Lore for level 20 cap

I'm fairly sure that somewhere in the game, I remember encountering an explanation for why humans can not exceed level 20 (not the out-of-game balance explanation.). But I can't for the life of me remember where I heard it, and the specifics.

What brought this up was that in Cantha, there're lvl 20+ humans, such as the level 24 Lian, Dragon Petal (first one I encountered), and I didn't really think it made sense.

Anyone familiar with this lore?

Wasn't it because the gods 'capped' them at a certain power because they would be too powerful compared to all the other creatures and it would just cause an imbalance between all the races?

As the OP stated there are some humans that exceed the level 20 cap.

I have no idea but I'll make something up that sounds nice:

Each of the bloodstones contains an aspect of the magic of the world. Denial, Aggression (Maguuma Jungle), Preservation, Destruction (North of Ascalon I'm guessing). The power within cannot be tapped directly but can be manipulated.

To achieve the power of a spellcaster, the 'blessing' of a god has to be given (read the ToA things). The gods grant a fragment of their power (via the bloodstone magic) to the wielder. All the Ascalonians only receieve enough to reach a certain point (level 20), to maintain game balance and because in the eyes of the gods, they're all pretty much the same people (none are 'special' at the start in any way besides being chosen or carry any favor).

Other high-level creatures are generally part of something bigger than random Ascalon citizens. Hence they are given larger boons of power, either because of race or of standing. Tyrian bloodstone magic is still under the control of the gods, who left the Titans behind to guard the keystone in case anyone tried to join the stones together (which as described before, would allow a theoretically infinte level, 8-class creature). Hence the gods have a mandate over the power of the bloodstones, which act like giant mana batteries (they can absorb souls because of this).

I just made all that up out of random things you see in game, but it sounds pretty plausible, right?

No, i havnt seen that lore But it would be intresting if there was a lore that explained why most humans cant surpase lvl 20, Ill investigate that

There are plenty of npc s humans that surpass lvl 20, so it isnt really accurate

to name examples
The Ascalon King (in Last Day dawns) Prophesies
The Luxon heroes (in Boreas Seabed) covenant/tournament

Maybe they arent humans!

LOL, not sure if that hit the button but nice try.

Maybe it goes like most "hero/villian" shows and games, the hero always appears weaker than the enemy at first but in the long run turns out stronger. In other words, just cause they are lvl 24, doesnt mean i cant put together some neat skills and take them down. Big isnt always better, unless we are talking about rocks or sumo wrestlers.

I don't believe there is lore for the lvl 20 cap, it's just where the designers decided to end the leveling...But for the baddies that are human, I mean, c'mon, they're baddies, and in some cases bosses, they have to be over lvl 20 since they're the same as any other monster in the game.

Ever heard chinese stories with men/women who have abilities higher than normal men?

For me I said its normal to see that from bosses.

those characters above lvl 20 aren't human... they're NPC's!!!

ta da, no human-controlled character higher than lvl 20 (that i know of). please let me know of my error if u managed to reach lvl 21

We know that part, blakecraw

This has always been an irritating topic to me. I understand undead, dragons, titans, giant floating squids, even baracuda - anything NONhuman being a higher level than humans can achieve... but why the hell are we not able to exceed level 20 when we face many level 21+ human NPCs?
Ascension should allow us to break this 'mortal barrier'... but no. We're stuck trying hard not to become the next WoW.

All the same, I like the cap... just not the reasoning (or lack there of) behind it. It makes our fantastic PvP system possible.

There's nothing about humans being capped to level 20, its that 'random ascalon/canthan peasant' is capped to level 20. And all characters are those, possibly for reasons I mentioned earlier. But in reality, it's for balance

Hmm..
I don't think there is a certain "lore" to the level 20 cap. Maybe..
The gods decided that humans can have 2 professions, primary, and secondary, but to make a sacrifice for this, humans sacrificed a part of there power to have 2 professions. The humans who are over level 20 don't have secondary professions.
You seee ^^

Not beleivable in the Lore at all :\

My theory is that for Human NPC's that exceed level 20 - they are favored by the gods for one reason or another. For past service, for current service, they're cute, just because, ect. =)

The +20 NPC's are the ones that bent over for the god's , so they have or have had godly parts in them.

Yeah We are capped at level 20, because of balance. We are capped at 8 party members for most locations. But we are outnumbered 5 to one in some instances and they are level 24-28. Yeah sounds balanced. I dont know of any lore that says we should be level 20, But the designers of the game say that at that point we are fully trained, in our chosen profession.

Levels and stats are game mechanics and nothing to do with lore.

That's like saying "lol I'm a level 20 nurse" or "that guy's a high level manager with 3million xp" - makes no sense whatsoever. You have powerful/strong characters, more capable folks. What "level" they are is irrelevent in terms of lore and storytelling.

Your logic has no place in this thread Xenrath.

I am wielding a brain of +1 logic (20% chance) lol...