Experience points

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lstewart4
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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2018 12:27 pm

Experience points

Post by lstewart4 »

I am greatly enjoying basic fantasy, I love the system and old school feel, even the mortality rate. But at first level even 1hd monsters are deadly. With a party of 6,the group would need to kill 500 1hd monsters for the fighter to reach level 2! Is my math wrong? How much xp are other gms giving out for none combat achievements? Maybe a suggestion on how many game sessions to level up to give some guidance to how much none combat xp to give out. Any other suggestions and tips on game pace would be welcomed.
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Dmasterdad
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Re: Experience points

Post by Dmasterdad »

I use the 1st ed. Method of 1 gp = 1 xp.
But beware, it will turn your group into crazed treasure hunters.

I know many people do not like their game to go in that direction but I personally feel it to be realistic as greed and fame seem to be the driving force in most people's lives anyway. :twisted:
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Metroknight
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Re: Experience points

Post by Metroknight »

Don't forget that as a GM you can award XP in various ways.

1:Defeating the encounter which does not mean defeating the monsters in combat only. If the players choose to avoid or negate then combat aspect through RPing the award them for their creativity.

2: XP = Gold: I do not use that but that is my choice for my games.

3: XP bonus for Rping in character.

4,5, etc.... Could be a long list but it boils down to you deciding how fast you wish them to level up and how you want to do it.

You could drop the whole XP earned and go with the milestone leveling format which is the party achieves a goal and they all level up (not really recommended with this system as it nerfes some of the old school aspect.

One method I used and it worked out rather well is to assign a total xp for the adventure and when they complete it, give them the amount. This method has some nice pros to it and one of them that leaped out at me was reduced bookwork since you would have already calculated the xp earned before hand and just assign it at the end of the adventure (or session if you go that route). The con to this method is when you have players that like to take off in a direction you did not plan for and have to scrap the planned out adventure which has happened to me many times.
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Clever_Munkey
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Re: Experience points

Post by Clever_Munkey »

If I want them to level quickly, then I don't divide the combat xp. and even then it's still pretty slow. I also converted to a silver economy, and give 1 xp per 1 sp. You can still use this with a gold economy if you want them to level faster. be careful of the ratio 1 xp = 1 gp means they will be quite rich by level 3, and very rich by level 10 (good for campaigns with domains), while 1 xp per silver (in a gold economy), will mean they gain more levels, before becoming particularly wealthy.

I would also look at what things you want to encourage. I give them xp for "achievements". This varies by campaign, but in my sandbox game, it means discovering new locations of interest, and opening "vaults" which are just very difficult and dangerous places to get to, that also usually require a puzzle (sometimes requiring things from other locations) just to get into. Achievements could also be tied to more "story based" events, or for doing something particularly well. Solved the mystery, and prevented the next murder? 300 xp each. Didn't prevent the next murder? 200 xp each.

Getting to the truth of a rumor, completing a prescribed task, discovering something new, finding treasure, etc. those are the sorts of things I want to encourage, and so they garner a bigger reward. Combat/conflict resolution are secondary for me, so while they do get xp for it, the other aspects become the focus.
Call me Joe. Mr. Munkey is my father.
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Falstaff
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Re: Experience points

Post by Falstaff »

I never used to like giving out xp for gold pieces until I read that it gives the DM a lot of control over how fast or slow characters level up. Each 1 gp you hand out is 1 xp you hand out.
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AdamK1095
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Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2011 10:55 pm

Re: Experience points

Post by AdamK1095 »

Why not XP for encounters & Gold spent? That keeps the wealth down... unless they want to build that keep/tower/temple.
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Tazer_The_Yoot
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Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2019 6:24 pm

Re: Experience points

Post by Tazer_The_Yoot »

XP for gold is a tried and true method. It does change the way they approach the game, but far from making them "gold crazed" it makes them more cautious. Since combat is not the primary way to advance in the world any more, they will get more creative when they see monsters or signs of monsters. They will negotiate, misdirect, use spells, sneak, etc. to get the treasure out without combat whenever possible.

I will add that I personally vastly prefer this method over milestones, because the classes in BFRPG are meant to level at different rates from one another. If you ever did use Milestone xp, it would be wise to use something like the Fighter as a baseline, and distribute the amount of XP it would take to level a party of Fighters up at the end of a session or questline, so that some classes would organically remain ahead or behind as in the rules as written. This is important for balance. If an Elven multiclassed character leveled as fast as a Human Thief he'd quickly outshine everyone else at the table!
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Dimirag
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Re: Experience points

Post by Dimirag »

A way of fasten the level growth is to not divide it among the characters, give the full value to everyone. A fighter will require 80 1HD monsters instead of 500.

And, of course, you can also play with the Monster HD/XP Value table to reach a point more of your taste.
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
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