Though it's frequently said that D&D is a first and foremost a combat game, this does not actually accord with the way a lot of people play it in practice. There may be built-in "assumptions" about how many encounters make for a properly balanced game, but there aren't really many games that that incorporate these assumptions into actual play. On top of that, one of the strengths of D&D has been its versatility: not only can you play different sorts of games with the basic ruleset, you also have a large-enough player base to be able to select the type of players and to play the type of game you want.
I talked about putting this up, and it keeps coming up in private discussions, so I figured I would bite the bullet. It is a set of guidelines I use to award XP to make the the game less combat-centered, and to reward players that want to do other things. It's designed for 5e, but in principle, it could work for any D&D iteration. Some of these are vague, and need to be adjusted to the situation, but I still find it a useful blueprint. Some people prefer milestone leveling, of course; this provides a more granular system that allow you to reward individual character actions. It also allows a GM to slow advancement through the lower levels (to provide that old-school feel) by allowing characters to focus more on interaction and exploration.
Journey
Wilderness survival 10
XP/day
Wilderness survival – extreme conditions 20
XP/day
Urban survival – familiar 0
XP/day
Urban survival – unfamiliar territory 5
XP/day
Urban survival – extreme (hostile environment, minority,
poverty) 20
XP/day
Wilderness hazard - (depends on type; probably requires a separate post)
Creature encounter
Managing creature/object (incl. parlay, expeditious retreat) 10%
value
Outwitting creature 20%
value
Defeating creature 50%
value
Vanquishing creature full
value
Succor
Saving a life creature XP value
Redeeming from slavery/rescuing 50% creature XP value
Social mobility
Negotiating favorable solution with institution pop.
value
Major personal advance in/vis-à-vis institution pop.
value x2
Decisively changing institution pop.
value x5
Intentionally destroying institution pop.
x10
Exploration
Learning information about person(s) XP/10
Finding person(s) XP/2
Learning information about treasure value/10
Finding treasure after seeking value/2
Learning information about item/finding after seeking: one fact/all
Common
(village) 5/25
Uncommon
(district/town) 50/250
Rare
(principality/city) 500/2500
Very
Rare (kingdom/realm) 5000/25000
Legendary (cosmos) 50000/250000
Generic
Good action/suggestion 1%
bonus
End of chapter 10%
bonus
Good stuff, and now I think I'm going to add something very much like this to my LotFP game.
ReplyDeleteA question: Under "Social Mobility" what do you mean by population value? So let's say the party negotiates peace between two rival families in a village of 100. Does that mean they get 100? If a PC becomes the leader of a 30-person weavers' guild, do they get 60xp (pop value x2)?
Basically, yes, though it's subject to adjustment if the creatures that form the population. E.g. if a shapechanged character becomes the alpha of a group of 12 dire wolves, they would count more than just 12 (x 20 for their XP value relative to a human commoner?)
ReplyDeleteIn New World, New World Coins are very important. It can buy better equipment, new weapons, cosmetics, and even improve player proficiency.
ReplyDeleteAttached link: https://www.iggm.com/new-world-coins