How does your PC progression look?

bert · 02-22-2019, 12:44 PM

Yeah, what the title says. The DFRPG offers some advice on how to award points after an adventure, and how to spend them. So, how did you PCs improve? How far up did your point totals go? What did you players spend points on?

~~evileeyore~~ · 02-22-2019, 02:13 PM

In the handful of games I've run (none of which lasted very long) the PCs generally just improved on base skills and abilities. Wizards will always be buying new spells (even if it's just one); the Clerics occasional buy a new spell here and there, but it wasn't a focus; and the martials just upped skills and stats.

I had Players that were looking forward to new abilities, but we didn't last long enough to get them to where they were "comfortable" in their skills and stats and felt it was time to branch out.

Note: I play more of a 'DF' game than DFRPG, so i had all the Power-Ups available from the DF line for my Players to pick from had they gotten to wanting to.

finn · 02-23-2019, 01:48 AM

In my game the PCs have grown to 287 points.
The Swashbuckler and Holy Warrior chose to add/gain a level of Extra Attack.
The wizard wanted to add a snake familiar, which I allowed. She has also added some spells and purchased Energy Reserve.
The scout has mainly increased his bow skill.
The druid has mostly added Energy Reserve and added some spells. (I've added some spells to the Druid's spell list)

Dalin · 02-23-2019, 06:57 AM

My first DFRPG campaign ran for about a dozen sessions over nine months. The five PCs started at 250 and ended at about 290 character points. All were first time GURPS players (except me, the GM) and some were first timers at tabletop roleplaying. This is how they spent their points:

The bard decided that he was more of a wizard (half-elven magery) and bought a bunch of spells, increased Magery two levels (since we didn't have a wizard, I was fine with this), and boosted Innate Attack.
The cleric bought up Innate Attack, Meditation, and Religious Ritual, and sunk the bulk of his points into Energy Reserve.
The scout bought or improved a variety of useful skills (Survival variants, Climbing, Stealth, Filch, Naturalist), added Wild Talent 1 (worked for the character concept), and was saving up for Extra Attack.
The swashbuckler bought up Forced Entry and Broadsword, added Every One's a Critical, and was saving for Extra Attack. He loved having high enough Broadsword to take a few levels of deceptive attack while still maximizing his improved crit chances. Once he gets Extra Attack, he's going to be a whirlwind of pain.
The thief bought Combat Reflexes, improved Expert Backstabbing, and added or improved a wide range of skills (Acrobatics, Boating, Crossbow, Forced Entry, Gesture, Knot-Tying, Lasso, Merchant, Observation, Short Sword).

Carrot · 02-23-2019, 09:53 AM

My PCs are coming up on the 270-275 point mark.

We have a good mix of the scout saving up for weapon master and the Wizard adding a couple of spells. The Cleric added PI a few minor skills.

Juliansl · 02-23-2019, 05:06 PM

Our average is probably around 335 total xp right now.

Kalzazz · 02-26-2019, 03:56 PM

100% of characters I have played have bought ST

60% have bought HP separately towards 20 HP breakpoint

40% have bought Extra Attack
40% have bought Weapon Master (another 40% started with it
40% have bought up primary weapon skill. Actually the same exact characters also bought up secondary combat skills

That's it for common trends

Black Leviathan · 02-26-2019, 04:53 PM

We're just past session 6. We've had our cleric upgrade his "magery" and get a few spells. The rest of us have upped weapon skills or picked up esoteric skills like Riding and Merchant. I bought off Wealth-Struggling right away because we were given an Inn and it didn't make sense that I'd be poor any more. I'm working on buying a new signature move for targeting hands with boomerangs on a move-and-attack.

dripton · 03-04-2019, 07:31 PM

Running a DFRPG (plus a few things from GURPS) game now that started at 150 points with a 25 point disadvantage limit and 5 quirks. So about half of the recommended starting point total. 40 sessions in, the current 5 PCs are at 350, 335, 332, 316, and 274 positive points, with disads and quirks mostly unchanged.

What do people buy with all those points?

Primary attributes: ST, DX, HT
Secondary attributes: Striking ST, Lifting ST, HP, Will, Per, High Manual Dexterity
Combat advantages: Combat Reflexes, Weapon Master
Defensive advantages: Extraordinary Luck
Casting advantages: Magery, Power Investiture
Spells: Many
Skills: Many, with a mix of raising existing skills and learning new things

Languages: I house-ruled the full GURPS language rules in to make it cheaper to acquire more languages at less than full native fluency, and started each PC with one bonus language at Accented. As a result several PCs speak a bit of this or that.

So far, the extra points haven't broken the game. But I always worry about balance.

02-22-2019, 12:44 PM	#1
bert Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Southern Sweden, possibly on an Alternate Earth	How does your PC progression look? Yeah, what the title says. The DFRPG offers some advice on how to award points after an adventure, and how to spend them. So, how did you PCs improve? How far up did your point totals go? What did you players spend points on?

02-22-2019, 02:13 PM	#2
~~evileeyore~~ Banned Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: 100 hurricane swamp	Re: How does your PC progression look? In the handful of games I've run (none of which lasted very long) the PCs generally just improved on base skills and abilities. Wizards will always be buying new spells (even if it's just one); the Clerics occasional buy a new spell here and there, but it wasn't a focus; and the martials just upped skills and stats. I had Players that were looking forward to new abilities, but we didn't last long enough to get them to where they were "comfortable" in their skills and stats and felt it was time to branch out. Note: I play more of a 'DF' game than DFRPG, so i had all the Power-Ups available from the DF line for my Players to pick from had they gotten to wanting to.

02-23-2019, 01:48 AM	#3
finn Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Tokyo, Japan	Re: How does your PC progression look? In my game the PCs have grown to 287 points. The Swashbuckler and Holy Warrior chose to add/gain a level of Extra Attack. The wizard wanted to add a snake familiar, which I allowed. She has also added some spells and purchased Energy Reserve. The scout has mainly increased his bow skill. The druid has mostly added Energy Reserve and added some spells. (I've added some spells to the Druid's spell list)

02-23-2019, 06:57 AM	#4
Dalin Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Saint Paul, MN	Re: How does your PC progression look? My first DFRPG campaign ran for about a dozen sessions over nine months. The five PCs started at 250 and ended at about 290 character points. All were first time GURPS players (except me, the GM) and some were first timers at tabletop roleplaying. This is how they spent their points: The bard decided that he was more of a wizard (half-elven magery) and bought a bunch of spells, increased Magery two levels (since we didn't have a wizard, I was fine with this), and boosted Innate Attack. The cleric bought up Innate Attack, Meditation, and Religious Ritual, and sunk the bulk of his points into Energy Reserve. The scout bought or improved a variety of useful skills (Survival variants, Climbing, Stealth, Filch, Naturalist), added Wild Talent 1 (worked for the character concept), and was saving up for Extra Attack. The swashbuckler bought up Forced Entry and Broadsword, added Every One's a Critical, and was saving for Extra Attack. He loved having high enough Broadsword to take a few levels of deceptive attack while still maximizing his improved crit chances. Once he gets Extra Attack, he's going to be a whirlwind of pain. The thief bought Combat Reflexes, improved Expert Backstabbing, and added or improved a wide range of skills (Acrobatics, Boating, Crossbow, Forced Entry, Gesture, Knot-Tying, Lasso, Merchant, Observation, Short Sword). Last edited by Dalin; 02-23-2019 at 10:27 AM. Reason: normalized capitalization

02-23-2019, 09:53 AM	#5
Carrot Join Date: Nov 2017	Re: How does your PC progression look? My PCs are coming up on the 270-275 point mark. We have a good mix of the scout saving up for weapon master and the Wizard adding a couple of spells. The Cleric added PI a few minor skills.

02-23-2019, 05:06 PM	#6
Juliansl Join Date: Sep 2018	Re: How does your PC progression look? Our average is probably around 335 total xp right now.

02-26-2019, 03:56 PM	#7
Kalzazz Join Date: Feb 2009	Re: How does your PC progression look? 100% of characters I have played have bought ST 60% have bought HP separately towards 20 HP breakpoint 40% have bought Extra Attack 40% have bought Weapon Master (another 40% started with it 40% have bought up primary weapon skill. Actually the same exact characters also bought up secondary combat skills That's it for common trends

02-26-2019, 04:53 PM	#8
Black Leviathan Join Date: Sep 2018	Re: How does your PC progression look? We're just past session 6. We've had our cleric upgrade his "magery" and get a few spells. The rest of us have upped weapon skills or picked up esoteric skills like Riding and Merchant. I bought off Wealth-Struggling right away because we were given an Inn and it didn't make sense that I'd be poor any more. I'm working on buying a new signature move for targeting hands with boomerangs on a move-and-attack.

03-04-2019, 07:31 PM	#9
dripton Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Northern Virginia, USA	Re: How does your PC progression look? Running a DFRPG (plus a few things from GURPS) game now that started at 150 points with a 25 point disadvantage limit and 5 quirks. So about half of the recommended starting point total. 40 sessions in, the current 5 PCs are at 350, 335, 332, 316, and 274 positive points, with disads and quirks mostly unchanged. What do people buy with all those points? Primary attributes: ST, DX, HT Secondary attributes: Striking ST, Lifting ST, HP, Will, Per, High Manual Dexterity Combat advantages: Combat Reflexes, Weapon Master Defensive advantages: Extraordinary Luck Casting advantages: Magery, Power Investiture Spells: Many Skills: Many, with a mix of raising existing skills and learning new things Languages: I house-ruled the full GURPS language rules in to make it cheaper to acquire more languages at less than full native fluency, and started each PC with one bonus language at Accented. As a result several PCs speak a bit of this or that. So far, the extra points haven't broken the game. But I always worry about balance.