Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Have your cake and eat it too?

Just a quick thought.  Lots of old school folks (and maybe some new schoolers too?) like the idea of GP=XP, as it spurs exploration and treasure hunting.  Lots of old school folks dislike the idea that adventurers end up with literally tons and tons of gold by the time they hit name level (in my experience, the new schoolers have long since converted all that cash to magic items as they go).

So why not keep the standard XP for treasure brought successfully out of the dungeon, AND use the Arneson carousing rules, where you get XP for any monies wasted in drinking and wenching, or donated to a worthy cause, etc.? 

It provides the players a bit more control over how fast they level up, gets rid of excess gold from the game, and speeds up advancement for groups that only meet every so often, as many of us on adult schedules do.

3 comments:

  1. I agree in principle. That's why I use carousing rules in my campaign. However, if your players have tons and tons of gold laying around that's a sign to me of subpar play. They should be blowing that coinage on spell research and/or castle building! Make sure the players know the spell research rules in the game and let them use those rules to whip up some fun and useful new spells. And if the PCs don't see the advantages of living in a castle you probably aren't having enough evil hordes and/or plagues ruining your towns.

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  2. I always preferred to have my PCs start buying chunks of real estate, taverns and what not. They amass their own venture capital for business. Better than blowing it all on ale and whores.

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  3. In Errant, I just left it up to the GM to choose from 5 different methods of XP, or a mix of several of them.

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