Hey World Builders o/,

Today I want to talk about setting a power level to your new upcoming campaign setting. I don't think i can overstate the importance of this process, but so many of us over look this simple step as part of the process that it can have lasting negative effects on your campaign group. Whether your using a consistent world to run your game campaigns in , or your creating the campaign world to fit around an adventure, the worlds power level can have really important effects on the gameplay from game to game and level to level.

So lets talk about Power level, what do we mean when we say that? well, thinking about your game world and how you want the world to interact with your players is usually a part of the genesis of your idea for the game, whether its a one off, and adventure or a 4 year campaign your planning, you have usually thought about this is some way, but neglecting to take the time to really think about it on its own, can cause issues later, for example in a straight up 5e campaign, are you allowing black powder weapons from other source modules. This may not have come up for you as a thought when you were crafting the adventure, but will make a major difference if one of you players brings a gun fighter, even if you let them, does the world have a supply of ammunition, is it rare? is it valuable, is it mundane? these questions will drastically affect the players experience in your world.

The same can be asked about Magic, wizards over sorcerers? component enforcement, spell acquisition and research, magic item creation, air ships, scientific breakthroughs in the world, technology available, the list goes on and on about how these systems interact in your world, and its something you should at least give some thought too. If you are planning to integrate consistent worlds across multiple adventures and campaigns especially, because you may find ideas and story lines that create and develop these systems for future groups.

Low Power level games, or Level 1 as i like to call it , is that , characters start at level one, magic is a rare resource, life in the world is much like that of life in medieval earth, with hard living conditions. magic items are rare, magic users must work much harder to find their spells, or research them themselves, component use is strictly enforced, sorcerers must witness and interact with magic to pick up new spells, food and rations, encumbrance, and practical considerations are all in effect. The benefit from this system is that your characters can influence the development of the power level of the world, magic is super powerful in these settings because its so rare that it isn't part of the defense systems of the world. until level 6 + the characters will likely be dealing with mundane creatures and monsters, world inhabitants, and will not need the high power items until later. the drawback is there is a lack of reward. monetary rewards go up, but magic items are too rare and don't get included in loot packages. this can get old pretty quickly, I recommend throwing in healthy amounts of mundane items , and including good descriptive content for gems and jewelry. [burnished copper armband, with elvish design filigree, around a shimmering moonstone , framed by platinum filled runic etchings) is much cooler than (40gp piece of jewelry.)] as well as including extra "salvage" type treasure, like bolts of cloth, cases of wine bottles, scroll cases with black parchment inside. I have found this frequently leads the players into interacting with the towns people more, selling the goods to the local shops and traders creating role playing opportunities as well as more interactions from which to gain and profit in all senses of the term.

Mid level Power games, frequently start level 2-4 , Maybe you lift the restrictions on magic, maybe you make magic items and magic shops a common occurrence, maybe you have a developing nation that is scientifically years ahead into a steampunk style technology, or arcane age technology, this used to be really common to do this for dwarf and gnome communities where huge cities needed to be completely self reliant therefore developing technology at a different rate than other nations states or Kingdoms. As before I simply encourage you to consider these things when creating a new world for your players to interact with, it will better inform you and them , when dealing with your players interactions with your world.

While I cant outline every detail of what and how to use as power level indicators for your game, nor would I want to, but I can give you a brief concept in some of the things that I try and consider when world building. You can never be too sure on when you will want to add to or change these systems in your world, but its a good idea to have some direction in dealing with these issues.