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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 7811508" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>Must they? For the PC's, the easiest path to power is 'to adventure', to take on heroic quests and overcome challenges. But it's not at all clear that most of the XP that NPC have was earned in the same manner that PC's earned it.</p><p></p><p>For one thing, everyone is worth less XP than they have earned. Levelling through combat is a less than zero sum game that results in less and less available experience in the world. The large predators of the world might not be able to breed fast enough to create a reliable supply of XP for everyone that needs it, especially in a world where high level NPCs are common.</p><p></p><p>So I suggest that there is a secondary XP economy that PC's rarely engage in, but which is readily available to the wealthy and powerful. Even if this secondary economy only trickled in an XP or two per day, over the course of ten or forty years, it could result in a sizable accumulation of power. Throw in a few of the more typical hazards and dangers to overcome over the course of that life, and it wouldn't require a whole lot of adventuring to hit higher levels.</p><p></p><p>So what does that secondary economy look like? Well, it probably involves a lot of intense training, probably from a rather young age. It might involve the equivalent of bottled XP or rituals that transfer XP to the host. The various librams like the 'Manual of Stealthy Pilfering' represent one known sort of bottled XP, but it's possible that there are weaker less potent versions that still could be useful if applied with enough regularity. Earned XP could also involve a lot of mundane education, reading and study, especially of the ultimate class levels earned were decidedly bookish.</p><p></p><p>I also think it's not necessarily the case that political power gravitates toward the powerful. Political power right belongs to the powerful is itself a political and moral philosophy, and if that philosophy prevails everywhere it's just not very useful. I think a certain amount of durability is helpful just to avoid getting killed by every foe and rival that comes along, but that once you are above the average level by a bit, your leveled up enough. What really matters is a combination of right to rule, ability to influence and at least minimal competence so that you can do your job. And for a ruler, that might mean a lot more character resources spent on things that are the equivalent to 'Skill Focus' and less 'Weapon Mastery'.</p><p></p><p>For the purpose of the game all it means is that the NPC needs to be the sort of character that the PC's don't mind obeying, which turns out to depend on something intangible - personality and characterization. You can have a twelve year old boy on the throne whose just a 2nd level rogue, so long as the powerful in the realm such as the PC's don't mind seeing the boy stay on the throne, and are willing to work to keep him there.</p><p></p><p>“Tous pour un, un pour tous.”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 7811508, member: 4937"] Must they? For the PC's, the easiest path to power is 'to adventure', to take on heroic quests and overcome challenges. But it's not at all clear that most of the XP that NPC have was earned in the same manner that PC's earned it. For one thing, everyone is worth less XP than they have earned. Levelling through combat is a less than zero sum game that results in less and less available experience in the world. The large predators of the world might not be able to breed fast enough to create a reliable supply of XP for everyone that needs it, especially in a world where high level NPCs are common. So I suggest that there is a secondary XP economy that PC's rarely engage in, but which is readily available to the wealthy and powerful. Even if this secondary economy only trickled in an XP or two per day, over the course of ten or forty years, it could result in a sizable accumulation of power. Throw in a few of the more typical hazards and dangers to overcome over the course of that life, and it wouldn't require a whole lot of adventuring to hit higher levels. So what does that secondary economy look like? Well, it probably involves a lot of intense training, probably from a rather young age. It might involve the equivalent of bottled XP or rituals that transfer XP to the host. The various librams like the 'Manual of Stealthy Pilfering' represent one known sort of bottled XP, but it's possible that there are weaker less potent versions that still could be useful if applied with enough regularity. Earned XP could also involve a lot of mundane education, reading and study, especially of the ultimate class levels earned were decidedly bookish. I also think it's not necessarily the case that political power gravitates toward the powerful. Political power right belongs to the powerful is itself a political and moral philosophy, and if that philosophy prevails everywhere it's just not very useful. I think a certain amount of durability is helpful just to avoid getting killed by every foe and rival that comes along, but that once you are above the average level by a bit, your leveled up enough. What really matters is a combination of right to rule, ability to influence and at least minimal competence so that you can do your job. And for a ruler, that might mean a lot more character resources spent on things that are the equivalent to 'Skill Focus' and less 'Weapon Mastery'. For the purpose of the game all it means is that the NPC needs to be the sort of character that the PC's don't mind obeying, which turns out to depend on something intangible - personality and characterization. You can have a twelve year old boy on the throne whose just a 2nd level rogue, so long as the powerful in the realm such as the PC's don't mind seeing the boy stay on the throne, and are willing to work to keep him there. “Tous pour un, un pour tous.” [/QUOTE]
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