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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6731633" data-attributes="member: 42582">I think there are two aspects to this.First, there is the &quot;others want to duplicate aspect&quot;. I agree with the other posters in this thread who have stated that the XP system is not a model of how people in the gameworld improve their capabilities, but rather is a device for tracking the progress of the PCs as played by the players in what is, after all, a roleplaying game. As Gygax described it in his DMG (p 85):Players who bolk at equating gold pieces to experience points should be gently but firmly reminded that in a game certain compromises must be made. While it is more &quot;realistic&quot; for clerics to study holy writings, pray, chant, practice self-discipline, etc. to gain experience, it would not make a playable game roll along. Similarly, fighters should be exercising, riding, smiting pelts, tilting at the lists, and engaging in weapons practice of various sorts to gain real expertise (experience); magic-users should be deciphering old scrolls, searching ancient tomes, experimenting alchemically, and so forth; while thieves should spend their off-hours honing their skills, &quot;casing&quot; various buildings, watching potential victims, and carefully planning their next &quot;iob&quot;. All very realistic but conducive to non-game boredom!The second aspect is the verisimilitude (or otherwise) of the PC heroes' tremendous rise to power. I think that is an issue. In my 4e game, the PCs have taken around 6 months to transform from local heroes fighting goblins in the forest to demigods and emergent primordials of cosmic significance.What makes it (more-or-less) work in practice is that the game has taken over 6 years to play, and so while it is absurdly quick within the gameworld, it isn't experienced as being that quick by us, the real people sitting around the table.In the case of 4e, I've found it's more about letting the fiction follow the mechanics. Which therefore becomes very non-Conan-esque once you move through mid-Paragon!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6731633, member: 42582"] I think there are two aspects to this. First, there is the "others want to duplicate aspect". I agree with the other posters in this thread who have stated that the XP system is not a model of how people in the gameworld improve their capabilities, but rather is a device for tracking the progress of the PCs as played by the players in what is, after all, a roleplaying game. As Gygax described it in his DMG (p 85): [indent]Players who bolk at equating gold pieces to experience points should be gently but firmly reminded that in a game certain compromises must be made. While it is more "realistic" for clerics to study holy writings, pray, chant, practice self-discipline, etc. to gain experience, it would not make a playable game roll along. Similarly, fighters should be exercising, riding, smiting pelts, tilting at the lists, and engaging in weapons practice of various sorts to gain real expertise (experience); magic-users should be deciphering old scrolls, searching ancient tomes, experimenting alchemically, and so forth; while thieves should spend their off-hours honing their skills, "casing" various buildings, watching potential victims, and carefully planning their next "iob". All very realistic but conducive to non-game boredom![/indent] The second aspect is the verisimilitude (or otherwise) of the PC heroes' tremendous rise to power. I think that is an issue. In my 4e game, the PCs have taken around 6 months to transform from local heroes fighting goblins in the forest to demigods and emergent primordials of cosmic significance. What makes it (more-or-less) work in practice is that the game has taken over 6 years to play, and so while it is absurdly quick within the gameworld, it isn't experienced as being that quick by us, the real people sitting around the table. In the case of 4e, I've found it's more about letting the fiction follow the mechanics. Which therefore becomes very non-Conan-esque once you move through mid-Paragon! [/QUOTE]

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