NOTES ON TRAINING TO GO UP LEVELSOVERVIEW1.) Training takes time and money, and simply acquiring experience points will not suffice to go up levels. EXAMPLE: Benalar is training from 5th level to 6th level cleric, gaining 1 feat, and 4 skill points. He will take additional ranks in four existing skills, bringing those ranks to rank 2, rank 2, rank 5, and rank 6. It would be wrong to think this is one week for his one level, and 8 days for his 4 ranks. That would be, when you think about about, absurd. Why? It would suggest rank 1 in a skill took as much time to learn as rank 12, or learning to be 10th level took as much time as learning to be 3rd level. The fact is, the higher the level, or the higher the rank, the more time it should take to learn it. Thus, all this is converted to how much time it will take, and then you pay about 50 GP per week, or fraction thereof. In the above example, therefore, Benalar spends 6 weeks training to go up to 6th level cleric, 1 week on the new feat, and NOTE: Taking more than one rank at a time in any one skill is, therefore, more time efficient. Going from rank 4 to rank 6 at one time, for example, only takes 6 x 2 = 12 days, and not (5 x 2) + (6 x 2) = 22 days. Why? The instruction period does not require any refresher or recap, and may be taught more efficiently since the time spent finding and arranging for a teacher is essentially cut in half. But recall, under this system, no more than 2 ranks may be picked up in any one skill at any one time. Thus, for example, one may not go from rank 3 to rank 6. They may go to rank 5, but must wait for their next level to proceed beyond rank 5. If you wish to know more about the reasoning behind these house rules, however, please read on, gentle player ;-) The Reasons For Requiring Training To Go Up LevelsThere are many games of For example, let us make our PC a rogue named Lidda. If Lidda had 19,357 xp and the DM awarded her 2,005 xp, she would then have 21,362 xp - one needs 21,000 or 21K+ experience points to go to 7th level. Thus, some play this as meaning Lidda would now be 7th level, and no other special training would be required to do this; only experience was needed. How prevalent that type of play is, I'm not sure, but I've never actually played that way myself. Most DMs, at a minimum, require the PC to take a few days of quiet calm and reflection and maybe practice their skills at home after they have enough xp to go up a level. This is preferable to the sudden development of new skills while in the middle of an adventure. To do otherwise is a problem of sudden development, which is sometimes laughingly called 'field promotions'. Imagine Lidda being on the brink of having enough xp to go up a level, then killing an orc or two, and then having enough xp. She then goes down the hall but now would be one level higher with all her new skills, better saves, better hit dice or hit points, etc., that she didn't have a moment before. Few people like this since it is blatantly unrealistic. Though DMs may not award xp just then, if Lidda earned it for killing those orcs, she would technically have it then. And if xp alone is enough to pop a level, then she would advance in level right then and there. Whatever class your PC was working toward, after gaining sufficient xp to go up a level, it is often more realistic to seek further instruction, now that your PC is 'ready.' Thus, under the tutelage of a master, mentor, trainer, temple, or guild of some kind, your PC engages in special 'class-specific' training. Besides, with 2e's secondary skills or 3e's skill points, it is assumed some instructor teaches most of these extra skills - in addition to your class's skills. You would not suddenly know ancient history, for example, unless it was taught to you or you picked it up in a library or from a book or scroll or something. Thus, you need to go home, or 'somewhere' reasonably safe, to learn these things - i.e. spend your skill points. The question then becomes, how much time does this take, and does it cost anything? Some guidelines have been laid down in 3e's DMG, but it's up to each individual DM. Those guidelines, however, suggest instruction cost 50 GP/week, and all skills, feats, or levels take the same amount of time to learn. I dislike this since I would think some skills would be relatively cheap - as learning to swim in a harbor town or lake side village - and some would be moderately expensive - as learning ancient history or gem cutting might require a rarer instructor - and some may require specialized knowledge and be very, very expensive - such as spell craft. Further, it ignores common sense inasmuch as one might think the more difficult the skill or level, the longer it would take to learn. So while 50 GP is a good starting point, the DM may adjust it up or down as they see fit, and probably will, depending on the difficulty of the things your PC is learning at that time. When it comes to cost, I feel each DM must handle this themselves since their world may be rather unique when it comes to economics. Depending purely on flavor, one gold piece may be a king's ransom, or it may a drop in the bucket, for example, and frequently equipment costs will have to be adjusted to better suit a DM's personal needs and desires, as well as for considerations of supply and demand unique to each situation. In fact, this is why I seriously dislike it when the cost of a spell's material components is listed in GPs. They should instead be listed as weights or quantities and thus allow the DM to set such prices them self. Spells would almost certainly work if you had a gram of diamond dust, for example, but how would the spell 'know' if the local economy or current supply and demand made that diamond worth a fortune or next to nothing? Naturally, then, when they say that, they mean the amount of the component one could by in standard 3e economy, but if that is altered for any reason, then so too would the cost of the component need to be altered. But I digress. Time, on the other hand, though also subject to DM interpretation and changes, may be better handled in a more uniform manner. 3e's DMG suggests one week per rank in a skill and two weeks per feat. Oddly enough, they assume no time is spent in learning one's actual levels. For example, learning to swim doesn't make your PC one level higher, so it's something else they are learning in addition to learning these feats and skills that makes your PC one level higher. And what's sad is they seem to suggest the amount of training for that level is independent of the level. Thus it seems to take the same time to learn to be a 2nd level rogue as it does to learn to be a 16th level rogue. Their system also suggests learning rank 12 in a skill is no more time consuming or difficult than learning rank 1 in that skill. It's ludicrous, when you think about it. Most DMs, if they care about greater levels of realism, will probably adjust this. Feats, on the other hand, could all take about the same amount of time to learn, more or less, and one week/feat is assumed reasonable. No matter the class, when a character achieves enough experience points to go up a level, if they find the proper instructor or return to one they already know - for example, maybe the same person who taught them their initial class - they may engage in special 'class-specific' training. This will take time. It may be free of charge or it may cost your PC a bundle, depending on who your PC knows and how your DM handles economics. But it will take time, regardless. For example, Lidda seeks her old mentor and has some ties with the local thieves' guild. They agree to train her for some consideration - the DM will make this money, time, a job they want her to do, a quest, or whatever he wishes, really, but usually straight cash is best and easy and won't interfere with other story threads. She pays this and spends the next few weeks or months (depending) training to go up a level. Now, unless her friends are busy training too, this can be a bit of a problem. Though they might be elsewhere with their own tutors, etc. learning a level themselves, it's more likely they will not be ready - have enough xp (at least some of them) - to go up a level. What do they do while waiting for Lidda? Better yet, why should they wait for Lidda at all? Unless Lidda were vital to their immediate plans, they might go off by themselves or with another NPC to fill Lidda's normal function in their group (party thief). This would be reasonable if it were a small job and they would likely be back by the time Lidda was scheduled to complete her level training. Unfortunately, in a roleplaying game, that would almost preclude Lidda's player from being able to play the game while they did that, and that's not fun. And worse, roleplaying ideals suggest your PCs wouldn't wait for Lidda just so Lidda's player can play too. Your PC's actions should be derived using only IC (In Character) reasons, and keeping Lidda's player in the game is an OOC (Out Of Character) reason. This is a bit of a roleplaying problem. Though they may find IC reasons to sit around waiting for months, it is more likely they would engage in the sorts of activity they are known for (adventuring) rather than sitting around, idle. As the training time increases, it's even more likely your associates are not going to wish to wait for your PC while they train, particularly if they have 'pressing' business elsewhere. After all, though they may wait a week or two for you, it is less likely they'll be willing to wait 6 months or more, for example. Besides, their other business may be so pressing that even Lidda doesn't want to take time to train now. If that were the case, Lidda continues to accumulate xp but stops when her xp reaches the next level - just under 8th in this case. Further than that and Lidda is learning in a vacuum, so to speak. Still, that gives her plenty of time to handle this pressing business, and it's likely she can find the time to train before then anyway. However, under the assumption Lidda has no urgent need to be anywhere else, she'll probably train for the next several weeks or months (depending). She can do this all at once, or the DM may allow her to train in piecemeal fashion - generally in increments no smaller than one week. For example, 3 weeks now, 2 weeks later, finally 2 more weeks later, until all the required time passes. She could adventure and gain xp in between these times, but she would not be 7th level nor have any new skills until all the required time of her training period was complete. Once they were done, it is assumed she is 7th level, she has a new hit dice, she has acquired and spent all her new skill points and chosen any new feats she may have coming. TRAINING TIMEBut how much time is this? A week? A month? A year? You might be surprised at the different answers you'd get if you asked many DMs across the land. But I clearly prefer this time to be a function of level, and I find one week/level to be reasonable. This is NOT one week for each level, but one week, times the level you are going to in the class you are training in. So, for Lidda going to 7th level, this would be 7 weeks of training just for her rogue level. In addition to learning the actual level, you should also add 2 days, multiplied by the total final ranks in the skills in which they receive training, and one week/feat. The DM may also wish to add more time if your PC is doing other time consuming things, such as writing scrolls or researching several new spells. All of this time can really add up. NOTE: The rogue class is an exception since it already assumes many of their class skills ARE the very skill points they are spending. That is why most of the rogue's skills will be found on table 4.2. Thus, rogues take one week/level, plus one week/feat, but no extra time is added for acquiring skills. This does not mean they are learning skills faster, but only means part of the one week/level already covers some of this training, thus rogues do not add the skill rank factor in this calculation. Other classes also assume certain things are part of this one week/level time. For example, wizards get two new spells every time they go up a level - one spell of the highest level they can cast, and one spell of any level they choose at that level, or any level lower than that. They may acquire more spells, but that will take extra time and money. Fighters may be assumed to repair their armor and weapons in this time. Other classes may have similar considerations. Ask your DM. Calculate how many days all this training should take, divide by 7, and round up. This will be how many weeks your PC must train to accomplish a new level, new skills, and new feats. EXAMPLE 1: Lidda wishes to train to 7th level. This will take 7 weeks (49 days). Plus she will gain 10 skill points. Let's assume she ends up with the following ranks in all skills in which she trains. Rank 1, rank 3, rank 4, rank 3, rank 8. She has added 10 skill points to existing skills, or taken new skills. The important factor here, however, isn't how many skill points have been spent, but the total ranks of each skill in which she received instruction. In this case, it would be But for classes other than rogue, those days spent on skill acquisition would add to their total training time - though non-rouges get a lot fewer skill points, so this time isn't usually as large as this example might suggest. Finally, she will learn one feat in 1 more week. That is 8 total weeks of training for Lidda. As a general rule, the various trainers usually charge for their time, and 50 GP/week is about right in 3e standard economy. Thus, Lidda's training time - which includes a modest room and board - would be 400 GP this time. So Lidda would have to pay this 400 GP up front for the training. At the end of these 8 weeks of training, however, she is 7th level, has her new skills, and her new feat, has her new hit dice, and is ready to go anywhere she wishes. Remember, she should pay this all at once, up front, to guarantee the trainers will show up and do their job, but, once paid, Lidda may then break up this training into one week increments, if she had other ongoing business that needed immediate attention. She will just not have any of the new skills, the new feat, or the new hit dice, etc., until all 8 weeks of training are concluded. The DM may, however, also grant the skills in piecemeal fashion. For example, if she spends two weeks at first, he may give her two weeks worth of ranks or feats - depending on what Lidda wishes to learn first. He should never award the final class skills due to level - i.e. hit dice, saves, special class abilities, etc. - until all training is completed. EXAMPLE 2: Just as the example above, except this time we'll assume Lidda has instead taken skills whose final ranks are rank 5, rank 8, rank 6, rank 6, and rank 4. That would be Now, how much time/day is Lidda actually working? This system assumes a person can perform useful work, or learn, or perform well near top efficiency for about 8 to 10 hours a day. A further 6 to 8 hours are spent in eating, resting, talking, walking, being entertained, and engaging in many other normal leisure or light activities. Finally, about 8 hours/day of sleep are assumed. Thus, Lidda is probably training 8 to 10 hours a day, but she still can fill 6 to 8 hours of time in less demanding activities - and her player may or may not wish to roleplay during some of this time. But the question remains, what are her friends, party members, associates - or the other PCs - doing while she trains? A good DM, using this system, will have to find ways to help fill these PC's time - down time, we call it - with interesting, useful, advantageous, worthwhile activities that do not necessarily take up roleplaying time or game time, or at best, take a minimum amount of it. Some suggestions include: making scrolls, potions, or magic items, building keeps or small homes, shrines, temples, fountains, getting armor made or fitted, commissioning some item or work of art, or having a special weapon made, visiting family or NPC friends, consulting sages, wizards, or clerics, research on rumors or spells or history, government work, religious work, charity work, political undertakings, setting up a business, arranging trade of goods, training other NPCs for money, making or acquiring maps, falling in love, drinking, socializing with the opposite sex, having a family - usually with a stay at home NPC character, though this is harder for female PCs to pull off - buying ships or wagons or investing their excess cash, praying, or helping the community, etc., etc., etc. The mind boggles. The better your imagination, the more you can find to do. Lidda may engage in some of this too, despite her busy schedule. It is just that most of her time will be spent in hard training, so she shouldn't assume she could regularly engage in hard work or adventure during these training times - though she can between these training times if she breaks them up. However, with multiclassing being what it is, under the N level rule, another valid thing for other PCs to be doing is learning the basics of a whole new second (or third, etc.) class. Remember that this takes time, too. So while Lidda is training, much of that time Devis - their party bard who wishes to multiclass into a wizard, for example - may be spending with a local wizard. In fact, Devis may do this an awful lot over the months or years - or until he finally gets to Nth level in bard. Thus, it is assumed lots of his down time, whenever it comes, is how, when, and where he picks up his wizard skills when he finally has enough xp to become a 6th level character - (5th level bard, 1st level wizard in this example of the N level rule where N = 5). This handles the problem of sudden development and explains when Devis had time to learn to be a wizard while adventuring. Though explained more fully under the N level rule section, this is why, though one may feel learning a whole new class probably should take years, it may be done without shelving your PC for years of game time and then waiting for the appropriate amount of game world time to pass before you can play that PC again. Most skills are not something that is learned and then sit on a shelf until your PC needs them and uses them. Unused skills will atrophy and become dull or forgotten. There are no real provisions in Yet, it may also be assumed your PC is always using some of their 10 hours/day to practice their skills and keep them well honed and sharp and ready at a moment's notice - perhaps the mark of a good adventurer. But since there are only so many efficient hours in a day, one cannot afford to practice all their skills, all the time, and eventually one will reach a point where they have too many skills to practice to keep them all at a razor's edge in readiness. I mention this bit of realism since it serves as a basis for why your PC has limits on how many skills they may acquire, or why it becomes harder and harder as time goes on to learn new skills. That is, it helps explain why, for example, it takes more xp between levels to learn the same skills. Consider a 2nd level wizard, and how much effort it takes them to learn a skill like Alchemy. To get skill points to spend, it takes only a little xp to go up to 3rd level and thus buy such a skill. But why does it take so much more xp when they are 12th level to learn this same skill, assuming they haven't learned it yet by that time? The reason is, we assume much more of their time is spent keeping their existing skills sharp, whatever those skills happen to be, so they have less time to learn alchemy when they are 12th level than they had when they were 2nd level. Thus, this explains how skill points are tied to levels. It also helps explain why your high level character cannot so easily pick up a new skill while sitting in town. They simply don't have the time to learn a new skill and maintain all their old ones, too. So you may be tempted to think your high level PC is just sitting around doing nothing, and think there is no good reason why they couldn't learn a new skill or feat in that time, but you are forgetting the huge amount of time it is assumed they must use to practice and maintain all those numerous skills they already have. They are not just sitting around doing nothing, even if you don't tend to roleplay all that training, practice, and maintenance. They are, in fact, quite busy. Unfortunately, tying skill points to levels or feats to levels is sometimes unrealistic and a bit of a problem. For instance, if your PC stops adventuring - stops getting xp - but decides to spend many weeks learning a new skill, the standard 3e rules do not really allow for this. Without getting xp, they get no new levels, and without new levels, there are no new skill points. This makes it seem like it is impossible for your PC to sit in town and learn a new skill, no matter how hard they study or how much time they take. I suppose one could make provisions for exchanging old, no longer wanted skills for new ones, however. If such a provision is made, the DM may allow you to regain 1 skill point for every two skill points you return - you are going to lose something here due to inefficiency, you understand. So, for example, if you no longer wish to use your skills of Bluff and Forgery - which you paid one point each for previously - the DM may allow your PC to 'forget' those skills due to disuse and non practice, thus freeing up some time, and grant you one skill point to learn a new skill. Your PC still needs to take the time and pay the money to an instructor to learn this new skill. If you keep doing this, eventually you will have few skills and a confused character, so you should do it only sparingly. And remember, your PC is not really trading two skills for one, which is silly, but just no longer practicing old skills, forgetting them, and taking this time normally used to keep them sharp and using it to learn a new skill instead. They might then, as in this case, recall they used to be good at forgery, but haven't done it in so long, if they try it, it will likely produce bad results. NOTE: Some DMs might not allow you to ever lose points through disuse beyond rank 1. That is, you may degrade from rank 4 to rank 3, rank 3 to rank 2, and even rank 2 to rank 1 after prolonged disuse of a skill, but once you achieved rank 1, it will never be lower than that - baring magic and curses. Another method would be to allow an alternate means to acquire skill points and feats that is independent of acquiring levels. SPENDING XP FOR SKILL POINTS OR FEATSTo alleviate this problem, the DM may offer an optional method of acquiring skill points or feats. We can't, however, completely divorce this from xp, though we can divorce it from going up levels. Thus, the DM may allow you to spend xp to buy skill points or feats. This xp is permanently subtracted from your PC's total and is now gone and spent. How much xp will be up to the DM, but here is a suggestion. One skill point cost 500 xp/level. For example, if your PC is 7th level and they do not wish to wait to get to 8th level before they get new skill points to spend, the DM may allow you to permanently subtract 500 x 7, or 3,500 xp, to gain one skill point at 7th level. Is this expensive? Darn right it is. But it's an option one may use. This rule assumes your PC is taking 2 days x (skill's final rank) off - even rogues take this time off - spending about 50 GP/week, and learning this new skill. Similarly, one feat cost 1000 xp/level, 1 week, and 50 GP - or more. Naturally, since this is an expensive option, it will be used sparingly, though the DM may adjust such costs as they see fit. As a house rule, I allow one to spend enough xp such that this may mean they no longer have enough xp to be the level character they should be. This house rule also applies to mages and the like spending xp to make magic items if such expenditure would normally lower them one level. For example, if 7th level Lidda had 21,362 xp and already spent all her skill points, she may still opt to spend 500 xp/level (3,500 xp in this case) to acquire one more skill point - apparently she really wants to do this - or 1000 xp/level (7,000 xp in this case) to acquire one more feat. Assuming she does wish to have another skill point, that would normally lower her total xp to 17,862 xp - which is below the 21K+ required for her to be 7th level. Does this mean she can't do this? No. Does it mean she is no longer 7th level? No. What it means is she physically drains herself with such a demanding work load that her CON is lowered by one point for each level she would have lost - in this case, -1 to CON since she would be at 6th level with that xp total, which is 1 less than her current level of 7. Adjust hit points and CON based skills accordingly, and any CON rolls would be made at this new score. Her CON loss is not necessarily permanent, however. DEFICIT XP SPENDINGThe best bookkeeping method to do this is as follows: If spending xp would not lower your PC's level, then just subtract the xp and it is gone. But if spending xp would lower your PC's level, do not subtract it. Instead, subtract as much as you can without going down a level. Write down the xp on your character sheet as normal, but then also write down how much extra that your PC spends beside it. For example, Lidda had 21,362 xp. She wishes to spend 3,500 xp. Subtract 361, taking her down to 21,001 - just barely 7th level. Also write down the rest, or in this case, 3,139 xp next to the normal figure for xp. The character sheet would say she still had 21,001 xp, but beside it there would be a note she owes 3,139 xp. This is called DEFICIT xp. If your PC has ANY deficit xp, they have a temporary -1 to their CON. Any awarded xp in the future must first be used to pay off this debt before it may be added to her normal xp total. As she acquires more xp, the 3,139-deficit xp figure dwindles. Eventually, it will become zero and her CON is restored to normal, and further xp will be handled as normal from then on. There is another option to be more complete. Her player may accept the loss of CON permanently instead of spending the xp. This is a drastic option, but it is available. This is also why when you die, you normally lose one level of xp, but if your PC is only 1st level, they instead lose one point of CON. CON points, levels, and xp are intertwined like this. Finally, one cannot keep this deficit xp around forever, so they must gain enough xp in a timely manner, or the CON loss may become permanent. A reasonable way to do this would be to consider the deficit xp as a loan your PC pays interest on - about 10% per month. Thus, if Lidda still owed 2,450 deficit xp in one month, 10% of this balance is added to her deficit xp total - another 245 xp in this case - bringing it to 2,695, for example. This reflects the fact Lidda is run down and is learning poorly. If she acquired 2,695 xp before another month runs out, she'll be fine. If not, she'll again lose another 10% of the outstanding debt in xp, whatever it may be at that time. Of course, her player may choose to permanently lose one point of CON instead anytime she wishes and wipe out the deficit xp altogether. If it ever gets so bad that the deficit xp would have her drop another level - if subtracted from her normal xp total - just wipe out the deficit xp and the CON loss becomes permanent. In this case, her xp would be at 21,001 and she would proceed as normal, though her CON would forever be one less than it was when she started all this. This house rule is generally thought to be better than the unrealistic standard rule that prohibits any expenditure of xp that would take you down a level - as if a wizard forgot how to make a simple potion since his current xp was right on the border, and even spending a little would take him down a level, so he can't. Duh!. Get real. He wouldn't forget how to make a simple potion just because of some silly game number or quantum break in the xp table. But I digress. And though this bit of bookkeeping may be a little complex for some, sometimes greater levels of realism demand it. Fortunately, most will not wildly spend so much xp they will ever need to calculate interest, and all of this should rarely happen. If it needs to happen, it's just nice to have such rules spelled out for you. TRAINING YOURSELFAs an option, your DM may allow your PC to train them self for their next level - but not train themselves for most skills or feats. This level training generally takes much more time - about double the time, or more - but it is less expensive. Still, it's not free either, as there is cost of living, equipment, etc. to be taken into account. Thus, the general idea is that for half the normal cost, PCs may train themselves, but this will take at least twice, and possibly three time the normal amount of time. Is saving half the money worth an extra 1 week/level, or maybe 2 weeks/level? Maybe your PC is so poor they have no other choice, or maybe there are other good reasons to go it alone - like they might be hiding from someone. Whatever the case, this optional rule does allow the possibility to train oneself. However, sometimes there are further penalties. For example, a wizard may go up a level, but may not gain the two new spells for free if they are forced to train themselves - no access to a library or the master's notes or some such. A cleric may not be able to perform the proper rituals on holy ground. Ask your DM. Frequently, though inconvenient, part of your new level may just be put on hold until you can hook up with a trainer, but you could still, in the interim, get most of the benefits of your new level. Training oneself, however, is generally less than satisfactory, and should be done sparingly. NOTE: This self-training does not include spending skill points or acquiring feats. Such skills and/or feats must still be picked up, more often than not, by a trainer, or at least when your PC has full access to source material - such as books, a library, or what not. The DM will allow you to wait to spend your skill points at another time - but still must be spent prior to going up yet another level. However, if the player insist on learning the skill right away, anyway, they should be allowed. But all skills will be considered cross-class skills under this less than optimal method of learning, and your PC will pay one extra skill point above the normal cost, whatever it may be. Guidelines for how to better handle class and cross-class skills and skill points may be found by following this link: A Better Method For Skills And Skill Points Yet, there will come a time when your PC is on the forefront of their profession and has little choice but to train them self. The DM will set what level this is for your class. A good suggestion would be the old name level, or perhaps 12th level - for that class, and not just a 12th character for multiclass characters. When your PC is 12th level in their class, then they have to train them self. Only then will it be assumed they may do this for standard costs in time and money. Mind you, the money is being spent differently - not going to your trainer, but going for your upkeep and servants and the like - but it is still the same amount in time and money at this point. OPTIONAL: Instead of gaining enough xp to go up a level and then spending time to acquire one's new skills, the DM may prefer players to pick their up coming skills for their next level, and thus assume they are working on them each chance they get. For example, after achieving 5th level cleric, Sally decides she will next work toward 6th level cleric then and there. Since 6th level cleric will gain - (2 + INT Mod) - skill points, she picks which skills she will be working on NOW. She also pays money for them NOW. When her cleric finally gets enough xp to make 6th level, she spends the skill points and finally just adds those skills, having already taken the time to learn them. She also spends time at 50 GP/week, however, learning general clerical class skills apart from the those skills. Also, at that time, she would decide on which class and what skills and feats she will be working toward as she approaches 7th level. This advanced notice is a nice detail, and it may help cut back on the down time one spends immediately after going up a level since the skills and feats were already worked on in piecemeal fashion during that entire level's worth of time in between adventures. But many dislike having to choose skills so far ahead of time, even if choosing a class that far - or further - in advance really ought to be done. So that's about it. More details could be written concerning each class, such as how much it cost to research spells, write scrolls, make holy water, commission armor, etc., but such detail is best found elsewhere. But one more example may help set this all in your mind. EXAMPLE: Fenton, the 8th level wizard, 2nd level cleric, 10th level character, is training to become a 9th level wizard - 11th level character. He will gain and spend 4 more skill points, and gain one feat. Since he is studying under his master, he will also receive two free spells - one at 5th level (at his new highest capability) and one at another level of his choice - he chooses to pick up another 3rd level spell. Fenton augments four existing skills, bringing them to ranks 5, 5, 8, and 8 - these are difficult ranks to learn, and may only be done if he can find instructors who are that high in rank in each of those skills, but we'll assume, since Fenton is in a very large city, that he can do this. Finally, Fenton will learn the feat, Craft Wondrous Item. Fenton spends 9 weeks training in level - (not 11) - plus 1 week learning the feat, Craft Wondrous Items, plus 2 x (5+5+8+8) = 52 days learning those difficult ranks in his skill repertoire. This totals 17.43 weeks, or, rounding up, 18 weeks. The total cost of all this will be 50 x 18 = 900 GP. He also wishes to learn yet another spell, but that will cost additional time and money - detailed elsewhere - ask your DM. Hopefully, Fenton's associates are busy during this time, so it will not be a problem. RECAP1.) Training takes time and money, and simply acquiring experience points will not suffice to go up levels. If you have any feedback on these rules or would like to make comment or suggest improvements, feel free. Email Jim Your Comments (Send Praise, Critique, Complaints, Suggestions, Ideas, or Submissions). © February of 2002 |