| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Light |
Posted - 13 Sep 2011 : 13:18:22
Yep, that's right. I want to know what you think the spread will be. Do you think/know that there only about 1% of Faerun's population in the Paragon Tier? etc. From what I can make out is that about 10% of the population (and for this discussion, because I hope it becomes one, we will not be including the 'uncivilised races' - orcs etc.) have PC classes. Remembering reading somewhere that Faeurn's pop. was approximately 65,000,000 I deducted (I'm quite smart I know!) that there are approx. 6,500,000 people with classes. I then reasoned that maybe 10% of them would be in the Paragon Tier (650,000) and that 10% of that would be in the Epic Tier (65,000)....wait....65,000? That can't be right! So what I'm most interested in is how many people do you think are in the Epic Tier (though by all means don't forget about the others). I think, and I'm most everyone will, that 65,000 Elminsters or 65,000 Azouns running around is a bit ridiculous. 6,500? That's 1 in 10,000....still not right? Surely not only 650 though? What are your thoughts? |
| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Faraer |
Posted - 13 Sep 2011 : 23:09:24
Going by the Volo's Guides etc., I don't think more than a few per cent of Faerūn's population are members of heroic classes, if you exclude the 2E first-level fighters who'd be 3E warriors. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 13 Sep 2011 : 19:03:26
There is a passage (full of math errors) about the demographics in the DM's Option: High Level Campaigns [2E] which briefly discusses this issue, which I summarize (and correct) here:
Numerically, the minimum requirements to become a 1st level adventurer would be a single prime requisite stat (specifically: Str, Dex, Int, or Wis) of 9 or greater. If the classic unallocated 3d6 method is used to randomly generate these stats then (1-((160/216)^4)) (that is, nearly 70%) of the population could qualify as 1st level adventurers. It could be said that the vast majority of these people lead pleasantly mediocre lives and are never exposed to whatever non-quantifiable factors impel others to adventure.
It's been asserted that adventurers are comparatively rare and exceptional individuals, and that in general only the most extraordinary of these can hope to survive to the highest levels. So let's assume, just for the purposes of this example, that a proper adventurer needs to have a single prime requisite stat (Str, Dex, Int, or Wis) of 12 or higher, a Con stat of 10 or higher, and no other stats below 8. This now means (1-(81/216)x(135/216)x((181/216)^4)) (that is, almost 11.6%, or roughly 1 person from every 10) of the population could qualify as 1st level adventurers. Again, it could be said that not everyone who qualifies actually becomes an adventurer.
Note that if character stats are generated with alternate rolling systems or point-buy systems then all you're really doing is biasing them to fall toward the middle or top percentages; these stat systems are generally not applied to the population at large. Also note that many races, classes, prestige classes, and kits have higher stat requirements and are thus substantially rarer; only about 0.1% of the population will minimally qualify as standard Paladins (less than 1 in every 750 characters will roll Str12, Con9, Wis13, Cha17) or as standard Rangers (less than 1 in every 567 will roll Str13, Dex13, Con14, Wis14), less than 1% would minimally qualify as standard Bards (less than 1 in 112 will roll Dex12, Int13, Cha15, and only 5/8 of these will also have Con10). Exact numbers vary, depending on which D&D rules you prefer.
Now, let's assume that out of every group of adventurers only half actually progress to the next level; it could be said that the remainder are killed, or retire, or simply haven't yet accumulated sufficient experience to advance. Although these assumptions are grossly simplified, of course, a little arithmetic using them still produces some instructive data:
Adjusted population by level (per one million general population):
0-level: 884,440+
1st: 57,780
2nd: 28,890
3rd: 14,445
4th: 7,222
5th: 3,611
6th: 1,805
7th: 902
8th: 451
9th: 225
10th: 112
11th: 56
12th: 28
13th: 14
14th: 7
15th: 3
16th: 1
17th+: less than 1
There is basically only one 10th level character in every population of roughly 10,000 people; while a 17th level character is truly one in a million. Only a few characters capable of reaching extraordinarily high levels might appear in each generation, although it is certainly true that in the Realms these insufferably high level sorts have a tendency to hang around well beyond their natural expiration dates. It's also true that NPCs of the Realms seem to have unusually high trends in their base stats, which could be as much as symptom of alternate stat generation methods as of the countless millions who inhabit the campaign world. Besides, in the end, D&D is not just a game about numbers.
Such numbers can provide some context for promoting proper respect to high level characters and giving players a sense of great accomplishment when they attain these levels. |
| Diffan |
Posted - 13 Sep 2011 : 14:55:36
From my own estimations, I'd say 90% of the civilized surface world would fall into the "heroic tier" or mostly less than 8th level. From there, I'd say 91%-99% fall into the 9th level to 16th level range and then possibly 1% would be above 16th level with the percentage dropping extensively as you reach higher "class" levels.
So probably about .5% of the total (again, "civilized" surface) population reaching "Epic level". And judging from various sources it appears that those with Epic status are often very important figure heads and world note-worthy people. This is all from my own perspective and not judged by math in any way, but it just "feels" right. |
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