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<blockquote data-quote="Balesir" data-source="post: 5468553" data-attributes="member: 27160">This sounds like a pretty setting-exploration focussed game - for which I would personally not use an xp/level system at all.&nbsp; The acquisition of information in such a game can be its own reward, and linking that to 'level' seems somewhat odd, to me.&nbsp; I could pick a system with mechanisms for character change, but without the necessity that the characters get mechanically &quot;bigger&quot; that is normally predicated by xp and/or levels.&nbsp; Character levels generally means &quot;getting more powerful&quot;, whereas character change can mean ageing, changes due to experience (both in terms of skills and in terms of personality) and training to better fit oneself for an intended goal as well as atrophy of skills neglected in pursuit of other things.For D&amp;D4E, specifically, I run xp divided accross the party for challenges overcome.&nbsp; The &quot;drama&quot; award suggestions I quite honestly see as unhelpful, for 4E, since their inclusion does not fit with the rest of the game.&nbsp; With (the original) challenge awards, the drive - and the link to teamwork and progression - is clear.&nbsp; Sure, it kind-of amounts to &quot;X successes = level up&quot;*, but by giving players choices over which challenge to face when and giving xp after each encounter, the structure of the game for the players is clearer and the &quot;buzz&quot; for beating a tough challenge more palpable.* This is not quite true, as there should be easier and tougher challenges mixed in, with some variation between the number of encounters needed to level up each time.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Balesir, post: 5468553, member: 27160"] This sounds like a pretty setting-exploration focussed game - for which I would personally not use an xp/level system at all. The acquisition of information in such a game can be its own reward, and linking that to 'level' seems somewhat odd, to me. I could pick a system with mechanisms for character [I]change[/I], but without the necessity that the characters get mechanically "bigger" that is normally predicated by xp and/or levels. Character levels generally means "getting more powerful", whereas character change can mean ageing, changes due to experience (both in terms of skills and in terms of personality) and training to better fit oneself for an intended goal as well as atrophy of skills neglected in pursuit of other things. For D&D4E, specifically, I run xp divided accross the party for challenges overcome. The "drama" award suggestions I quite honestly see as unhelpful, for 4E, since their inclusion does not fit with the rest of the game. With (the original) challenge awards, the drive - and the link to teamwork and progression - is clear. Sure, it kind-of amounts to "X successes = level up"*, but by giving players choices over which challenge to face when and giving xp after each encounter, the structure of the game for the players is clearer and the "buzz" for beating a tough challenge more palpable. * This is not quite true, as there should be easier and tougher challenges mixed in, with [I]some[/I] variation between the number of encounters needed to level up each time. [/QUOTE]

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