Experience Points for Different Modes of Play

This a follow up for my other post thinking about experience points and design considerations about them. In this post I will try to use those guidelines to come up with some solutions.

Experience Points for Different Modes of Play

In my previous post I talked a bit about how there are different modes of play in most OSR games and that XP for treasure only really rewards dungeon crawling. This is great if your players are mostly dungeon crawling. Such as exploring a megadungeon and only really going back to town at the end of the session, mainly to sell and buy stuff. It's not so great if your players are doing other things like hexcrawling which is supposed to be an activity in of itself and not just something you do to get to the dungeon to dungeoncrawl.

I think for each major activity of play you need a different way to gain experience points. It's why I think a lot of OSR blogs develop experience point rewards for exploration. However, I also try to want to satisfy the other main guidelines I created:

1. XP rewards should not be given for something the players will already do

2. XP rewards should encourage risk

3. XP should be given at the end of a session

You can read my reasoning for these guidelines in my previous post.

Three Main Activities of Play

The main modes of play that I would want to grant XP for in my games are:

1. Dungeon Crawling: composed of encounters and exploration of rooms.

2. Hexcrawling: composed mostly of traveling about the map.

3. Investigating something big in the setting: composed of seeking out answers for various aspects of the setting.

There are arguably other major activities of play. Such as spending time in town buying and selling items. But I wouldn't grant XP for engaging in such things as players are likely to do them anyways and they contain very little risk. XP should be used to encourage player risk, and given as a reward for players successfully taking a risk. Dungeon Crawling and Hexcrawling definitely involve lots of danger and risk. Investigating knowledge, not as much, it's a bit more dependent, but I think there are some cases where there is genuine risk. I'll explore that more when I come to that activity.

XP in Dungeon Crawling

For dungeon crawling I'm just going to use the tried and tested XP for treasure via carousing with the following rules:

Carousing 

Carousing is the easiest and the main way for character to gain experience points, especially in earlier levels where they have yet to venture very far from their starting settlement. In short, carousing is action taken in a settlement in which the group spends a large amount of their hard earned money, having a good time about town, blowing their fortune as they blow off steam, before becoming desperate enough again to raid another crumbling ruin for treasure.

Carousing lets a player turn money directly into experience points at a 1:1 ratio. First they choose an amount of money to convert into experience points. Then they roll on the following table to see how their bender went. After they may have to roll on the carousing mishaps or fortunes table to see how their relationship with people in the settlement has changed.

 

2d6	Result
2-6	Experience is gained. However, you've all made fools of yourself in some manner. Roll on the carousing mishaps table.
7-9	Experience is gained.
10+	Experience is gained. You've all had a stroke of good luck! Roll on the carousing fortunes table!

 

	Mishap	Fortune
1	Start a brawl. You all are involved in a brawl that gets out of control. Start the next adventure with a black eye and -1 health per level. The local tavern keeper is no longer quite as amicable.	Jackpot! One of you strikes it rich at the card tables! Gain level x 100 coins.
2	Minor misunderstanding with local authorities that you’re unable to smooth over. You all spend the next 1d6 days in jail. Now seen as local troublemakers.	Gain a local reputation as the life of a party! Those of ill repute much more friendly and see you as one of their own.
3	One of you insulted a local person of rank. They will hold a grudge unless you all publicly apologize and humiliate yourself before them.	Whoa what a trip! The strange powder you sniffed revealed mystic truths about the universe. Young people in the settlement see you as cool and not one of the squares.
4	Hangover from hell. The first day of adventuring all luck rolls are done with a bane.	Well fed, well rested, and ready to go! The first day of adventuring all luck rolls are done with a boon.
5	Gambling binge. You’re party owes a collective debt to someone you don’t want to owe money too.	Citizens arrest! You catch some criminal in the act and are able to restrain them until the authorities arrive. You are seen as hero’s by the settlement for a short time.
6	You've ruined the local economy! Your excess spending means that all prices are now double until next season.	The local blacksmith, due to your influx of cash, has been able to order in an exquisite weapon that he’s willing to sell to you guys for the normal price.
7	Major misunderstanding with local authorities. All weapons, armour, and magic items confiscated until fines and bribes totalling 1d6 x 1000 coins paid.	The local clergy see you guys as protectors of the settlement. They offer you a blessing before your next adventure.
8	When in a drunken stupor and in some trouble, you sought refuge in a church. They took care of you but now as repayment have begun hounding you to perform a charitable act.	Impressed by your ability to drink for days and keep standing, a local hireling is willing to join you on your next adventure if you wish at no initial cost.
9	Invest all your spare cash in some smooth-tongued merchant's scheme. Turns out it’s bogus! One of the towns merchants flees!	Invest all your spare cash in some smooth-tongued merchant's scheme. Turns out it’s real! It returns 75% profits next Season.
10	Due to a lost game of darts at the tavern. You make bitter enemies with a local rival adventuring party.	Your ability to carouse with the common folk as lead them to see you as one of their own. The peasants of the settlement are thankful to have you around. You receive free room and board in this settlement of poor quality.
11	Beaten and robbed. You are waylaid by a bunch of thugs during your drunken carousing. Loose 1d100 coins.	Your time spent carousing has let you in on some juicy gossip. You learn one secret about a person in authority.
12	The roof! The roof! The roof is on fire! Accidentally start a conflagration Roll 1d6 twice. 1-2) burn down your favorite inn 3-5) some other den of ill repute is reduced to ash 6) a big chunk of town goes up in smoke. 1-2) no one knows it was you guys 3-5) one other person knows you did it 6) everybody knows.	A local elder has warmed up and begun to approve of you despite your antics. They let you in on a secret about a nearby adventuring site.

 

The above table I use is a modified version of Jeff Rient's one. It's meant to make the gaining experience points a little more interesting and to change the characters relationship with the settlement their in to make their interaction with it a little more dynamic.

XP for treasure meets all of my guidelines. It encourages risk, it is done at the end of the session, and it's given for something they wouldn't normally do. They have to purposely search for treasure in the dungeon and seek it out. I make the players choose between spending the coins on equipment and things and spending it on XP. I kind of like this as it keeps them somewhat broke.

XP in Hexcrawling

Hexcrawling is a bit more difficult than dungeon crawling. I don't want to just give a straight XP amount for every hex explored or new place discovered. Most of the time, players are going to do this anyways as a normal part of moving around the map, even if it's just to get to the dungeon. I want to encourage them to take risks. 

I'm going to borrow a rule I found in Neoclassical Geek Revival by Zzarchov Kowolski. Basically in it he had a rule where for every room the players explored they'd gain cumulative XP. So if they got 10 XP the first room, they'd get 20 XP the second room 30 XP the third 50 XP the fourth, 80 XP the fifth etc. I'm going to do something similar but for hexcrawls and call it Telling Tall Tales.

Telling Tall Tales

Telling tall tales is another way characters can gain experience points. It involves spreading word of your travels and exploits, generally telling tall tales in places like taverns, at court, to the high and the low, shamelessly boasting and self-promoting, and to simply entertain or achieve status.

This method of experience gain is generally used during the mid levels as the characters begin to venture from their starting settlement more and more and begin to explore the world that surrounds them.

Telling tall tales lets a player gain a certain amount of experience points for every hex of the hex map they have explored since they last left the settlement. The experience gained is cumulative per hex. This is calculated by giving 30 XP for the first hex and adding the previous two hex's together for every additional hex. A table below is provided as an example.

Hex Total	XP Amount
1	30
2	30
3	60
4	90
5	150
6	240
7	390
8	630
9	1020
10	1650
11	2670
12	4320

Once the players have calculated how much experience points they will gain they need to roll on the following table to determine how their telling of tall tales went. After that they may have to roll on the Telling Tall Tales Mishaps and Fortunes table to see how their relationship with people across the land has changed.

2d6	Result
2-6	Experience is gained. However, you've all made fools of yourself in some manner. Roll on the Telling Tall Tales mishaps table.
7-9	Experience is gained.
10+	Experience is gained. You've all had a stroke of good luck! Roll on the Telling Tall Tales fortunes table!

	Mishap	Fortune
1	Inspired by your tales of treasure the road to places you've explored becomes clogged with fortune seekers slowing your travel.	The local authority, upon hearing of your discoveries, is willing to buy maps of your travels for 1d6 * 1000 gp.
2	Jealous of your fortune, a rival adventuring party begins to trail you next time you set out with ill intentions.	Enamoured by tales of your exploits, a local orphan child has begun tending to your belongings in hopes you'll bring them along.
3	Word of your mighty deeds has spread. A mighty warrior has arrived in the settlement to challenge the strongest among you to single combat.	Word of your crimes have spread. There is now a bounty of 1d6 * 1000 on all your heads across the land.
4	Word of your brave exploits has spread. A powerful wizard has arrived in the settlement to challenge the wisest among you to a wizards battle.	Due to your exploits in a region you have explored, you have been granted a deed to a small tract of land and honorary title by the local authority seeking to capitalize on your popularity among the common folk.
5	Sensing a power vacuum, bandits have moved into a location you recently explored and begun raiding the countryside. People are not happy.	Your recent explorations have opened up the land to new settlement. The roads become full of travellers seeking a new beginning. A sense of optimism and hope is in the air.
6	The local authority does not like you intruding upon and causing mischief in lands they see as their own. They forbid you from venturing into them again.	You've become well known among merchants as experienced travellers. They let you in on the location of some exotic trade goods if you're willing to accompany them there.
7	Too late! Your explorations and exploits have upset the unseen balance of things. One enemy you thought defeated or vanquished has struck back! Something big has happened! Refugees begin to flood the area.	A powerful but frail wizard seeks you out. They've found the location of a small trove of spellbooks and wish you to accompany them there.
8	Your heroics have garnered many unseen enemies. Assassins strike out in the dead of night. Defend yourselves!	Word of your righteous deeds has spread among the common folk. You can always find poor accommodation for free in any settlement.
9	Fire! A major forest fire is occurring in several hexes. People are fleeing the area.	Because of your growing renown, a local merchant is willing to pay you for endorsing their products and/or services.
10	Flood! A river or body of water has flooded occluding travel in the area.	In telling tales of your travels, you encounter some old travellers with tales of their own. You learn the details of three unexplored hexes.
11	Pestilence! Plague has broken out in a random settlement. A quarantine has been put in place.	A strange monstrous beast has been seen in an area you recently explored. It's capture or scientific notes on it's behaviour would be worth a lot of money.
12	Word of your exploits has reached the ears of the local authority. They have 'granted' you a non-voluntary audience with them. You suspect they are becoming concerned about your growing fame and popularity.	Strange visitors from beyond time and space have been seen in an area you recently explored.

So while they players aren't likely to gain a level from exploring a few hexes. The amount of XP they gain really begins to ramp up the more they explore. This encourages them to not just make a beeline between the town and the nearest dungeon, but to push into the wilderness a bit, to wander, to seek out the dark corners of the map. The deeper into the wilderness they go, the more dangerous it gets and the more they begin to run out of health and supplies, and the more XP they gain. 

The Telling Tall Tales Mishaps and Fortunes table is meant to make gaining XP this way a little more interesting and kind of reflect the characters growing renown. Where people are taking note of them and it feels like the landscape and setting is reacting to them. I find something like this is needed every once and a while so the landscape isn't just a static thing that only moves when the players interact with it. That dramatic things can happen that they have no control over or never saw coming. In this manner the table is meant to change the characters relationship with the landscape.

Unravel a Mystery

The world is full of strange mysteries. I think players should be rewarded for seeking out answers to them. These aren't small monster of the week mysteries, like who stole the chickens or where did the bandits run off to, but larger mysteries about the strangeness of the setting. Engaging in them means the players are often pursuing a very open ended quest and not just decided to tackle the low hanging fruit of lets just clear another bandit lair this week, or lets just come up with some quick scheme. 

Unravel a Mystery

The world is full of strange mysteries, age old questions, and wonderous places. Things from so long ago their origins are unknown, or seem to exist wholly outside reason. Things that just are, that are whispered about.

This method of experience gain is generally used during high levels as the players seek to truly plumb the depths of their world and try to explore and unravel the mysteries of it's age old wonders.

These wonderous things are not plot goals. They are often just that, things, not people, or events. or happenings. They can be pursued or ignored as the players wish. Taking this action represents the players returning to a settlement with some form of proof about the wonder, some form of answer to it's mystery.

Each mystery is phrased in the form of a question. The players must explain to the Referee the 'answer' to the mystery. What exactly is a sufficient answer is up to the Referee and players to determine but generally involves being able to sufficiently answer who, what when, where, where, why, and how about the mystery. Once they do they must roll to see how such an unravelling went. For the unravelling of such a mystery often comes as a shock or surprise to the wider world. It will often draw attention from those with great power and influence who will invariably seek to exploit it and the players knowledge about it.

There is no set value for the XP reward but it's in the 10,000-100,000 range. Mysteries are highly dependent on the setting but a couple examples are provided below:

• What lies up top Bald Mountain?
• Does the lost city of Xu exist?
• What happens when you put the Rod of Many Parts together?

There is no table of mishaps and fortunes to roll on for unraveling a mystery. Age old mysteries are important enough and specific in nature that each should have natural consequences from their pursuit. Big players in the setting will take notice if the characters are successful in their investigation of them.