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I think the D&D experience system has a lot to do with my players being murder hobos.
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<blockquote data-quote="GrahamWills" data-source="post: 6836887" data-attributes="member: 75787"><p>Monte Cook argues persuasively that the XP system can be a defining quality for what drives play at your table. He states:</p><p></p><p>The core of gameplay in Numenera—the answer to the question “What do characters do in this game?”—is “Discover new things or old things that are new again.” This can be the discovery of something a character can use, like an artifact. It makes the character more powerful because it almost certainly grants a new capability or option, but it’s also a discovery unto itself and results in a gain of experience points.</p><p></p><p>He designed the XP system to reward discovery and not combat. This has made a difference at my table. -- not just from old-school systems that reward killing, but even from systems that are milestone-based or quest-based (like 13th Age). My Numenéra players are very likely to go look at something, investigate it, and then run away or ignore it. They are also much more likely to push buttons, try random things and interact with the world.</p><p></p><p>Image a scenario where there's a fight likely to start with some abhumans/orcs. There is also a set of levels that can be pushed. In 3.5 games, invariably the approach (which is pretty commonly the correct way to do it) is to kill everything, search for info on how to operate the machinery, and try the levers. In 13th Age, my players are pretty likely to try either first. Probably the combat-built characters will attack, and the drow pastry chef bard will try out the levers. In Numenéra they ware highly likely to run to the levers, try them out, and if nothing interesting happens, leave or try harder.</p><p></p><p>Because of the XP rules, combat in Numenéra is seen as an annoyance to be avoided. It slows down your ability to get important things done. In old-school D&D it's the reverse; some players will even get annoyed with a game session with no combat, because combat si the most rewarded activity. Even when we replace the XP system with a goal-based system, we tend to phrase it in combat terms: kill the dragon, get rid of the orcs, solve the goblin problem, suppress the thieves guild.</p><p></p><p>I used to use the full XP rules from Rolemaster (back when I loved book-keeping ...) and that had two very interesting effects. First was that the amount of Xp you got from fighting something new was HUGELY more than the amount for something you knew. So the party moved around a lot (good!) so they could meet new and interesting creatures (good!) and kill them (not so good). Second, you got XP for traveling. Once they got their hands on a magic carpet, they immediately loaded up with long-term supplies and spells and started on a tour of, well, everywhere. Not sure if that ended up good or bad, but it was very clear that the XP system was motivating actions very strongly.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GrahamWills, post: 6836887, member: 75787"] Monte Cook argues persuasively that the XP system can be a defining quality for what drives play at your table. He states: The core of gameplay in Numenera—the answer to the question “What do characters do in this game?”—is “Discover new things or old things that are new again.” This can be the discovery of something a character can use, like an artifact. It makes the character more powerful because it almost certainly grants a new capability or option, but it’s also a discovery unto itself and results in a gain of experience points. He designed the XP system to reward discovery and not combat. This has made a difference at my table. -- not just from old-school systems that reward killing, but even from systems that are milestone-based or quest-based (like 13th Age). My Numenéra players are very likely to go look at something, investigate it, and then run away or ignore it. They are also much more likely to push buttons, try random things and interact with the world. Image a scenario where there's a fight likely to start with some abhumans/orcs. There is also a set of levels that can be pushed. In 3.5 games, invariably the approach (which is pretty commonly the correct way to do it) is to kill everything, search for info on how to operate the machinery, and try the levers. In 13th Age, my players are pretty likely to try either first. Probably the combat-built characters will attack, and the drow pastry chef bard will try out the levers. In Numenéra they ware highly likely to run to the levers, try them out, and if nothing interesting happens, leave or try harder. Because of the XP rules, combat in Numenéra is seen as an annoyance to be avoided. It slows down your ability to get important things done. In old-school D&D it's the reverse; some players will even get annoyed with a game session with no combat, because combat si the most rewarded activity. Even when we replace the XP system with a goal-based system, we tend to phrase it in combat terms: kill the dragon, get rid of the orcs, solve the goblin problem, suppress the thieves guild. I used to use the full XP rules from Rolemaster (back when I loved book-keeping ...) and that had two very interesting effects. First was that the amount of Xp you got from fighting something new was HUGELY more than the amount for something you knew. So the party moved around a lot (good!) so they could meet new and interesting creatures (good!) and kill them (not so good). Second, you got XP for traveling. Once they got their hands on a magic carpet, they immediately loaded up with long-term supplies and spells and started on a tour of, well, everywhere. Not sure if that ended up good or bad, but it was very clear that the XP system was motivating actions very strongly. [/QUOTE]
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I think the D&D experience system has a lot to do with my players being murder hobos.
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