Two questions about advancing from zero to first level:
1. What is the resulting Character Class? Do you count the zero level NPC class for purposes of getting feats? What about extra characteristics? What about maximum skill rank?
For example: If a zero level warrior becomes a first level fighter, can he have 5 ranks in a class skill becasue he has 1 class in warrior and 1 class in fighter? Or is he stuck at 4 ranks becasue he's technically only 1st level?
2. How does spell accumulation work?
If a zero level adept becomes a first level cleric, how many of what spells does he get? Does he get 3 zero and 1 first from adapt in addition to the 3 zero and 1 first from cleric? Or do they merge somehow?
DCC #35: zero-to-first level advancement
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- Ill-Fated Peasant
- Posts: 3
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Re: DCC #35: zero-to-first level advancement
how I did it:
Feats are received at character level 1,3,6,9,12,15,18 - see above.
Ability points are received at character level 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 - see above.
Maximum skill rank ist character level +3 - yes, this means level 0 characters were not allowed to have more than 3 ranks in any given skill in my game.
Level 0 is level 0, i.e. a character with Level 0 Adept and Level 1-4 Wizard has a caster level of 0+4=4. He also has a character level of 0+4=4Smokeless Joe wrote: 1. What is the resulting Character Class? Do you count the zero level NPC class for purposes of getting feats? What about extra characteristics? What about maximum skill rank?
Feats are received at character level 1,3,6,9,12,15,18 - see above.
Ability points are received at character level 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 - see above.
Maximum skill rank ist character level +3 - yes, this means level 0 characters were not allowed to have more than 3 ranks in any given skill in my game.
The spells/day of the 0-level simply do not stack with any positive level thereafter. So a Level 0 Adept & Level 2 Wizard has just 4/2 spells per day (plus bonus spells for high INT).2. How does spell accumulation work?
If a zero level adept becomes a first level cleric, how many of what spells does he get? Does he get 3 zero and 1 first from adapt in addition to the 3 zero and 1 first from cleric? Or do they merge somehow?
I also have been wondering how to handle this and found it surprising that an approach was not present in DCC#0 which is the 0-level adventure I have considered using.
Using the pre-gens in that mod I fed their statistics into The Only Sheet (an Excel psreadsheet I use to track characters and check their legality). The pre-gens are ECL 1 and in my opinion 1st level characters with a level in an NPC class.
Once they gain 1,000 exp they will have the ability to take their 2nd level, either a 2nd in thier NPC class or 1st in another class, either way their ECL is now 2.
Using the pre-gen adept from DCC#0, let's say she takes Druid at 1,000 exp. She is now an Adept 1/Druid 1 with seperate spell lists and allotments. She is CL 1 in Adept and CL 1 in Druid.
She gets 4 + int mod skill points for her 1st level of druid. BTW I had to adjust all the pre-gens a bit to get their skill points to be accurate for a 1st level NPC class.
Some might believe this a bit crippling as having a 1st level PC classed character is so much better. That is actually not the case because the pre-gens in DCC#0 have outrageously good ability scores. I normally use the point-buy system with 28 points as is done in Living Greyhawk. The pre-gen adept has ability scores using 41 points. These great ability scores offset the fact that the character used up its first character level on an NPC class.
So I was considering going that way. Conversely it crossed my mind to have the player morph their character from a 1st level NPC class to an appropriate 1st level PC class at the end of the mod. They would then have some EXP due to role-playing awards or other that would still be less than 1,000. From there on they are like any other PC.
Using the pre-gens in that mod I fed their statistics into The Only Sheet (an Excel psreadsheet I use to track characters and check their legality). The pre-gens are ECL 1 and in my opinion 1st level characters with a level in an NPC class.
Once they gain 1,000 exp they will have the ability to take their 2nd level, either a 2nd in thier NPC class or 1st in another class, either way their ECL is now 2.
Using the pre-gen adept from DCC#0, let's say she takes Druid at 1,000 exp. She is now an Adept 1/Druid 1 with seperate spell lists and allotments. She is CL 1 in Adept and CL 1 in Druid.
She gets 4 + int mod skill points for her 1st level of druid. BTW I had to adjust all the pre-gens a bit to get their skill points to be accurate for a 1st level NPC class.
Some might believe this a bit crippling as having a 1st level PC classed character is so much better. That is actually not the case because the pre-gens in DCC#0 have outrageously good ability scores. I normally use the point-buy system with 28 points as is done in Living Greyhawk. The pre-gen adept has ability scores using 41 points. These great ability scores offset the fact that the character used up its first character level on an NPC class.
So I was considering going that way. Conversely it crossed my mind to have the player morph their character from a 1st level NPC class to an appropriate 1st level PC class at the end of the mod. They would then have some EXP due to role-playing awards or other that would still be less than 1,000. From there on they are like any other PC.
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- Deft-Handed Cutpurse
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This is similar to the approach I took when my group ran through the Halls of the Minotaur a few months ago. Although they were "0-level," I considered them CL 1, with all that comes with it, except that they were starting at -1,000 XP. When they gained 1,000 XP (to reach 0 XP), they chose their first standard PC level (CL 2).
This results in the standard D&D XP column being "off" by one for these PCs, i.e., CL 3 comes at 1,000 XP, CL 4 comes at 3,000 XP, etc. The only major difference is that the jump from CL 1 to CL 2 and from CL 2 to CL 3 is the same (1,000 XP), but considering that the players were willing to jump in and play hapless villagers armed with shovels and lice-ridden hide armor, they deserved a reward.
--Ken
This results in the standard D&D XP column being "off" by one for these PCs, i.e., CL 3 comes at 1,000 XP, CL 4 comes at 3,000 XP, etc. The only major difference is that the jump from CL 1 to CL 2 and from CL 2 to CL 3 is the same (1,000 XP), but considering that the players were willing to jump in and play hapless villagers armed with shovels and lice-ridden hide armor, they deserved a reward.
--Ken
DCC, DragonMech, Etherscope editor
Writer: "Madness at the Mutilated Oak," DCC #48: The Adventure Continues;
DCC #52: Chronicle of the Fiend
"It really is the height of pessimism to have a hat lined with chain mail." --Mrs. Peel
Writer: "Madness at the Mutilated Oak," DCC #48: The Adventure Continues;
DCC #52: Chronicle of the Fiend
"It really is the height of pessimism to have a hat lined with chain mail." --Mrs. Peel