Treasure when accellerating XP

[hailstop]

Originally I had XP going at the normal rate. Then seeing how combats were taking longer than I expected, I increased the rate...eventually going to double.

I gave treasure out at the same rate per level though.

This caused problems in that the players had to absorb all the new powers of their magic items...and it was too much.

So I went back to normal XP for awhile while I ran some published adventures.

Wanting to conclude the campaign earlier than 2016, I'm going to accelerate XP again, but I'm not sure what to do about treasure.

Should I just keep the monetary treasure the same and go with the normal magic progression?

 

[FireLance]

Generally, you would want to give out treasure at about the same rate that you give out XP as the game assumes this will be the case. So, if you double the XP you give out, you should also double the treasure you give out.

One way to help your players get used to their new magic items quickly is to give out items with fairly simple properties and powers, e.g. constant resistances and straight bonuses to damage rolls. Altenatively, give out items with encounter abilities instead of daily abilities. Since the players will be using them fairly often (1/encounter) they will get used to them more quickly.

If you're prepared to give up control over the magic items you're giving out, you could even ask the players to pick their magic items for their characters during level up (one simple formula is: every time the characters gain a level, they get a new magic item of up to new level +1) and put the onus on the players to learn the item's abilities at the same time that they are learning the other new abilities they get from the level up.

 

[S'mon]

If you give money and let them buy magic items, they'll pick what they understand and your problem is solved.

 

[Fanaelialae]

You could try the "less magic" option on page 138 of the DMG2 (A Reward-Based Game), since this reduces the number of magic items the PCs are supposed to get (in return for a level based bonus to attacks, damage and defenses). Admittedly, it could be tricky dropping this into the middle of a campaign.

Another possibility would be to use less magic items with powers. Stick to items that just have properties. Unfortunately, this would limit your choices quite a bit.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

If you often give people higher plus versions of the magic they already have, you reduce the learning curve while still keeping them on the power curve of the default.

Note that this has the difficulty that it makes the magic less cool and exciting, but presumably you can still give them new different items on a schedule they can handle, while giving them their routine upgrades at an accelerated pace to match the XP schedule. (I might handle this by having the items upgrade through story events, special rituals, or even just DM fiat instead of finding new items. Then, you can limit the new items found to the intended variation and novelty stuff.)

 

[karlindel]

Sticking mostly to items that just have properties is one way to reduce the overhead, especially if you stick to items that provide static bonuses (like a bonus to a skill) that the PCs can just integrate into their stats and not have to worry about.

Just handing out higher level versions of items they're currently using will also reduce the overhead, as they already know those abilities, but does make for less fun in discovering new treasure.

One thing you might consider is giving out fewer items, but making the ones you do give out more powerful. You could convert the magic items the PCs gain over the level into their gp values, and add a few of the values together to get higher level items (being careful not to go above level +4). This has the dual benefit of fewer item powers for PCs to worry about and keeping more items up to date on the power curve (as weaker items will quickly become obsolete if they quickly level, making some of them barely worth the trouble of remembering).

 

[TerraDave]

If you often give people higher plus versions of the magic they already have, you reduce the learning curve while still keeping them on the power curve of the default.

A variation on this (I think described in AV, or somewhere) is to just advance the items themselves. I.e. at some point it just goes up a +. This could just be a property of the item, the world, the charecter, or trigered by something. ("You realize that the glowing font has made your sword more powerfull"). The players may also be able to do it directly through a ritual.

If done right, this could be interesting in and of itself.

 

[S'mon]

The way 4e works I think you're unlikely to have trouble with items up to around 8 levels above party level.

 

[DracoSuave]

The answer to fights taking too long isn't 'More XP.'

It's shorter fights.

Figured that was obvious. But regardless... if they're just learning the game then more XP isn't really a good option either. They're too often gathering newer and newer options before figuring out the old ones.