So I’ve been doing a lot of playtesting lately and I’ve been reminded why XP rewards are SO DAMN COOL.
Over the years I’ve played and GM’d quite a few different systems, with different kinds of advancement methods: experience points, milestones, incremental session advances, automatic end of adventure level ups, Shadowrun/Warhammer style points that you spend directly on attributes, and so on.
They all have their pros and cons, but in recent months I’ve been reminded just how FUN good old xp awards are. So fun, in fact, that xp is the default advancement method for Tales of Argosa (working title – aka LFG 2e).
But why is xp advancement so cool!??
(1) XP Encourages Certain Behaviours
Well first and foremost, if your xp rewards are customisable the GM can encourage certain approaches and actions from their players. If you use xp for gold, players will look for ways to circumvent fights and get straight to the loot – there’s no profit in blood, just risk of injury or death (althoooough that might mean more loot for you, depending on who doesn’t make it!). XP for battle will have the opposite effect, players will be looking to fight everything they can to get that sweet sweet corpse xp. And so it goes, xp for exploration, xp for exerting social influence, xp for bringing snacks to the host’s place (oh yeah, you bet I stoop that low!). And this kind of behaviour shaping is something you just don’t get with milestones or session advances.
(2) XP Encourages Risk Taking
Numero Two-o, xp encourages players to push their luck. If an adventurer is only a handful of xp from their next level, you can bet your bottom dollar that player will do everything they can to earn those final points before the session ends. Yes, most of the party is badly beat up and ready to retreat back to town, but OOOHHH if they just get another 3 xp, some of them will hit 3rd level… and what’s that glittering there, down the next tunnel? It’s a deliciously difficult call. And one again that milestone or session advances just don’t precipitate. We’ve had a few of these moments in recent playtests and it really is terrific when the party decides to push on just a little further … even if a price ends up being paid! (alas, poor Boris from the Block, my 2nd level Artificer – I knew him well). Exciting play is what we’re all here for, right?
(3) XP Encourages Proactive Players
Reason 3PO, xp awards mean the party do to some degree control their rate of advancement. If more dangerous battle grants xp, the party can seek out giants and trolls and other nasty threats to challenge, or if gold, search for the richest ruins to plunder, etc. Knowing what grants xp allows the players to weigh up risk and reward, and take action to maximise their gains (or minimise their risk, as appropriate). In contrast, session advances and milestones are set according to session frequency or plot points respectively; they just don’t have the granularity for players to work with.
(4) Death & Mixed Level Parties Work Better
Fouriosa, if xp level thresholds are properly calibrated, they can ensure a mixed party of low and high level PCs quickly close the gap. This is not a concern in games with no danger (*5e*), but in systems where death is not uncommon, the capacity for a 1st level PC to quickly catch up to his veteran allies is important; it takes the sting out of death, gives the new PC hope, encourages the GM not to pull any punches, and ultimately rebalances the party sooner. And if there’s one kind of balance that is actually important to keep an eye on – it’s intra-party balance. Naturally, in Argosa, we’ve set our xp level amounts to ensure quick catch up to about 6th level, then a little slower for 7th to 9th. Of course, any ToA character of 6th level or above is a capable adventurer in their own right, and will fit in just fine alongside higher level veterans.
(5) XP Incentivises Playing
XP incentivises turning up to play. Playing a session allows you to earn xp which makes your character a better adventurer, and conversely, missing a session means your PC will fall behind. Milestone advancement on the other hand kind of has the opposite effect; if a milestone is not likely this session, turning up to play only exposes your PC to expending resources and possible injury for no definite in game reward. Better to skip this session and wait for the next one, when the milestone is more likely.
(6) XP Does It All
Finally, xp is highly flexible and can accommodate other styles. There’s no reason why you can’t for example include specific milestone objectives as one off xp awards in an adventure, or indeed combine Session Advances with xp and allow incremental advances between meet ups.
Tales of Argosa XP
But enough mental meandering. In Tales of Argosa we’ve gone with five xp categories as potential rewards for the GM to consider, similar to how we did things in LFG Companion, but with (i) recalibrated xp thresholds, (ii) clearer category examples, and (iii) adding potential Adventure Bonuses. Downtime Level Ups and Session Advances are also in there as options. Draft excerpt below! (or clearer Dropbox link here).
And that’s all for now folks 🙂
If you have any ideas or feedback about xp or levelling or anything else to do with ToA now’s a great time to let us know!! Discord’s probably the best place – we’ve got some forums set up there by topic for discussion (we went with forums because they’re more permanent/easier to find things than standard Discord channels). Or we’ve got a Reddit too if you prefer that format, or just post down below – I’ll be sure to respond.
More on Tales of Argosa next week, have a great weekend, and happy gaming y’all! 😀
Pickpocket Press 