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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Matt Black" data-source="post: 376948" data-attributes="member: 5477">I tie level advancement directly to the development of the plot. Characters will go up a level if they reach a meaningful punctuation point in the story, so long as they've been through enough since the last level-up. (I try to tweak it so this happens roughly every 5 sessions, but it depends on the performance of the players.) I find this gives the players a sense that their characters are  growing in relation to the story.Besides, the best achievements of players or characters have nothing to do with defeating monsters and traps. Sometimes it's much more interesting (and in-character) for a character to try to avoid a particular conflict. Why penalize them for these sorts of decisions? Really, the best stuff is when the player moves the story in an interesting direction, whether it's by killing stuff or not. This is what really deserves the reward.As for xp costs for item creation, etc... well, there are less dry ways to inflict these costs - typically involving sacrificing other things important to the character.The xp system is a great tool for hack-and-slash D&D, but seems to impede the game if you're going for anything else. And yeah, it's also a pain in the ass to calculate.Matt Black</blockquote>