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Character play vs Player play
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6447269" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>In 4e level advance is a side-effect of play: if you play the game, a side-effect is that levels are gained. I would say that the system that makes level advance the biggest focus of play is by-the-book AD&D or B/X, because you won't earn serious XP unless you make serious efforts to acquire the gold.</p><p></p><p>Gygax frequently describes this with references to the PCs "seeking fortune" (eg PHB p 7, DMG pp 87, 96). He assumes that the motivation for playing is to earn gold, and thereby XP, and thereby levels. Here is an instance (PHB p 7):</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Inexperienced and of but small power at first, by dint of hard fighting an clever deeds, these adventurers advance in ability to become forces to be reckoned with - high priests or priestesses, lords, wizards and arch-magic, maters thieves. . . .</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">As a role player, <em>you become</em> Falstaff the fighter. . . and you will acquire gold, magic items and great renown as you become Falstaff the Invincible. . .</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">[O]ne player must serve as the <em>Dungeon Master</em>, the shaper of the fantasy milieu, the "world" in which all action will take place. The other participants become <em>adventurers</em> by creating character to explore the fantastic world and face all of its challenges . . . [E]ach character begins at the bottom of his or her chosen class (or profession). By successfully meeting the challenges posed, they gain <em>experience</em> and move upwards in power . . .</p><p></p><p>This is all under the heading "Introduction". It could hardly be clearer - the point of the game is to level your PC, by gaining XP.</p><p></p><p>Later editions - especially 2nd ed AD&D - <em>told</em> players not to care about levelling, but didn't actually do much to change the mechanical focus of the game away from accruing XP. 4e, by turning XP into a pacing device in the way I have described, actually removes XP as a goal of play. Because XP take care of themselves, being accrued basically at a steady hourly rate, the players are free to focus on playing the game.</p><p></p><p>In 4e, as I tried to explain, XP are not a reward. They are a pacing device, for managing the gradual transition of play through the levels and tiers of play. The fact that 4e's XP procedures go <em>against</em> characters being rewarded is the whole point of those procedures!</p><p></p><p>The same logic applies to the cliff example. If the "other direction" whereby the players circumvent the cliff is itself an interesting episode of play (eg a skill challenge, or some serious exploration that actually progresses the play of the game) then it earns XP according to the rules. If it is a 5-minute event at the table (eg as per my teleport example, or maybe the PCs conjure Phantom Steeds and circumvent the geography of the situation) then it doesn't earn XP, because there was no significant play of the game involved. (Unless getting to the top of the cliff was a quest; then quest XP would be earned.)</p><p></p><p>To reiterate, the point of awarding XP for the skill challenge is not because the players (or their characters) are rewarded for "begint the cliff". It's because resolving the skill challenge is about an hour of engaged play, and XP are accrued at a particular hourly rate, with the goal of gradually propelling the game through the tiers of play, and thereby through what I call "the story of D&D" - starting with goblins, finishing with demon princes.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6447269, member: 42582"] In 4e level advance is a side-effect of play: if you play the game, a side-effect is that levels are gained. I would say that the system that makes level advance the biggest focus of play is by-the-book AD&D or B/X, because you won't earn serious XP unless you make serious efforts to acquire the gold. Gygax frequently describes this with references to the PCs "seeking fortune" (eg PHB p 7, DMG pp 87, 96). He assumes that the motivation for playing is to earn gold, and thereby XP, and thereby levels. Here is an instance (PHB p 7): [indent]Inexperienced and of but small power at first, by dint of hard fighting an clever deeds, these adventurers advance in ability to become forces to be reckoned with - high priests or priestesses, lords, wizards and arch-magic, maters thieves. . . . As a role player, [I]you become[/I] Falstaff the fighter. . . and you will acquire gold, magic items and great renown as you become Falstaff the Invincible. . . [O]ne player must serve as the [I]Dungeon Master[/I], the shaper of the fantasy milieu, the "world" in which all action will take place. The other participants become [I]adventurers[/I] by creating character to explore the fantastic world and face all of its challenges . . . [E]ach character begins at the bottom of his or her chosen class (or profession). By successfully meeting the challenges posed, they gain [I]experience[/I] and move upwards in power . . .[/indent] This is all under the heading "Introduction". It could hardly be clearer - the point of the game is to level your PC, by gaining XP. Later editions - especially 2nd ed AD&D - [I]told[/I] players not to care about levelling, but didn't actually do much to change the mechanical focus of the game away from accruing XP. 4e, by turning XP into a pacing device in the way I have described, actually removes XP as a goal of play. Because XP take care of themselves, being accrued basically at a steady hourly rate, the players are free to focus on playing the game. In 4e, as I tried to explain, XP are not a reward. They are a pacing device, for managing the gradual transition of play through the levels and tiers of play. The fact that 4e's XP procedures go [I]against[/I] characters being rewarded is the whole point of those procedures! The same logic applies to the cliff example. If the "other direction" whereby the players circumvent the cliff is itself an interesting episode of play (eg a skill challenge, or some serious exploration that actually progresses the play of the game) then it earns XP according to the rules. If it is a 5-minute event at the table (eg as per my teleport example, or maybe the PCs conjure Phantom Steeds and circumvent the geography of the situation) then it doesn't earn XP, because there was no significant play of the game involved. (Unless getting to the top of the cliff was a quest; then quest XP would be earned.) To reiterate, the point of awarding XP for the skill challenge is not because the players (or their characters) are rewarded for "begint the cliff". It's because resolving the skill challenge is about an hour of engaged play, and XP are accrued at a particular hourly rate, with the goal of gradually propelling the game through the tiers of play, and thereby through what I call "the story of D&D" - starting with goblins, finishing with demon princes. [/QUOTE]
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