Thinking of RPG character's POWER LEVEL
I often chase the idea of playing out a game where the characters are very much 'in the swarm' of enemies. In practice, at the table, when it has been 3 hours already, I do not think anyone has the stamina for the 23rd demon riffraff to make its attack against them.
Of course, there are multiple ways to get around this. But to swap perspectives and chase the fantasy - how can we offload the "slaying" of riffraff so our precious table time is not taken up?
I thought of a nifty scale called 'Power Level'. Hardly unique, but I have not seen it put to use in a TTRPG before.
So, what do we do with this?
All shall have a POWER LEVEL
- This represents their general minute to minute capacity for combat under typical circumstances.
- Everything within a creatures power level is routine, or reliable.
- Everything above needs to be taken with caution, or is uncertain (ie. dice rolls).
What is within capacity?
All creatures have a power level. A goblin or starting adventurer would be a power level one. Of course, we give preference to players.
A power level 1 character can handle and kill a power level 1 goblin per round, without risk. A level 3 can simultaneously be surrounded by 3 goblins, and end the battle without a scratch.
We now have a few [points to figure out...
What happens if a power level (PL) 5 ogre attacks a PL3 player?
We could use the delta Δ of 2 to perhaps leverage or multiply the difficulty or incoming damage. To be decided.
What happens if a 5xPL1 goblins swarms a PL1 player?
We could use the delta Δ of 4 to perhaps leverage or multiply the difficulty or incoming damage. Perhaps, the 'excess' goblins that are not being managed by the player can group together and try wrestle or dogpile.
How many enemies can a party of 3xPL5 players take on at once?
The players can handle a maximum of 15PL per round without issue.
How do we know when a player has 'killed' an enemy below their PL?
As we envision this fantasy of players warding off hordes, they should be able to 'routinely' kill anything below their PL. Lets say that players can kill up to their PL in enemies per round. They are welcome to split that how they want.