Someone mentioned in a forum thread that ACKS (a system I know little about) equates GP to XP and vice versa, so the default value of a barrel of troll's blood is equal to the XP you would earn from killing enough trolls to get that much blood.
As I've mentioned, I interpret XP as reputation and confidence. You get XP from treasure because the townsfolk see you flashing around lots of gold and assume you must really be something, and that makes you feel more confident. Similarly, killing monsters gets you XP because word gets around, and because defeating a monster makes you feel more confident.
Both things together makes me speculate about doubting townsfolk and fake reputations. You could restrict full XP to bringing back pelts or severed heads of slain enemies. Trophies that don't necessarily indicate slaughter, like a necklace of goblin ears, yields full XP as long as your Charisma is greater than the Intelligence of the person you brag to, or if it's 10 or more for generic bragging. Otherwise, players get full XP on a 5+ on 1d6, modified by Charisma bonus, with a further +1 for some kind of physical evidence.
If players spread false rumors of slaying monsters, they can get half XP on a 5+ roll, but only if they brag to someone they're smarter than. Failing the roll means no XP, and possibly a reaction penalty in the future, or a sound beating.
It's just occurring to me now: if you're equating level and confidence, can you gain a quick couple of levels by downing a fifth of scotch?
ReplyDeleteCertainly seems to make some people much more confident in their abilities!
Fifth of Scotch = Potion of Delusion.
DeleteI like this concept. certainly explains Beowulf, or the bard that takes "artistic license" with his mighty deeds. Not sure how I would handle the effect of a smear campaign against someone.
ReplyDeleteActually, come to think of it, this is an excellent advancment system for domain level play. Kings and great wizards do not gain levels by adventuring underground and risking their lives, they gain experience by making peasents be in awe of them. Tales of the great army they raised, of the long siege undertaken or survived, of how just their judgment is. That is the source of their strength. Fear and respect breeds confidence.
Yeah, spreading rep + investing in barony seems like a good alternative XP system for name levels.
DeleteI have no issue with the simple mechanic of XP for GP.
ReplyDeleteI do have a few questions for you. Have you ever had a player that wanted to keep their wealth and reputation a secret?
Are they stuck at level 1, because of they don't want people to know how much gold they have or how many orcs they've slain?
Never came up... but if someone buride/hid the bulk of their treasure, instead of spending or displaying it, they would get no XP. It's being held in reserve, basically. For monsters slain, they'd get half XP value. That's assuming *no one* knows, or those that know are PCs with a strict order to never blab to anyone. If you have hirelings, you can pretty much expect them to blab unless they are fanatically loyal and ordered not to.
DeleteI had being curious about that for awhile.
DeleteThanks.
"Reputation = reality" is an interesting concept. It may be best for modeling cultures of honor such as Arabia or Japan.
ReplyDelete