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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="PowerWordDumb" data-source="post: 1029818" data-attributes="member: 8614">I try not to think about it too hard - not because it's not an interesting intellectual exercise, but because I know nothing good ever really comes from the analysis.I find it easiest to consider XP to be the accumulated weight of your experiences.  Just as in real life, the more you do, the more you are able to focus yourself on doing better the next time.  The level-jump mechanic is arbitrary, but better than constantly gaining imperceptibly-small increments of skill in my mind.As to the burning of XP in item creation or rituals, if you accept XP to be a representation of your learned ability to focus on "getting the job done", then consider what item creation or ritual casting (as just a couple of examples) really entail:In the case of magic item creation, traditionally this is an involved process requring absolute focus by the creator, with no interruptions and complete involvement.  In this case, it's not hard at all to see that this change of focus away from adventuring/spellcasting/whatever activities to something else could manifest as a certain bit of "rustiness" when finished and getting back into the saddle.  Particularly if you buy the "incorporating a part of yourself" point associated with certain items.In the case of ritual casting, similarly the tradition there is of tremendous investment of personal energies and occasionally a portion of your spirit into the effort.  Same argument applies.The fact that in either case, spending XP during such an effort doesn't actually drop you levels, but merely creates a temporary XP debt for you to make up seems to support that type of interpretation.  The fact that it also provides some rules leverage on maintaining balance (can't just create infinite amounts of wands of magic missile and arm the entire nation) doesn't hurt either.Anyway, it's not a perfect system by any means, but it gets the job done respectably well as far as I'm concerned.  After all, it's just a game.</blockquote>

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