D&D 5E My D&D Next Wishlist: Bring back XP for GP!

[imurphy943]

IMO, you don't "buy" experience with your gold, nor do you get experience for gold that you have at the start of the game.

If you wanted to gauge a real person's professional skill, one of the first things you would check would be how much money they make at their job. The same for D&D. If you only give XP for fighting monsters, then the people who manage to get into a nearly impenetrable crypt filled with traps, then snatch a gem from within an enormous tangle of razor-sharp barbed wire and twisted blades (all poisoned) get no experience.

You could give XP for skill checks, based on DC and risk involved, but then the guys who brought a rope and grappling hook (thereby lessening the climb DC) get less XP than the guys who forgot to buy equipment before leaving town and just clambered up.

 

[Greg K]

How many people actually followed that rule? It's just anecdotal but I can't remember anyone doing so. Plus the G123 modules specifically state PCs can level up when the rest outside the dungeon.

The bit about getting out of the dungeon with your xp/gp was generally enforced.

I used the training rules. I still require a trainer in 3e as well for multiclassing into a new class and some other things.

 

[GX.Sigma]

IMO, you don't "buy" experience with your gold, nor do you get experience for gold that you have at the start of the game.

If you wanted to gauge a real person's professional skill, one of the first things you would check would be how much money they make at their job. The same for D&D. If you only give XP for fighting monsters, then the people who manage to get into a nearly impenetrable crypt filled with traps, then snatch a gem from within an enormous tangle of razor-sharp barbed wire and twisted blades (all poisoned) get no experience.

You could give XP for skill checks, based on DC and risk involved, but then the guys who brought a rope and grappling hook (thereby lessening the climb DC) get less XP than the guys who forgot to buy equipment before leaving town and just clambered up.

My stance has always been that each challenge has a certain amount of XP tied to it. If the players defeat the challenge (whether by fighting it, sneaking around it, or making friends with it), they get the XP. In other words, I don't think treasure XP is needed to support that style of play--but I would love to play a game with treasure XP, so I totally support its inclusion as a module.

 

[Obryn]

Not just no, but Hell NO!!!

It's bad enough when everyone has to save every copper so that they can go down to MageMart and buy their next +1 upgrade (which I was hoping this next edition was moving past)...I certainly don't want to move from that to saving every copper so that I can buy actual experience/levels...

That's kind of the opposite point.

If you have a reward system set up where you get x xp for killing monsters in actually dangerous fights, and 4x xp for taking their stuff, just taking their stuff is a viable and smart option.

That's it. No comment on quest XP, etc. I'm saying I'd like 1e-style reward mechanisms to be supported.

-O

 

[johnsemlak]

If your going to have gold converted into XP, one thing to consider is if in your world Magic Items are commodified and easily purchased as in the default 3e world. In this case, characters acquiring gold is a double bonus because they get the gold and then buy magic items which further power them up. Perhaps that's to be expected--but can throw your game off balance. If magic items are 'rare' and not easily bought, then it's a bit different.

 

[Libramarian]

If your going to have gold converted into XP, one thing to consider is if in your world Magic Items are commodified and easily purchased as in the default 3e world. In this case, characters acquiring gold is a double bonus because they get the gold and then buy magic items which further power them up. Perhaps that's to be expected--but can throw your game off balance. If magic items are 'rare' and not easily bought, then it's a bit different.

Right, but if you do like your magic items rare and not easily bought, as I do, then XP for GP is great.

It's like "inherent bonuses" for treasure.

Not just no, but Hell NO!!!

It's bad enough when everyone has to save every copper so that they can go down to MageMart and buy their next +1 upgrade (which I was hoping this next edition was moving past)...I certainly don't want to move from that to saving every copper so that I can buy actual experience/levels...

Coinage should NOT be directly convertible to personal combat power (that was the problem with the MageMart, and buying levels is even worse)...Money helps you to win friends and influence people (or buy ale/whores, minstrels, jewelry, castles, or make donations to your church or other charitable gifts that befit a would-be hero, etc.)...I don't want my character to gain a 1Up for every 100 coins he collects...This isn't Super Mario Bros....

Your character should get xp for things other than combat, sure (you should get the exact same amount of xp for sneaking past a mob, negotiating with them using diplomacy, or slashing them to bits)...But you shouldn't be able to simply buy xp/levels with treasure...

Your character's economic status shouldn't have any effect on his class level...It would be nice if a young noble could begin his adventure alongside a pauper thief without having to artificially limit the noble's wealth due to the ability to directly trade gold for magically enhanced equipment and extra class levels...

I don't want a situation where for all practical purposes only wealthy people can be high level and all high level people are necessarily wealthy...

I want Bilbo and the Dwarves to be able to find Smaug's treasure horde without being pressured by the system to buy themselves up to Epic level and go down to the corner store and buy sets of +5 equipment for everyone...And I don't want the system to basically dictate a minimum level they would have to be before they are allowed to find said horde...

Just my 2 cents (on second thought, I probably should save those to buy some xp)...

You're not talking about what we are talking about. XP for GP means you get XP for acquiring treasure. You don't spend the treasure on XP. You get it in addition to the treasure. It accomplishes exactly what you want. You don't need Mage Marts because finding treasure makes the PCs more powerful directly, so they don't need to spend it upgrading their magic items. It doesn't mean only wealthy people are high level; you don't lose XP when you spend your money.

It is kind of like Super Mario Bros (more accurately Super Mario Bros is like D&D) but I don't mind that personally.

 

[Libramarian]

I've seen a suggestion that PCs only get xp from gold once they spend it or give it away. So Conan types would get xp from ale and whores, paladins from paying tithes and giving alms, and so forth. You don't exactly get xp for gold, you get xp for largesse.

This rule sounds good on paper, but after thinking about it more I don't think it's such a great idea. If you force players to spend their money when they don't care and just want to get on with the adventure, you could end up with Brewster's Millions the RPG.

 

[Yora]

I think xp for gp would be a great optional rule but I think a lot of people would be against it as a standard rule. I agree with the above poster that there should be a lot of avenues for xp. One I would add, which was in the Companion Set rules, was gaining xp for running a dominion.

It makes some degree of sense for dungeon crawl games.

In story games, it's just silly. "Oh wait, let us break open all the other bank vaults while we are here stealing the secret documents, because we want the XP."

 

[Mattachine]

It makes some degree of sense for dungeon crawl games.

In story games, it's just silly. "Oh wait, let us break open all the other bank vaults while we are here stealing the secret documents, because we want the XP."

I recall how some of my AD&D games had players carefully taking every last possibly valuable item from a defeated enemy's stronghold. Also, adventures that were supposed to be about a mystery, a rescue, etc., became about securing loot.

 

[Sadras]

I would like XP for all sorts of stuff.

XP for slaying monsters, okay.

XP for finding treasure, sure.

XP for completing quests? Yup!

XP for discovering parts of the map? Oh yeah!

XP for talking to certain NPCs? Why not?

XP for character development! Yeah!.

We use a system like this already, with a few exceptions. It has taken a long time for us to develop a system that our entire group is comfortable and happy with for both player and DM.
- Completing Major Quests 40XP Minor Quest 15
- Character Development 15XP
- Good roleplaying moment 10XP
- Encounter New Monster 10 XP plus 5XP per feature of monster (i.e. dragon - flight / claw / tail / breath / resistance / incredible strength...anything interesting in the fight gets an additional 5XP, so something like a dragon could earn you 50XP, only the first time and you dont necessarily have to slay it, but the experience the character gains of encountering should not be lost.
- Using a skill/power creatively (new way) 10XP
- New major road travelled, Learning something new about the Land/Monsters/People of Interest, Entering new town for first time - 10XP (as they learn more about the world around them, they grow as characters and that is rewarded/aknowledged threw experience points)
- Learning about/Using a magic item for the first time (the group) 10XP
- Interesting, amusing moments during storytelling, not necessarily done by the PCs 5XP, could easily be an NPC moment where they were involved or present (bonus XP essentially)

And the same XPs are earned by all. As the entire group benefits for the experience received by one. The latter was a topic of some dicussion! XPs are only awarded at session end - and everyone takes 20 minutes to recap cool or interesting moments worth XP, so its vetted by all.

Gold for XP would not suit our needs, but it should definitely be there as a possible system. I never much liked the lone monster for XP system. It place much to much reliance on only one of the pillars. 4E nobly tried to change that with social skill challenges and exploration hazards/traps.