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Old 11-28-2022, 02:32 AM   #1
hcobb
 
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Pacheco, California
Default That which I kill fails to makes me stronger

ITL 45: "XP need not be mechanically granted just for slaying things, except in a purely combat scenario."

So the note at ITL 129: "In passing out experience points for this combat" means that the players are getting the flat XP reward for engaging in a play session plus zero XPs just for slaying the troll.

Do you do the same or do you add XPs for the Bloodbath and Beyond, and if so how do you judge how much XPs to hand out for the pound of flesh, perhaps the Firepower rating? https://www.hcobb.com/tft/firepower.html
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Old 11-28-2022, 03:17 AM   #2
Steve Plambeck
 
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Default Re: That which I kill fails to makes me stronger

I loved the old rule, 1 XP for every hit damage given or taken. Doesn't that keep the players more engaged?

But if so.... what about when a figure is 1 XP from increasing an Attribute, but dies from 1 more hit of damage? Well they get the 1 XP, and therefore get to increase ST by 1, so they don't really die, right? Well, at least not until the next hit.

Disclaimer: this is meant to be funny. so please don't really debate this! :)
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Old 11-28-2022, 11:09 AM   #3
Bill_in_IN
 
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Default Re: That which I kill fails to makes me stronger

I prefer a base for all participating characters and then individual XP bonuses for general performance. That means that being more lethal than others in the party may bring 10 or 20 XP extra or even the employment of a very impressive and effective negotiation, strategy, or spell that changes the outcome of the session. So, effective fighting and slaughter of enemies is rewarded but other things can also be rewarded.
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Old 11-28-2022, 11:15 AM   #4
hcobb
 
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Default Re: That which I kill fails to makes me stronger

A big aspect of this is that highly experienced characters are slaughtering a lot of monsters each session, but their further growth is glacial.

This keeps with TFT's "low fantasy" setting, but keeps a lot of the high level spells (and talents) as NPC-only scenario gimmicks that the PCs shall never touch.
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Old 11-28-2022, 07:33 PM   #5
Axly Suregrip
 
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Default Re: That which I kill fails to makes me stronger

I embrace the new XP rules instead of the old 1 XP per 1 damage. I like it getting away from combat focused XP. The old system punished team players that were contributing in ways that did not do damage (tanks, bolas, leaders, naturalists, physickers, thieves, etc)

So, I give out an equal amount of XP to everyone per session as a base. I tend to give out a high amount. I then also give out bonus XP to one or more characters for doing the right thing or lucky shot or exceptional deed etc. I have to think about it every session to make sure I am finding things to reward and that I am rewarding behavior that is contributing to the story for everyone. I definitely reward selfless heroics that works (if it fails then it was just being stupid).

I estimate that I always give out a bonus per session, sometimes several. A bonus may be as much as the session base XP, but is usually less.

I also threaten (maybe just initially) to give out XP penalties if playing out of character. If a character does something that is just out of their nature without at least some kind of emotional or logical reason why it was essential, they can expect to lose some XP. I have never had to do so. For example, our dwarves never pass an opportunity to seek riches (GM, "The chest is clearly trapped and you cannot find a way to disarm it, what are you going to do?" Dwarf, "I am not leaving until we open it, if I have to do it myself").
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Old 11-28-2022, 08:05 PM   #6
Bill_in_IN
 
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Default Re: That which I kill fails to makes me stronger

Quote:
Originally Posted by Axly Suregrip View Post
I embrace the new XP rules instead of the old 1 XP per 1 damage. I like it getting away from combat focused XP. The old system punished team players that were contributing in ways that did not do damage (tanks, bolas, leaders, naturalists, physickers, thieves, etc)

So, I give out an equal amount of XP to everyone per session as a base. I tend to give out a high amount. I then also give out bonus XP to one or more characters for doing the right thing or lucky shot or exceptional deed etc. I have to think about it every session to make sure I am finding things to reward and that I am rewarding behavior that is contributing to the story for everyone. I definitely reward selfless heroics that works (if it fails then it was just being stupid).

I estimate that I always give out a bonus per session, sometimes several. A bonus may be as much as the session base XP, but is usually less.

I also threaten (maybe just initially) to give out XP penalties if playing out of character. If a character does something that is just out of their nature without at least some kind of emotional or logical reason why it was essential, they can expect to lose some XP. I have never had to do so. For example, our dwarves never pass an opportunity to seek riches (GM, "The chest is clearly trapped and you cannot find a way to disarm it, what are you going to do?" Dwarf, "I am not leaving until we open it, if I have to do it myself").
See Page 10 of Classic ITL.

While XP was more combat oriented, it allowed for plenty of GM discretion so that it wouldn't be much different than the current XP award system.

Last edited by Bill_in_IN; 11-29-2022 at 08:05 AM.
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