Gold for XP in a town

[Maynard]

Hi all, I'm very interested in how gold for xp was handled at the table when you got back to town. How did you go about having your players exchange the gold for xp within the game world? I am interested in some kind of reaction system (players gamble the money, might get money back, players build something for the town, might get some reward or piss off some noble, etc). Having never played B/X or 1e I'm interested in how it went back then.

 

[PrinceofNothing]

I run it real simple. The moment you set one foot within city or hovel limits, you get your xp for treasure and your henchmen assume that its time to divide the loot. After division, there's living costs (room & board), I use an AD&D rule for B/X that means learning new spells costs 100 gp/spell level in inks, there's sages to consult to identify magic items, then usually if its a big town and the PCs have stuck around, the tax collector or some local species of official will want to try to finagle them out of some of their reward, then there's hiring bonuses for new henchmen, new supplies, occasionally equipment if they are not already fully stacked, definitely Raise Dead costs if they lost someone, and absolutely no magic items for sale ever. This keeps their immediate coinage down to manageable levels but they do strut around with jewelry worth multiple hundreds of gps each. The Bag of Holding in B12 yet exerts its dreadful toll. In general, players will start buying up new horses, pack mules, maybe some solid property if they want to do magical research (which also costs a lot of gp) etc. etc. etc.

EDIT: Hello and welcome btw!

 

[Maynard]

So it's not like a souls game where you choose to spend it or convert it to xp then? Right on.

In the adventure I'm writing (5e) I'm doing some kind of hybrid where the milestone to level is an expensive purchase.

Before the pandemic I was doing a beer and pretzels west marches game where leveling was just tied to survival (come to sessions equal to your level and you'll level up) which kept things simple and manageable. It also left my players without incentive to actually go into dungeons and take risks. They've done a lot of exploring and hanging out in cities.

In the next few weeks I'll be starting it up again I think I'll be going for something similar to what you describe.

 

[PrinceofNothing]

Before the pandemic I was doing a beer and pretzels west marches game where leveling was just tied to survival (come to sessions equal to your level and you'll level up) which kept things simple and manageable. It also left my players without incentive to actually go into dungeons and take risks. They've done a lot of exploring and hanging out in cities.

Yeah that's one of the drawbacks to XP for surviving a session. Unless you are willing to threaten them with execution by belligerent authorities if they don't complete their missions, which sounds like shit but can actually be very fun, particularly if the missions seem impossible at first glance.

In the next few weeks I'll be starting it up again I think I'll be going for something similar to what you describe.

Good luck to you. A word of advice; I don't know how much monster XP 5e gives out but the amount of XP that is required for levelling up is a lot lower then in old games. Adjusting the amount of treasure that is doled out to keep a good game flow might require some finnicking.

 

[Maynard]

Thankfully I had most of the pandemic to prepare the actual adventuring portion, so I can focus now on managing the loot rewards. I don't even remember what my players have on hand so it might get borked immediately haha.

I have no idea about monster xp either. Just seemed like a lot to keep track of when milestones were available. I think I'll be mining ose for the level progression table anyway.

 

[EOTB]

Hi all, I'm very interested in how gold for xp was handled at the table when you got back to town. How did you go about having your players exchange the gold for xp within the game world? I am interested in some kind of reaction system (players gamble the money, might get money back, players build something for the town, might get some reward or piss off some noble, etc). Having never played B/X or 1e I'm interested in how it went back then.

XP for the gold piece value of treasure returned to town/home base is also entirely divorced from spending it however they please, in my game. They can keep it, or they can use it. Same XP. But I do remind my players that gold is pretty useless sitting on your character sheet (unless they're saving up for big-cost items)

 

[squeen]

Agreed with both Prince and EOTB. I'll add that in AD&D (1e) there are also training costs required for each class to progress to the next level. It is tempting to overlook this mechanic (later editions dropped it?), but I think it's important. Not only does it add a purpose and value to gold, but sometimes (with the 1e curves) you need to go in debt to get the training. All of that (e.g. who trains you, having to pay off a debt, etc.) is fuel for further adventure and entanglement in the world.

Also, some exotic treasure must be converted in gold (sold) in order to determine it's XP/GP value---you don't always get the full value. I do that with everything except gems which I tend to think of as "concentrated currency", i.e. high value, low encumbrance.

In AD&D, kept magic items also grant XP, which is always less than if you sell them.

I think Melan, in his campaigns, requires gold to be spent lavishly in order for you to get full XP, but I may be mistaken.

I have no idea about monster xp either. Just seemed like a lot to keep track of when milestones were available. I think I'll be mining ose for the level progression table anyway.

I keep a DM's notebook and jot down things like monster's vanishing HP during a battle and things about the characters/NPCs I need to remember weeks/months/years later. I find going back though those notes and totaling up XP to be fun in-between sessions. It's another way to connect to D&D when you aren't playing D&D.

Final note: I do have "outposts" in some of my larger dungeons that let you rest and garner XP same as returning to a town. This is generally a megadungeon conceit, since you can get stuck inside for a long time.

 

[Commodore]

It's certainly not unheard of to have to spend the gold to get XP, but that's not the most common. I award it when the gold is "secured", which normally means brought back to town but can also mean it was back to the players' ship, exchanged for goods with the extradimensional merchant, or placed in Kevin's vault.

 

[squeen]

Damn you Kevin!

 

[Beoric]

I have no idea about monster xp either. Just seemed like a lot to keep track of when milestones were available. I think I'll be mining ose for the level progression table anyway.

I shoot for having 80% to 85% of XPs coming from treasure. So when implementing this in my 4e game, I reduce XP awards from combat to 15% to 20% of normal.

 

[Commodore]

I'm intrigued by your 4th Edition OSR ideas and I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.

 

[Beoric]

I'm intrigued by your 4th Edition OSR ideas and I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.

Um... sure .... my newsletter. For the teeming masses interested in 4e D&D played in Classic/OSR style. Subscribers: you.

You were being ironic, right?

 

[Commodore]

I didn't really think you have a newsletter, but the concept is fascinating.

 

[Beoric]

Heh. My posts on 4e forums tend to be studiously ignored.

 

[squeen]

Not here. Here we just mock and insult you.