Topic: Small Talk
So I've been agonizing over Serinor the past several weeks, but in reality, when I compare the things I'm trying to "fix" with the comments I've actually gotten in over the past three years... Well, they don't exactly align. I'm trying to tinker with combat and leveling and classes when the comments about the game are almost universally identical:
The game starts off way too hard.
I've ignored the comment. Yes, it's hard. It's that way on purpose. The heroes start off very, incredibly weak. Somebody's likely to die at least once before you reach level 2. But once the reach the teens, they're good for nearly anything on Amin. By their 20's, they've nearly stopped getting stronger. Past 30 and they're pretty much only gaining more time between rests because they've got all the power they're ever going to get.
But it doesn't change the problem. The game starts off brutally hard. And, well... Mea culpa. It's been said too often, and I've ignored it too long. The trick here is that I really do want the party to start out very painfully weak. So a system needs to be in place to get the party up to level 2 (literally twice as sturdy) without mitigating the pain that is level 1. I'm thinking a training dungeon inside the High Temple. Maybe one where earned experience goes into starting experience on a 1 for 1 basis, so once the party's level 2, all new heroes will start at level 2 also.
Oh, and I'm likely going to increase the portion of experience going to starting experience from 1 per 50 to 1 per 30. We'll see how that works out.
Doesn't actually solve my world building crises, though.
