Accomplishments - Non XP Character Growth

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Kane
Posts: 51
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2022 4:08 pm

Accomplishments - Non XP Character Growth

Post by Kane »

I Meant 'Non XP Character Growth' but evidently spell checked myself out of XP.

Adventure Fantasy Game has Accomplishments, campaign and character based goals with rewards ranging from XP to the ability to do certain things , small bonuses (+5% to metal locks with magnetic tools). They are required to advance tiers, and can be used in different ways for different classes, to get a new spell or make longswords. They can be like proficiencies, or bonuses, pretty open ended. Boons in Barbarians of Lemuria are similar, but cost points, and sometimes have a bonus die similar to Advantage in 5e. 5e character backgrounds have traits like that.

I want to use a similar system in my D&D campaign as a way for characters to gain little things from adventuring and role-playing over time, things which are usually smaller than racial or class abilities, more limited and often not mechanical. They can help define and direct character priorities and will generally have benefits that reflect the accomplishment themselves. In don't want to implement a skill system, but I do want formal character recognition of deeds and certain things they learned. Instead of a lot of back story they'll accumulate traits as they survive and explore, but will still remain the basic classes for level and ability purposes.

I'm going to give no bonus more than +1 on d6/+5 on 100, and the larger the bonus and closer it gets to a class talent the more limited its application. For example, a Fighter might learn to gain a +1 Surprise chance in noisy environments by sneaking around in a duerger forge, but he'll never get move silently or a general bonus. I was thinking of using the general backstab rules from Crypts & Things as a model for an example bonus, where you can do a limited backstab, only in surprise rounds. I want to try to make a lot of them based in the game setting and limit how many give mechanical edges, though. The more effective ones will always be bigger accomplishments, and I won't scale their power with level.

I want to run this campaign with only four player classes, and I don't want a bunch of kits or options, so I'll make it kind of fit the rest of the game, where growth and character development occur mostly through play itself. I'm going to come up with a list of example accomplishments and rewards to give players and myself ideas, as the campaign is very open ended - the players can create goals right out of the setting, and I can reward genuine work they put in on some more obscure stuff.

In my mind, active adventurers don't really have time to learn each other's classes or artisan skills, but they can become competent at small parts of it. I'm interested in using this system with ranks and reputations, as well, because characters can achieve official roles and become warlords at higher levels.

Title edited by Dimirag
DuncleJohn
Posts: 60
Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2022 1:46 pm

Re: Accomplishments - Non XP Character Growth

Post by DuncleJohn »

I’ve done something similar to this.

I use the research rules for spells as kind of a guideline, and have the PCs develop a school, academy, or dojo.

Then assign a research cost in terms of money and time, and then allow them the ability to gain small bonuses or abilities outside the purview of the class abilities in the book.

It gives martial PCs something to sink money and time into, while providing something tangible.

Some example I have seen from past groups included:

Building a library dedicated to Vampire Hunting. Providing resources for PCs to research Vampire locations and weaknesses, and to gain a Ranger like bonus when fighting them.

A street fighting dojo that let Thieves and Fighters raise the damage die by one step for clubs, staves, bare handed attacks, improvised weapons, daggers, etc.

Had one PC build a specialized lab just for building better grenade type weapons and techniques.

But I could easily see people build like a Thief school for small bonuses to skills.

These could even be great locations for future characters to seek out themselves.

It’s simple world building and I love that it could be a collaborative, organic thing developed between the GM and players, based off the simple framework of the OSR ruleset.
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