What is DMing worth (AKA how do we award DM credits)

Graf · Aug 25, 2008

So we've voted and DMs will be able to get some points/credits to give their characters xp

Instead of trying to talk about 1 point gets x number of xps lets talk about what we really care about... what is DMing worth? (we can back math where x points = y xp out later)
[d]--[/d]
For every... month of running a game a DM can give a character a level
...3 months
...6 months
...9 months
...12 months
...15 months

Multiple Games: Running multiple games is treated just like regular games

Running an extra game is worth more (+25%)
Running an extra game is worth more (+50%)

Since it's harder you reward it more

Running an extra game is worth less (-25%)
Running an extra game is worth less (-50%)

We want to discourage people running multiple games...

Points/credits are awarded upon completion of adventures
...at intervals during adventures (intervals TBD) and forfeit if not completed

All DMs get equal points for time

So every month that you have a game open you get credits.

DMs points would be accrued on a per encounter basis

So when the PCs get XP for an encounter the DM accrues "units"
Some believe this would encourage DMs to post more regularly/push games along
Some believe this would penalize DMs who emphasize roleplaying over action/fights

The Goblin King · Aug 25, 2008

I'm not sure if I voted for the right thing or not. I was thinking that if you get X points for running 1 game then for 2 games it would be X+X and 3 games would be X+X+X.

covaithe · Aug 25, 2008

3 months? Really? I'm fairly surprised to see people voting for that. Do people really want to be able to take a character to level 5 in a year's time without ever going on adventure, just by DMing a completely separate game? Or have I misunderstood, yet again?

garyh · Aug 25, 2008

covaithe said:
3 months? Really? I'm fairly surprised to see people voting for that. Do people really want to be able to take a character to level 5 in a year's time without ever going on adventure, just by DMing a completely separate game? Or have I misunderstood, yet again?

My thought is that making it so one adventure could get you a level, we could really encourage folks who might not DM to consider it. If someone's thinking they might DM, maybe, I don't know if a 1 level / 12 months will really incentivize it. I don't see people necessarily DMing full time just to pump one character to 30 as fast as possible.

Keep in mind that, while the multiple character issue hasn't been resolved, they likely will be allowed at some point. This means DM's couuld choose to split DM points between characters, or to get their new level 1 character up a bit, not just push their first character higher all the time.

covaithe · Aug 25, 2008

Eh. I see where you're coming from, but consider what happens if this living world lasts for, say, four years. If I run a series of games that whole time, that's sixteen free levels. If the "normal" pace of advancement is three levels a year, then at the end of year four, I could reach level 28 when the rest of my adventuring party is just getting to level 12. If I run two games the whole time, I can get 11 levels a year, where other people are getting 3. I'd reach level 30 in less than three years, when mere players are getting to 10.

Now, in practice, that probably won't happen, but not because there aren't DMs running two (or more!) games at once. There will be. It won't happen because, hopefully, the world won't be able to handle advancement that fast. There won't be games to play in at that level. There won't be enough magic items or money in the system to live the epic lifestyle when mere players are merely heroic. And then, you're left with DMs deliberately holding their characters back in order not to advance faster than their party. Which prompts the question: If they won't be able to use it, what incentive does all that extra XP provide?

garyh · Aug 25, 2008

I see your point as well, covaithe. Maybe 6 months / level, then. Then, running an adventure gives you a decent chunk of a level, but not a full level.

And we should be so lucky as to have one person run two games for three years.

Graf · Aug 26, 2008

The Goblin King said:
I'm not sure if I voted for the right thing or not. I was thinking that if you get X points for running 1 game then for 2 games it would be X+X and 3 games would be X+X+X.

Your vote is 100% consistent with the x+x+x for three games.

Erekose13 · Aug 27, 2008

LEW/LEB is half the rate that characters level by time xp. So characters level by time xp 1/20 months. DMing only gives you 1/40 months. It is exceedingly rare that you'll get to level a character based solely on DMing. Now perhaps LEW/LEB is a bit extreme, but I still think it should be slower than time based xp. I'd vote 18-24 months if those were options. (based on my vote for 12 months in the character time-based xp rewards).

Phoenix8008 · Aug 28, 2008

I voted for the following:

-DM character can gain a level for every 6 months of DMing an adventure.
I think 6 months is a decent goal. Most adventures will last about that long at least. Many go longer. One question would be: what happens if somebody runs an adventure that only lasts 5 months? Do they get partial credit? Using Covaithe's example, this would be 8 levels gained over 4 years. I expect that would be split up over multiple characters though. I also expect that ther COULD be someone running more than one game and getting further ahead. This would be the exception to the rule though I believe. Does this make a cadre of higher level PC's of DM characters? Yes, it would. Is that so horrible? I don't think so. With the number of DM's there will likely end up being, I expect that there would be enough for them to form one or two higher level PC groups. I look at LEW and see the highest level characters at or just past 10th level after 5 years or so of playing. With 30 levels to explore now instead of 20, I think we can afford to play out a little more leash and let people stretch their legs some.

-Running multiple games is the same as running one game.
As noted above, X+X+X is easiest and understandable.

-Points/credits/levels awarded at end of adventure.
If this system is based on giving levels (btw, does that just mean min XP needed to reach next level? Item for future discussion I guess) then I wouldn't do anything at intervals which awards 1/2 levels or 1/4 levels. I might be persuaded to give out the 1 level every 6 months of DMing actually AT the 6 month point though. I could see that perhaps.

-DM's get equal points based soley on time.
Lets not get into having to calculate one adventure's encounters versus anothers and such. Just time spent DMing should be fine.

garyh · Aug 28, 2008

Phoenix8008 said:
One question would be: what happens if somebody runs an adventure that only lasts 5 months? Do they get partial credit?

You get points worth XP for as long as the adventure goes, and if the 6 months of DMing per level was the rule, a 5 month game would get you points that could be converted into 5/6ths of a levels worth of XP. If you DM'd 9 months, you'd get 1.5 levels worth of XP. We're just setting the ratio of "X months DMing = 1 level" here, and then we'll reverse engineer the points and such to make it fit that ratio.