I'm working on a TTRPG at the moment, and I'm currently weighing the pros and cons of including the classic "Level" system common in the RPG genre. I thought I'd dump some of my thoughts on the topic under the break!
So the question is, Why Level Up? What is the mechanic intended to accomplish in a TTRPG? Why is it so ubiquitous?
Leveling Systems Can:
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Clearly mark progression
While a player may be improving at your game, that improvement can be hard to measure. It may not feel like your group's tactics are improving if they run into a difficult fight or roll poorly a few times. That feeling that you are making progress is important to keeping a player having fun with your game, I think. For example, in the fighting game genre, many players find it difficult to continue playing when they feel like they're not improving. They feel like the time and effort they're putting in isn't worth it, because by their estimation the effort they expend isn't leading to any deeper understanding. Fighting games can't really have a Level Up system without throwing balance into disarray and clashing with a core appeal of the genre, but RPGs can easily reward the time players have put in with higher stats and more abilities as they put more time in.
A part of me wants to insist that learning a game should be done for its own sake, because you enjoy the game and for no other reason, but I have to admit that not everyone is as willing to suffer as I am. There seems to be little harm in this type of incentive, because the player that is comfortable playing for the intrinsic reward probably won't be offended by a Level system, and the player that isn't motivated by simply playing will appreciate feeling like the time they spend is rewarded.
I think it's also worth considering leaving a leveling system out of the game if I want to incentivize a more story focused, less power fantasy style game. -
Incentivize certain play styles
You can use the promise of a Level Up to get extrinsically motivated players to tend towards play styles conductive to a good game. Reward players with Level Ups after each mission, after gaining Experience Points by defeating creatures or collecting items, for completing quests, or for exceptional RP for their character. -
Create a difficulty curve
If a Level system adds more options as the character climbs the ranks (which it should) then it functions as a sort of "tutorial". At L1, a character may only have access to basic actions, and maybe a unique ability or passive or something. This creates an environment where they can learn how to play the game without experiencing excessive choice overload or decision paralysis. As the player spends time with the game, they become familiar with the system and then Level Up, slowly adding more options to choose from as they gain mastery over the game. -
Simulate power difference
By having characters of varying strength levels in your world, you can make it feel more real. These magi are L3, while those guards are only L1. The magi will have more overall power to reflect their mastery, even if you don't show a character's level to the players. That makes the world feel more real, and can create space for players to solve problems through RP and clever tactics rather than by seeing everything as a combat encounter.
With all this in mind, are there any drawbacks to a leveling system? I honestly can't think of anything major. Leveling can create balance issues as you need to ensure a game feels good to play at each Level. They can also feel limiting to players that quickly grasp the mechanics and want to move to having more options. Levels could also hurt the fantasy of your story as much as they help it: why did this group of people go from random adventurers to demi-gods in the space of a couple months?
I'm leaning towards including a Level system of some kind in my game. Currently I'm playing with the idea of having a simple system that ranges from L0 - L3, but we'll see how that works out. It's kind of mind blowing how difficult deciding some of these things has been for me, it's so easy to take a lot of game design for granted when you're a player!
