Way back in September I set out to write a big ol’ series about my old Dungeon Moon setting. I got as far as writing an introduction, and a bit about settlements before the site intrusion happened and I had to shut everything down. Now that we’re back, I’d like to pick up where I left off.
Characters earning experience points for the wealth they recover is hands down one of my favorite mechanics, but it’s a poor fit for Dungeon Moon. What you and I would consider “wealth” is commonplace there. Every human wears golden jewelry, every town is replete with marble statues. Without commodities to trade, no one values coins for anything other than their base metals, or maybe the art imprinted on them.
The real treasures to be recovered are simple things: food, clothing, books, pillows, wood, anything and everything that will make life a little better. So the question becomes: how does this translate into experience gain?
The most obvious solution would be some attempt to abstract it back into the comfortable XP for GP model. Each pillow is worth 100gp, and thereby is worth 100xp. While perhaps technically functional this approach wouldn’t create the impression I want. I don’t want players to nickle-and-dime their way to higher levels by selling things to their communities. I want to challenge players to really improve those communities. I want them to think about how to get enough pillows for everyone in town.
Throughout 2017 I playtested a ruleset designed by my friend John called “Into the Depths.” Rather than characters incrementally gaining experience points to level, John wrote up a list of 20 generalized “great deeds,” which would grant characters half a level when they were accomplished. Ten of the deeds are repeatable (slay a famous monster, recover a priceless treasure, etc.), while the other ten only work a single time during the character’s career (obtain a noble title, swear allegiance to a powerful patron, etc).
I think something very similar could work for Dungeon Moon. It will take some tinkering and testing to get it exactly right, but this could work as a first draft. Obviously it draws heavily on John’s work.
On Dungeon Moon, Characters gain 1/2 of a level each time they…
- Bring a new resource back to their community in sufficient quantities for every family to benefit.
- Establish a safe path between their community and a trading partner or other worthy location.
- Help an endangered community migrate to a new and safer home.
- Solve a problem which posed a significant threat to a community.
- Unlock one of the secrets of Dungeon Moon which will make the lives of everyone who knows it easier or safer.
- Truthfully take a new community under their protection.
- Significantly alter a community’s existing social or political structure without destroying or constantly policing that community.
- Behold an incredible sight never to be seen again. (e.g. the birth of a demigod).
- Slay a famous monster (e.g. dragon or demigod)
- Make something lasting (e.g. write a book, build a castle, found a new community, establish a civil service, create a magical artifact.)
While it lacks the simple elegance of 1 xp for 1 gp, I do think this will push the gameplay in more interesting directions.
This may lack the mathematical elegance of xp=gp, but it works on the same principle of incentivising the core gameplay goal. In a community-building / problem-solving game, you get XP for building community and solving problems.
I also like John’s half-level idea. It reminds me of finding half-hearts in Zelda.
I love this more generalized “go out and do D&D things” for advancement.
Would the inverse of these qualify if the party are not-good people? Ruining a trade route, create a serious problem for a settlement, etc? Watch changes do you think would be need to make that work?