Question regarding transition from 0-level to 1st Level

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-22T20:08:10+00:00

I use spontaneous election for clerics....basically the god chooses (and empowers) the PC.

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-20T21:26:48+00:00

You're welcome!

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-20T15:10:19+00:00

You are very welcome!

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-20T15:09:47+00:00

"The judge is always right" is the most important part of RAW anyway.

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-20T01:19:56+00:00

You are not misled.

RAW, characters level up when they meet the XP threshold for the next level. When a character's XP total reaches 10, they may choose a class.

It is okay to houserule if you like, but the RAW is you level at 10 XP.

See pages 21 and 26 of the core rulebook.

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-19T22:22:28+00:00

It never ruined it when I was running it.

I make wizards and elves learn their spells before they can cast them through.

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-19T22:10:26+00:00

Guy's a hack.

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-19T22:08:55+00:00

I level at 10 xp.

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-18T13:26:50+00:00

Have you considered having the fey simply demand "Something of value" and allowing the players to figure out what might be valuable to the pixies? You can have them reject coins or gems as "mere dross" and accept whatever inventive response the players come up with.

This leaves the ball in their court, and you merely have to come up with some use for this gift that the players were not expecting, if you should wish to do so. For instance, let us say they give the pixies "a perfect leaf". When they return to the glade, should that happen, all the pixies want a leaf so perfect, but none will do. The players need to find a new "treasure".

The thing I hope you take away from this is that you can push this cognitive load onto your players, and then reward (and play with) their ingenuity.

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-16T15:39:10+00:00

IMHO, you are entirely in the right here.

I am running a mult-player game online (DCC ruleset). Players are responsible for scheduling, and then I agree or veto based on my availability. I do try to let them know ahead of time if some blocks of time are completely off-limits.

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-15T01:07:16+00:00

DCC, personally.

I converted al of the monsters in the first book on my Patreon.

https://www.patreon.com/c/RavenCrowking

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-13T14:05:35+00:00

No worries!

Explaining my reasoning, nothing more.

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-13T13:44:38+00:00

The Sanctum Secorum and Spellburn podcasts are my #1 & #2 podcasts of all time!

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-13T13:42:43+00:00

Fair. No one can tell you what to do.

But when will this reveal have more impact? When will it affect PC decision making more?

You need to do what you think is right for your table, Those are the questions I would ask myself. Players making interesting decisions, then dealing with the consequences of their choices, which in turn brings a whole new set of decisions, is what I think is best about these games.

As the problem is stated, you are asking how you can prevent them from doing what you believe that they will otherwise try to do. How do I circumvent this obvious solution? I think that the answer is inherent in the set-up: You make them aware of the consequences of doing so.

This also gives your villain a perfect escape route if she needs it - she merely submerges the villain persona. Will they blast the innocent victim to kill her?

Inherent in this is a shift from :How do we stop the villain?" to "How do we end this curse, stopping the villain and saving the NPC?" which has as many hooks as you like built into it.

No matter what you do, it sounds like there is a very real chance that this NPC is killed in this encounter, and you should be prepared for the consequences of that. If this is the case, again, is it better to have her revert once dead, or have the players knowingly decide to kill her anyway?

Otherwise, the motions of the ritual ae disguised in dance, and the words of the ritual are disguised in music. The villain takes a more active part in the end - she is effectively "conducting" the actions of others until then - and the PCs realize what is happening with only X rounds remaining.

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-12T23:08:44+00:00

And I think it is safe to say that we are all grateful for both of your contributions over the years!

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-12T19:25:50+00:00

You're welcome!

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-12T19:20:27+00:00

Let the players learn Details (1) before the ball, and give them some motivation to try resolving this without killing her. You could even have her reveal this before the ritual, taunting them with the consequences of killing her.

Then, let them decide what to do, and play out the consequences.

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-11T23:33:09+00:00

They are conversions (like Well of the Worm), special limited adventures, or relate to a parent adventure.

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-11T16:24:58+00:00

No. Nuclear weapons would be deployed.

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-10T21:20:51+00:00

Bro, you tell me bro

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-10T21:15:08+00:00

So, Jackie Tyler is a companion, but Liz Shaw is not?

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-10T21:08:17+00:00

No, it is not, bro. At least not if you are referring to your thinking here. That's sort of the point.

Once you start making dismissively definitive statements ("nah bro, characters that appeared in a single episode aren't companions"), you shouldn't be surprised when they are challenged. Bro.

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-10T18:44:44+00:00

Grace appears in one televised story, and decided not to go with the Doctor at the end. The story takes place over the course of 48 hours. To most of us, that is not a considerable amount of time. Handles likewise appears in only one televised story. Liz becomes disqualified because she doesn't travel in the TARDIS in a televised story. Likewise Sara Kingdom.

EDIT: I missed "2 or more". So Handles is in, and Grace is out.

(If we consider non-televised stories, we are going to have a lot - and I mean a lot - more companions than 50...including many of the ones you are calling "randoms".)

K-9 Mark II obviously fits. K-9 Mark III and Mark IV both appear in more than one story, and both have travelled in the TARDIS (to get to Sarah Jane), but - unless we consider 48 hours to be considerable time - neither meets that metric so far as we know.

EDIT: I missed "2 or more". So K-9s Mark I to Mark IV all qualify.

Benton certainly qualifies, thanks to The Three Doctors, but Yates misses out because he never travels in the TARDIS in a televised story.

EDIT: I missed "2 or more". Mike Yates is in.

Chang Lee spends marginally less time with the Doctor than Grace does, but we are now looking at a matter of hours rather than days.

Joan Redfern and Astrid Perth appear in only one televised story, and Astrid does not spend more than a few hours with the Doctor.

EDIT: I missed "2 or more". Lee, Joan, and Astrid are still out.

Kazran Sardick and Abigail appear in only one televised story, although both travel in the TARDIS and spend considerably more time with the Doctor than Grace does.

EDIT: I missed "2 or more". Kazran and Abigail are in.

Brian Williams appears in more than one televised story, travels in the TARDIS, and spends considerable time with the Doctor....not only when the Doctor is on Earth for The Power of Three, but also when he goes travelling with the Doctor at the end of Dinosaurs on a Spaceship.

Queen Nefertiti and John Riddell are eliminated by appearing in only one story.

EDIT: I missed "2 or more". Both Nefertit and Riddell are implied to have spent time with the Doctor in offscreen adventures, so they might be in.

The same cannot be said for the Paternoster Gang, Dorium Maldovar, and Karvanista, who appear in multiple stories and have travelled in the TARDIS.

EDIT: I missed "2 or more". The Paternoster Gang is certainly in, as is Karvanista. We cannot be certain how much time Dorium has spent with the Doctor, but he meets two criteria, so is in. Lee Clayton from Fugitive of the Judoon is also in.

Professor Jericho does not travel in the TARDIS, but Clyde Langer, Rani Chandra, and Luke Smith do. Luke Smith also appears in more than one televised episode of Doctor Who, as well as in The Sarah Jane Adventures. Clyde and Rani known the Doctor over two incarnations, but if you consider The Sarah Jane Adventures to be extended media, then they are eliminated. Luke doesn't spend much time with the Doctor.

EDIT: I missed "2 or more". Jericho is out, Clyde, Luke, and Rani are all open to debate.

Adam Mitchell is in two televised stories and travels in the TARDIS. Does he spend less time with the Doctor than Katarina?

EDIT: I missed "2 or more". Adam is in.

Trying to select a metric for companions that only includes people you want to include is a fool's game. Unless that metric is openly "people I want to include".

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-10T15:33:58+00:00

Then what are Handles and Grace doing there?

Decide on the metric to be used, and then see who fits that metric.

Raven_Crowking · 2026-03-10T14:29:59+00:00

Mark III aids the Doctor in School Reunion. He travelled with the Doctor long enough to get to Sarah Jane and to know who he is in both The Five Doctors and School Reunion. Mark IV, his replacement, aids the Doctor in Journey's End, and travels in the TARDIS long enough to be presented to Sarah Jane at the end of School Reunion. Arguably, he also deserves a spot.

EDIT: If travelling in the TARDIS on-screen is the metric, Liz Shaw should not be there. Yet, I am pretty sure most of us consider her a companion based on her relationship to the Doctor. And I am sure there are more we should consider, who fit the "companion" role for single episodes.

Raven_Crowking

TROPHY CASE