User:Average/Level
Character levels are a rough expression of character eXPerience. The higher your level, the more capable you are. It is a signifier of power. It should track Age, such that your level is roughly equal to age.
Higher levels translate into more +HIT and +DAM with weapons or spells and other good things, which makes "leveling" quite a sought after game component. Sophisticated DMs will have to balance these ambitions with character development so they don't get out of sync with realism. New rules for HP advancement should help this automatically, as players will have to develop better protection and abilities rather than rely on more HP as they level. A blade`s DAM cuts the flesh of a LVL 30 player just as much as a LVL 1 player, and both bleed equally -- all other things being equal (like CON) and depth of cut.
Leveling also gets you a permanent modifier on one of your stats if you've been typecast to a race.
For those classes which level with XP, the amount needed for the next level should be approximately (Next_LVL-1) * 1000. Gods level by doubling the amount of XP from the previous level as they no longer have the restrictions of the body(?).
If you're multi-classing, you get a free level at each tier change for each other class you've played, if that class had reached that tier. This gets you any enhancements you had for DAM or HIT, your ability to find traps (PER), etc.
- see also PLEM
