Intervals (reply from author)

[bat]

I really try not to bug Mr. Silvera too much, but I did ask about intervals and pointed out the forum here. I know he is busy so I will post his reply:

"About the intervals. Based on the forums, it looks like folks have intervals right for weapons. The intervals for skill-based classes use the same model, but are for skill acquisition rather than weapon training. Here is a hypothetical example. Suppose a Sneak was a class where first level was from 0-3000 xp, and the Sneak gained 30 skill points per level (spread across various skills, although this part doesn't matter). Sneak would have an "interval" of 100 at first level, which means that one skill point is acquired every 100 xp. The basic idea behind the interval system is to enable characters to "feel progress" even after sessions where they don't level up. This also helps balance things relative to spellcasters, who potentially gain a benefit after every xp (i.e., more xp is more spell learning points, which can potentially be directly applied to learn new/better spells). If a player group doesn't like it (e.g., they think the hassle of calculating intervals outweighs any advantage for improving characters "on the fly"), they could easily fall back to a system where all benefits (in particular interval-based skill/weapon training and spell learning points) are acquired at the end of the level."

[boddynock]

*Edited because I took a moment to actually look at the book.*

Now I figured out what he meant by it, though a good question is for the assassin. Who starting at 1st level gets an interval of 60. He's suppose to have a combat skill. Would that entail that he has a choice putting that item in his skills or his weapon area? I'm leaning to yes, but I'm interested in some thoughts too.

-Thanks : D

[bat]

I would say he has a choice as I understand the profession mechanic. Here is how Mr Silvera described the mechanic to me when I began creating the Bard:

"The character class additions bring me back to your Bard/Minstrel. I don't know whether you want to follow our path or not, but we had a definite path in terms of developing character classes. Basically, WW classes have 4 core mechanics plus special modifications. Those 4 mechanics are: (1) skill-based (e.g., Thief in the original rules), (2) weapon-based (e.g., Warrior), (3) spellcasting (e.g., Wizard), and (4) spontaneous spellcasting (we added this later, and the name is based on later systems that use a similar concept; basically, we found that ability-based classes like Vampire were too weak and we modified them to this). To be a functional combat character, the core mechanic of a class should be 2, 3, or 4 (we didn't have any players who loved roguish characters, and thus Thief and similar classes tended to be cherry-picked for a few skills via multi-classing and we never developed them as fully functional stand-alone classes). The "special modifications" would be special abilities, for example Bardic Music. We would pay a cost to get those special modifications by reducing the core mechanic of the class.

For example, the Jester is essentially half skill-based (gets half the skill points of a thief), somewhat less than half spellcasting (half spell learning points, but also restricted according to what spells can be learned), and also gets the unique Witicism ability. In retrospect, we should have made the Jester about a 3/4 caster to get the balance right, but that's the basic design strategy. I would probably do something very similar to this for a Bard -- limited skill list with about 25% skills/level, 75% (less if you make the unique abilities powerful) spell learning points restricted to about the equivalent of two types of magic (as DM, I've often used a negotiated spell list where players had to convince me whether certain spells fit the class theme or not; for Bard, I'd probably rule out any direct damage spells as a starting point), plus some unique abilities related to music."

[boddynock]

I agree, he should get a choice. In fact it wasn't too hard to do the intervals for the thief or the assassin. The one whose intervals might be a problem at later levels is actually the wizard. To give an example.

At 7th level a wizard is suppose to get 3 spell points in the interval. A block is hit though when you divide the 7th level experience by 3 (200,000/3 = 66,666.67 rounded to the second spot in the decimal point.) The early parts were easier to dole out the points, but at 7th level on up, might need to play around with some numbers. See which number could take a character at his 7th level from 100,001 to 200,000, 3 times. When I can I'll get around to post a nifty interval table for easier reference.

[bat]

An interval table would be nice! I am planning on make a few quick player and GM reference sheets when I have the system down inside out.

[boddynock]

(Here is the first series of intervals all worked up. The wizard one needs some explanation. For that I refer to page 14 of the Wizards World book. I hate to say it, but the system there might have a mistake, or might not of been play tested because starting at level 7 a character is suppose to get 3 spell casting points doled out between 100,000 - 200,000 experience points. It can't be done with even intervals because 100,000 (the amount you divide by because it's the experience needed to get to 200,000) It comes out to 33333.33 repeating. So on my table I just bumped the 3 points gained to 4 points. So in my game a wizard gains +2 spell points over time. 1-6 2 points, 7-12 4 points, 13-18 6 points, and so-on. The other intervals worked out fine, hope this helps.

Thief Intervals

1 – 30
2 – 30
3 – 60
4 - 60
5 - 160
6 - 400
7 - 800
8 - 1400
9 – 3000

+2000 more points longer than the preceding level

Assassin Intervals

1 - 60
2 - 60
3 - 120
4 - 240
5 - 320
6 - 800
7 - 1600
8 - 2800
9 – 6000

+2000 more point longer than the preceding level

Wizard Intervals

1 – 1500
2 – 1500
3 – 3000
4 – 6500
5 – 12,500
6 – 25,000
7 – 25,000
8 – 37,500
9 – 62,500

[bat]

That is pretty handy, thanks!

[Skathros]

Very good stuff, boddynock ! And useful!

[Spectral Hand]

Small clarification on the assassin. Weapons and combat skills should advance independently. Thus, at first level (1500 xp long), they gain a total bonus of 25% to skills, which means they get to add 1% to a skill every 60 xp (i.e., 60 xp is the "interval" for skills). In addition, they get 3% to weapons, which means they add 1% to a weapon every 500 xp (i.e., 500 xp is the interval for weapons). It seemed so clear when I wrote it, but reading it 30 years later I can easily see the confusion.