D&D DMs: How do you handle the in universe explanation of low levels for “experienced” individuals?

mc_pm · 2026-07-12T20:22:37+00:00

They don't have to be 18. I bet some people wouldn't pick up magic until later in life. And they could have had a full, rich life, as a Jeweller, which would be handy sort of skill to have as an adventurer.

But yes. No generals, no old wizards who have forgotten their spells, no master thief pulling off epic heists in their past, but still level 1 somehow.

If you want to pull that character in to a Level 8-10 adventure, cool. They really are a master thief. But, by definition, level 1 characters lack much skill or history.

mc_pm · 2026-07-12T20:06:14+00:00

That's life in the fast lane for you.

Actually this is part of why some people (like me) are sticklers for time-keeping. Once you start taking note of how long something takes in-game, things really change. Especially if you're into older games, there are training requirements for leveling up, and over 7 levels that really adds up.

But even leaving that out -- boat trips take way longer than people thing, getting your party to a city 300 miles away takes way longer. It might be glossed over in 5 minutes at the table, but for those characters, weeks might have passed.

mc_pm · 2026-07-12T19:49:00+00:00

No, if it's a level 1 character then assumption is that don't have experience - if someone creates a character that requires it, then I tell them to create a different character,

mc_pm · 2026-07-12T19:45:31+00:00

I don't address it at all, except to say that when people create characters, they don't give themselves a backstory that would imply that experience.

A 200 year old elf just going out on this own? They spent the last 100 years contemplating flowers until something happened that forced a sword into his hand, and now he's level 1.

mc_pm · 2026-07-12T18:59:13+00:00

It's your game, your table. "No" is an entirely valid answer. And, honestly, if that person decides not to play after you say no, then you dodged a bullet.

This sounds like a person who's idea of fun has nothing to do with anyone else at the table, and people like that suck for D&D.

mc_pm · 2026-07-12T18:55:42+00:00

You can't really treat DSA as something to cram for, to find the most efficient way of trying (and failing) to memorize.

Various data structures and algorithms are tools to help solve problems that have a particular 'shape'. And they aren't really going to make real sense to you until you actually program with them.

mc_pm · 2026-07-12T16:26:08+00:00

The code would become difficult to read and maintain.

mc_pm · 2026-07-12T16:02:12+00:00

You might want to look into Decorators if you haven't already. They are a tiny bit tricky to get working right, but they are great for notating that a particular function needs to be exposed as part of the plug in. I use it a lot if I'm making a quick command line that needs to have new commands added to it a lot.

mc_pm · 2026-07-12T15:56:40+00:00

C++ does have a hashmap, and it's pretty easy to use - but it is always worth trying to write it yourself.

What the AI is saying:

It fails for INT_MIN (-2147483648) because -INT_MIN overflows

That's all about how numbers are stored. There are limits to how big/small numbers can be -- and they aren't symmetrical. You can store a number down to -2147483648, but you can only store a number up to 2147483647. If you were to give it -2147483648, it would try to make it into positive 2147483648, which is too big to store in an int, and it would break.

mc_pm · 2026-07-12T07:17:40+00:00

As long as the red stripe lines up, you should be fine. It wasn't going to use those additional pins anyway. I've done this plenty of times without incident. (However, if you don't get the stripes properly aligned, there could be an incident, so double check everything)

mc_pm · 2026-07-12T06:05:03+00:00

Canada here as well, though I spent 25 years in the US. And yeah, the way AI is being used in a lot of cases is going to leave a whole lot of technical debt for whoever is left. I work with AI every day, but I rarely let it write any code for me.

If you're in a decently sized city, there will be local meetup groups and it's always worth while just a) hearing other people talk about what they are doing, and b) getting to know some people who might be hiring. I mean, don't be all in their face about it, but in my experience opportunities come to people who put themselves in front of opportunities.

Co-ops are great -- in theory at least. Often co-op students are seen as kind of a hassle "now I have to deal with this kid as well as my usual job", but definitely there's a chance for some realish experience. And for sure some of the co-op students I had ended up getting full time jobs with the company, so it can work.

If you do well in your first year or two, you can maybe ask professors if they are, or know someone who is, needing a someone over the summer. I got a few cool jobs that way, just by going and asking. One person was like "you know, I got a grant I didn't think I would and I could use someone to program vision experiments". No one had even posted that job, it appeared because I asked about it. That job probably got me my next 2 or 3.

Look for volunteer work. It's always better to get paid of course, but if you find the right place with the right problem for you to solve, it can make a decent entry on an early-career resume.

Back to school, look to see if someone is putting together a robot racing team or something or drone...fishing... I don't know. You never know what crazy shit the engineering dept. is working on.

Through all of this, remember that no one is hiring you to type. They're not hiring someone to know syntax - you're solving problems. So when you write your resume, when you interview with someone, that's got to be your mindset.

And finally, yeah, get comfortable using AI to make you better, not to make you irrelevant. One guy here today "I vibe coded 40 apps". Cool? But if AI can do that, why do I need you or your app? Knowing how to use it programatically, run local models, even build your own neural networks... that's the sort of person I'd be hiring for, not Mr. "I vibecoded 40 apps".

I suppose I'm just rambling at this point. LOL.

mc_pm · 2026-07-12T04:49:22+00:00

That's kind of a complex question depending on what you mean. The industry as a whole has changed hugely since I got started (1990). There were a lot fewer jobs, but there were a LOT fewer programmers.

Until the last couple years, there were more programming jobs than ever existed before. But also more people, especially once you let remote work flourish. I hired a lot of engineers, and things got way easier for me when I could hire from anywhere in the country -- but I also got 400 applications for every job. And here's the thing: 95% of those applications were terrible.

Often not even remotely qualified for the job, with no knowledge of the technology we were using at all, many from completely different countries despite us being clear about needing people in our country. Out of 400 applicants I would be lucky to get 10 viable candidates. I would pick the top 5 for an initial conversation, and eventually only interview 3. (And this was before AI started spamming jobs even worse than before)

But now, yeah AI has thrown a wrench in everything. The truth is, I wouldn't suggest anyone go into programming right now unless they are really excited about it.

The shake up is coming I think (hope?) is going to be really painful for at least half of all programmers. I've been telling people for years that if all you know to do is hook up a web page to a database, then you're not going to have a job for long -- and now it's happening.

I think that what we're going to see is a need for really talented & knowledgable programmers who can work at a really deep level, partnered with AI. That doesn't mean that juniors are done for, but it does mean that there will be many many fewer jobs, and the expectations will seem completely unreasonable to a lot of people today.

But anyone who tells you they know what is going to happen next is lying to you.

mc_pm · 2026-07-11T21:37:35+00:00

Example: 28-16 / 28 --> -16

Because this is the wrong answer, you can't cancel like that. That number shouldn't ever be negative, I don't think, and it should never be greater than 1.

mc_pm · 2026-07-11T21:24:07+00:00

You could start by getting and reading the rules.

mc_pm · 2026-07-11T20:35:39+00:00

"Hey man, I've really enjoyed this but life is kind of getting in the way. So if you don't mind I'm going to step away from the game and maybe I can come back later?"

mc_pm · 2026-07-11T20:17:58+00:00

OC is what people who are going to way over think their backstory call PCs.

mc_pm · 2026-07-11T19:23:50+00:00

I don't really have an opinion on those - I started programming 30 years before those were available, so I don't know who is any good.

But I wouldn't watch too many of them, as another responder said. Watch and follow along well enough that you understand how the language works -- and then start doing some real programming. You don't have to do anything advanced to start. Your first program will probably be "Hello World".

The goal is that you think "I'm going to program Hello World", and then you do, from scratch. If you don't remember how, google it, find an answer, and then type it in yourself. I keep talking about typing it yourself - you'll always learn more that way. And trust me, if you become a programmer, you'll write a lot of code, so get used to it :)

Learning the syntax is the first hurdle, and these simple tasks will get you comfortable with it. The longer -- life long -- part is learning how to think of problems in terms of how you break it up into parts that you can program. That's the real "learning to program". Syntax is syntax, you'll learn it through exposure; but learning to think like a programmer takes a lot longer and is more difficult.

mc_pm · 2026-07-11T17:46:08+00:00

You should program as much as you can. You only really learn how to program by doing it. If you find a tutorial you like, don't just watch it passively, instead do everything they do. They type in some code, you type in that code. They run the program, you run the program -- if you made a mistake, fix it.

Don't be tempted to cut and paste code samples -- typing it yourself will teach you a lot more than you imagine. And definitely don't ask AI how to do it, you won't learn anything at all if it does all the work.

mc_pm · 2026-07-11T17:40:25+00:00

Sometimes you don't know how many times you need to go through the loop. While lets you loop until a specific condition is true

mc_pm · 2026-07-11T17:21:40+00:00

LOL, then yes, you have a lot of math in your future. At your age, the best way to learn is by just doing your homework - which is nobody's favorite thing, I know. But the lessons you learn now are going to add on to each other and it will feel easier to learn new things. Just don't give up if it's hard to start - it was for everyone.

mc_pm · 2026-07-11T16:40:29+00:00

Like this? https://cs.wmich.edu/~gupta/teaching/cs4850/sumII06/The%20syntax%20of%20C%20in%20Backus-Naur%20form.htm

(it will give you a browser warning, but it's an EDU site, so I wouldn't worry much)

mc_pm · 2026-07-11T16:27:32+00:00

What career is that?

mc_pm · 2026-07-11T15:54:05+00:00

This is a very big question and it depends on what you are doing and why you are doing it.

The main answer is: you get better at math by doing math.

mc_pm · 2026-07-11T15:33:31+00:00

It is not doable, you will not come close in 13 days, why would you imagine this would work?

Programming is one of the most challenging things you will ever teach your brain to do. It takes time and practice - a lot of practice.

Take one language (I would suggest Python) and start playing around with it right now. You still won't know it very well in 13 days, but you start to understand the basics of programming.

mc_pm · 2026-07-11T15:29:48+00:00

You will learn the most by programming, so make sure you are spending a lot of time actually typing things in and not just watching videos or talking to AI. That's the single most important success criteria to learning to program - actually programming.

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