A question for all the world builders out there...
I'm curious about what kind of level distribution people like to see in their worlds? eg: Of a given population, how many will be 1st level? 2nd level? etc.
I know it's a subjective question and will vary on the desired magic level of the world - but it does have some impact on the game - so I'd like to know people's thoughts.
I've found that a simple 50% chance of advancement (repeating) produces results that I consider reasonable. If we start with level 0 = classless NPC, then this progression means that 50% of the population would have a class and would be at least 1st level. Of those, 50% would be 2nd level (or higher). And so on.
Continuing with this, you'd see a 20th level character out of roughly every million people. And a city of 10,000 would have around 10 people of 10th level or higher.
This has an impact on all sorts of things. Firstly, it helps the DM determine the chances that a party can find someone able to cast Raise Dead. But perhaps more important, it predicts the number of NPCs who could shape the world (for good or ill).
I've found that a simple 50% chance of advancement (repeating) produces results that I consider reasonable. If we start with level 0 = classless NPC, then this progression means that 50% of the population would have a class and would be at least 1st level. Of those, 50% would be 2nd level (or higher). And so on.
Continuing with this, you'd see a 20th level character out of roughly every million people. And a city of 10,000 would have around 10 people of 10th level or higher.
So 1 level 20 for every 2 level 19s for every 4 level 18s for every 8 level 17s for every 16 level 16s for every 32 level 15s for every 64 level 14s for every 128 level 13s for every 256 level 12s for every 512 level 11s for every 1024 level 10s for every 2048 level 9s for every 4096 level 8s for every 8192 level 7s for every 16384 level 6s for every 32768 level 5s for every 65536 level 4s for every 131072 level 3s for every 262144 level 2s for every 524288 level 1s for every 1048576 commoners. (That turned out to be a lot more writing than I planned).
I feel like that isn't too far off, but it does mean that half the population is as strong as a level 1 adventurer which are supposed to represent an above average person. Maybe it should start at 10% to level 1 then 50% from there.
Yes, changing the percentage for the jump from "level 0" to 1st would be a good tweak.
Another way to deal with this issue is to introduce NPC classes - as they had in the 3rd edition DMG. For instance, 50% of the population might make it to 1st level - but many of those would be Merchants or Laborers or some such "useless" class.
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A question for all the world builders out there...
I'm curious about what kind of level distribution people like to see in their worlds? eg: Of a given population, how many will be 1st level? 2nd level? etc.
I know it's a subjective question and will vary on the desired magic level of the world - but it does have some impact on the game - so I'd like to know people's thoughts.
I've found that a simple 50% chance of advancement (repeating) produces results that I consider reasonable. If we start with level 0 = classless NPC, then this progression means that 50% of the population would have a class and would be at least 1st level. Of those, 50% would be 2nd level (or higher). And so on.
Continuing with this, you'd see a 20th level character out of roughly every million people. And a city of 10,000 would have around 10 people of 10th level or higher.
This has an impact on all sorts of things. Firstly, it helps the DM determine the chances that a party can find someone able to cast Raise Dead. But perhaps more important, it predicts the number of NPCs who could shape the world (for good or ill).
Thoughts?
I try to keep it varied. Here's how I'd break things down in a city.
One way to think about it is level in terms of how many followers (people who take their orders) they would have. Numbers are approximate:
Another way might be to think about it in terms of the number of NPCs in population centres:
So 1 level 20 for every 2 level 19s for every 4 level 18s for every 8 level 17s for every 16 level 16s for every 32 level 15s for every 64 level 14s for every 128 level 13s for every 256 level 12s for every 512 level 11s for every 1024 level 10s for every 2048 level 9s for every 4096 level 8s for every 8192 level 7s for every 16384 level 6s for every 32768 level 5s for every 65536 level 4s for every 131072 level 3s for every 262144 level 2s for every 524288 level 1s for every 1048576 commoners. (That turned out to be a lot more writing than I planned).
I feel like that isn't too far off, but it does mean that half the population is as strong as a level 1 adventurer which are supposed to represent an above average person. Maybe it should start at 10% to level 1 then 50% from there.
Yes, changing the percentage for the jump from "level 0" to 1st would be a good tweak.
Another way to deal with this issue is to introduce NPC classes - as they had in the 3rd edition DMG. For instance, 50% of the population might make it to 1st level - but many of those would be Merchants or Laborers or some such "useless" class.