Just to amuse myself, I've been writing up some notes on a swords & planets campaign, taking the old Warriors of Mars (WoM) text as a source of inspiration. One of the things I've noticed is the assignation of levels in WoM. According to the level table for Men, Level 1 is for Women, Level 2 is for Novices and Level 3 is for 2nd Rate Levies. This leads to an interesting situation when converting across to LL.
Traditionally, in LL and BECMI, characters start at Level 1 and are considered to be better than the average person. Certainly a Level 1 Fighter is about equal to a 1 HD Man. However, using WoM as a basis, PCs would have to start off as Level 3 in order to retain that parity. This gives them a significant advantage in terms of LL - although this is an advantage that is cancelled out by the setting. Given the combative nature of Barsoom, the fact that PCs begin at a higher level makes sense.
Of course, I could always redress the balance back towards LL and a Level 1 start, making adjustments elsewhere. Any thoughts from the hive?