How do you folk explain why an older person would suddenly start adventuring as a 1st level character?
My thought was to create a character (Rune Knight) who had already spent his career as a prison warden, but now needed to hit the road, perhaps to find that one escapee who tainted the wardens record.
i see him as a domineering individual, probably a bully, definitely not real happy about finding this guy but feels personally challenged to do this.
Now, he has 50 years of life skills, so he is hardly 1st level from that perspective and the skills he has as a Rune Knight would have served him well as a prison warden. So how do i explain or RP him starting off with 1-3 level skills?
Despite his experience as a warden, he's still a fish out of water when it comes to adventuring. If anything he may have a sort of hardheadedness set in his ways that he'll overcome, and that growth will be show via leveling up. He may have been good at his warden job, but adventuring is a very different job. The lack of everything in lockstop schedule and under lock and key, the fact that his authority is no longer unquestioned, the character has a lot to learn.
I don't see your concept being particularly challenging for a level one rationale. Remember the game world is full of soliders and guards etc, many having presumably done their jobs for some time. Few of them actually have class levels.
He was a big fish in a very confining fishbowl, he's in a much bigger pond now.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Other than the Rune Knight powers, the rest (life skills) are not a problem. That’s what background skills represent. If you chose the Soldier background you would have the “life skills” to fit. No different than being a prison warden your whole career, you would have skills to match as part of your background. City Watch/Investigator might be a good one, or a custom background.
The question for you would be how did the warden get those Rune Knight powers before or during his warden career? Is this character for a game that starts at level 1? If so, then maybe they don’t have those powers yet but gain them during the game.
Most civilians are not leveled characters so being a warden for many years doesn’t mean you should be a 3rd level fighter, or even a 1st level one, for that matter. It all goes back to your background before you started adventuring.
Working as a prison warden doesn't really give them many opportunities to grow as a rune knight which would explain the low level. Or maybe he used to be pretty good at runes but sitting around in an office or just patrolling a prison put those skills out of shape and he needs to relearn them which he does while adventuring?
the skills he has as a Rune Knight would have served him well as a prison warden.
Flip this around: his previous interests and knowledge gained from being a warden set him on the track to becoming a Rune Knight. Adventurers are uncommon individuals that rise to greatness. The game is the story of that rise. Your background is just setting up the conditions for this normal person to become something more. This can happen at 15 or 50.
If he's level 1, he's not a Rune Knight yet. He's only a Fighter, and they don't choose a subclass until 3rd level. There are no "skills as a Rune Knight" the character would have had during the time period covered by their backstory
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I remember when I was first getting into D&D I was asking about what level a particular NPC would be, until it was explained to me that the majority of NPCs actually wouldn't be considered to have a single level... most commoners are so low level that they're worth Zero XP. Even the standard Guard statblock is only considered CR 1/8 and they're only worth 25 XP.
Even a level 1 Adventurer far exceeds the skills and abilities of anything accomplished even by an NPC who has worked for decades as a soldier. Orcs, for all their reputation, still are just CR 1/2 unless they're a unique NPC with specialized stats. Years of discipline and skill without some motivation to exceed the necessities of working as a prison warden can fully justify still just being level 1-3 (whichever you choose to start at). It's also possible, especially for an older character like this, that maybe at one point in their history they were a higher level, but have since gotten more relaxed in their relatively comfortable position. There's no hard and fast rules for losing levels in 5e, but it's something you can include as part of your backstory if it's just too much of a stretch to say that they're such a low level despite the amount of experience they have.
To me, older characters as adventurers are all about the life event(s) that changed their road. Going after an escape convict is a good choice for your idea. Or maybe he bullied the Scion of a powerful family and got sacked because of it? Or both? Or maybe it’s a midlife crisis kind of thing?
I have an Artificer that’s the dwarven equivalent of 40 years old that left her role as a clan crafts(wo)man to flee her abusive husband. She’s trying to find her young adult son that ran away.
Those kinds of justifications make sense to me for older characters, where adventuring as an equivalent of a gap year trip to see the world doesn’t really work anymore.
Thanks to all who have answered. You have given me some great things to think about.
i have been playing for more than 40 years and this is the first time i have ever considered an “older” character starting out. Maybe my subconscious is trying to tell me something! 😄
FWIW, starting from level 1 isn't much of a handicap. Most tables arrive at level 2 in the end of the first session. They arrive at level 3 by the end of session 2 or session 3. So in two weeks, your 50yr experienced Warden is a level 3 PC. Problem solved.
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
It's a joke I make a lot at the table: we all trained for 10 years to get to level 1, and suddenly we're getting 10 levels in a month, yet the army in the field is still level 1.
It's a joke I make a lot at the table: we all trained for 10 years to get to level 1, and suddenly we're getting 10 levels in a month, yet the army in the field is still level 1.
It is best just to not think about it. :P
It makes sense in the context that PCs are supposed to be epic heroes in a world filled with normal mortals. Compare to the Greek heros, children of gods who become superhumanly powerful, or Samson of the bible or any other mythological hero. There's a reason why the story is about them and not just "rower no 8" or "grandmother 67". :)
I also just realized that this may make for a perfect “mid-campaign replacement” character. If i need to replace a 6th or 7th level character due to death or whatever, then I don’t really need to justify him having a certain skill set at his age. I would only need to explain why he is no longer a warden.
It's a joke I make a lot at the table: we all trained for 10 years to get to level 1, and suddenly we're getting 10 levels in a month, yet the army in the field is still level 1.
It is best just to not think about it. :P
You have to remember that levels are kind of an abstract mechanic to simulate character improvement. It’s not like you can walk up to a person in heavy armor and ask “hey, what level are you?” And them respond “I’m a 7th level fighter” so the speed in which you gain levels is not that important.
Yes it is kind of a mish mash of mechanics vs narrative but just like hit points it’s an abstract mechanic to facilitate gameplay.
Nobody that isn't a PC has a level at all. The surprising part isn't that they only became a fighter after 40 years, it's that they became a fighter at all.
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How do you folk explain why an older person would suddenly start adventuring as a 1st level character?
My thought was to create a character (Rune Knight) who had already spent his career as a prison warden, but now needed to hit the road, perhaps to find that one escapee who tainted the wardens record.
i see him as a domineering individual, probably a bully, definitely not real happy about finding this guy but feels personally challenged to do this.
Now, he has 50 years of life skills, so he is hardly 1st level from that perspective and the skills he has as a Rune Knight would have served him well as a prison warden. So how do i explain or RP him starting off with 1-3 level skills?
Hope this made sense.🙂
Despite his experience as a warden, he's still a fish out of water when it comes to adventuring. If anything he may have a sort of hardheadedness set in his ways that he'll overcome, and that growth will be show via leveling up. He may have been good at his warden job, but adventuring is a very different job. The lack of everything in lockstop schedule and under lock and key, the fact that his authority is no longer unquestioned, the character has a lot to learn.
I don't see your concept being particularly challenging for a level one rationale. Remember the game world is full of soliders and guards etc, many having presumably done their jobs for some time. Few of them actually have class levels.
He was a big fish in a very confining fishbowl, he's in a much bigger pond now.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Other than the Rune Knight powers, the rest (life skills) are not a problem. That’s what background skills represent. If you chose the Soldier background you would have the “life skills” to fit. No different than being a prison warden your whole career, you would have skills to match as part of your background. City Watch/Investigator might be a good one, or a custom background.
The question for you would be how did the warden get those Rune Knight powers before or during his warden career? Is this character for a game that starts at level 1? If so, then maybe they don’t have those powers yet but gain them during the game.
Most civilians are not leveled characters so being a warden for many years doesn’t mean you should be a 3rd level fighter, or even a 1st level one, for that matter. It all goes back to your background before you started adventuring.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Working as a prison warden doesn't really give them many opportunities to grow as a rune knight which would explain the low level. Or maybe he used to be pretty good at runes but sitting around in an office or just patrolling a prison put those skills out of shape and he needs to relearn them which he does while adventuring?
Flip this around: his previous interests and knowledge gained from being a warden set him on the track to becoming a Rune Knight. Adventurers are uncommon individuals that rise to greatness. The game is the story of that rise. Your background is just setting up the conditions for this normal person to become something more. This can happen at 15 or 50.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
If he's level 1, he's not a Rune Knight yet. He's only a Fighter, and they don't choose a subclass until 3rd level. There are no "skills as a Rune Knight" the character would have had during the time period covered by their backstory
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I remember when I was first getting into D&D I was asking about what level a particular NPC would be, until it was explained to me that the majority of NPCs actually wouldn't be considered to have a single level... most commoners are so low level that they're worth Zero XP. Even the standard Guard statblock is only considered CR 1/8 and they're only worth 25 XP.
Even a level 1 Adventurer far exceeds the skills and abilities of anything accomplished even by an NPC who has worked for decades as a soldier. Orcs, for all their reputation, still are just CR 1/2 unless they're a unique NPC with specialized stats. Years of discipline and skill without some motivation to exceed the necessities of working as a prison warden can fully justify still just being level 1-3 (whichever you choose to start at). It's also possible, especially for an older character like this, that maybe at one point in their history they were a higher level, but have since gotten more relaxed in their relatively comfortable position. There's no hard and fast rules for losing levels in 5e, but it's something you can include as part of your backstory if it's just too much of a stretch to say that they're such a low level despite the amount of experience they have.
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To me, older characters as adventurers are all about the life event(s) that changed their road. Going after an escape convict is a good choice for your idea. Or maybe he bullied the Scion of a powerful family and got sacked because of it? Or both? Or maybe it’s a midlife crisis kind of thing?
I have an Artificer that’s the dwarven equivalent of 40 years old that left her role as a clan crafts(wo)man to flee her abusive husband. She’s trying to find her young adult son that ran away.
Those kinds of justifications make sense to me for older characters, where adventuring as an equivalent of a gap year trip to see the world doesn’t really work anymore.
Thanks to all who have answered. You have given me some great things to think about.
i have been playing for more than 40 years and this is the first time i have ever considered an “older” character starting out. Maybe my subconscious is trying to tell me something! 😄
FWIW, starting from level 1 isn't much of a handicap. Most tables arrive at level 2 in the end of the first session. They arrive at level 3 by the end of session 2 or session 3. So in two weeks, your 50yr experienced Warden is a level 3 PC. Problem solved.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
D&D makes no sense! :)
It's a joke I make a lot at the table: we all trained for 10 years to get to level 1, and suddenly we're getting 10 levels in a month, yet the army in the field is still level 1.
It is best just to not think about it. :P
It makes sense in the context that PCs are supposed to be epic heroes in a world filled with normal mortals. Compare to the Greek heros, children of gods who become superhumanly powerful, or Samson of the bible or any other mythological hero. There's a reason why the story is about them and not just "rower no 8" or "grandmother 67". :)
I also just realized that this may make for a perfect “mid-campaign replacement” character. If i need to replace a 6th or 7th level character due to death or whatever, then I don’t really need to justify him having a certain skill set at his age. I would only need to explain why he is no longer a warden.
You have to remember that levels are kind of an abstract mechanic to simulate character improvement. It’s not like you can walk up to a person in heavy armor and ask “hey, what level are you?” And them respond “I’m a 7th level fighter” so the speed in which you gain levels is not that important.
Yes it is kind of a mish mash of mechanics vs narrative but just like hit points it’s an abstract mechanic to facilitate gameplay.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Nobody that isn't a PC has a level at all. The surprising part isn't that they only became a fighter after 40 years, it's that they became a fighter at all.