Post/Author/DateTime

Post

Brazenwood 12-11-04, 09:16 PM

Experience & Training In this next campaign I’m going to run to start the new year, I plan on implementing a new experience point and training set of rules detailed below. Let me know what you think or if you have any other interesting suggestions? It’s a strange system that allows a character to gain, for instance, Knowledge (arcana) skill ranks for brutalizing monsters and winning combats. Therefore, experience (XP) gained in a session for combat is divided by three, in the interest of advancing at a slower pace and allowing XP to be gained through other methods like role-playing, mission goals, and character goals. In addition there will be an “equal share” bonus pool of XP generated every session that each player has a right to a portion of based on how they performed as tallied by group critique. 100 points are available and the final score reflects the percentage of the bonus XP gained as an extra award for impressive play. At the end of the session each player is evaluated in secret, gaining points in the following four categories: Characterization: (using the character’s talents and gifts, effective tactics, quality teamwork, worked towards, attained, or openly expressed character goals, acted true to alignment and faith), Role-playing: (Impersonated the character periodically throughout the session through actions, dialogue, traits, thoughts, interactive storytelling and world immersion, How many times and how did the player speak in character?, Worked towards, attained, or openly expressed Mission Goals, Quality interactions with NPCs) Originality/Ability Knowledge: (found inventive ways of attaining character goals or attaining new contacts in the game world, player had a strong grasp of the character’s abilities without stalling the game by paging through books, actively pursued interactivity with the campaign world in creative ways, came up with unique solutions to problems, conflicts, puzzles, riddles,etc. Thought of interesting ways to combine talents for greater purposes) Non-Metagaming: (Player did not act on metagame knowledge or information, did not stop or interrupt another player’s action declaration out of character in order to change a course of action, did not disrupt the game with constant chatter about real world events, banter, stories, Did not act like a rules lawyer by nitpicking the DM or other players.) The number of points per category depends on the number of players. If there are five players including the DM then each category is worth 5 points, so that each player will have a score between 1 and 100 after it’s all tallied up. However many players you have, change the number of points each category is worth to end up with a possible range from 1-100. The final score of each player is the percentage of the bonus XP pool they are individually awarded. The bonus XP pool is not divided up by each player’s percentage. Each player simply gains a flat percentage of whatever it is. If all four players gained 75 points in the scoring, then they would all get 75% of the bonus XP points. The bonus XP pool is always worth one player’s equal share of the XP for the session. This bonus XP is not added to the character’s normal XP! Instead, it can be used to craft magic items, gain bonus feats (cost = 1000 times current level), gain bonus class skill points (cost = 250 times current level), gain bonus cross-class skill points (cost = 500 times current level), and filling out hit points lost due to bad rolls (cost = 500 per point times level). XP awards are gained through doing impressive things. Experience is thereby given for fulfilling Mission Goals and personal character goals. The DM will encourage players to declare character goals (none of which will include gaining more power or game mechanic benefits). Also, role-playing awards will be given out during play as the excellence happens in the form of fantasy coins. Anytime a player portrays a character in such a way that it enhances the game, a coin is earned. The DM simply tosses the player a coin. Each coin collected by a player earns an additional 1% of the total daily awarded experience that character gains including combat, story awards, mission goals, character goals, etc. It also increases the bonus XP award by a like percentage! Mission Goals will earn each character the equivalent of the greatest combat award received before or after the Mission Goal was attained. Personal character goals attained during or after an adventure are worth ½ the closest Mission Goal’s award. Characters can also do Training Sessions. If a character finds a Trainer who is at least one level higher in the appropriate class, or who knows the feat or skill trying to be attained, a Training roll can be made once the character reaches each 1/5 mark toward the next level. Each level, therefore, allows five attempts to Train, the fifth attempt being the actual rise to the next level completely where all level benefits are bestowed. The early four training sessions require a character declaring a class feature, feat, or level benefit to be worked on. The DC for the attempt is 15 + the current level of the character and is modified by the trainer’s knowledge (teaching) bonus based on INT. For instance, a 1st level character has 200 XP, 1/5 the way to level 2 and has has already declared he will begin working on his next heroic feat. He finds and role-plays out a Training Session with a mentor who has a Knowledge (Teaching) bonus of +4. A Training period is equal to one day/new level to be attained and the fee is 10gp + 1 gp per trainer's Knowledge (teaching) bonus. This character from our example would have to spend 2 days working with the trainer and pay 14 gp. If he succeeds, then he can start using the heroic feat early. If he fails the DC check, then he cannot use the check until another training period is passed and another roll is made. The DC of the roll in the example is 16, but with a +4 bonus, the character needs only a 12 or higher to succeed. The things a character can gain early in terms of future leveling benefits are: Bab, a class feature, Hp, Saves, 1 spell slot and 1 spell (Can be gained as many times as there are slots to be gained at next level), skill points, feats, ability point boost. Trainers are also great at helping one gain the wisdom from our experience. In game terms they allow a character to gain “interest” on XP. Multiply the trainer’s knowledge (teaching) bonus expressed as a percentage (+4 bonus = 4%) times the amount of experience a character gains between successful training session visits. For example, the character learns his new feat by rolling a 13, and heads off on further adventures, gaining 200 more XP. He returns for another Training Session, desiring to gain a better Base attack bonus early. The training session is successful, and the character gains deeper insight from the Trainer gaining “interest” on the 200 XP of 4% (a bonus of 8 XP). This might not seem like much at low level, but wait until the character gains 1200 XP on an adventure and finds a trainer with a +10 teaching bonus, and gains an extra 120 XP. The DM can facilitate this organic process of training by making sure that NPCs in the world have Knowledge (teaching) skill. Most rare adventurers who settle down become experts, aristocrats, warriors, or even commoners, and are sure to gain levels and thus skill points in time. Some of these skill points may have been used to improve the quality of training a character is capable of. Any individual trainer who has settled down might have 1d4 Knowledge (teaching) ranks plus Intelligence bonus. Some might be master trainers and have prestige classes too! I'm also modifying what happens after a character dies and is raised to the follwing for this campaign. Character death causes the loss of all XP gained into the new level, and early granted abilities as well from training. Also the body is warped and the character loses two points of Constitution. The character also gains a negative level (as if touched by the undead) which must be restored by magical means or overcome in time by making a successful save like any negative level. The DM will also be evaluated by the players, in the interests of improving his game mastery skill. The DM thereby gains experience points as a percentage of the bonus pool as well, and can gain levels as a DM. Maybe each time the DM gains a level the players can chip in a couple of bucks each to purchase a new game book that will enhance the game, or by him a pack of D&D figures. The following categories must be evaluated and each player votes giving the Dma score from 1 to a hundred. World Design & Implementation (Setting): Quality of campaign region, wilderness zones, settlements, world history, dungeons/ruins. Does the world seem like an interesting place from the point of view of your character? Does the Dm put some creativity into the world that really shows during the session? Were maps prepared and game notes easily accessible? Do you sense depth and richness of detail in the setting, with occasional references to the world’s history or current events? Most of all did you enjoy the setting of the encounters? Character Design & Expression (NPCs): NPC immersion. Does the DM encourage role-playing by portraying the NPCs vividly with traits, personalities, mannerisms, and backgrounds? Does he speak in character when interacting with NPCs? Do the inhabitants seem multi-dimensional or flat? Do NPC reactions and their life situations change from time to time? Are the people interested in the heroic struggles of your party and act thankful? Do they take an active part in helping or hindering the Mission goals? Did you enjoy the world’s population? Adventure Design & Encounters (Plot): Is the plot or story arc engaging and does it grow out of your characters, or does the DM just railroad your party into a quest? Is the material presented clearly and descriptively? Are encounters unique in setting and types of creatures? Is the DM open to the unpredictable actions of your characters? Are there both combat and role-playing style encounters? Do encounters flow efficiently or do they bog down for some reason? Are the encounters balanced but also challenging? Did you enjoy the adventure? Game Rule Adjucation: Was the DM fair in applying the rules to problematic situations? Did the game session flow or did the DM fail to keep the pace flowing and discourage side talk and a lack of group focus? Was the DM’s knowledge of the game rules good? Was the DM prepared? Did you enjoy the session?