Alternatives to Level Limits

[Akrasia]

The only thing that has annoyed me about AD&D from the age of 10 to my current age of 34 is the idea of race level limits. (Aside from initiative and a few other minor quibbles -- I'm talking about 'fundamentals' here...)


Over many years, this problem has been bounced around in my groups..

The following two alternatives seem best:

(a.) Level limits apply only to 'normal' experience; beyond the level limits, PCs need 2x experience points to go up in levels. (Because they are lazy, given their long lifespans and natural dispositions.)

(b.) Only humans gain experience bonus benefits from having 'high ability scores' (and house-rule that every human PC has a prime requisite of 16+).

This is just a pet peeve of mine. I like the idea of 'human dominance', and always thought that simple demographics would ensure this in any normal AD&D world.

But in terms of 'game balance', I have always thought that 'level limits' were a horrible mechanism.

I love OAD&D. I just hate this one aspect of it. Thoughts?

[Rob]

Well, usually we don't have too much of a problem with level limits, as they kick in at higher levels, but in the campaigns where it has become an issue we did something similar to your first idea. Instead of doubling the Exp. required, we ruled that a wish was needed (only one, though), and then only 1.5x the normal amount of Exp. per level. I've found that this really doesn't change much, as most players still choose to play human characters, despite the house ruling.

[Jerry Mapes]

This is a rare thing indeed in most campaings i have been in.

I can think of only 2 times over the years this came up and in those cases the DM at the time pretty much just did what Rob did, sans wish. Most everyone plays humans.

Now there were some instances back in the late 80's where a lot of the players were playing elves and half-elves everytime one turned around... but most of those games dried up before max levels were reached so it just never came up.

If it came up down the road for one of my groups i could live with your option (a.) or Rob's method for use with demi-humans.

Wish i could add more... but since it has never really came up much, I havent put much thought into it.

J.

[Akrasia]

If you guys are using the Unearthed Arcana level limits, then I guess they are not as much of a problem (since most of my campaigns tend to end once the PCs get to around level 10 or so...) Still, when I start a new PC, I like the idea that, in principle at least, s/he has 'unlimited potential'.

(IME roughly 50 percent of players play demi-humans.)

[WSmith]

On my little website:

mysite.verizon.net/vze4vzdx/wds/oadnd.htm

I use a method that allows demihumans to exceed the normal limits. The amount of XP earned is reduced by 30%. PR bonuses can midigate that penalty amount to 20%. That amount (30%) can be altered as the DM sees fit, to say 50% or 70%. Like most others, I have never had a problem with nonhumans abuntantly reaching the class level limit. They have to survive first in order to reach that glass ceiling.

[northrundicandus]

Buncha whiners. If you don't want level limits, then play a human.

;D

[francisca]

In my current AD&D game, I've tossed out level limits.

Humans, and only humans get a 10% XP bonus, regardless of Prime Req.

It's working pretty well so far.

[Lord Cias]

Giving demi-humans an x.p. penalty (either from the start or after the normal limit is reached) or giving humans an x.p. bonus are among the most common replacements for level limits.

That is all good and fine, but there are a few things to keep in mind.

First of all, if the penalty (or bonus to humans) is low (say 20% or below), the actual effect on game play will be virtually nil. This is especially true if you use x.p. awards for treasure and magic items and the training rules BtB. Consider that at a penalty of 20%, a human fighter would need to reach level 12 before he was one full level above a demi-human fighter. And that is if the penalty applies right from the start. If demi-humans advance normally up to their normal limit then why even bother replacing level limits at all?

If the x.p. penalty is high (50% or more) then two things will happen. At relatively low levels (starting at about 3rd level) demi-humans will generally be about 1 level behind humans of the same class up until name level. This is a good way to impose a penalty upon demi-humans that takes effect before normal level limits. However, multi-classed demi-humans will find it very difficult to advance and will likely still be at 1st level while the humans are at 3rd or 4th level. Additionally, once name level is reached humans will outpace demi-humans in levels by a factor of at least 2 to 1. Eventually you will end up with the same situation that level limits create, i.e. all of the human characters are of a much higher level than the demi-humans. In effect, all you have done was raise the normal level limits up to about level 15 or so (at which point humans will have significantly more levels than demi-humans and the gap will continue to widen).