I have a alternative solution to lvl 13, I think anyway, it's not exactly novel, but it could work here for BG3.
So when we hit the level cap (in this case the gulf between lvl 12 and the final cutscene) at this point, instead of progressing our Class, we progress in something called Legacy. Here XP is still awarded but rather than just gaining new abilities and spells for ourselves, we use our experience to recruit and maintain a mini-faction.
In BG3 this would be somewhat smaller in scope than the sort of thing we've seen in other games. The idea isn't to replace the D&D class lvl scheme with bespoke Epic levels or whatever, but rather to make it about recruiting a B team.
They kick it in our Tav'ern, which is like our BG3 mini-stronghold.
More XP at that point allows us to recruit more followers from among the NPCs we've encountered, and the goal is to deck them out and keep a collection of them at some sort of stronghold where they hang out. Mechanically the challenge would be to recruit these characters, bring them along and keep them alive, so rather than raising them from the dead instead when they die in battle the rest of our followers raise statues to them or carve their names on a rock like Wolverines, or do things of that sort. Basically the idea here is to work with what exists, rather than having to add a ton of new stuff. XP then becomes a form of gold that we use to open up that sort of gameplay.
Even in PnP the wizards really haven't put out a lot of adventure campaigns or modules for the +13 lvl range, and a lot of DMs have found it a struggle in 5e, so a lot of times they turn to stuff like developing a faction or some sort of politics of the realms type angle to keep it engaging.
If they're ever going to put out an official expansion game or a BG4 that ends up taking us there, it will probably have to include something along those lines anyway, so this could be a kind of mini-primer or a way to help set things up that might be used later in the Official BG lvl 13+ campaign.
This could be paired ad hoc with some stuff like extra feats for every 20,000 xp to keep it within the current framework. But yeah, I think the point is solid. If you cap out before the game concludes it sort of withers away the motivation to drive it home. I agree that a native option to lvl in another class sans modding would also be ideal and perhaps simpler. Though really I'm a class purist at heart, so I kinda like the idea of say taking over a temple, or founding a circle, building up a war party. Doesn't have to go as far as BG2, I think they could use a lot of existing locations and characters to create an in-world campsite more or less that serves as the hub for the lvl 12 game, once you get there.
Last edited by Black_Elk; 20/09/23 07:58 PM.
