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I used to give out character-specific rewards. Never a penalty; when the party split up, the different groups got different XP. Sidequests and personal quests sometimes gave different XP - personal quests especially, because everyone would get the "quest XP" (for overcoming the challenges /...

One thought I've had in the past - in movie terms - is "the camera is on these guys because they end up having the epic story. It could have been on any of a thousand other people. They don't survive because they are the stars; they are the stars because they are the ones who have (or will)...

I guess I do the same (in my current campaign), but weighted closer to the Schulb side of the scale. level 1ish is kids, teenagers, and completely untrained. level 2 is normal competence or older-but-not great. level 3 is very competent or normal-but-experienced. level 4 is elite/master...

Entirely homebrew campaign. I used the suggested XP awards initially, with characters leveling about every other session. Then in the teens it slacked off. The campaign ended with most characters at 28th, one having completed his Epic Destiny (the retired one). Duration also had a lot to do...

I always just pictured it (elves, dwarves, longlived races) being very slow and deliberate about their actions and their crafts: Humans will spend 4 weeks on a suit of plate armor, bang it out fast, and move on; a dwarf will spend a year making it Right, then spend another embellishing it, and...

I actually just emphasized that to my players in-game last night. "Why doesn't someone just clear out the Verdant Waste [a massive dangerous forest in the west-center of the Kingdom that spawns giant-sized creatures]?" "Oh, probably 20 'adventurers' set out every year from the capital -...

Someone said it quickly on page 1, but I will re-say it: 4e gave all magical thrown weapons the Returning property as a baseline rule. Which makes sense to me - as a creator, why spend all the time and effort to enchant a durable weapon (i.e. not an arrow) that gets used once? If it doesn't...

In my current campaign, "The Three Kindgoms" (the PHB races) are recent arrivals to an old world. "The Tribes" (the goblinoid races) have spread and control the entire rest of the world, but are closely tied to their "ancestor spirits", primal and fey spirits of nature from which they were...

In my previous campaign, 4e, new characters joined 1 level behind the other PCs. I had a player who kept switching characters, playing a bit before wanting to try out the next cool story, or the next shiny thing from the most recent splatbook... given that campaign ran 10 years (and 1 month)...

lol, yep, that was me. It would have been very unfortunate, but I wouldn't have prevented character death. They knew when they entered the situation it was risky and mostly "succeed or die" (story, Macguffins spent, dome of death, etc.). See also comment about "Fate Points" and "not pulling...

I agree, I actually give out some extra metacurrency (the Fate Points I mentioned in my last reply), just so I don't have to be (as) careful about the scenarios I put together... use your brain, make choices, know there's a safety net - but it won't hold up if you keep pursuing a stupid or...

I feel like I'm feeding a troll here, but I'll bite... Several sessions ago, the party was in a series of interdimensional ruins, some of which had different time-speeds just to complicate things. The almost-never-even hit rogue got surprised [for reasons/consequences of actions] by a golem...

I have to agree a bit with you on the "sheaf of dead characters" [also, remember "sheaf arrows"???]. I have a folder in a box somewhere downstairs with the mirror of that - the waiting list of characters (with backgrounds) ready to go for when the next PC dies... and that one dies... and then...

It's all perspective, though. McClane vs. a hand-picked team of well-armed terrorists. He shoots (okay, he shoots four or five times) , he kills a terrorist. Terrorist unloads a full clip, McClane is "missed". Is he a super-monk/Rogue (unarmored AC, high DEX, evasion against "full Auto" AoE...

I hear what you're saying, but that goes back to the fact that PCs will be in more combats than NPCs. Death spiral is "real", it makes sense. I've sparred a lot in martial arts, and the more I get hit, the less endurance I have... the more likely I take more hits! And then we're back to the...

That's well-stated, and makes sense. One of those "that's obvious, duh!" facts that wasn't actually obvious until it is pointed out. Yes, if the area has goups of a dozen goblins attacking wagons, the mechants hire at least 6 to 10 guards in response. If it's a half-dozen ogres, they don't go...

Very true. I noted that playing Cyberpunk, after being "raised" with D&D. Ouch, gunshots hurt!! IMC, I added "-1 to hit" at Bloodied (50%hp remaining), -2 at Battered (25% remaining), and -3 at Critical (10% remaining). Most unintelligent foes flee at Bloodied; intelligent foes weigh the...

I'm picturing "the mage lets the AC 20 Dodgy McSwashbuckler go first, only to suddenly get hit with all the javelins the so-called 'tank' dodged AND DIDN'T ACTUALLY STOP"! But, in the D&D rules now, they'd either "attack the swashbuckler", or "attack the mage, the swashbuckler gives +2 Cover AC...

Now this statement I can get behind. If two "similarly skilled" opponents fight, luck and tactics (or pre-fight strategy) will/should determine the winner, not that "god loves a fool" (i.e. the PC). Restated in Klingon, "Why would I ever engage in an equal fight?"

That means you're more comfortable playing a different game system. Nothing wrong with that! If you're facing D&D level and frequency of threats and combat, though, you're quickly making a new character...