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<blockquote data-quote="Nellisir" data-source="post: 3832869" data-attributes="member: 70">I think that's a bit of a false argument.&nbsp; A few spells, and all magic item creation, are the only time XP becomes &quot;essense&quot; [sic].&nbsp; Nothing else in the game affects XP.&nbsp; Older characters, or wiser characters, don't automatically have more essence.&nbsp; You can't spend essence to make your turning extra powerful or your sneaking extra quiet, and no monster eats XP.&nbsp; Some eat -levels-, but XP is a way of measuring up to levels, not levels themselves.&nbsp; A raised character loses a level whether that level cost 2000xp or 20,000xp.&nbsp; A creature that drains a level drains a level, not 5000xp.&nbsp; Furthermore, level drain works regardless of whether you use the standard xp table, or the variant xp table in UA, or destiny points, or simply awarding level increases at story points in the campaign; spending xp for magic items does not.If you really want to take something away from the characters, have them spend skill points - storywise, that's even more dramatic than xp, since the character/player now faces a very real dilemma - a magic item, or more learning?&nbsp; In story terms, the magic item is bought with a very real, and finite, piece of the caster's essence, and a caster with a fondness for creation can eventually end up a virtual blank slate as they strip-mine their knowledge and abilities for material power.Alternately, make xp costs a fraction of levels rather than a fixed amount.&nbsp; Costs would have to scale with levels (e.g., 100gp market value = .1 level loss at first -fifth levels, 500gp = .1 level loss at sixth - tenth, 1,000gp = .1 at eleventh, 10,000 gp = .1 at sixteenth, etc) but bookkeeping would decline as less valuable magic items become essentially &quot;free&quot; at higher levels (which they are anyways) and casters could advance with the rest of the party unless they overspent and dropped an entire level.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Nellisir, post: 3832869, member: 70"] I think that's a bit of a false argument. A few spells, and all magic item creation, are the only time XP becomes "essense" [sic]. Nothing else in the game affects XP. Older characters, or wiser characters, don't automatically have more essence. You can't spend essence to make your turning extra powerful or your sneaking extra quiet, and no monster eats XP. Some eat -levels-, but XP is a way of measuring up to levels, not levels themselves. A raised character loses a level whether that level cost 2000xp or 20,000xp. A creature that drains a level drains a level, not 5000xp. Furthermore, level drain works regardless of whether you use the standard xp table, or the variant xp table in UA, or destiny points, or simply awarding level increases at story points in the campaign; spending xp for magic items does not. If you really want to take something away from the characters, have them spend skill points - storywise, that's even more dramatic than xp, since the character/player now faces a very real dilemma - a magic item, or more learning? In story terms, the magic item is bought with a very real, and finite, piece of the caster's essence, and a caster with a fondness for creation can eventually end up a virtual blank slate as they strip-mine their knowledge and abilities for material power. Alternately, make xp costs a fraction of levels rather than a fixed amount. Costs would have to scale with levels (e.g., 100gp market value = .1 level loss at first -fifth levels, 500gp = .1 level loss at sixth - tenth, 1,000gp = .1 at eleventh, 10,000 gp = .1 at sixteenth, etc) but bookkeeping would decline as less valuable magic items become essentially "free" at higher levels (which they are anyways) and casters could advance with the rest of the party unless they overspent and dropped an entire level. [/QUOTE]

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