A closer look at the Dynamic Roleplaying System: Character and Player rewards

For our next entry this week we will be looking at the character and player rewards.

Usually most roleplaying games there are always two distinct rewards for characters: these are known as experience points, or XP, and gold.

Experience points are used by players to enhance their characters by increasing the characters existing skills as well as learning new skills and abilities.

Experience is awarded dependant on the challenge the players have faced, and the amount can be influenced by the difficulty of the fight as well as how the conditions of the fight affected the fight. So, killing a skilled warrior chained to a rock will not award as much experience as facing him in a fair fight.

Gold is one of the main sources for a character’s income and is normally gained by completing elements of the story or adventure, though gold can also be gained by utilising skills and selling items they have found or looted from fallen foes.

The amount of gold a character can earn depends on the quality of the items they craft or the wealth of the foe you have beaten.

In addition to this, the player is also eligible for infamy and renown: when a player commits an act for better or worse, that act will impact the people around them and how they view them.

In essence the characters will normally start the story with an infamy/renown score of zero. However, as they begin to adventure this will quickly change, as the character displays their true self, unless the player takes steps to conceal it.

For example, a player walking into a town sees a woman being bullied by a small band of thugs: if the player intervenes on her behalf, he would gain renown from the locals and would provide a bonus in his interactions with the people of the town for helping the woman; if he walks by and ignores her pleas for help, he will gain a small amount of infamy from the townsfolk for not helping her; and finally, should the hero join the thugs, he would receive a larger amount of infamy, and probably the ire, of the locals.

The reputation mechanic is in its early stages but is intended to allow the players and storyteller to better emulate the effects they have on the world around them as well as providing bonuses and minuses to the players when they interact with the people around them.

In addition to the character rewards, there are also player rewards for good roleplaying by the players.

Firstly, the storyteller can award destiny points to the players who do some particular good roleplaying, and secondly, the storyteller may also award adhoc experience awards to players who do some especially good roleplaying. What destiny points are and how they work will be covered in a later post.

What destiny points are and how they work will be covered in a later post.

Everything presented here is currently in a state of production and is subject to change.

If you have any questions regarding this then please let us know and we'll be happy to answer any questions.