XP Values

Figure this needs thought out better and recorded for posterity. I've been ineffectively winging it so far. Deviations from previously used logic will not be retroactive, but this will be the model I will use from now on.

XP is awarded in three categories: Characterization, Skill checks, and Combat victories.

Characterization awards are XP bonuses granted at the DM's discretion for good ideas by players, well played roles, or significant goals accomplished.

Skill check awards are given for essentially every d20 roll. Success means the full DC of the challenge overcome is awarded. Failure awards 10% of the DC (rounded to the nearest whole) Critical Successes double the award, while critical failures negate it. Awarding failures even a small amount encourages attempts to be made.

Combat XP is awarded upon victory. The award equal to 100 times the combined level of the defeated group times the ratio of the victorious group's levels to the defeated's levels, minimum of 1. Special circumstances may modify the final value. Failure in combat is not rewarded so as to discourage hopeless engagements.
XP = Loser Levels * 100 * (Loser Levels / Winner Levels), Min 1.
A level 1 character must defeat 10 level 1 enemies to gain a level.
Example grid:

	1	2	3	5	10
1	100	400	900	2500	10000
2	50	200	450	1250	5000
3	33	133	300	833	3333
5	20	80	180	500	2000
10	10	40	90	250	1000

Intermission

The best dog in all of history, Saffron the Puppy Toes, went on to eternity last night. She was a German Shepard - Chao mix, crazy as hell, but a vigilant and loving defender of her family. Unfortunately, as she aged she was becoming more irritable and less discerning. While she thought she was defending the house from strangers, she turned on the wrong person, her daddy and my good friend, Will. She bit his hand rather badly, requiring a hospital trip. With three big dogs and a baby on the way, an aggressive dog like Toes with a deteriorating sense of friend and foe could no longer be contained in such a small house, and the decision was made to put her down. RIP Saffron.

I have been actually working at work lately and doing chores for the woman at home, and have not had much time to write this week. Next up is some background on Steve and the outlines for the next mission. Doc, are you going to post "Twas a Rough Night" or can I use it to jump off with the next chapter? I didn't want to read the draft but then I saw the comments on "Killing Time" so I did and it is good.

In the mean time, here's some comics I quite enjoy:
Dr. McNinja
Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic
The Order of the Stick
Viz Comics, via the Something Awful forums
A sample:

Training Adjustment Again

Okay, I think I got this worked out. There's no more hierarchy system. Skills is skills, and ranks is ranks. No multipliers.

1 Skill point or $1000 buys 1 + ability bonus Non-Combat Training ranks.

Skills are no longer very generalized or very specific. Jump is jumping. Bluffing is bluffing. Check the Hypertext d20 and the WOTC links to the right for lists and descriptions (On the WOTC link check the SRD links for System Reference Documents).

The only difference is some consolidation. For instance Craft Electronics, Repair, and Disable device under the d20 Modern system are all the same skill: Electronics. If you have ranks in Electronics, you can use, craft, repair, or disable electronic devices. Same for Mechanics, Architecture, Chemistry, etc.

I also just discovered the Skill Synergies which I think is an idea good enough to rip off-I mean use, or should I say "leverage" because that's all the fucking rage nowadays. Anyway, the gist is for every 5 ranks in one skill you get +2 in another related skill. DM's discretion.

Character sheets have been adjusted, everything is pretty close to where it was, excepting the ridiculous.

Musings on the Training System

I don't like my training system. It is too complicated for a "quick" d20 system. Quick for me since I know the math and do it quickly, a bitch for anyone else. The hierarchical system leads to an extremely rapid advancement of bonuses, which makes low level characters too powerful. The answer, I thought, would be to advance difficulty ratings just as quick. But there's a limit in that, when rolling a d20, the entire point in the first place, becomes useless.

For example, the sort of quantum physics mathematics Dr. Ritenrong uses is very difficult. In very short order he's achieved a +34 to do it. Which means the highest non-critical success he can achieve is 19+34, a DC of 53. He will never (non-critically) fail any DC under 36.

However, in general math, his range is 16 to 35. He will almost guaranteed solve the math problem if it is a complex dimensional topography equation, but if its a relatively simple calculus problem he will potentially fail it.

While this makes for an interesting, sort of absent minded, totally focused on one thing character, it seems to be the only kind of character this system will produce (if hierarchies are employed).

Take jumping. The hierarchy goes:
Athletics 1 (+1) ->Jumping 1 (+2) ->Long Jump 1 (+3) -> Jumping the Crick 1(+4)
Lets say Doc puts some training into jumping the crick. 1 skill point buys 1+Str. Bonus (0), so 1 rank. Now it's Jumping the Crik 2 (+8). The crick jump is a DC 10. At +8, Doc will never fail this jump (unless it's a critical failure). What if he's making the jump in a heavy thunderstorm (DC+5) while carrying an 80lb backpack (DC+5)? Now the DC is 20, and Doc has a better chance of failing it; he has to roll at least a 12.

Now lets bump Doc's training a bit more; another rank in Crick Jumping gives him a +12. Now he has to roll 8 or better to succeed. Another bump gives him +16, he has to roll 4 or better. At 5 ranks in Crick Jumping he's got a +20, and will never fail this jump in these conditions.

The next time he jumps the crick, it's hailing grapefruits, the ground is covered in ice, he's carrying a backpack and Thunderhorse, who is also wearing a backpack. Lets make this a DC 40. Add another 5 training ranks to Crick Jumping and he's at +40 and cannot fail the jump.

Let's look at the hierarchy again:
Athletics 1 (+1) ->Jumping 1 (+2) ->Long Jump 1(+3) -> Jumping the Crik10 (+40)

We've never added any ranks to Long Jump or even Jump. He can make an incredible, superheroic leap across the crick, but has little chance of winning a high-school track meet.

We've spent 10 points in training him. If Doc learns nothing but crick jumping for two levels, he's got this outrageous bonus. Lets say Doc has an 18 strength. Each time he trains in a strength skill, he gets 5 ranks in it. He gets this +40 bonus by only spending two skill points. If he spent the entire two levels jumping the crick, he's got a bonus of +200. He can jump the crick while it's raining molten lead, the area is undergoing a 10.0 earthquake, the crick is flooding with lava, the banks of it have become entirely frictionless, he's suffering from radiation sickness, he's carrying a full-scale solid depleted-uranium sculpture of Orson Wells on horseback, and he does a 10-point backflip. At level 2. Yet he still can't get over the high-bars. What's his success-fail range, again? 202 - 219. No real point in rolling dice anymore, is there?

Now let's say that you can't put more ranks into training deeper into the hierarchy than you have higher up. Lets go back to level 1:

Str: 18 (+4)
Athletics 10 (+14) -> Jump 5 (+14) -> Long jump 5 (+19) -> Crick Jumping 5 (+24).

We've spent 5 skill points, and we had to put one into Athletics before we can advance anything else. At level two, we keep going:

Athletics 15 (+19), Jump 15 (+34), Long jump 10 (+34), Crick Jumping 10 (+44)

Now what if, instead, we just put all 10 skill points into athletics in the first place?

Athletics 50 (+54).

Athletics covers a broad range of skills including jumping, swimming, climbing, etc. At level 2, Doc can defeat any superheroic strength challenge (although he can't do much else). There's no point putting ranks into training deeper in the hierarchy, he'll get a much better score against a much larger range of situations if he doesn't.

If we remove the ability bonus to training ranks, we remove the superhero acceleration problem, but the problem of hierarchy devaluation remains the same.

Athletics 3 (+7), Jump 3 (+10), Long Jump 2 (+10), Crick Jump 2 (+12)
vs.
Athletics 10 (+14)

Lets go way back to the original scheme: No ability bonus to training and no restrictions on rank placement other than having at least 1 rank in a higher place on the hierarchy (still Str 18):

Athletics 1 (+5), Jump 1(+6), Long jump 1 (+7), Crick Jump 7 (+32).
vs.
Athletics 10 (+14)

Okay, that's better, probably why I did it that way in the first place. Still have the problem of imbalanced skill. Doc can still practically walk on air over the crick, but still has trouble with the pole vault. A little more reasonable, but still imbalanced system.

Oh, well, it was a fun experiment, but a revamping is definitely required. I'll be working on it, and I'll post more about it later.

Training Addendum

In creating the character sheet for Dr. Ritenrong, I've discovered some possible imbalances with the current Training rank system. This addendum is to repair these imbalances.

Spending Skill points on Non-Combat Training will increase that training rank by one plus the appropriate ability modifier. If the ability modifier is negative, it will cost additional skill points to gain one training rank of that ability.

For instance, a character has a 16 (+3) Strength, 12 Dex (+1), 10 (+0) Con, 10 Int (+0), 8 Wis (-1), and 6 (-2) Cha. This character may spend 1 Skill point on a Strength-based training class and receive 4 ranks in it. For Dexterity based skills, the same character can spend 1 Skill point and receive 2 ranks in that Training. For Constitution and Intelligence training, 1 Skill point buys 1 Training rank. For Wisdom training, the character must spend 2 Skill points to get 1 Training rank. For Charisma, the character must spend 3 skill points to receive 1 training rank.

When purchasing training from an NPC, ranks may be added one at a time at a discount or possibly for more than normal price, depending on the modifier. For example, the above character need only spend $250 to learn to swim, but must spend $2000 to learn to survive in the woods, or $3000 to learn to sing. Time taken for training is also adjusted by the same percentages.

Specialization multipliers still apply to these additional ranks. Ability modifiers still apply to rolls.

This change should allow non-combat characters to advance in training more rapidly as they level, and thus overcome the more difficult challenges required to gain higher levels.

I will adjust character sheets accordingly and the new system will be used from now on.