Just looking for opinions/impressions here... If we were to start new characters at Level 10, how many years of back story adventuring would you expect they might have? I understand there are likely no rules or mechanics for this. I know a major module can raise a PC from 1 to 10+ in the space of several months... but for the sake of having players consider what sort of backstory would amount to Level 10... what would you provide as guidance?
Very campaign specific. Our current campaign played the Sunless Citadel from TYP and the adventure is intended to bring characters from first to 3rd level over a few days. We've since done some world building goals. With milestone experience, we are just getting to 5th level in a few months of actual game-time.
We went from level 1 to level 7 in about six months. I would have preferred more social encounters but that's what we did. So to get to level 10 might be between a year and a year and a half adventuring.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
I heard someone else on these boards suggest that for backstory you should allow yourself one paragraph per level. That gives you enough time to flesh out what they've done to get where they are. And it will allow some flexibility. Maybe one of them did just go straight through 1 to 10 in three months and has spent the last few years living off what they made. Someone else did 1-6, then took some time off to start a business or raise a family, but then something pulled them back in. Maybe someone else has just been killing wolves every day for 10 years, or locked up researching spells, and they've been at it steady but its taken them a long time because they haven't truly "adventured." In short, maybe don't worry about how long it took them. Let the players figure it out, as long as they have a reason to get to where they are at the start.
It could also depend on the races of the adventurers- short lived races like orcs, aacroakas, or tortols would necessarily have a much quicker time to reach 10th level than elves or dwarves.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I prefer 1 paragraph +1 paragraph per Proficiency bonus. So a 1st level character would have 3 paragraphs, a 10th level PC would have 5 paragraphs. If it’s too long the DM won’t want to read it, and if it’s too detailed there won’t be enough room for your DM to get creative with it to engage your character.
As for how long it took the PC to hit 10th level in game, I would guess anywhere from 3-10 years. It can be 40 years if you want though, it’s really up to you.
In my last game, the characters reached level 10 after about a year and a half. There was, however, a lot of land and sea travel in the middle of their adventures.
In the current game (POTA), it has been two months (in the Calendar of Harptos) and the PCs are 7th level. 10th level is probably a tenday or less away, given their plans.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hail and well met,
Just looking for opinions/impressions here... If we were to start new characters at Level 10, how many years of back story adventuring would you expect they might have? I understand there are likely no rules or mechanics for this. I know a major module can raise a PC from 1 to 10+ in the space of several months... but for the sake of having players consider what sort of backstory would amount to Level 10... what would you provide as guidance?
Including downtime, 1 year per lvl sounds reasonable. So a lvl 10 Adventurer should be at least late 20s early 30s when it comes to age.
Attack: [roll]3d20dl2+6[/roll] Damage: [roll](if([roll:-1:critical], =0, 1d8, 2{1d8}.expand()))+4[/roll] Sneakattack: [roll](if([roll:-2:critical], =0, 2d6, 2{2d6}.expand()))[/roll]Very campaign specific. Our current campaign played the Sunless Citadel from TYP and the adventure is intended to bring characters from first to 3rd level over a few days. We've since done some world building goals. With milestone experience, we are just getting to 5th level in a few months of actual game-time.
We went from level 1 to level 7 in about six months. I would have preferred more social encounters but that's what we did. So to get to level 10 might be between a year and a year and a half adventuring.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
I heard someone else on these boards suggest that for backstory you should allow yourself one paragraph per level. That gives you enough time to flesh out what they've done to get where they are. And it will allow some flexibility. Maybe one of them did just go straight through 1 to 10 in three months and has spent the last few years living off what they made. Someone else did 1-6, then took some time off to start a business or raise a family, but then something pulled them back in. Maybe someone else has just been killing wolves every day for 10 years, or locked up researching spells, and they've been at it steady but its taken them a long time because they haven't truly "adventured." In short, maybe don't worry about how long it took them. Let the players figure it out, as long as they have a reason to get to where they are at the start.
It could also depend on the races of the adventurers- short lived races like orcs, aacroakas, or tortols would necessarily have a much quicker time to reach 10th level than elves or dwarves.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Don't write one page per level, because the DM likely isn't going to read that much :)
I prefer 1 paragraph +1 paragraph per Proficiency bonus. So a 1st level character would have 3 paragraphs, a 10th level PC would have 5 paragraphs. If it’s too long the DM won’t want to read it, and if it’s too detailed there won’t be enough room for your DM to get creative with it to engage your character.
As for how long it took the PC to hit 10th level in game, I would guess anywhere from 3-10 years. It can be 40 years if you want though, it’s really up to you.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I would just want the highlights. Couple paragraphs and whether the PC has gone through any published material.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
In my last game, the characters reached level 10 after about a year and a half. There was, however, a lot of land and sea travel in the middle of their adventures.
In the current game (POTA), it has been two months (in the Calendar of Harptos) and the PCs are 7th level. 10th level is probably a tenday or less away, given their plans.