Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 21:19:03 -0400 From: Joel Lovell <jwlovelX@ibeam.jf.intel.com> To: Multiple recipients of listSubject: RM: Alternate Experience Development
Here folks, let me know what you think. I'm sure it will pale compared to the new standard rules version but if you have some constructive criticism then by all means let me know.
JoelX_W_Lovell@ccm.jf.intel.com
or as a last resort...
jwlovelX@ibeam.jf.intel.com
The normal rules governing experience points requires tracking of criticals, damage taken and delivered, kills, gold accumulation, maneuver tasks, miles traveled, etc. In short, you have to keep track of a large amount of minutiae which tends to be time consuming and focuses on killing and becoming injured, in addition to acquiring "gold" (which the referee is forced to limit to prevent over abundance of experience. Then, once the points are accumulated, you get your development point total to increase skills. Boom! Then the referee is stuck trying to have the characters rationalize how they took the time to learn new skills, increase old ones, etc. This method penalizes the less combative characters and role-playing, and inspires new levels of greed in players as they strive to do things to make their characters more powerful and experienced.
This alternative system of character skill development for Rolemaster allows for gradual development of skills, and makes it easy for the referee to dole out the experience "award" after an adventure in the time that it takes to glance over two pages.
In this alternative skill development system characters still have a development point total as described in the normal system, and instead of gaining this total each time the level changes, they instead get a percentage of this total allocated according to what they've accomplished during the course of one or more adventures.
The percentage amount, or award, allows for a parceling out of development points for skill development in a logical gradual fashion. A summary total is kept track of to determine when the actual level increase occurs (when the total equals 100%) - and thus level bonuses are re-figured at this time.
Key Rules:
1. No skill can be developed more ranks than is normally allowed during a level period.
For instance, a skill with a cost of 2/6 could have 1 rank developed at one point, another later, or both at the same time, but only two can be developed until the next level comes along.
2. Once a spell list acquisition roll attempt is made, no more development points can be spent on the list, or further attempts, until the next level is gained.
For learning spells, the development points must be saved until the player decides that the amount invested in the spell list is enough for the character to try his one chance or attempt at learning the list during that level period. A character can only have one roll to learn a list inside a given level. For example: A character with a spell list acquisition cost of 4/*, gets an award of 17% which equates to 10 dp's. If the player decides to put 8 of his dp's into his characters spell list acquisition, gaining two ranks, he can try and learn the list at that point, or hold off rolling until he has more dp's to gain more ranks, until he gets enough ranks and decides the chance of success is acceptable. If he fails the roll, he can put no further ranks in the list until the next level. As in the normal rules, the ranks developed are not lost if the attempt to learn fails.
Each adventure, the GM will determine an Experience Award, based on several generic factors. This Experience Award is a Percentage of the Development Point Total (CDPT) for that level, which the character can use to immediately spend on learning or improving skills, abilities, etc. Whenever the Experience Award percentage from several adventures equals the CDPT, the character has gone up a level. At this time the character merely notes the change in level for figuring things like level bonuses, Resistance Rolls, etc. Stat gains/losses are checked and the dp total is re-figured.
Example: Tror the Warrior is given an Experience Award of 10% of his normal CDPT of 40 and this = 4 Development Points that he can either use now, or wait until he gets enough (or all if he likes) to develope skills as he chooses. The next adventures earn him 10%, 20%, 22%, 18%, and 20% of his CDPT (he's been alternately saving and spending the DP's which now total 40 DP's). Since this has added up to 100% of his CDPT, he is now considered to have gone up a level.
Experience Award Calculation: The referee need only run through this worksheet once to get a % total. There may be some variation from individual to individual for this base, especially with the Multiplier at the end. The GM should not be afraid to be generous with this - otherwise skill advancement will very slow by comparison with the normal method.
Goals: The PC's will have goals or accomplish feats during an adventure, both as a group and as individuals. Each "goal" established and attempted is worth points. Each Goal is calculated on it's own merit, and the end results will be combined together for that particular adventure to determine DP's. If a goal is not abandoned, yet not attempted or completed within a given adventure, it can carry over until next time. Sometimes failing at goals can prove educational, and be worth experience.
Individual Awards: For those times that an individual character does something outstanding, innovative, clever, or extremely memorable that an Individual Experience Award is given. This is also where those risky maneuvers attempted and were successfully pulled off are awarded.
Enemies & Encounters: Encounter's are a fact of life in a RPG. They may be mundane, they may be insane, but they will all be a critical part of a characters gaining life or death experience. This experience award is for conflict resolved, whether combat, negotiation, diplomacy, intellectual, etc.
Scope of Adventure & Significance of Consequences: The scope of the adventure or it's significance in the scheme of things so to speak is a simple way to determine the value of the overall adventure.
Time Passage: This is an optional bonus. The characters get an award per day that passes during an adventure or travel through hazardous wilderness.
Role-playing & Characterization: These misc. awards are for those whose characters are role-played and given more than 2-D treatment, and also for overall involvement. This Final multiplier effects the overall total of all the above factors. Sum up the listed modifiers to this multiplier and apply this to the total DP % award.
Once the character reaches higher levels, the experience award will be less. So, at 5th level, when the character has to have twice as much experience to gain a level with the old experience point total system, then with this system, the experience award would be halved accordingly.
Example:
Jaren and Netok, both Rangers, decide to travel to a dangerous stretch of wilderness to seek out a rare and valuable herb that grows only in the harshest of winters. This is a short term goal to assist in their long term goal of financing an expedition to a far away land the next spring where they hope to find a solution to the increasingly worsening winters affecting their town, a wilderness trading post far to the north. {This short term goal is of medium importance with a misc. adjustment by GM of +1/2% = (+1.5%), and is a group effort (+1%)related to their profession (+1/2%) so the award so far is (3%) for the goal which was successfully accomplished. This multiple is x1 for a subtotal of (3%)}
During the course of the gaming session the characters traveled for two weeks through hostile territory and encountered a starving pack of wolves, discovered nearly buried in ice and snow a covered carriage haunted by the animated skeleton of the dead driver who guarded a secret treasure chest hidden in a secret compartment, and after locating their herb, ran into a deadly Stone Troll on their way out.
The two weeks through hostile territory was 14 days at 1/3% per day for a total of (5% round normally). The starving pack of wolves were easy for the Rangers to avoid (1%). The Ranger Jaren made an extremely difficult perception roll and received an individual award of (1%). They both destroyed the skeleton, an easy foe, for an award of (1%). Netok made an outstanding perception too - and found the secret compartment, so he too got a (1%) individual award. Finding the herb was done through repeated effort, and the 100 gp they found in the chest do not get an award per se, they are their own rewards, and do not reflect on experience. Encountering the troll was a deadly challenge. They fought it to the death and were badly wounded. The GM gave an award of (16%) for a very difficult fight. The last misc. award is (1%) for group consequence. The total for everything so far comes to (28%). Lastly, a role playing multiple is calculated. The two players role played their characters constantly, and some of the dialogue was memorable. The GM figured x1.5 was about right, so 28% x 1.5 is equal to 42% Grand Total. Now the characters could take 42% of their Development point total and spend it accordingly.
EXPERIENCE AWARD WORKSHEET I. GOALS Goal is of Major Importance +2% __________ Goal is of Medium Importance +1% __________ Goal is of Minor Importance +1/2% __________ Misc. Adjustment: (Insane, Mundane, etc.) -3% to +3% __________ Goal related to Profession +1/2% __________ Group Effort Goal +1% __________ TOTAL:__________ Failed X 0 Partial Success X 0.5 Success X 1 Executed Flawlessly X 1.5 GOAL TOTAL:__________a II. Individual Awards (Outstanding shot or maneuver, etc.) Individual Award +1% to +3% __________ Involved Incredible Risk (health/happiness: +1% __________ Normal Success X 1 Failed Spectacularly X 1.5 Executed Flawlessly X 2 INDIVIDUAL AWARD TOTAL:__________b III. Enemies / Encounters / Obstacles (Not Maneuvers !) were easy: +1% __________ were moderately challenging: +2% __________ were a challenge: +4% __________ were difficult: +8% __________ were very difficult: +16% __________ were extremely difficult: +32% __________ were impossible: +64% __________ If defeated/failed GM may give a fractional award. TOTAL FOR ENEMIES AND ENCOUNTERS:__________c IV. Scope / Significance & Misc. Individual consequence: +1/2% __________ Group consequence: +1% __________ Large group or small organization consequence: +2% __________ Large organization or small town consequence: +4% __________ Town or Small City consequence: +8% __________ Large City or Small Kingdom: +16% __________ Kingdom or Empire or Continent: +32% __________ World Wide Consequence or more: +64% __________ (Optional Wilderness Travel Award) Travel Award, Per Day, Normal to Moderate Danger +1/4%__________ Travel Award, Per Day, Moderate to Dangerous +1/3%__________ Travel Award, Per Day, Much Danger +1/2%__________ Travel Award, Per Day, Very Dangerous +1 __________ TOTAL SCOPE AWARD:__________d TOTAL AWARDS(a+b+c+d):__________t V. Role-playing & Characterization Base X1.0 Player participated, but did little else: -X0.25 Player character was really memorable: +X0.5 Player character notably remained in character: +X0.25 Player character misc.: -X0.25 to +X0.25 Total Multiple: X_____m GRAND TOTAL AWARD (t X m) = { }%
If this is totally skewed and unreadable, I have a polished word.doc version I can try and attach and email.
If you have any questions, feel free to let me know.
joel