Time-Based Experience (Seeking notions)

[Jachra]

I attempted a search for this idea but didn't find much of note.

The short of it is that I want to run a game where, instead of handing out experience during the game at arbitrary points, I award experience for in-game events - another way to put it is that I want characters to earn abilities through TIME (composed of in-game passage of time) and EFFORT (composed of quality of training and the inclination of the student.)

A lot of in-game time will be passing in this game, characters will attend classes and be able to locate teachers and I want this to have a real effect on their development. I'm not worried about character gaming the system, I know what to look for.

 

I'm aware Hero emphasizes a more cinematic approach in general and I have indeed played it this way to great effect, but for this particular game I'm emphasizing a more realistic approach and casting balance to the wind, and I don't think Hero is necessarily anathema to it, but I only have some basic ideas of how to do this, and was curious to see if anyone else had tried it or if anyone else has constructive thoughts that would help me develop it.

 

This is a Heroic campaign and characters can only gain powers through events, for the most part (exceptions may be for mundane things that might be a bit pulpy, like, for example, being able to perch on a limb or building Mental Defense. These things would represent special training or the like.)

 

The only ideas I have at the moment are:

1. For each item or group of items (like physical stats, mental skills, combat stats..) arbitrarily assign a time scale to move up 1 level.
   
2. Assign a certain base time for each Real Point. You accumulate per ability (so a real point dedicated to Dexterity can't be switched over to Strength.) (My only real objection to this one is that point costs are based on how balanced the ability is rather than on how difficult it is to learn.)
   
3. The insane option: Scale the amount of time needed per level higher and higher each level, depending on what you want (so that instead of each level of Skill costing the same, each level costs an increasing amount of time.)
   
4. Option I'm not too fond of: A given amount of time provides a given amount of Experience points, add to characters as normal with restrictions. Classes and teachers are just an excuse that allows you to spend the points.
   

 

I understand this whole notion may be somewhat unpopular for some but it's what we're interested in doing - if you think another system is better suited, I'm curious to hear it.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Time-Based Experience (Seeking notions)

 

The Hero System is rather neutral on this kind subject. This sounds like a perfectly reasonable campaign house rule. As such just be sure to inform players of it before starting the game.

[Greywind]

Re: Time-Based Experience (Seeking notions)

 

What you can do, depending on how much time passes, is pass out the XP as usual, but only allow the players to assign one point to a given skill or power. If you want to gauge it by a college term, most hit at about 16 weeks. Depending upon the course of study, after the 16 weeks the character should have at least a familiarity with the subject (8-).

[Lucius]

Re: Time-Based Experience (Seeking notions)

 

Earlier editions had specific rules that allowed, for example, for a character who spent a spent a few months in a country to gain XP specifically for learning the language. I just checked, and while the current regime still has a section on "assigned experience points" it seems more directed to allowing specific improvements to abilities used in adventure, rather than in "downtime."

 

Given some of your remarks, specifically "(My only real objection to this one is that point costs are based on how balanced the ability is rather than on how difficult it is to learn.)" I feel like you are trying to graft the GURPS way of doing Skills onto Hero?

 

I suggest that if you want something realistic, perhaps you can use something also derived from Runequest (aka Basic Role Playing.)

 

Consider this idea:

 

Set a base time for earning one point. If you set it at one week for example, and a character wants to gain a +1 Skill Level to, say, "All Thief Skills (Sleight of Hand, Security Systems, Stealth, Streetwise, etc.)" that would take 5 weeks.

 

But progress is not automatic. Calculate the highest Skill Roll that the Level would apply to, if all applicable Levels were in use. For instance, if the character has Stealth of 13 or less, already has one level like the one being sought, and has a +1 to Stealth and Concealment, their max Stealth Roll currently is 15. The player must FAIL that roll to improve. The better you are at something, the less likely you can improve further.

 

For Characteristics, use a Characteristic Roll. For things like OCV and Combat Skill Levels, pick a target DCV to beat as your standard. Treat DCV like OCV for this purpose.

 

Things like Mental Defense can be based on a straight 11 or less Roll, perhaps with a +1 for each point of Mental Def. For that matter, Energy and Physical Def can be treated that way. So can languages.

 

The roll can be adjusted for things like: Taking extra time; Having appropriate books, exercise equipment, plentiful opportunity to practice, a teacher with the right Sill at a higher level, etc. Also, you may want to allow a Skill: Instrutor, or appropriate PS Skills, to help; if the teacher makes the roll, each 2 pts they make it by is subtracted from the target the learner must roll OVER (remember, to improve, you must FAIL the roll; if you make the roll you're already so good you don't get better.) You can also adjust for how "easy" or "hard" you thin it should be, or adjust the base time for such factors.

 

And if the roll is failed? Allow another roll in another week.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Palindromedary Trainer

[Sean Waters]

Re: Time-Based Experience (Seeking notions)

 

I know lots of people who have spent years in England and can not speak more than a few words of English that you could probably justify under 'general knowledge'. IMO it is about what you chose to spend your experience on. I spent 5 years theoretically learning French and can do little more than order wine and cheese (OK, what more do I need in any language?).

 

As Hyper-Man says, it is a perfectly reasonable notion but not one I think that you need.

 

You can always hand out 'defined experience' i.e. "Have a bonus XP toward Familiarity with Russian on the basis that you have been role-playing getting into conversations with Russians with hilarious results.".

[Christopher]

Re: Time-Based Experience (Seeking notions)

 

This is a Heroic campaign and characters can only gain powers through events' date=' for the most part (exceptions may be for mundane things that might be a bit pulpy, like, for example, being able to perch on a limb or building Mental Defense. These things would represent special training or the like.)[/quote']

It is generally encouraged that when a superheroic character want's to learn a new power, it's should be an ingame event.

 

So it's really just saying:

When you want to add a poewr, you need to give me a radation accident that I can build into the next adventure. Once the accident happened, you have your new power.

or

When you want to invest Y XP into skills, that needs Y amounts of days/weeks. The timespan can be somethign different, like total cost of the Skill at the new level, squared in days (that way high levels and non-backgroudn skills take longer).

 

In both variants total points/XP would still be the measurement of power/growth but the spending is limited. It's basically the approach of WEG Star Wars.

[torchwolf]

Re: Time-Based Experience (Seeking notions)

 

As for time requirements for learning Skills, The Ultimate Skill (5th edition)/Hero System Skills (6th edition) discusses learning rate, Instruction Skill, and Skills categorized by complexity/difficulty.

 

Event Driven Hero by KillerShrike goes into some depth on using EXP directly related to events.

[Christopher]

Re: Time-Based Experience (Seeking notions)

 

KillerShrike's list also has this noteregarding what I wrote above:

POWERUP OPPORTUNITIES

from AmadanNaBriona

 

Alternately, instead of awarding partial XP and defining events which grant chunks of XP when accomplished, the GM can instead award XP normally but not allow players to spend XP on their characters as a matter of course. Under this style of arrangement events are instead opportunities for players to spend however many XP they have saved up.

 

This leads to more of a stepped progression. On the plus side it prevents / discourages players from busting through their events too quickly since they gain little benefit for doing so if their "XP tank" is dry. On the con side events become much less of an accomplishment to be looked forward to and more of a probably unwanted complicating factor interfering with a character's progression; some players do not like "visit the trainer" schemes.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Time-Based Experience (Seeking notions)

 

Ya; I wrote up a handful of variant xp schemes a while back:

Meta Concepts