Choosing a system

[Anonymouswizard]

Spells are skills in GURPS, so it makes sense. I already said you can improve skills, but that's it. What is difficult it's not worth the bother to improve is getting new Advantages, and it is Advantages where your character differs from what it was before. Wealth is an Advantage in GURPS. If you do not purchase it at character creation you may not use the 5,000 gp treasure hoard you got. You have to purchase Wealth Advantage first, and you do not get enough points at the end of the session to do so. You have to wait several game sessions meanwhile your 5,000 gp does nothing. If I recall correctly there is even comment that if you don't buy Wealthy the DM should come up with a reason why your sudden wealth goes away.

Edit: The wealth comment might be related to if you took the Poor Disadvantage for more build points. Acquiring 5,000 gp means you're no longer Poor, giving you free build points. Therefore, if you do not buy off Poor you lose your treasure find by DM fiat.

It's not as strict. The books tell the Gm that a character who earns enough wealth to move up a wealth category should have to pay the points for this, which is as much about NPC reactions as raw money. That's actually quite difficult at the higher Wealth levels, considering that most characters are assumed to have at least 80% of their wealth in their lifestyle, which is not simple to set up especially if you didn't begin as poor.

I think the same applies to HERO, other games have either less tracking of wealth level or completely disassociate it from 'experience'. Probably ideal in the longer time is wealth level systems where something like a dragon's hoard rewards you with '4500gp (+1 Wealth per PC)'.

Now I do know games which work exactly like you describe, but they tend to be lighter narrative games.

And that 80% in lifestyle (and holdings) is important, because it means that moving up a wealth level is not about getting a one time dump, but rather getting a source of income that'll allow you to maintain your lifestyle.

13th Age

I love 13th Age, but I think the way levelling works means it isn't suitable. Even with the gradual levelling mechanics the curve is still actually at least as fast as 5e.


New recommendation, Modern AGE.

Modern Age
Pros:

• Level based, so you still get that feeling of getting a bunch of things at once, but the benefits of levels are relatively minimal. Especially on Gritty mode (where levels don't even give Health!).
• Classless, characters advance entirely as the player wishes.
• Mostly follows the 5e stance on rulings over rules, but features basic systems for things like investigation and social interaction.
• The Companion features several fantasy races as an alternative to using social backgrounds in character creation.
• In addition to a magic/psionics system it includes a basic superpowers system that can be used for anything from cybernetics to godly abilities.
• 3d6 based, so the bell curve produces more reliable results.
• Stunts: if you roll doubles you get 1-6 points (decided by one of the dice you roll, which is a different colour to differentiate it) to make our action do cool new things. In early versions of AGE this was a mainly combat thing, but Modern AGE features more robust exploration, investigation, and conversation Stunts.

Cons:

• It's level based, with everything that comes with that.
• The three 'nodes of play' make enemy statblocks more confusing.
• Abstract Wealth is a love it or hate it mechanic.
• Weapon damage doesn't noticeably scale, which can lead to problems on Pulpy and especially Cinematic mode.

It's pretty much my new go to for Lovecraftian Horror to Cyberpunk,but it isn't perfect. Earlier AGE games have problems, including being shackled to a Warrior/Rogue/Mage system because they began with the Dragon Age RPG. Modern AGE is also where I first saw noncombat playstyles getting support beyond Talents, although the Contacts Talent is still not something I like (the first level lets you turn NPCs into contacts, which is not something I've been denied outside systems where contacts cost XP).