Exp and Character/Group progression

AngryGhost · Post by **AngryGhost** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 3:43 am

I was wondering what anyone does in regards to experience points (as alt. rules at the back suggest) or character progression in general.

I'm planning on running a med/long campaign and whilst there aren't that many skills to choose from and my players will have some room to grow/develop their powers I'm not wanting them to grow to fast to quickly. I also don't want them to grow to Cosmic scale (though there will be chances to defeat enemies of this scale)

My players all come from WoD/levelless backgrounds so whilst they (and I) feel the need some reward in exp/character growth above and beyond the simple knowledge that the earth is safe from Derek*, the Evil Space Dictator of Doom once again, they're not as mercenary to defeat said bad guy and then in true D&D style loot the fella's spangly sequined pockets.

I was thinking of not allowing any HQ/sidekick/vehicles at character creations and then implementing some sort of group exp. for building such things during the course of the story. What does anyone think of this? Does anyone have any ideas, or has already done something similar? Also, what else could be bought with group exp - perhaps some sort bonus to a multiple character combi power?

*Disclaimer: random generated bad guy name that does not assume that anyone/everyone with the name Derek is inherently evil, and/or wearer of spangly sequined trousers.

Post by **BASHMAN** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 5:56 am

I am running a campaign using the XP and Fame rules right now. The players started at 30 points, they are now 33 points. It has been several months. I adjusted the campaign accordingly so they weren't "punished" for spending their XP, so we have a 33pt campaign now.

I give between 2-5XP per session, with 3 being average, 5 being for finishing some major epic thing (like fighting that Shadow Dragon + Undead Horde last week). I also use a rule that each Hero Point they earn in the game counts as +0.2XP for them.

If you want the advancement to go even slower, you could simply *only* use the Hero Points awarded as XP. Don't forget, you earn the XP whether the points are spent or not- don't reward hording hero points.

Actually I like your idea of letting them "start small" and then "grow into" the superhero life of having the HQ, vehicle, etc. Build their *Legend* as they go on. Not sure how I'd do it though. I'd probably make the Vehicles, etc, have 1/2 XP cost of buying a power for yourself with XP- but this is paid instead of taking a Disad to pay for the Vehicle.

Not sure about "group XP" but it sounds interesting. I was considering something like "Team Advantages & Disads" for the Awesome Powers book.

That said, FAME also is a fantastic reward in itself, even if you don't use the XP rules.

AngryGhost · Post by **AngryGhost** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 6:00 am

Awesome Powers book?

MrJupiter · Post by **MrJupiter** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 1:22 pm

Yeah, this AWESOME POWERS BOOK is a really cool sounding product that is perfect for those players and narrators that would rather 'pick' their powers without having to bother 'build' the power. BASHMAN has all these phenominal powers organized by general categories like Fire, Magnetism, and Sorcery. Each category has a number of powers for offense, defense, and general utility. Users of the book will have the option to totally generate their hero's/villain's powers randomly as well.

Here's a link to the old forum with a near-complete list:
http://www.freeyabb.com/bash/viewtopic. ... forum=bash

I think the latest power category is "Wuxia" which is like all those cool power-like abilities seen in kung-fu movies.

I can't wait to get this book!

AngryGhost · Post by **AngryGhost** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 1:24 pm

MrJupiter wrote:Yeah, this AWESOME POWERS BOOK is a really cool sounding product that is perfect for those players and narrators that would rather 'pick' their powers without having to bother 'building' a power. BASHMAN has all these phenominal powers organized by general categories like Fire, Magnetism, and Sorcery.

Here's a link to the old forum with a near-complete list:
http://www.freeyabb.com/bash/viewtopic. ... forum=bash

I think the latest power category is "Wuxia" which is like all those cool power-like abilities seen in kung-fu movies.

I can't wait to get this book!

I think I might have found a new rpg line to consume

MrJupiter · Post by **MrJupiter** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 1:27 pm

Agreed!

Post by **BASHMAN** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 2:22 pm

MrJupiter wrote:Yeah, this AWESOME POWERS BOOK is a really cool sounding product that is perfect for those players and narrators that would rather 'pick' their powers without having to bother 'build' the power. BASHMAN has all these phenominal powers organized by general categories like Fire, Magnetism, and Sorcery. Each category has a number of powers for offense, defense, and general utility. Users of the book will have the option to totally generate their hero's/villain's powers randomly as well.

Here's a link to the old forum with a near-complete list:
http://www.freeyabb.com/bash/viewtopic. ... forum=bash

I think the latest power category is "Wuxia" which is like all those cool power-like abilities seen in kung-fu movies.

I can't wait to get this book!

Actually I decided on the name "Inner Strength" instead. This power would be not only good for making Ki-based martial artists, but for Jedi-type characters as well.

Post by **BASHMAN** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 2:28 pm

Well, right now there are a couple things in the Queue that must come out first. Here it is, in order of what I plan to release:

Vengeance is Nigh (Module for BASH! UE)
Legends of Steel (BASH! Fantasy-based game)
Honor + Intrigue (17th Century Swashbuckling variant of Barbarians of Lemuria)
Age of Olympus (Fantasy Superheroes in Ancient Greece- currently seeking freelancers to help write it so I can focus on Awesome Powers)
The Awesome Powers Book (or "The Book of Awesome Power" not sure of the name yet- for BASH! UE).
Megapolis: YEAR 2 (Campaign setting for BASH! UE)
At some point in there somewhere, there will be another module called "The Plastic Peril of Doctor Polymer" which someone else is writing- and "Zeroes" a mini-setting/pack of adventures for BASH! UE with an emphasis on hilarity & failing with style ala "Mystery Men", "The Tick", "Legion of Substitute Heroes" and "Venture Bros".

MrJupiter · Post by **MrJupiter** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 4:10 pm

Excellent. Thanks for that I was wondering about how those various projects would be appearing.

AslanC · Post by **AslanC** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 6:00 pm

Well there goes my budget for the foreseeable future.

Ratix · Post by **Ratix** » Sun Apr 25, 2010 7:12 am

The Awesome Powers book sounds excellent for conversions, and I think the Wuxia/Inner Strength power suite sold me on it. How much can we expect it to come to? Will it be PDF only?