Post/Author/DateTime	Post
TygerTyger 08-21-07, 11:41 AM	Morning all (at least I think it's morning here!) Our DM has a house rule on character death, and it's finally come up as a factor due to our first PC death, namely my character. The rule is simple, you start one level behind the lowest level surviving character in the party. Not really a problem at all, hell, might even be a rule in the DMG. The rule itself isn't the problem. The problem is that the DM does not allocate XP on a level by level basis. Rather, all PCs, regardless of level, earn the same amount of XP. So in the party of two level eight characters, one level seven character and one level nine character, all the PCs receive 2000 XP for defeating monster X. This has the effect of keeping the lower level character lower level, all the time. It is impossible, baring the upper level characters dying (and thus remaking lower level characters still), or the whole party achieving high levels where a 10-20K disparity does not equal a whole level, to play on an even level. To make matters more complicated, two of the players have retired their existing characters and been allowed to start characters at the same level as their old character. One of those is the highest level character in the party (at almost 10th level). So, is this unreasonable? We're trying to pitch the matter to the DM, and show him the effect that its having on the game. He's a pretty reasonable bloke, but he can get the bit in his teeth on some issues. I'm not one of the "Must have l33t loot and phat stats" type players, but it is discouraging to see your fellow players choosing their level 10 ability / spell / feat / whatever and know that you are at least 4-6 months (we only play once a month) from doing the same. Any advice on pitching this to him?
Grumman 08-21-07, 12:06 PM	So, is this unreasonable? We're trying to pitch the matter to the DM, and show him the effect that its having on the game. He's a pretty reasonable bloke, but he can get the bit in his teeth on some issues. Yes, it is unreasonable. It doesn't take that much more work to calculate the correct XP reward for the lower-level character, and as you said, it will have a positive benefit for the player who has been left behind. Any advice on pitching this to him? I can't really say, since I don't know what the DM's motivation is for not allocating XP in the normal fashion. If it's just sheer laziness, the provision of even easier lookup tables could be the answer: just make copies of the tables from the DMG with all the XP values divided by four (for a four-man party), and then all the DM has to do is look at the column for CR and rows for each individual party member.
Infernostrider 08-21-07, 12:23 PM	most used and most widely viewed as best rule is to remake a char 1 level lower then the retired/deceased character, or revive and loose a level (except for special spells)
TygerTyger 08-21-07, 12:36 PM	Yes. I get that. Heck, even noted that its not that rule that is the problem, but rather the universal XP award. Any thoughts on that?
MidnightReign 08-21-07, 01:28 PM	I have a DM who's currently trying to do this to me. The problem for us is that he's the type who likes fast paced advancement, so the early levels usually wind up being 1 session per level. In front of our group of players, he told me that my missed session would mean that I was behind for the rest of the campaign. I called him on that, even pointed out the standard process of awarding XP, and got no real response. It took me hinting that I needed a catch-up adventure to get under his skin. Now he claims he's going to pull the old "Time passes..." and have us all magically get back together at higher levels. Sometimes I really want to pull my hair out over DM laziness, and other times I realize that we all take shortcuts where it suits us, and it's not my place to slam someone else until I've walked in his shoes.
Hagroth 08-22-07, 05:51 PM	First off, I've never really agreed on characters losing a level when they die; the trouble/cost of bringing them back is bad enough. Secondly, our GM gives out straight experience to each player and I don't think anyone's complained. We play every other week, and, if a player can't make it, then they don't get any experience for that session. They usually aren't allowed to make up the experience, so it encourages everyone to play each session. Currently, we have players that range from 19th level to 23rd level, but no cares.
Savenger 08-23-07, 12:17 AM	We have a system that seems to work out alrite. When you die, we can generally raise you. If you want a new charecter, then you start at party average -2. so a party average of say, 10, you come back as a level 8. For awarding Xp. Everyone gets the same amount. However, if you missed that session, then you only get half of that. It prevents situations in that perhaps a few sessions in a row, you are there, yet nothing happens. Then you miss the big ending and don't get a thing. The system has worked out fairly well and out party has levels between 15, and 13, with 6 people. Savenger