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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RadiantMan" data-source="post: 2773826" data-attributes="member: 38545">This is some great feedback and I really appreciate it.Okay... average commoner was a very bad example. I really wasn't looking at this as a way to generate "high level" commoners, experts, adepts, etc. However, if you were using the village/town generation system in the DMG, you do have circumstances in larger villages where higher level commoners, experts, warriors, etc. do exist. So they are not unheard of.Rare, yes; non-existent, no.Also, I really was not intending this to replace XP while playing. As I stated in my first post, "this system could prove useful for the creation of PCs and NPCs." And that's as far as I intended for it to be used.If you knew you needed a middle-aged wizard NPC, though, here's a system for determining his level. Or if you were interested in all the players starting at a more mature age, instead of adolescents. Or, if you wanted to use it backwards, you can find out how old that 14th-level NPC should be. It might be very useful that way in detailing NPCs encounters.Some of the process was based on a system presented in one of the Rolemaster Companions. In that system, a Self-Discipline (a stat in RM, if you're not familiar) roll was made to determine how much activity was performed in a day. A certain amount of XP were awarded on a day-to-day basis. That number was then modified by the Self-Discipline and Memory (another stat) of the character. If you wanted a straight translation, Wisdom seems to answer for both SD & Me. However, the concept behind the system seemed to fit a Will save better, at least in my mind. Because it was a measure of how determined a character would be to act, perform, adventure, etc. on a daily or weekly basis. So I saw that a character with a stronger will would push himself for more XP.On another note, SD worked really well in the RM system, since races such as Elves were penalized in their SD (they live so long, they could care less about ever getting around to doing anything).I do disagree that XP reflects combat prowess. Yes, D&D mostly awards XP for combat, but not every adventure is a dungeon hack and many DMs, (even the DMG encourages this) reward XP for story contribution, problem solving, etc. If a silver-tongued thief talks his way out of a fight with an encounter, does he deserve less XP than the fighter that bashes its head in? Both characters overcame their encounter, but in different ways. I think XP rewards should reflect character concepts. Otherwise its all roll-playing instead of roleplaying. If a player really hams up his bard, shouldn't there be some XP reward whenever he performs before a crowd? His character is definitely gaining in Experience, if not combat experience.So I do think that everyone has an opportunity to gain experience. My grandfather is a farmer. My dad is a programmer. My grandfather, in game terms, should be far more experienced as a farmer than my dad is as a programmer. I thought that's how all the classes were presented. A high level thief's not a better fighter than a high level fighter. But he is a better thief. So a high level commoner's not going to go toe-to-toe with a high level fighter. But a fighter hasn't got a chance of pulling up a bigger turnip.But please don't take any of this as my being defensive over my little system. I wanted to write it up and present to you guys and see what came of it. And I also hope that you might help me tweak it and make it something that could work very well.It appears that you do have some interest and I wanted to clear up some of the misconceptions.So, how could something like this be made to work, not as a system for XP in game, but for creating characters with realistic levels.</blockquote>

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