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In Defense of Milestone Leveling
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<blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 7572157" data-attributes="member: 97077"><p>It should be noted that while many people say "milestone XP," what they mean is what the DMG refers to as "session-based advancement" or "story-based advancement" (generally the latter in my experience). Milestone XP still uses experience points - it's just that the DM awards them when the PCs have engaged in certain events or earned designated achievements. See the DMG, pages 260-261 for details.</p><p></p><p>But regardless of what you call it: <strong>Players in a game will tend to do the things for which they are incentivized. </strong></p><p></p><p>Therefore, if the DM wants the players to focus on following, for example, the plot of an event-based adventure, then milestone XP may be a good choice. The DM gives them XP when engage with and earn specific achievements that presumably the DM has made clear ahead of time. They don't gain XP if they ignore events or challenges and go off-track. So, naturally, they will tend to follow the plot the DM has prepared.</p><p></p><p>If the DM is running a location-based adventure instead, then standard XP may be a better choice than milestone XP, awarding XP for overcoming combat or noncombat challenges as appropriate to the DM's vision of the campaign's theme and tone. In many of my campaigns, for example, I emphasize the combat and social interaction pillars. Therefore, if the PCs break some NPCs' bones with sticks and stones, that's worth XP, but so too is adjusting their attitudes with words instead. Overcoming exploration challenges is rewarded with treasure and other non-XP benefits. In this set up, the players know that if they want to advance their characters in levels, they need to fight or talk. If they want some loot, they need to poke around for it.</p><p></p><p>My key point here is that it doesn't always have to be all one way for every adventure and campaign the DM runs. I frequently change it up based the group dynamic and the campaign's structure, theme, and tone. Let it be a thing that reinforces the behavior that's going to help the DM and group achieve their shared vision for the play experience.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="iserith, post: 7572157, member: 97077"] It should be noted that while many people say "milestone XP," what they mean is what the DMG refers to as "session-based advancement" or "story-based advancement" (generally the latter in my experience). Milestone XP still uses experience points - it's just that the DM awards them when the PCs have engaged in certain events or earned designated achievements. See the DMG, pages 260-261 for details. But regardless of what you call it: [B]Players in a game will tend to do the things for which they are incentivized. [/B] Therefore, if the DM wants the players to focus on following, for example, the plot of an event-based adventure, then milestone XP may be a good choice. The DM gives them XP when engage with and earn specific achievements that presumably the DM has made clear ahead of time. They don't gain XP if they ignore events or challenges and go off-track. So, naturally, they will tend to follow the plot the DM has prepared. If the DM is running a location-based adventure instead, then standard XP may be a better choice than milestone XP, awarding XP for overcoming combat or noncombat challenges as appropriate to the DM's vision of the campaign's theme and tone. In many of my campaigns, for example, I emphasize the combat and social interaction pillars. Therefore, if the PCs break some NPCs' bones with sticks and stones, that's worth XP, but so too is adjusting their attitudes with words instead. Overcoming exploration challenges is rewarded with treasure and other non-XP benefits. In this set up, the players know that if they want to advance their characters in levels, they need to fight or talk. If they want some loot, they need to poke around for it. My key point here is that it doesn't always have to be all one way for every adventure and campaign the DM runs. I frequently change it up based the group dynamic and the campaign's structure, theme, and tone. Let it be a thing that reinforces the behavior that's going to help the DM and group achieve their shared vision for the play experience. [/QUOTE]
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