I've recently run into a difficult situation that I can't seem to find an easy solution for. Namely it is how may spells higher level Wizards should have. This is mostly for NPCs, but occassionally I will start characters at higher levels (for party balance or for a higher powered game).
I know what most Wizard-type characters get to start, and what they get as they level, but deciding on how many spells they learned between levels (for those who can learn any spell at any time) is a bit tricky. How many spells could a 5th level Line Walker have learned and of what levels? What about a 10th level Line Walker.
Right now I'm going with a simple mechanic of 1d4 spells per level (chosen from levels no greater than double the level of the character). This means that at each level the character is going to have, I roll 1d4 to see how many additional spells he learned, which can only be chosen from spell levels less than double that level.
Example: I'm statting up a 7th level Line Walker. For the first of his bonus spells (gotten at lvl 2), I roll 1d4 and choose spells from lvls 1 to 4. His next bonus spells come at lvl 3, for which hegets 1d4 spells chosen from lvls 1 to 6. Lvl 4 gets him 1d4 spells from levels 1 to 8. This goes on for levels 5, 6 and 7.
As one final note, once a wizard can choose spells from lvls 11+, I rule that he gets only one spell, regardless of the roll, from those levels. In the above example, at lvl 6 I could choose 1d4 spells from lvls 1 to 10 or 1 spell from lvls 11 and 12. Same is true for lvl 7 (though the 1 spell would come from lvls 11 through 14).
I think this is a fair system for deterimining extra spells for NPCs (and PCs who start at higher levels), but I thought I'd post it here for review and critique by others who may have more knowledge and experience with such things. Is this fair and balanced? Any suggestions or tweeks to make it so?
Number of Spells
Moderators: Immortals, Supreme Beings, Old Ones
In my games that would be WAY to little. You also limit the level to double their level, but a LLW can gain spells of any level at any time.
When it comes to NPC's I usually just do a more pick and choose system, and give them whatever I want. They are my npc's I give them whatever I want and don't need rules for it.
As for starting PC's at higher level, I don't know. I never do that. Takes most the fun out of Palladium's games to me.
I went with 1d4 mostly because I don't think that any character would really have enough time between levels to learn more than that (given what they sometimes have to do to get the spell in the first place).
I do limit the level partly for balance (it is almost impossible for a mere 2nd lvl LLW to get a lvl 10+ spell, let alone a Spell of Legend, without doing something extrodinary, which is better to play than just give). I figured the easiest spells for a LLW to get would be those no more than double their level.
As for starting at higher levels, try telling that to a new player joining a group of established (lvl 7+) players. If a 1st lvl character would be wiped out by the things 7th lvl characters would find merely challenging. The you have unexpected character deaths. To force a player to start over with a new character at 1st lvl while his buddies are all at 7th+ seems a bit unfair (especially if the death was unexpected or a noble self-sacrifice).
Lastly, I don't want to make over powered characters that easily wipe the floor with my players. I'm just looking for a guideline of how powerful a typical wizard would be at a given level (number of spells-wise that is). Overall I've found that it is the way the spells are used, not the number that really proves how powerful they are. Still, more spells gives a wizard more options.