I actually plan on using something similar to this in a game I'm starting soon; I take things much further though. I want to divorce character advancement from combat as much as possible because my players don't enjoy hack and slash. It is difficult in the current system to objectively reward players for challenging themselves in other ways. Thus the following:
Advancement:
Level: Characters gain experience points (XP) equal to the difficulty class or opposing roll of any attack roll, spell check, or saving throw they attempt, whether they succeed or fail. Improving a character by 1 level requires spending 200(2 + Current Level) XP, regardless of the class in which the level is gained. (There are other mechanics I tweak to make this more compatible with casters and gestalt characters.)
Skills: Each skill has its own pool of expertise (XT) that can only be used to improve that skill. Characters gain XT equal to the difficulty class or opposing roll of any skill check they attempt with that skill, whether they succeed or fail. Improving a skill by 1 rank requires spending 50(2 + Current Rank) XT. Learning a skill trick costs 100 XT.
Each point of expertise represents roughly 1 hour of dedicated training, spread over the course of a day on average (30 XT = 30 hours spread over 1 month). In order to actually gain points in this way, over the course of downtime in a game, requires consistency. To prove this characters make ability checks (d20 + Skill's Ability Modifier vs. DC 10 + Current Skill Rank) for each month of training attempted; success means the character gains 30 XT in that skill. (AP is gained for these checks, see below.)
Multiple skills can be trained over the same one-month period, but only up to the ability modifier of the attribute upon which they are based, minimum 1. (A character of Intelligence 14 can only train 2 knowledge skills at a time, for example.) A seperate ability check must be made for each skill.
Otherwise, for every in-game year a skill goes unused (not necessarily untrained) it loses one rank.
Attributes: Each attribute has its own pool of adaptation (AP) that can only be used to improve that attribute. Characters gain AP toward an attribute equal to the difficulty class or opposing roll of any d20 roll it applies its modifier to. Improving an attribute by 1 score requires spending 2(Current Score* x Current Score*) AP.
* Minimum 10.
The numbers are mostly arbitrary right now and will likely change as I see how they affect play. A key concept here is that, outside combat and the argument system I'm drafting, I won't be letting my players make rolls unless I can think up an interesting result of failure. If there's no risk involved I say, "You succeed," and move on to the next challenge because I'd rather not get bogged down in trivialities if I can help it.
The main goals I have in mind:
1. Players are encouraged to be daring and try difficult things.
2. Advancement is based entirely on the challenges faced and how the player chooses to meet them, combative or not: Do I climb the wall, look for a secret passage, cast dimension door or break through it?
3. Rate of advancement can be easily adjusted by editing the costs of ranks, levels and scores because the points gained are relatively static.
4. XP costs for magic items and spells have real meaning for characters in terms of how long it takes to advance. (I probably need to tweak those some too, though.)
5. It doesn't require a lot of math during play since you supply the DCs and opponents. The player tells you what he wants to do and how, you tell him the difficulty and failure consequences, he accepts the challenge, jots down the XP, XT, and/or AP gained and rolls the dice. The rest is story telling.
Advancement:
Level: Characters gain experience points (XP) equal to the difficulty class or opposing roll of any attack roll, spell check, or saving throw they attempt, whether they succeed or fail. Improving a character by 1 level requires spending 200(2 + Current Level) XP, regardless of the class in which the level is gained. (There are other mechanics I tweak to make this more compatible with casters and gestalt characters.)
Skills: Each skill has its own pool of expertise (XT) that can only be used to improve that skill. Characters gain XT equal to the difficulty class or opposing roll of any skill check they attempt with that skill, whether they succeed or fail. Improving a skill by 1 rank requires spending 50(2 + Current Rank) XT. Learning a skill trick costs 100 XT.
Each point of expertise represents roughly 1 hour of dedicated training, spread over the course of a day on average (30 XT = 30 hours spread over 1 month). In order to actually gain points in this way, over the course of downtime in a game, requires consistency. To prove this characters make ability checks (d20 + Skill's Ability Modifier vs. DC 10 + Current Skill Rank) for each month of training attempted; success means the character gains 30 XT in that skill. (AP is gained for these checks, see below.)
Multiple skills can be trained over the same one-month period, but only up to the ability modifier of the attribute upon which they are based, minimum 1. (A character of Intelligence 14 can only train 2 knowledge skills at a time, for example.) A seperate ability check must be made for each skill.
Otherwise, for every in-game year a skill goes unused (not necessarily untrained) it loses one rank.
Attributes: Each attribute has its own pool of adaptation (AP) that can only be used to improve that attribute. Characters gain AP toward an attribute equal to the difficulty class or opposing roll of any d20 roll it applies its modifier to. Improving an attribute by 1 score requires spending 2(Current Score* x Current Score*) AP.
* Minimum 10.
The numbers are mostly arbitrary right now and will likely change as I see how they affect play. A key concept here is that, outside combat and the argument system I'm drafting, I won't be letting my players make rolls unless I can think up an interesting result of failure. If there's no risk involved I say, "You succeed," and move on to the next challenge because I'd rather not get bogged down in trivialities if I can help it.
The main goals I have in mind:
1. Players are encouraged to be daring and try difficult things.
2. Advancement is based entirely on the challenges faced and how the player chooses to meet them, combative or not: Do I climb the wall, look for a secret passage, cast dimension door or break through it?
3. Rate of advancement can be easily adjusted by editing the costs of ranks, levels and scores because the points gained are relatively static.
4. XP costs for magic items and spells have real meaning for characters in terms of how long it takes to advance. (I probably need to tweak those some too, though.)
5. It doesn't require a lot of math during play since you supply the DCs and opponents. The player tells you what he wants to do and how, you tell him the difficulty and failure consequences, he accepts the challenge, jots down the XP, XT, and/or AP gained and rolls the dice. The rest is story telling.
