Rod Staffwand
aka Ermlaspur Flormbator
Presenting 20 Alternate Advancement Systems for 5E!
1. Millstone Advancement. The party gains 1 level for every millstone they carry with them.
2. Saison Advancement. XP for buying the DM slightly fruity beers. [This one is a personal favorite].
3. Story-Based Advancement. You gain a level if you tell the DM a really entertaining story on how and why your PC should level.
4. XP for GP. You gain 1xp per 1gp acquired as treasure. Sp, cp, pp, ep and all other forms of treasure do not count. Only gp.
5. Random Advancement/Regression. Roll 1d20 at the beginning of the session. That's your level.
6. Facebook Advancement. Gain 1xp for every NPC friend your PC makes.
7. The One Advancement. Kill a series of alternate dimension dopplegangers to advance in levels.
8. 1-Minute Advancement. Quickly level your PC when the DM shouts "DING!". If you don't complete the update in 60 seconds or less you fail to level and everyone laughs at you.
9. Player Fiat Advancement. You play your PC at 20th level and hope the DM doesn't notice.
10. Advanced Advancement. Every possible action your PC takes is worth some fractional xp total (say .00001 for taking a step or .00025 for eating a ham sandwich). Please keep meticulous notes.
11. Gold Star Advancement. Your PC doesn't advance, but the DM gives you a gold star for your character sheet whenever you do something cool. These have no in-game effect, but you can take it home and maybe mommy and daddy will put it on the refrigerator and say, "Little Timmy is doing a great in D&D this year!"
12. Survivor Advancement. Each session every player votes as to who should level. Least amount of votes is up for elimination! I hope your PC found the immunity idol hidden in the dung pit.
13. Lazy Advancement. You don't bother to level but force to make everything in the world weaker to compensate.
14. Anti-Advancement. You start at level 20 and the DM removes levels when you irritate him.
15. Bingo Advancement. Every PC gets a bingo card with relatively common adventuring incidents on them: "Killed orc" "Avoided treasure chest trap" "Parlayed with duke". Filling out a row gets you a level and a new card. [Actually, I kinda like this one...].
16. Merit-Based Advancement. Your PC needs to pass an examination testing their competency of current level abilities including an extensive oral examination of procedures and methods by higher-level practitioners of your class. In addition you should collect no less than ten letters of recommendations from pillars of the community with whom you've adventuring for or with over the course of the level. Final, you need a 10000 word easy, written by the player, entitled "Why [Insert PC Name Here] Should Be [Insert Next Higher Level Here]." Please weight 3 to 4 months for a response from the review board.
17. A Different Sort Of Milestone Advancement. PCs level on their birthday! Hurray and huzzah!
18. Anime Advancement. PCs can only level in the midst of boss combats, usually to the disbelief of the boss. "Impossible! I thought they were only level 5..."
19. Level Advancement. You gain a level every time you get to a deeper dungeon level.
20. Zen Advancement. You understand that levels are only a state of mind. Numbers on a sheet. You are both player and PC. Controller and avatar. All things are simultaneously possible and impossible.
1. Millstone Advancement. The party gains 1 level for every millstone they carry with them.
2. Saison Advancement. XP for buying the DM slightly fruity beers. [This one is a personal favorite].
3. Story-Based Advancement. You gain a level if you tell the DM a really entertaining story on how and why your PC should level.
4. XP for GP. You gain 1xp per 1gp acquired as treasure. Sp, cp, pp, ep and all other forms of treasure do not count. Only gp.
5. Random Advancement/Regression. Roll 1d20 at the beginning of the session. That's your level.
6. Facebook Advancement. Gain 1xp for every NPC friend your PC makes.
7. The One Advancement. Kill a series of alternate dimension dopplegangers to advance in levels.
8. 1-Minute Advancement. Quickly level your PC when the DM shouts "DING!". If you don't complete the update in 60 seconds or less you fail to level and everyone laughs at you.
9. Player Fiat Advancement. You play your PC at 20th level and hope the DM doesn't notice.
10. Advanced Advancement. Every possible action your PC takes is worth some fractional xp total (say .00001 for taking a step or .00025 for eating a ham sandwich). Please keep meticulous notes.
11. Gold Star Advancement. Your PC doesn't advance, but the DM gives you a gold star for your character sheet whenever you do something cool. These have no in-game effect, but you can take it home and maybe mommy and daddy will put it on the refrigerator and say, "Little Timmy is doing a great in D&D this year!"
12. Survivor Advancement. Each session every player votes as to who should level. Least amount of votes is up for elimination! I hope your PC found the immunity idol hidden in the dung pit.
13. Lazy Advancement. You don't bother to level but force to make everything in the world weaker to compensate.
14. Anti-Advancement. You start at level 20 and the DM removes levels when you irritate him.
15. Bingo Advancement. Every PC gets a bingo card with relatively common adventuring incidents on them: "Killed orc" "Avoided treasure chest trap" "Parlayed with duke". Filling out a row gets you a level and a new card. [Actually, I kinda like this one...].
16. Merit-Based Advancement. Your PC needs to pass an examination testing their competency of current level abilities including an extensive oral examination of procedures and methods by higher-level practitioners of your class. In addition you should collect no less than ten letters of recommendations from pillars of the community with whom you've adventuring for or with over the course of the level. Final, you need a 10000 word easy, written by the player, entitled "Why [Insert PC Name Here] Should Be [Insert Next Higher Level Here]." Please weight 3 to 4 months for a response from the review board.
17. A Different Sort Of Milestone Advancement. PCs level on their birthday! Hurray and huzzah!
18. Anime Advancement. PCs can only level in the midst of boss combats, usually to the disbelief of the boss. "Impossible! I thought they were only level 5..."
19. Level Advancement. You gain a level every time you get to a deeper dungeon level.
20. Zen Advancement. You understand that levels are only a state of mind. Numbers on a sheet. You are both player and PC. Controller and avatar. All things are simultaneously possible and impossible.