Changing the nature of the game.

[BillionSix]

Okay, I actually like the idea of no experience points. I like the idea of emulating the superhero genre by making the character you want at the start of the game and have him remains fairly static.

Now most people say that XP lets you have a sense of progress. There are other ways to get that. Defeating villains, achieving in character goals, etc.

But there is another thing that XP does. As Zak Smith pointed out in his blog, Playing D&D With * Stars, gaining XP and leveling changes the nature of the game, so it doesn't get boring. A 1st level game of D&D is not the same as a 10th level game, or a 20th level game.

So, my question is this: If you opt not to use XP, how do you change the nature of the game, either as a player or a GM, to keep things interesting.

One idea: change characters now and then. It is totally in-genre to have the lineup of a super-team change continually, and you can always bring a character back if you miss him.

Any other ideas?

[BASHMAN]

Yes- re-specking a character is a good way to keep it fresh.

In a way you don't even NEED to spend xp to improve your character- you just add some powers, etc- and it adjusts how many Hero Points you get the next session. As long as you are coming up with some story reasons for it, I'd have no problem with it.

Another good thing is to let people bring in new characters or rotate through several characters over the course of a campaign.

[jakspade]

Changing characters works in a Justice League type campaign, older characters step back to let newer characters come in, older characters need rescuing by newer characters, etc.

Sometimes it might be a good idea to script adventures in such a way that a specific outcome causes the character's powers to change, like Spiderman's mutation, or the Fantastic Four switching powers.

Or you might have a chance to set it up so that character's powers are based on the "alignment of global or universal entities". Stronger powers during the height of a lunar cycle or change during eclipses or planetary alignment.

[BeardedDork]

I would debate the changing nature of the game in other games is illusory any way. Kobolds simply become ogres which become dragons, at an given level the challenges you face are functionally the same since everything scales more or less equivalently.

[BillionSix]

I would debate the changing nature of the game in other games is illusory any way. Kobolds simply become ogres which become dragons, at an given level the challenges you face are functionally the same since everything scales more or less equivalently.

Not really. You get more powers, more hit points, access to better resurrection magic.

Early D&D is sneaking around and trying not to get killed. High level D&D is charging in with prismatic sprays and vorpal swords. Or in a different style campaign, it's court politics and going to war with neighboring kingdoms. It's the same game, but the nature changes.

You are correct in the sense that you face more or less equal monster challenges. But the wizard who had one spell a day, now has an *. (Granted I am talking about older style D&D. I don't know enough about 4E to say anything about it.)
Your character now has a plethora of different powers to draw on. He is different than he was.

Standard BASH doesn't do that. It's static. Except for story development, the nature of your character doesn't change unless you make some kind of arrangement with the GM.

[BASHMAN]

Perhaps- but this is assuming you play the same character every issue as well.

[dugfromthearth]

Multipowers are a great way of changing the game with minimal xp. You don't get more powerful, you just get another option. Like a wizard getting another spell.

One thing you don't get is getting better than foes. But that should really only happen with minion types.

Spiderman is stronger now, but still evenly matched with Doc Ock and other villains he fought decades ago.

In comic books the heroes almost never change power level vs the villains they normally face - if there is improvement they all inflate at the same level.

What really happens in comics is hero points. Batman fights street thugs in his own comic and has a challenge. He teams with Superman and fight Apokolips demons and they are just as challenging.

In theory this is what hero points do for you - a tougher foe gives you more hero points so you fight better. Personally I think hero points are very underpowered, but that's the games way of handling it.

[BASHMAN]

In theory this is what hero points do for you - a tougher foe gives you more hero points so you fight better. Personally I think hero points are very underpowered, but that's the games way of handling it.

Note that if you're doing a Bronze-Age style cross-over where you've got a VERY diverse power level difference, you are encouraged to *double* the amount of Hero Points given based on difference from the cap.

So if you had a 45 point game, a character worth 25 points would get to start with 40 Hero Points! 8 Hero Dice worth. That's a lot!