[[start|Dice Mob Home]] > [[dice_mob_rules|Dice Mob Rules]]

====== Experience Levels ======

Levels involve some sense of how much experience a creature has, how long they have lived, and how powerful they have become because of this experience and the wisdom they have gained over their lifetime. Among player characters, this is well understood because a character begins at first level and gains additional levels as they adventure. (More about this later.) With creatures those characters will encounter, this is much more arbitrary, but it has the potential to add much more variety, with chieftains or shamans being different from other orcs they govern, with ancient vampires being different from recently spawned ones, etc.

Levels translate directly to better creatures and character in three possible ways. First each level can improve the range and effectiveness of a skill, especially in the case of magic. (More about this later.) Second each level increases a creature's [[mana|mana]]. And third, in the case of characters when they level up, each level allots three more skill points to be used to increase attributes, to gain new skills, or to increase skills a character already has.  

==== Distance ====
Distance, in this sense, does not involve how far away a physical item can be thrown or shot. That would be governed, instead, by the Strength attribute of the creature, the mechanism of the throwing or shooting motion, and the aerodynamics of the object itself. Instead distance, in this case, involves some sort of magical or mental skill where experience and power would be more likely to govern the distance away the skill could be created, sent, or maintained. This distance is only calculated in cases where there is a distance. Some skill that can only be performed by touch or only happens on the character themselves does not have an additional distance involved. That would generally require a higher degree of that skill.

<blockquote>Example: A magician with first degree fire defense magic can make himself or the character touched immune to fire. A second degree magician can make a person at a distance equal to one meter per level of the magician immune to fire. A fourth degree magician could surround a group up to one meter per level away with a sphere or other three dimensional object to protect them.</blockquote>

==== Area of Effect ====
Like distance, area of effect only governs skills where a "level of experience" might reasonably govern how large an area can be affected. A physical object like a net or a bomb would be based upon the size of the net or the explosive properties of the bomb, not the level of the creature performing the action. Like distance, this generally applies to mental or magical effects and would only apply to skills where the degree is such that someone other than the creature themselves or the creature touched could be affected.

One dimensional objects, by definition, wouldn't have an area of effect. Even point to point magic would be governed by the distance metrics above. Therefore, the first magic or mental effects governed by this principle would be multi-dimensional powers and abilities, which we describe below.

Two-dimensional objects are 1 meter per level of the caster x 1 meter per level of the caster. That means a first level character is limited to one square meter, but a fifth level caster would be limited to twenty-five square meters. Two dimensional objects are generally walls or floors, but they could be circles, squares, hexagons, or whatever other shape a character wants them to be as long as they are of a level sufficiently high to make them as large as they need to be. For the purpose of area of effect, weapons like dancing hammers or swords are considered two-dimensional.

Three dimensional objects are 1 meter per level of the caster by 1 meter per level of the caster by one level per level of the caster. Three dimensional objects can be cubes, spheres, half spheres, elaborately shaped prisms, or any other three dimensional objects that make sense.

<blockquote>Example: A fifth level magician with a third degree fire skill could use it to create sheets of fire that span a plane with a surface area equal to 1 cubic me. A fourth degree could use it to create firestorms.</blockquote>

Does that mean a fourth-degree skilled character could make a key of a substance they are skilled in? Yes, theoretically, provided they know exactly how that key should be shaped. They couldn’t just say that a key is shaped right to fit the door lock they are looking at. They’d have to have some knowledge of how the inside mechanism of that lock functioned. And the substance they used would have to be something that could affect a lock without destroying it.

==== Duration ====
The length of time a skill can last is one round per level of the caster (but it drains an equal amount of mana each round as it did when it was initially cast).

===== Leveling Up =====
To keep it simple, characters begin their adventuring career at level one. The successful completion of each adventure will level up a character by one. Adventures for first level characters are generally shorter, often only lasting one session. Adventures for higher level characters are generally longer, usually encompassing multiple sessions.

**Special Note:** If all adventures in a certain campaign are only one session, a worried GM may use multiples of hours played instead of adventures completed, but how fast a character levels up isn’t generally all that important. It’s recommended to stick with adventures and allow the characters to level up and use their skill points as often as once per session. That’s part of the fun. Erring on the side of caution, it’s better for a GM to limit the number and quality of magical items awarded than worrying about how quickly a character levels up.

===== Unused Skill Points =====
Does a player have to use all their skill points at character creation or with each level they gain? No. They can save them. And, in fact, to achieve the very highest levels of skill, they will want to save their points until they can get to the higher degrees. However they shouldn’t be able to use their skill points in the middle of an adventure except under rare cases, such as by visiting some sort of non-player character that facilitates this.