Re: Much Ado About Nothing
Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2017 12:52 pm
I am not quite sure how relevant it is to the original question, but when I made a straightforward computation how much time one needs to get to high circles I was genuinely surprised by how low the numbers were.
I calculated that time in the most brutal way, i.e.: I computed how many sessions one need to advance to a given circle given that the average number of LPs per session from GM's guide is awarded each session. In particular, I assume that no LPs are spent on:
- Optional Talents,
- Thread Items,
- Spells,
- Skills,
- etc.,
which would obviously change the outcome. Given these assumptions, it turned out that the waiting time to get to 10th circle is 34 sessions and to 15th circle - 64 sessions. This is surprisingly low. It seems that you should be able to get to 15th circle in two years of a regular campaign.
Of course, taking account of all the other things you can spend LPs on would significantly increase the waiting time, but shouldn't really affect the order of magnitude. Let's say we double the LP's needed to advance to the next circle: then it's still 68 sessions to 10th circle and 128 sessions to 15th circle. That's much, but not insanely much. Not something you couldn't achieve in a couple of years of a regular play. Definitely there are games which provide much more potential space for advancement.
The anecdotal evidence here seems to suggest that reaching master circles should be something that barely come up in practice. So my question is: why is that the case? Is it due to fact that LP's given at the tables diverge from what is suggested by the authors? Maybe I underestimated how much is spent on things other than Discipline Talents? How much should it be then?
Here's the minimal amount of time needed to reach a given circle (i.e. to advance your discipline talents to the rank of your next circle). At the higher circles I was somewhat sloppy, but this should affect the outcome significantly (not more than, say, the assumption that you will always get the average number of LPs per session:
Target Circle/Number of sessions required from the previous circie/Total number of sessions required
II/2/2
III/3/5
IV/3/8
V/4/12
VI/4/16
VII/4/20
VIII/4/24
IX/5/29
X/5/34
XI/5/39
XII/5/44
XIII/6/50
XIV/7/57
XV/7/64
I calculated that time in the most brutal way, i.e.: I computed how many sessions one need to advance to a given circle given that the average number of LPs per session from GM's guide is awarded each session. In particular, I assume that no LPs are spent on:
- Optional Talents,
- Thread Items,
- Spells,
- Skills,
- etc.,
which would obviously change the outcome. Given these assumptions, it turned out that the waiting time to get to 10th circle is 34 sessions and to 15th circle - 64 sessions. This is surprisingly low. It seems that you should be able to get to 15th circle in two years of a regular campaign.
Of course, taking account of all the other things you can spend LPs on would significantly increase the waiting time, but shouldn't really affect the order of magnitude. Let's say we double the LP's needed to advance to the next circle: then it's still 68 sessions to 10th circle and 128 sessions to 15th circle. That's much, but not insanely much. Not something you couldn't achieve in a couple of years of a regular play. Definitely there are games which provide much more potential space for advancement.
The anecdotal evidence here seems to suggest that reaching master circles should be something that barely come up in practice. So my question is: why is that the case? Is it due to fact that LP's given at the tables diverge from what is suggested by the authors? Maybe I underestimated how much is spent on things other than Discipline Talents? How much should it be then?
Here's the minimal amount of time needed to reach a given circle (i.e. to advance your discipline talents to the rank of your next circle). At the higher circles I was somewhat sloppy, but this should affect the outcome significantly (not more than, say, the assumption that you will always get the average number of LPs per session:
Target Circle/Number of sessions required from the previous circie/Total number of sessions required
II/2/2
III/3/5
IV/3/8
V/4/12
VI/4/16
VII/4/20
VIII/4/24
IX/5/29
X/5/34
XI/5/39
XII/5/44
XIII/6/50
XIV/7/57
XV/7/64