Matters Regarding the Level 40 thingy

Char Aznable · Post by **Char Aznable** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 1:56 am

Can anyone direct me to the site(better yet the actual package) where I can proceed to the mythical lvl 40 I kept hearing about coz I think the capped is lvl 30 right???

Fiberfar · Post by **Fiberfar** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 8:44 am

The expansion pack Hoards of Underdark has a lv. cap of 40.
The other expansion and the original game has a cap of 20 levels

gotnho · Post by **gotnho** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 1:13 am

why the cap?

Admo · Post by **Admo** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 1:37 am

Originally to keep the game-play nicely balanced, it would be far too easy at that level anyway. Besides, I think that is the highest D&D level before epic levels come in.

Now, its just an upper limit and is quite meaningless, because you'll never get to level 20 in the original campaign or SoU, unless you do them more than once with the same character, and even then you might struggle because you'll get pitiful XP.

Zel Greywords · Post by **Zel Greywords** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 2:52 am

A bit more on the "why"...

Yes it's 20.
Because level 20 is also the highest you can ever get in a "real" paper&pen-campaign based on the standard AD&D or D&D rules.

Theoretically, that is. Since in fact you rarely ever get beyond level 14 in paper&pen games. And even that requires you to play for a looong time -and- you need to have a DM who also works towards high levels.

Of course you also have to remember that there is a huge power difference between a PC game and a "real" paper&pen roleplaying campaign. In any "normal" (i.e. non-digital) roleplaying adventure, a level 15+ chara is already close to godlike. He will have a sh*tload of spells/day, a breathtaking armor class and plenty of other stats to boot.
Handling such a superhunk is a really tough job for a DM, as the player party is so powerful that they are almost unstoppable without resorting to... let's call it "certain DM privileges".

So... that's the original reason for the cap.

The "Epic" levels (ranging from 20-40) were introduced -much- later ... and only as a bit of play-candy for highly seasoned and trained roleplayers/DMs. Since if your players aren't really experienced and cooperative, controlling an "Epic" campaign is like riding a rabid dragon... :rolleyes:

Of course a game like NWN offers far less problems when it comes to high chara levels.

In a PC game, no player will b*tch if, for some reason, he can NOT break through the door of the farm house across the street. There, the only problem is basically to scale up the enemies stats so that they dont crumble on the spot when being attacked by the players private little level40 demi-god.

Anyway... if you ever play a level40-chara in NWN, you will very quickly notice that 40 is DANG well enough in terms of power.

-Zel

Noober · Post by **Noober** » Fri Oct 22, 2004 1:35 am

Why cap at level 20? Because in a proper adventure (with a good DM) you'll never reach there. I mean, it took Elminster something like 1000 years to reach 35.

Also level 40 is pretty much god-like, so imbalance ensues.

Izzi · Post by **Izzi** » Fri Oct 22, 2004 4:07 am

Now I've always wondered this, do they mean level 20 overall or level 20 in each class (ie, can you be Rouge: 20 Bard: 20 Shadowdancer: 20 or would it be more like Rouge 10 Bard: 5 Shadowdancer: 5)?

Zel Greywords · Post by **Zel Greywords** » Fri Oct 22, 2004 5:04 am

Level20 overall. Standard NWN does not support any combination beyond 20, be it pure or multi.

-Zel