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Segev
2015-06-23, 01:42 PM
There may be a system out there that does something like this; if so, I invite people to tell me about it (or them)!

This would have to be a system where you spend XP on various character traits, rather than one where XP just translates to levels.

What if you could spend an XP point to gain a one-off bonus to a stat/whatever, for one roll? That XP is not then gone, but it is expended towards raising the thing you just boosted for a roll.

So, if you're in a system where it takes 5 XP to raise a stat, spending 1 XP could let you have +1 Strength, say, for one roll. And then that XP would stay spent, so you need to spend only 4 more XP to raise Strength by one. Do it again, and you only need to spend 3 more.

In this fashion, you are expending XP for an in-game temporary boost that you might not be able to afford the full thing for, but the only long-term cost is that you've committed towards raising that thing, rather than something else, with those XP.

Spojaz
2015-06-23, 02:36 PM
That sounds kind of bookkeeping heavy, but interesting. A well designed character sheet, or even spreadsheet, would be a necessity. A +1 to one roll of a D20 is pretty negligable, as there is only a 1/20th of a chance it will matter, swinging the result from failure to success, so I might boost that to a +attribute bonus. On the other hand, there would be no real reason not to spend them, if the trait used happens to line up with the direction you want your character to improve in.

It could be more interesting if that is the only way to improve. Putting extra effort into doing things that require strength in order to get stronger is a good mechanic. Even though the increase on one roll isn't important, I like the "do things to gain XP, then do appropriate things to spend it" mechanic.

Aedilred
2015-06-23, 02:47 PM
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (2nd edition and its derived systems) uses an incremental approach to gaining experience: you spend XP (100 at a time, iirc) to raise an individual attribute by +n or gain one additional skill or talent. It already has a spend-points-for-temporary-advantages mechanic (Fortune Points) so something like this might be a bit redundant, but it would be an interesting idea all the same, maybe worth playtesting.

LibraryOgre
2015-06-24, 08:07 AM
There may be a system out there that does something like this; if so, I invite people to tell me about it (or them)!

This would have to be a system where you spend XP on various character traits, rather than one where XP just translates to levels.

What if you could spend an XP point to gain a one-off bonus to a stat/whatever, for one roll? That XP is not then gone, but it is expended towards raising the thing you just boosted for a roll.

So, if you're in a system where it takes 5 XP to raise a stat, spending 1 XP could let you have +1 Strength, say, for one roll. And then that XP would stay spent, so you need to spend only 4 more XP to raise Strength by one. Do it again, and you only need to spend 3 more.

In this fashion, you are expending XP for an in-game temporary boost that you might not be able to afford the full thing for, but the only long-term cost is that you've committed towards raising that thing, rather than something else, with those XP.

IME, those are very common, especially for older games that were trying to eschew levels. Old Shadowrun (1e I know, 2e I think... been a while), WEG's Star Wars, and the Original Deadlands (with the Bruce Campbell intro) all had a system like that, where Karma/Character Points/Poker chips could be saved for character improvements, or spent in-game to improve individual die roles. Shadowrun later introduced the concept of Karma Pool, then Edge, to cover metagame concepts, and Deadlands moved primarily to Savage Worlds, where Bennies are separate from XP.

WEG's d6 system is available for free from DriveThru RPG, if you want to see an example.

Thrawn4
2015-06-24, 09:29 AM
IME, those are very common, especially for older games that were trying to eschew levels. Old Shadowrun (1e I know, 2e I think... been a while), WEG's Star Wars, and the Original Deadlands (with the Bruce Campbell intro) all had a system like that, where Karma/Character Points/Poker chips could be saved for character improvements, or spent in-game to improve individual die roles.
True, but the OP is about combining both, which is at least not done in the WEG Star Wars RPG.

Interesting approach, but I agree with Spojaz. It sounds like heavy bookkeeping.

LibraryOgre
2015-06-24, 10:32 AM
True, but the OP is about combining both, which is at least not done in the WEG Star Wars RPG.

Interesting approach, but I agree with Spojaz. It sounds like heavy bookkeeping.

Ah, missed that part (early morning). I don't know that it would be too much bookkeeping, though.

Take Ars Magica's skill improvement system. It costs 1 XP to get a 1, 2 more XP to get a 2 (3 total), 3 more to get a 3 (6 total), 4 more to get a 4 (10 total), usw. Since you get XP in abilities in certain situations (such as "spent an entire season working as a blacksmith, get XP in Blacksmithing"). You don't necessarily have to get all X XP in a single go... if you're a really skilled blacksmith, it might take several seasons of work to appreciably improve your blacksmithing... you might be a Blacksmithing 4/13, meaning that your Blacksmithing is 4, but you have 13 XP in it (and will thus get Blacksmithing 5 if you get 2 more XP).

So, using a system like the OP said, you write "Strength 4/2" indicating that you have a 4 strength, and 2 XP towards the next one.

I had a system somewhat like this for d6 (http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/2014/11/use-based-improvement-in-d6.html), only it was based on improvements coming from really great rolls.

NomGarret
2015-06-24, 10:57 AM
I've informally done this in games for years. Every session I use a particular skill or trait I put a hash mark next to it, and then when I have points to spend, I prioritize the one with the most hash marks. Once the trait is increased, I erase the hash marks on that item and start again.

I'd be down for a system where temp boost rolls invest that xp in a particular trait. The bookkeeping wouldn't be too bad as long as the costs were in small enough numbers to use check boxes on the character sheet.