Level Up (A5E) Going old school: Gold as XP

[Jacob Vardy]

I'm currently doing coins for xp with two tables in a shared world. PCs can just go to the big city and buy a level's worth of training. A level costs 1 silver piece for every 1xp and 1 day of training for every 100xp.

So far the grognard table has been slightly more resistant than the table of first time players.

 

[GKEnialb]

I remember something more detailed than this, an actual table specialized for the individual classes and the amount of XP gained for each activity. The description given above is basically a description of when to give XP in general, and one of the reasons why I ignore Xp altogether.
For the fighter there's a 100% overlap between gaining XP for defeating monsters and the indication given above.
The only thing I liked about this (as opposed to 3.5) is that creating magic items or researching magic actually gives XP instead of consuming them, so it was a much more rewarding activity. I love that LU has actual mechanics for the last two, and the costs are very reasonable and generally acceptable.

2E DMG Individual Class Awards:

• Warrior:
  • Per Hit Die of creature defeated: 10 XP/level
• Priest:
  • Per successful use of a granted power: 100 XP
  • Spells cast to further ethos: 100XP/spell level
  • Making potion or scroll: XP value
  • Making permanent magical item: XP value
• Wizard:
  • Spells cast to overcome foes or problems: 50 XP/spell level
  • Spells successfully researched: 500 XP/spell level
  • Making potion or scroll: XP value
  • Making permanent magical item: XP value
• Rogue:
  • Per successful use of a special ability: 200 XP
  • Per gold piece value of treasure obtained: 2 XP
  • Per Hit Die of creatures defeated (bard only): 5 XP

 

[Larnievc]

I got to thinking that this could be an interesting dynamic. Sure, a narrator would have to increase the wealth of drops to compensate for XP, and sure, players could buy (maybe) higher tiered magical items at earlier levels, but it would allow for strongholds to be invested in fairly early. And you can end up with a player turning into Batman - reliant on gadgets, wealth, and brains when dealing with Justice League level threats, with the rest of the party having super powers. But the flatter scaling of 5e in general and Adv 5e keeping the same scaling, it would be viable for a rich-but-low-level character to keep up with the higher powered ones if they play it smart.

I always thought that you got xp for the gp but you did not have to (or be able to) carry it all off with you.

So you find 10k gp in copper; you get the xp even though you might not bother taking any of it.

 

[Faolyn]

I always thought that you got xp for the gp but you did not have to (or be able to) carry it all off with you.

So you find 10k gp in copper; you get the xp even though you might not bother taking any of it.

Nah. Then anyone who went to a museum would gain multiple levels per visit!

 

[WarDriveWorley]

Nah. Then anyone who went to a museum would gain multiple levels per visit!

Imagine the levels on those cashiers

 

[Larnievc]

Nah. Then anyone who went to a museum would gain multiple levels per visit!

I gave the party an NFT of the money so they would always have ownership.

 

[Jacob Vardy]

I gave the party an NFT of the money so they would always have ownership.

¿From Nole Spoor, the villainous owner of an emerald mine?

 

[the Jester]

I'm actually running a standard 5e game using a variant of this, where you only get xp by spending money frivolously. My explicit intent is to promote a sword-and-sorcery, more mercenary and less heroic, playstyle.

I haven't been running it long enough for it to play out much yet, but there are certain things that some might look at as bugs that I see as features here. For instance, a pc might sell off their items to get the money to burn to level up. Well, that fits with the genre- there's a thing where Conan (or whoever) ends up penniless and with basically starting gear after the end of some of his adventures, because he spends his treasure on ale and whores and gambles it away. "I hocked my +2 sword for Stygian lotus, but it was great Stygian lotus!" Hasn't happened yet, but I've explicitly told the pcs that I am down with that sort of thing.