Are the Arcana Unearthed classes supposed to be balanced with the core classes if they share the same XP table, or are the Arcana Unearthed classes only balanced with the core classes if each uses their own XP table (Arcana Uneartheds 1100, D&Ds 1000)?
I’d make Arcana Unearthed classes use the Arcana Unearthed experience point table, and 3rd Edition classes their tables, although if you don’t want the hassle of having two, it’s not that big of a deal. As playtests have shown, the power curve for level advancement of Arcana Unearthed is a bit steadier than in D&D. That is to say that Arcana Unearthed classes start out around where D&D classes do, and then through low levels get more powerful faster than D&D classes, but then don’t skyrocket in power the way D&D classes do at the top end (particularly spellcasters). I guess I could have tried to make the balance over levels follow the D&D curve, but that curve has more to do with game history than design intent. When starting from scratch, it seemed the wrong thing to do. Having played a lot of Arcana Unearthed, I don’t think that the difference is going to actually throw anyone’s game out of whack (or I wouldn’t have done it).
