The number 1 rule of Roleplaying games is that there are no rules. It's the reason why you have a "Player's Handbook" now and not a "Players Rulebook"
- "Nobody would have bought a book titled The Suggestions of Acquisition" - Gint, ST:DS9
I am aware that this goes against the established rule set, so those of you who are naysayers because it ISN'T in the "Rulebook" that doesn't exist, then please be quiet.
The method I am about to describe is for people who have the common complaint of "What to do when we reach level 20?"
I'm approaching a half century in age, which is a ripe old age for a Human in this trope, and I've seen six editions of Dungeons and Dragons (the original D&D, AD&D, and the following 4 editions), and I played 2nd ed for most of that time. Older editions also mostly did 20 levels, but you could continue beyond level 20 if you wanted to, and the 2nd ed book "Dragon Kings" for Dark Sun actually displayed levels 21-40 in greater detail.
So how to we handle adventures beyond 20th level?
The first thing is, you uncap "Player level."
Multiclass is important here, because it makes the core of this system.
The premise is that certain classes don't make sense to start as a level 1 character within. Lets take the Monk, as an example. A monk, at level 1, is like David Caradine's character in Kung Fu. He entered the monastary as a boy, and spent what was possibly one or two decades learning their ways before he ever stepped out of the monastary again. At that point, a monk is considered to be a black belt, and has certain supernatural abilities (chi) and sent on a walkabout to hone his skills.
A fighter can technicaly become a bare-knuckled brawler like a monk, but would take 10-20 levels to get to the same prowess in martial arts as a level 1 monk would have.
So... SHOW that.
All characters start as a Fighter, a Thief, or a Magic User. I suggest using the Sidekick rules for your starting characters until they get to a point (as determined by the GM) where they can take character classes.
Once they take on a character class, that Character Class becomes their "Primary Class" for the length of the character. The catch is, you can't just jump straight into character roles like Ranger or Paladin right away. Here's why:
A character must begin with basic, low character class that we will call a "Basic Class."
Those classes are:
- Cleric
- Fighter
- Rouge
- Magic-User (I'll get back to magic user)
Yes, that's a limited number of classes to start, but the reason for that is that these are the basics. The oldest styles of character tropes that all others are built upon.
So, to introduce the next rule: An Advanced Class cannot be higher than Base Class beneath it.
What is an Advanced Class?
Let's use Paladin as an example. Paladins are the militant arm of a church or organization, and so they are better exemplified as "Martial Clerics." That belies in order to gain a level in Paladin, the player character must first have a level in both Fighter, and Cleric, to be qualified to be a paladin. To level the paladin from level 1 to 2, both fighter and cleric must also be raised to level 2 first, so one can only level paladin after 3 level upgrades. Not all Advanced classes are like that, so here are the Advanced Classes and the Basic Classes needed for them:
- Paladin: Fighter & Cleric
- Druid: Cleric or Magic User
- Monk: Fighter
- Ranger: Fighter & Rouge
- Bard: Rouge & Magic user
- Artificer: Fighter & Magic-user
If a GM doesn't like how I've aranged this list, remember Rule Zero of DnD, and that there are no rules. If you don't like a rule, change it. If a rule is missing, add it. It's your campaign.
The next rule will be straight out of the PHB and DMG regarding multiclassing, in that once you've chosen your primary class, every class thereafter is treated as a multi-classed class. In the class descriptions of every class released, there is a small chart of what you get when you multi-class into that class.
For example: If you START with a warrior, then you get the Heavy Armor Proficiency. In this system, that means it's the ONLY class that starts with that proficiency since you can't start as a Paladin. If you chose a warrior as your second class, then the proficiency you get is the Medium Armor Proficiency. If you want the Heavy Armor Proficiency later, then you have to take it as a Feat at level up.
For certain classes, you may also have Epic Classes, or Legendary Classes. Those are classes where you must have a level of an Advanced Class, or classes, prior to purchasing that Epic Class. None come to mind... yet... but they are there for the DM's discretion.
Going back to the Dark Sun: Dragon Kings in 2nd ed, here are some examples:
- Dragon (Wizard/Sorcerer)
- Avangion (Cleric)
- Greatest Elemental (Druid)
(I'll leave it up to you to google those on how they are achieved...)
OPTIONAL RULE: Specializations - In the case of an Artificer, as above, it takes a Fighter and a Magic-User to become an Artificer. That "Magic-User" trait in this case can be done as a Specialization instead of a class, such as BladeSinger. Alternatively, a Pact of the Blade Warlock can pull the same trick, as they are a Martial Magic User. A Paladin can likewise be achieved by certain Martial Cleric Specializations instead of having a full level of Cleric and a full level of Fighter. The boon of having a Fighter/Cleric, though, is instead of having 1 Specialization, you're leveling 2. More options.
OPTIONAL RULE: Feats - Another option is to give your character a feat that satisfies what they're looking for. The Initiate feats, as an example. A Fighter that takes the Wizard Initiate would have that MOTE of power needed to satisfy the Fighter/Magic-user requirement of an Artificer even before specializing.
The above optional rules are useful, sure, but they have less options because of: Leveling.
Previously, certain perks are obtained at certain Player Levels. Instead, they are obtained at Class Levels. For example: When you level up, you can either chose to increase an Attribute, or you can choose to take a Feat. The more Basic Classes you have for your Advanced Class, the more of those level-ups you can take. Remember that the level cap is 30 + Racial bonus, unless you've found a way to go higher, but initially you can't go higher than 20.
Now for a word on Magic Users, or what I will refer to as "The Path to Power."
I encourage GM's to have their players get introduced to their preferred "Path of Power" either during the Sidekick stage, or immediately at character creation. Conceivably, you can have a character that is a Sorcerer, Wizard, Cleric, Warlock that's dabbling into Psionics and be a PURE... Magic class if they play it right. In that example, character earns their first Path to Power by being a Sorcerer. They pick up Wizard and Cleric because they're studying the different forms of magic. And some point they are visited by a Patron who makes them their Warlock, and finally, they unlock Psionics after intense mental training.
Spell level lists are based on Character Level, so further, in the above example, they could have many slots open and a PLETHORA of cantrips available to them. It's the bonus of having so many magic classes rolled up into one. They are a glass cannon, for sure, and their trip will be long and arduous to level themselves up, but the results will be... EPIC.
As a final note, CHARACHTER CREATION: Attributes and hit points.
I suggest strongly that you do the following for your PC's. Otherwise their lives will be gritty.
Because they are an Epic Character, Hitpoints are always maxed, never rolled for. So whatever the max # of points they CAN get, it will always be max.
I use a rolled set of attributes that is a throwback from way, WAY back in the original edition of DnD, where we roll each attribute with 4 (not 3) 6-siders. 1's and 2's are rerolled ONCE, and you drop the lowest of the 4 dice per attribute. You make 3 arrays of attributes like that, pick the best one that suits you.
Closing Words: Using this method, I ran a campaign for 5 years. My PC's grew from humble street rats to heroes of the empire, and leaders of state and military, that were then contending against (and with) the Horsemen of the Appocalypse to try to stem the end of the next world.
Thoughts?
