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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jester47" data-source="post: 1030260" data-attributes="member: 2238">I have actually been thinking about this very question also.   Here are some of my conclusions:1. XP really does not matter until you cross the level threshold.2. Characters are unaware of thier XP. 3. Power Levels are not arranged in heirarchy.4. Power Levels are not represented by politics or anything else in the game world.  Using XP the way it is to make things or cast spells is purely a game mechanic to keep the players from making the sword of god over two weeks when they are only going to be fighting CR 1 creatures.  The proof of this is the fact that a fifth level wizard cannot expend more than 4999xp in one lump sum or between adventures.  This is because he cannot level drain himself.  This means that after creating a magic item said wizard can still roast you with a fireball the next day.  Forgive me for using mechanics in my discussion.Here is how I see power levels and XP.  You could have a world where everyone was somewhere between level 15 and 20.  Even the commoners etc.  All the monsters are of appropriate CRs.  So even your orc gaurds are level 15.  This game would play like a game that was run between levels 1 and 5.  The only difference is that people would be able to do a lot more.  But lets make spells really really rare.  Anything more powerful than 5th is almost unheard of.   Metamagic becomes very useful.  When you ponder this, you see how the system is really independant of the characters and story.  I see XP and power levels as a measurement of ones control over destiny in general.  The more powerful a character grows the more control over their own destiny and the destiny of others they weild.  So if you had a confrontation between a 1st level wizard and a 5th level commoner it is very unlikely that the wizard is going to win.  He simply has little control over the destiny of this commoner, and in fact it is the commoner who destiny favors.  When a character expends xp, they are sort of expending some control over destiny.  When a wizard makes an item, he is sharing some of his control over destiny with others.  This leads to him loosing some of his control over destiny.  Thus in the story at the first meeting of two characters one may be able to do nothing against the other.  So then after some time, the one that originally could do nothing, eventually becomes able to do so.  So a halfling warrior could eventually take down the lord of trolls, while this halfling only first met him about a year ago.The ability to advance monsters and add levels to many of the creaturesin the MM is one of the many things that makes 3e so great.   You can concievably fight the same type of humanoid all the way into 20th level.  Your opponenets don't have to change as you get more powerful.  Aaron.</blockquote>

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