XP simplified? [3.5e]

[shadow_archmagi]

So, your average party levels up every 5 CR-appropriate encounters, right?

So, in theory, you could just say "Well, you guys beat a CR appropriate encounter. Here's a level token for each of you. Collect five and you can advance!"


Except not every encounter will be CR appropriate, so you'd need some flexibility built into it. Like

2 CR below: 1 token
1 CR below: 3 tokens
Appropriate: 5 tokens
1 CR above: 7 tokens
2 CR above: 9 tokens
3 CR above: 11 tokens

with 25 points needed to level.

Except I havn't actually DONE ANY MATH WHATSOEVER. This post's system is completely inaccurate.

But such a thing would be possible in theory, because the ratio of enemies-killed to levels-gained remains the same throughout the game, right?

[Darwin]

Your average party is supposed to level up every 13 encounters.

[Saph]

So, your average party levels up every 5 CR-appropriate encounters, right?

Actually I think it's supposed to be about 13.

(Man, look at the timing on those posts. A response within 60 seconds of the thread's creation and I still got ninjaed.)

[shadow_archmagi]

Actually I think it's supposed to be about 13.

Herf I make mistakes

[Darwin]

*Proudly takes his brand new ninja certificate and disappears into the shadows*

[Cicciograna]

When I read the topic of this thread I thought at first that this was an handbook for Microsoft OS

[Kylarra]

Unless you're involving crafting and such, you could just get rid of exp or tokens altogether and level at the speed of plot.

[fryplink]

Unless you're involving crafting and such, you could just get rid of exp or tokens altogether and level at the speed of plot.

this is actually how I do it during my shorter campaigns (for XP components in these, I leave the PC's mid-way between levels, allowing for some XP casting, but they run out of XP to burn on the spells until next level-up)

to answer the OP's question, yea, as long as everyone in the party maintains equal XP (how do spellcasters cast spells with XP components?)

[Thrice Dead Cat]

I actually kind of like the idea of a token based XP system, but that's probably Deadland's fault. For item creation, you could go the Pathfinder route and say it just costs moneys, not XP.

[Zeta Kai]

Your average party is supposed to level up every 13.33 encounters.

Fixed it for you.

Also, let's say that you need 100 "tokens" to gain a level. So, in that scheme, you'll need:

• 3 CR below: 2 tokens
• 2 CR below: 4 tokens
• 1 CR below: 6 tokens
• Appropriate: 8 tokens
• 1 CR above: 10 tokens
• 2 CR above: 12 tokens
• 3 CR above: 14 tokens

For another look at an alternate advancement system, take a look at this system, which I plan to convert to conventional classes.

[ericgrau]

Thankfully xp is one of those things that's almost completely independent from the rest of the game, except crafting. You could really make up almost any system and it won't matter except that it might level up the party a bit fast or slow.

Here's a simplified system loosely derived from the normal xp rules:
50 points to level up
Very Easy: 1 Point
Easy: 2 Points
Standard: 4 Points (consumes 1/4 of party resources but very low risk)
Hard: 8 Points
Overpowering: 16 Points (possible TPK)

Each step represents 2 CR. Feel free to adjust based on how fast you wish to level up.

[shadow_archmagi]

I wonder if the ratio of GP to XP remains constant?

Let's see

A 2nd level character has 900 gp and 1000 xp
A 3rd level character has 2,700 gp and 3000 xp
A 4th level character has 5,400 gp and 6000 xp
A 5th level character has 9,000 gp and 11,000 xp

Hurmph. I can't see much of a pattern there, so it looks like a simple conversion formula for crafting (IE: To craft a weapon of X percent of your WBL, spend X tokens)

[balistafreak]

Trying to combine the philosophies of "level up at the speed of plot" and "XP is a river" make my head break. Namely, I don't want to bother with individual XP totals, but then someone dies and gets Raised, or in the most recent struggle, becomes a Corpsecrafted Spellstiched Necropolitan, which costs stupid amounts of XP, too much to wave off with "XP is a river".

Shameless plugs aside, I like the token system a lot. Much easier than all those tiny little fiddly points, which inspires a lot of bean-counting. And we already get enough of that with the way D&D money works.

[The Big Dice]

You could always just give out XP on an ad-hoc basis. That gives the GM a bit more control over the rate of character growth ("Congratulations guys, you get just enough to level up after weeks of play.") and divorces the need for fighting from gaining XP. That simple step turns D&D from a mainly combat oriented game into something a bit more sophisticated. If you give out bonus points for good roleplaying it can *gasp* even turn it into a fully fledged RPG.

[Yahzi]

So, in theory, you could just say

I had a lot more to say on it here.

It's a very flexible system that players love. As a DM, I found it to be liberating. And it's extremely compatible with D&D: all you do is take the DMG at its word when it says "1 Xp= 5 Gp."

[shadow_archmagi]

to be honest I'm not sure why you just linked to a store

I'd accuse you of advertising but apparently it is a store where everything costs nothing so I'm not sure what your motive is

possibly one of the many things in that store contains relevant information?