Beyond the Boundary Westmarches Revival - Reworked XP System
Why XP instead of Milestone?
We have a system in mind that will rework experience away from previously used Milestones. This new system focuses on the rewarding D&D "Pillars" of play that hopefully at least some of the players at the table will enjoy.
Pillars of gameplay
There are three main things that we as DMs and players strive to experience and they form the pillars of exploration and puzzles, the pillar of roleplay and social
interaction, and the pillar of combat. These are what makes up the games experience and we will try to include everywhere as said in
an article by Youtuber Sly Flourish we want to try to enforce the following:
- Is there someone or something to fight?
- Will there be secrets to uncover?
- Can we find someone (or something) to talk to?
Once we have quantified what we want in the game, rewarding it with experience seems like the correct choice.
Stars and Wishes
With the reworked stars and wishes this means that you will no longer be granting each other a star and inspiration, but instead a small nugget of Experience points.
Stars can often be a retelling of the story or a way to see things that others maybe had not through through the perspective of a player handing out the star. These stars will now be more powerful in rewarding this out of game but we will find a way to balance it so it doesnt feel like it's one of the only ways to level up.
Experience Rework - BTB Westmarches Revival
In the newly reworked experience system the "XP economy" will change; in which the value of experience points is much different than it is in the standard game. Doing so allows for simpler math, with characters gaining one level for every 100 XP earned. Awards are all relative to a character’s level, however, so the rate at which characters gain levels remains the same throughout the game (as compared to the default system, which has faster advancement in a few spots).
Under this system, XP is not usually divided among party members. The award for an adventure is the same for all members of the party. If defeating a monster awards 10 XP, each member of the party gains 10 XP. If the party is exceptionally large or has a high level player trouncing them through an encounter, though, the notion of safety in numbers makes awards a little easier to earn. If there are more than six members of a party eligible to earn XP (counting both player characters and NPCs) or one or more high level players with the lower level party, we will have to lower all experience awards by an amount decided by the DM (often halving).
Earning Experience Points
You gain experience points through activities representing each of the three pillars of adventuring: exploration & puzzles, social interaction, and combat. Each type of game play awards XP differently.
Exploration
You gain XP for recovering lost magic items, claiming hidden treasure caches, and exploring abandoned sites or places of power. Your character can gain experience points by retrieving a mighty weapon from a dragon’s hoard, finding a cache of a diamond deposits in an unfamiliar cave, or uncovering the location of a lost temple of evil.
The value of a location or item compared to your level determines its XP value. Finding a treasure or exploring a location appropriate to your tier earns you 10 XP, plus an additional 10 XP for each tier above your current tier. You don’t gain XP for exploration below your tier.
Items.
Valuable treasures and magic items are assigned to tiers as follows:
| Tier of Play |
Item or treasures |
| Tier 1 |
A single item worth 100 gp or more, or a
nonconsumable Heroic magic item |
| Tier 2 |
A single item worth 1,000 gp or more, or
a nonconsumable Legendary or a Heroic/Wonderous Artifact item |
| Tier 3 |
A single item worth 5,000 gp or more, or
a nonconsumable Legendary magic item |
| Tier 4 |
A single item worth 20,000 gp or more,
or an Legendary Artifact magic item. |
Locations.
Forgotten locations and sites of power aren’t fitted to tiers by any hard and fast rule. Rather, a location’s tier depends on its importance in our campaign. You can measure the discovery of a lost location, or the liberation of a place from the clutches of a villain or monster, exploring the puzzles along the way, by the scope of such an action’s impact for example:
| Tier of Play |
Locations or Puzzles |
| Tier 1 |
The map to the temple of the Five Sisters or The blood-covered dagger of the assassin Soulwhisper. |
| Tier 2 |
The inner workings of a trap in a later chamber or An entombed vampire lord. |
| Tier 3 |
The key to the Vault of the Dragon Queen. |
| Tier 4 |
The black gemstone known as the Voidstar said to contain an entire plane of existence within its depths. |
Social Interaction
You gain experience points for turning important NPCs into allies, aligning them with your cause or denying them as assets to your enemies.
When you do so, the XP you gain are based on an NPC’s power and influence.
Social Interaction
You gain 10 XP for swaying an NPC appropriate to your tier, plus an additional 10 XP for each tier above your current one. You gain 5 XP for affecting an NPC one tier below you, but you gain little / no XP for NPCs of a lower tier than that. NPCs are assigned to tiers as follows:
| Tier |
NPC Standing |
| Tier 1 |
An NPC with influence over a small town
or village, or the equivalent |
| Tier 2 |
An NPC with influence over a city or the
equivalent |
| Tier 3 |
An NPC with influence over a kingdom, a
continent, or the equivalent |
| Tier 4 |
An NPC (including a deity) with cosmic
significance or influence across multiple
worlds |
Roleplay
What about opportunities for social interaction in a dungeon sealed up for a thousand years? The big key here is that NPCs don't have to be people, or creatures at all! Here are some potential NPCs for roleplaying in a sealed-up dungeon for example:
| Tier |
Roleplay opportunities |
| Tier 1 |
An intelligent sword or campfire story of how your character feels about the situation |
| Tier 2 |
An explorer lost for centuries or ghosts that are confused or friendly |
| Tier 3 |
A dungeon denizen turncoat or a trapped power demon gets loose when someone messes with an artifact |
| Tier 4 |
Talking relics or artifacts |
Combat
You gain XP for defeating monsters in combat, whether by slaying them or leaving them in a state in which they pose no threat. For example, you might force a demon back to the Abyss or imprison an undead horror in a sealed tomb. The XP you gain for defeating a monster is determined by comparing the monster’s challenge rating to your level. In most cases, you gain 5 XP per monster defeated. That award increases to 15 XP if a monster’s challenge rating is twice your level or more. If its challenge rating is half your level or less, that award drops to 2 XP.
Additionally avoiding or talking your way out of combat is the same amount of experience as defeating the monsters or puzzles they create.
Post game stories and rewards - Stars
During the end of the game we make time for stars and wishes, previously it was the in-game benefit for inspiration and the mechanical changes behind that. Now at the end of the game you can be rewarded up to 10 XP with players giving 1-2 XP each session to someone they think is deserving of a Star. The star mechanic also additionally has a point you can spend on the shop.
Leveling up
The article below outlines the leveling up process accompanying the XP System
Leveling up - Week long rests to level & Time is doubled
Final Words
As DMs we are inclined to keep track of your XP and Stars. But we are not infallible and you need to keep a track yourself as well. The best way to keep a paper trail is on your sheet, or in a google doc that we will post to update our players. You can create your own personal google doc and if you notice consistences then you can have us check into it.
Comments