Levels without Combat?

[JoeGKushner]

Are there any publishers planning on crafting methods for players to gain experience points without combat? Many people of noble rank or those who've received training at special colleges or halls often do not emerge as 1st level characters. To me, this is part of the biggest problem with a level based system. In GURPS or Champions, you just say, "You're playing very heroic characters. Here's X." In D&D, it's generally assumed you start off first level.

Way back in the day, Shadis had a series of Articles The World Beyond Hack & Slash and there was some great stuff in there that helped GMs provide XP for things outside of battle. I don't think I've seen anything similiar in 3rd ed.

Training seems overlooked outside of going up in levels. It's a end, not a means. You cannot train to go up a level, you train when you go up a level. Does that make sense?

Ah well. Just looking for something to provide players with when their not here and their using their skills in roles normally reserved for NPCs like alchemists or blacksmithing or training in war schools.

 

[Victim]

There is no need for rules that detail experience without combat: it's all in the Challenge Ratings. You gain experience points for challenges, so an Aristocrat could level by negotiating a favorable trade agreement; for that matter, so could a Wizard, assuming he really cared enough to do so.

 

[Morrus]

Although if some publisher were to provide a resource with lots of challenge ratings for non-combat tasks, I'd probably buy it.

 

[Corinth]

Already done: the DMG stipulates that the CR system's lynchpin is in resource expenditure. That's what you've got to account for in non-combat encounters; find a way for the PCs to commit X% of their total resources to ensure that they beat the challenge, and you've got a CR rating.

 

[jaerdaph]

You know, as my friends and I get older and the time between sessions becomes longer as real world demands take precedence, I've found that a suggestion for determining experience from d20 Call of Cthulhu is really the way to go - PCs gain one level every 2-3 sessions/2-3 adventures.

 

[Crothian]

Although if some publisher were to provide a resource with lots of challenge ratings for non-combat tasks, I'd probably buy it.

I second that.

 

[jaerdaph]

Although if some publisher were to provide a resource with lots of challenge ratings for non-combat tasks, I'd probably buy it.

Now *that's* a million dollar idea if ever I heard one.

I guess the next question is, would you as in Natural 20 Press be interested?

 

[Morrus]

I guess the next question is, would you as in Natural 20 Press be interested?

If a) someone wanted to write it and b) they came up with a decent proposal on how to make a good book out of it, then yeah, I'd be interested.

 

[netnomad]

Palladium Xp chart

I use the xp chart from old Palladuim games such as Rifts, Heros Unlimited etc...

The systems works for me since it rewartds players you non-combat actions and skill use. The way the xp chart is it tend to keep most player in the levels of 5-15 which I think is the choice level range.

Some of the things you get xp for is skill use, heroic acts, futile but well tought out plan etc... It adds a bit of spice. For my game I print out a list of all the non-combat areas of XP and the players keep track of what they got during the session. At the end they give it back to me and I tally the XP total. For example if they used skills 10 times they would get 250xp.

David

 

[oathbrothers]

What ever happened to the good old days of task completion based story awards? Write an adventure, and set XP values for your key plot points. Voila.

Will "Liu Bei" Russell
Oath Brothers