the reincarnation received in backstory, it's assumed already to have been factored in when spending the 15 points
I like the idea (that somebody else actually posted around here first, but it has probably evolved independently many times) that people rise to their level of incompetence. Every one in a great while, something happens that unlocks potential in somebody that they didn't know how to access before, and then they rise again, potentially at meteoric speed, to their new level of incompetence . . . .
This is more of a problem that your 40 year old elite soldier stayed at level 1 all that time. (well, not 'your' character specificaly, but this is a common starting point).
I can see level rising quickly when you are facing dread liches riding on half demon half angel dragons all day. Level is about what you can handle, and when you are in a ton of weird and dangerous fights in a short time period, you learn how to handle a lot more (...or, y'know... die).
But starting at level 1 yet being the cool strong experienced bad ass is kind of antithetical.
My other problem is how most characters should be level 2 commoners, but somehow, at high levels, everyone and their grandma ends up being level 10 rangers, or wizards or something. They 'everyone is as strong as they need to be so they can be relevant' problem.
From a story perspective, I wouldn't run it as a textbook reincarnation. The character lost any stats, levels and abilities because the reincarnation did not go through perfectly, Perhaps the great spirits felt that this use was disrespectful, great spirits being touchy that way. The character lost any treasure due the costs of the spell and post reincarnation treatment from the imperfect reincarnation.
From a tactical perspective, allowing the character free abilities, bonuses, etc. isn't fair to the other players.
Lemeres,
This is really a new thread, but:
...My other problem is how most characters should be level 2 commoners, but somehow, at high levels, everyone and their grandma ends up being level 10 rangers, or wizards or something. They 'everyone is as strong as they need to be so they can be relevant' problem....
Pretty much by definition PCs are not commoners, they are the oddballs, the driven, the nutbars who just don't fit in. In a backwards sort of way, they are adventurers because they just couldn't cut it as a commoner.
This is just my take, and it is easy to theorize any number of exceptions, so if that is what you want to play, there is nothing stopping you from taking a couple levels of commoner, I just don't feel it should be a requirement.
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The way I see it, a zero level warrior might take years to gain the experience needed to make the transition to level 1 fighter. After all, while you might have been one of the Duke of Earl's elite soldiers, the dukedom is mostly at peace. You spent more of your time in training and standing guard then actually fighting bandits. In that time you learned to use many weapons beyond the sword and shield you were issued. You also learned how to put on, maintain, and fight in a wide variety of armors.
So now you leave the Duke of Earl's service, as a level 1 Fighter.
The real question isn't "why did it take years for an elite soldier to become a level 1 fighter". No, the question is "how did Farmboy McGee learn to use all those weapons and armors while living on a farm?"
After all, it's a common backstory that the character has lived on a farm all their life and only now left the farm. Yet they're already a level 1 fighter, or wizard, or cleric, or whatever. With skills that they realistically couldn't have learned while living on a farm. I mean, seriously, how does a farmboy learn siege tactics or anything about the elemental planes?
Kahel,
You are correct, the bare bones farm boy background is weak. However, said farmboy could have spent all his spare time with his mentor, the village priest, or Uncle Bob, a warrior who lost an arm in the War, or odd Cousin Schmendick who just spends too much time ..reading.. (Shudder).
Lemeres,
This is really a new thread, but:
...My other problem is how most characters should be level 2 commoners, but somehow, at high levels, everyone and their grandma ends up being level 10 rangers, or wizards or something. They 'everyone is as strong as they need to be so they can be relevant' problem....Pretty much by definition PCs are not commoners, they are the oddballs, the driven, the nutbars who just don't fit in. In a backwards sort of way, they are adventurers because they just couldn't cut it as a commoner.
Oh, I know PC's aren't common.
I mean random NPCs. How often do you see a level 2 commoner when you are in a campaign with level 15 characters? While high power levels might make sense if you are in somewhere strange or dangerous, such as another plane of a fort next to the front lines against orcs/demons/etc. ... but this can also be seen in other, more urban campaigns. The places you had seen 'normal' people before. But at that point, you will have combat butlers that are secretly high level monks.
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Exactly. I'm planning out an intro adventure for a homebrew campaign. And while I've named several npcs, there is no stat block for them. Others, such as the blacksmith in the main 'hub' area for the first part of the campaign have a little more detail then that. But not much beyond name, gender, and race. If it becomes important to know, I'll add more details. Or if I absolutely need to know their exact attributes and skills, I'll then stat out the blacksmith. But until then, it's just a named npc.
The NPCs you give a full stat block and writeup to are the ones who are important somehow. Maybe not now, but eventually. And even then, in officially published adventures those npcs often don't get a stat block unless they will be in a combat. Otherwise it's just a note such as "these guards have a +x to perception" or "joe the drunk is usually found in Y tavern"
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Leveling through EXP gain is a function of PCs (and cohorts). The rest of the world's population does not "Level." If the 50 year old baker is still a 1st level Commoner despite decades of "RP encounters," it's because he, that baker, never improved. Lamm is 3rd level because that's his skill ceiling. He can have as many encounters as can fit in a year, but he'll never gain a single EXP. If he escapes and comes back later at 6th level, it's not because he went dungeon crawling. It's because the narrative said that he learned new tricks while he was out of the spotlight.
So your gladiator slave life before that was effectively an NPC. She never leveled because she never gained EXP for those pit fights. How did she survive long enough to be reincarnated by a witch? Luck, skill, the narrative.
That's how I see NPC levels and EXP: EXP is not a universal law but an OOC mechanic to progress in a game (I.e. with points).
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That's kind of my point in this thread, where do you draw the line between Great concept, but it's game mechanically impossible and Mechanically this shouldn't work, but it's a great concept so we'll go with it.
My limit is basically "what makes sense". If you give someone a power in the story narrative, it breaks my suspension of disbelief if they don't have that power in the game narrative. Now, you could craft an explanation—it was a one-time power, their Patron is pressuring them not to use it again, etc—but as-is, this character would make me believe less in the world.
"I have the power to reincarnate the dead, and I'm good enough at it that I do it for random strangers."
"Cool. The party fighter just died. Can you bring him back?"
"Uh...no, sorry, it's just a roleplaying element."
The problem with the line you want to draw between Mechanical and Story is that there shouldn't be that line.
Bend the mechanics to fit the story, or bend the story to fit the mechanics, but one of them has to bend. Don't draw a line. Don't render them oil and water—it won't mix, and it won't flow.
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Although the game mechanic links experience (particularly killing things) and level, I prefer to think from a in-world perspective it is more 'fate' and 'destiny' that is linked to level. As you encounter fateful events or are connected with 'destiny' in some way, your power grows. This is how a PC can level multiple times very quickly in game time.
An NPC might get their 'destiny' from other ways. Some might get it though time, study etc. Others might just get it almost as a birthright, for example a King might have levels just because he is the king, and that automatically confers a powerful 'destiny' (the land and the king are one).
Obviously their is no mechanic for this, and it certainly isn't mentioned in the rules, but it isn't particularly against them either and for me it makes sense and helps with immersion.
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So, I was just thinking, how many of you see level and age as linked?
For example, you can do an AP where you start off as level 1 and play to the end of the AP where you are around 16 or so. But how long does that AP take? A few months? A few years? A few decades?
Or, you can play a game where you start at level 1 and play for years in game, only gaining 10 levels or so.
So, that brings me to the reason for my question. How would you (as GM or as player) see a character concept at level 1 that is a human (with the Reincarnated trait) whose backstory is that she was in her 40's when she was reincarnated by a witch? So, she still has all her memories of before, but being as this is a level 1 campaign she's not the high level one would think a 40 year old should be?
I've always myself seen level as a mechanic necessary because its' a GAME... but to say that one can't be any age you want (granted, she of course doesn't get any bonuses for being that old... again, mechanic vs. concept) and your level only matters in the context of the story narrative.
What is everyone else's thoughts?
I don't link them at all and I don't restrict anything as long as a player's background story is not made to get a mechanical advantage.
Levels are an OOC mechanic so I have no problem with an level 5 NPC who has fought in a war campaign being part of a PC(level 1) backstory, when they both had the exact same experiences in combat.
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From a story perspective, I wouldn't run it as a textbook reincarnation. The character lost any stats, levels and abilities because the reincarnation did not go through perfectly, Perhaps the great spirits felt that this use was disrespectful, great spirits being touchy that way. The character lost any treasure due the costs of the spell and post reincarnation treatment from the imperfect reincarnation.
From a tactical perspective, allowing the character free abilities, bonuses, etc. isn't fair to the other players.
Right, as I've said many times before (and apparently did so rudely? Sorry about that.) that this is absolutely not about trying to get more power than the other PCs, it's a hypothetical situation (although using an actual character I am working on) where background may not fit the game mechanics, but can that be glossed over?
Your suggestion about the spell not working quite right actually is pretty cool, and even works in a sense due to the fact that she's a feral hunter, so her abilities could have been lost... she can no longer shapeshift like she used to, she needs to learn again.
I have long ago stopped trying to correlate levels to anything that has a base in the real world-experience, age, specifically combat experience and so on. Instead, levels are just a measure of how much power Rovagug (or any similar god of conflict/destruciton. Clerics and such get that from their deity instead) beams straight at the character's soul, which allows them to become stronger/faster/smarter. That explains why levels are gained through combat (Rovagug rewards those who seek out conflict), why it allows seemingly mundane characters to do ridiculous things without magic, why some people have low level while constantly doing things that should grant them XP(e.g. professional hunters should by all means reach lv 10 in less than 5 years from all the boars and wolves they kill, but Rovagug doesn't care much about that sort of conflict), why some NPCs(kings, generals) can have high levels without ever participating in combat directly(Rovagug rewards them too, for all the chaos they sow indirectly) and pretty much everything else related to levels.
Worked quite well so far.
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You could also do some real world research and ask someone of a religion that believes in reincarnation how they rationalize it. But please be polite and I would fully explain where you are coming from and why you want to know.MDC
Unless they were a gamer, most who believe in reincarnation would be more confused by the question if you told them the reason for asking. Not to mention that real world reincarnation belief is nothing like D&D game reincarnation.
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I will have to disagree with you on that point as I have and have been told by others that have asked such questions and informing the priest asked what it was for (ie acting, book or story, play, game) that most of the time they were OK with the question but I also do remember one such case in which the person asked was not.
But again I think it can really depend on where you live, the person you ask and how you ask the question.MDC
You may as well ask Philip from accounting. The reincarnate spell has nothing at all to do with the concept of reincarnation, in D&D it's just "make a new body for this dead person since their old body is broken".
If you were asking about the reincarnation that is discussed in Occult Adventures, then I could see their being used discussing it with an individual of a faith that incorporates reincarnation.
So, I was just thinking, how many of you see level and age as linked?
For NPC classes, I'll often link them. NPCs just starting out in life having come of age or graduated their apprenticeships, I'll give them level 1. Then I typically give them a level every 5-10 years or so depending on how dynamic a location is - out on the frontier, I'll add a new level closer to every 5 years because of the variety of challenges they'll deal with. Farther into a settled area, I'll go more with 10 years.