E6

[Tizun Thane]

What do you think about the idea behind e6?

You can read more about it here: E6

I think it's a very good idea, but not sure if it is needed in LL or other non 3.x games.

[3llense'g]

So for a feat-less game like LL this basically means a level cap of 6? Besides, the whole argument sidesteps one of the fundamental methods of high-level play: Companion.

[Blood axe]

Some things I like. I prefer lower level games. I thought level 6 was the cap in E6, but then the author says the Captain of the town guard is level 6. It doesn't make sense to me if 6 is the pinnacle of achievement.

[Tizun Thane]

Some things I like. I prefer lower level games. I thought level 6 was the cap in E6, but then the author says the Captain of the town guard is level 6. It doesn't make sense to me if 6 is the pinnacle of achievement.

Then that captain of the guard must be Boromir

[Blood axe]

Some things I like. I prefer lower level games. I thought level 6 was the cap in E6, but then the author says the Captain of the town guard is level 6. It doesn't make sense to me if 6 is the pinnacle of achievement.

Then that captain of the guard must be Boromir

Good one!

[Tizun Thane]

Wasn't ad&d initially built for around 10th level?

I know you have the spell charts depicting casters up to 20th, but wasn't 9th/10th suggested as 'end game' territory?

[gentleman john]

An interesting idea, especially when it is compared to the way that I remember D&D.

My introduction was the red box Basic set, which allowed PCs to go up to 3rd level. The implication in the rules was that the PCs were better than the average person, even at 1st level. To get to 3rd level required a lot of work, going purely by XP. Thus, even 3rd level characters were the heavy-hitters of the world. Alternatively, a lot of adventurers would never make it past 3rd level. Either way would justify the limits of the red box Basic. By the time an adventurer reached 8th or 9th level, they were looking at getting strongholds, towers and followers. This would make them true powers in the world and (in theory) take them away from the need to go down dungeons. Instead, they should have been concentrating on epic quests to advance their cause and fighting against dire threats.

Capping at 6th level would seem to be a compromise between these two extremes: allowing players to advance, but not to a level where their characters are beginning to get mired in the politics of their success. Adventures can still be on a personal level, rather than rounding up the minions to form a warband.

(I know the Companion and Master sets break this progression. However, I have never been involved in any game where characters managed to progress beyond 10th level from 1st. Games at that level, we usually started at the higher levels.)

[3llense'g]

Wasn't ad&d initially built for around 10th level?

I know you have the spell charts depicting casters up to 20th, but wasn't 9th/10th suggested as 'end game' territory?

That's a fundamental difference between our interpretation if D&D and their's.

Earlier this year a fellow named Ryan Dancey suggested that d20 has four distinct quartiles of play:

Levels 1-5: Gritty fantasy
Levels 6-10: Heroic fantasy
Levels 11-15: Wuxia
Levels 16-20: Superheroes

Notice how this progression chart goes up to level 20, with no endgame in sight. They just get more powerful character with which to kill more powerful monsters.

(I know the Companion and Master sets break this progression. However, I have never been involved in any game where characters managed to progress beyond 10th level from 1st. Games at that level, we usually started at the higher levels.)

The BECMI Companion does sadly, even though the B/X Companion was planned to incorporate these notions (but was sadly never made, though there's a fan-made version available now).

[Tizun Thane]

I'm personally not overly fond of going beyond 10th level. Unless there's a published campaign that takes you there, I'd probably just retire the characters and begin again from first.

[Blood axe]

I'm personally not overly fond of going beyond 10th level. Unless there's a published campaign that takes you there, I'd probably just retire the characters and begin again from first.

I agree. Thete comes a point where I just want the characters to retire. ( or go out in a blaze of glory)