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<blockquote data-quote="KidSnide" data-source="post: 5141827" data-attributes="member: 54710">Experience points are also a major problem here.&nbsp; If PCs primarily get xp by defeating encounters, then churning through encounters efficiently becomes a player goal.&nbsp; There's nothing wrong with that, but it's not going to create a game in which the players focus on the adventure itself.&nbsp; Why should the PCs avoid an &quot;unnecessary&quot; fight if defeating monsters is their objective?If you want the PCs to focus on the adventure, you need to set the xp awards to that effect.&nbsp; Instead of giving xp for defeating monsters, you can give xp for story rewards (or treasure, if that's what the PCs are after).&nbsp; If the PCs know that they get half a level for routing the goblin tribe instead of getting 1/80th of a level per goblin they kill, that totally changes the correct strategy for handling the adventure.In a way, that's the genius of the old 1e xp model.&nbsp; Putting aside the strange logic of getting xp for finding gp, it aligned the player incentives with the character incentives -- both should prefer to avoid combat and get more loot!&nbsp; &nbsp; If you want a campaign about searching for loot, make loot the xp rewards.&nbsp; If you want a campaign about slaughtering monsters and defeating encounters, use the 3e/4e system.&nbsp; But if you want a campaign about achieving story goals (or more sandbox style achievements), then that's where the rewards needs to be.This is also a crucial point.&nbsp; A game that focuses on the adventure (instead of the encounter) needs a well written adventure -- not just a series of well written encounters.If you're dealing with a fixed location adventure like a dungeon, it needs to be a dynamic place in which abandoning it in mid-exploration has consequences.&nbsp; If the dungeon is too big to be explored in a single day, then there should be zones so the players can identify whether they have fully defeated a group and can retreat without suffering a counter-attack.&nbsp; There should also be some method by which the PCs can gain intelligence about the dungeon so they can make well-informed decisions about which entrance to attack from, which direction to go, etc...-KS</blockquote>

[QUOTE="KidSnide, post: 5141827, member: 54710"] Experience points are also a major problem here. If PCs primarily get xp by defeating encounters, then churning through encounters efficiently becomes a player goal. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's not going to create a game in which the players focus on the adventure itself. Why should the PCs avoid an "unnecessary" fight if [b][i]defeating monsters[/i][/b] is their objective? If you want the PCs to focus on the adventure, you need to set the xp awards to that effect. Instead of giving xp for defeating monsters, you can give xp for story rewards (or treasure, if that's what the PCs are after). If the PCs know that they get half a level for routing the goblin tribe instead of getting 1/80th of a level per goblin they kill, that totally changes the correct strategy for handling the adventure. In a way, that's the genius of the old 1e xp model. Putting aside the strange logic of getting xp for finding gp, it aligned the player incentives with the character incentives -- both should prefer to avoid combat and get more loot! If you want a campaign about searching for loot, make loot the xp rewards. If you want a campaign about slaughtering monsters and defeating encounters, use the 3e/4e system. But if you want a campaign about achieving story goals (or more sandbox style achievements), then that's where the rewards needs to be. This is also a crucial point. A game that focuses on the adventure (instead of the encounter) needs a well written adventure -- not just a series of well written encounters. If you're dealing with a fixed location adventure like a dungeon, it needs to be a dynamic place in which abandoning it in mid-exploration has consequences. If the dungeon is too big to be explored in a single day, then there should be zones so the players can identify whether they have fully defeated a group and can retreat without suffering a counter-attack. There should also be some method by which the PCs can gain intelligence about the dungeon so they can make well-informed decisions about which entrance to attack from, which direction to go, etc... -KS [/QUOTE]

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