I agree that the instantaneous leveling approach is actually more realistic for wizards than for warriors or thieves. Which strains credibillity more ... the idea that three or four strenuous combats would permit someone to go from being able to sustain 4 hit points worth of damage as a 0 level peasant to being able to sustain 16 h.p. of damage as a level 1 warrior ... or the idea that the same three or four strenuous combats might inspire some passing supernatural/extradimensional being, on a whim, to suddenly imbue a 0 level peasant with the ability to cast 4 spells? Or that the intense psychic shock of combat/injury might awaken one's spiritual third eye and permit spell use?
Personally, I think the best approach is to work with the character's background and with the player's wishes to craft an explanation for the sudden onset of spell use. Obviously, a wizard's apprentice or astrologer could have been studying arcana for years, and only just now makes the connection needed to put the knowledge to use. But you don't need to shoehorn every farmer or squire into the same model and say that they've been poring over mystical tomes for years after long days toiling in the fields or polishing up their knight's armor. Maybe the farmer has always had recurrent nightmares, her sleep haunted by the spirit of a wizardly ancestor. At the moment 10 x.p. are attained, the ghost manifests and says, "At last, you have proven yourself worthy to be my inheritor. I give you these gifts now, before departing to the Other Side." Perhaps the squire's "trade good" longsword has always had obscure runes carved into the blade, and after a certain number of battles, it transmits a stored freight of magic into the wielder, thereafter becoming an ordinary sword forever.
_________________ Purple Planeteers:
Jingles Coinclink, Halfling, hag-hacked into haggis
Nurzual the Faceter – M Jwlr - Wiz - L S 12 A 8 (-1) S 9 P 11 I 15 (+1) L 10 AC 9 HP 6 Mv 30 Init -1 Ref 0 Fort 0 Will 1 Chalk 1pc, 20 gp Gem, Backpack, 10’ chain, 10 sheets parchment, Kith pouch, small hammer, ray-gun, Rope 50', 5gp 10sp 274 cp shortsword +0(1d6) Ch Psn (no MM), Clr Spr 65, Force Manip 81, Rd Mag 12, Spidr Cl 69 Pl.Common (basic)
Snooth Inksplot Scribe RIP under cave-in, a crushing loss
Qort Quiddlegit M Hlr - Cler - N(C?) S 11 temp 14 (+1) A 11 temp 14 (+1) S 6 (-1) P 5 (-2) I 6 (-1) L 5 (-2) AC 10 temp 11 HP 8 Mov 30 Init 0 Ref t+1 Fort 0 Will -1 club +0 (1d4+1t) - hand mirror, holy wtr, wtrskin Kith drink 12 oz drunk, 31 cp -2 Ms fire damage Det Magic
Brandybland Shoetree F Coblr N S 10 A 9 S 10 P 8 (-1) I 9 L 9 AC 14 HP 1 Mov 30 Init 0 Ref 0 Fort 0; Will -1 gldtr glaive +0 (1d10) - gldtr ch mail - Fe spike, shoehorn, 48 cp Prof: dagger
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