Character Progression

I wanted to start with something different, but since I read this rather good analysis of character progression (http://sob.apotheon.org/?p=435) it strikes me as a good time to wrestle with the beast.

Character progression is tough.

Fortunately, the author of the blog above has done an excellent job of describing why.

I'm satisfied with the solution I've used in Elements Eight. It's not a perfect solution, but it's not bad. Here's how I solved it.

Characters improve their attributes and skills as time goes by. These improvements are incremental, narrow and are not particularly powerful. A very highly developed character who pumped all of his improvements into one set of talents might have the equivelent of a +5 bonus (on a d20 roll). The attributes and skills are moving, but slowly, and the characters never "outlevel" dangers.

The main focus of character advancement comes from Gifts. Gifts are somewhat similar to Character Points from Star Wars RPG, 2nd Edition. An excellent game, by the way. Probably the best designed game I've ever played. Simple but effective. A couple of my solutions have been adapted from Star Wars RPG, so you'll probably hear about it again.

Anyway, so gifts. Gifts are awarded at the rate of a few points per adventure. They can be awarded at the end of an adventure, but can also be used as bonuses for particular encounters, rewards for a nice bit of roleplaying and so forth.

The Gifts are as follows: Destiny, Doom, Luck, Wonder, Fame and Wealth.

Gifts can generally be used in place of a skill. Each time a Gift is used, a point is expended. Gifts will generally be higher than your skill (unless you've used them a lot). So Gifts allow you to, once in a while, do something extraordinary.

The type of gift indicates what kind of skills the Gift can be used for. Destiny is used for defensive combat, to keep you alive. Doom is used for offensive combat, to slay enemies. Luck is used for most non-combat. Jumping a chasm, picking a lock. But also avoiding death through circumstances; a cave in for example. Fame can be used in place of diplomacy skills. Wonder can be used in place of magical skills. Wealth is a little different, but affects what you can purchase.

As an example, let's say Shackleton, our favourite feline rapscallion, is fleeing certain death at the hands of a rampaging lynch mob. Before him is a chasm. Too far to jump, realistically. His jump skill of 17, whle formidable, is very risky. But being a rogue, he's picked up a fair amount of luck, and is sitting pretty on 26 Luck. Shackleton opts to use his Luck for this crucial action. He succeeds, of course. But his Luck is now 25. Let's hope it never runs out.

Overall, the effect is of a character who, like a character in any good book or film, is not invincible, but through Destiny, Doom, Luck or some other aspect is capable of extraordinary actions at just the right moment in time.

There are a couple of neat side effects from this system.

Magic has always been tricky to handle in RPGs. You want your casters to be powerful, you want them to be able to cast awe-inspiring spells. But at the same time, if they can cast incredible spells at will then they become too powerful. In Elements Eight, casting is done via skills, and although casting skill does improve (and slightly more than other skills), more powerful spells remain difficult or even impossible to cast - unless you use the Wonder gift.

This creates a nice pattern for spell casting. Casters can cast powerful spells - more powerful than the ones conventionally allowed by RPGs - but with restrictions. Casters can create magical items - but they have limited resources. Furthermore, they can cast ordinary spells and (thanks to the way magic works) at crucial times boost them to make them more more powerful than they would normally be. Hybrids such as Paladins and Rangers usually get a raw deal when it comes to spell casting, being locked out of the more interesting spells by arbitrary restrictions on the spells they know. In Elements Eight, they can from time to time use Wonder to cast spells on a par with regular casters.

Wealth is a little different from the other Gifts. The object of Wealth is to take away some of the accounting that goes on with coin. The idea is that, although one deals with coin for smaller purchases, for larger or re-occuring expenses, Wealth comes into play. Unlike other gifts, Wealth can actually be purchased. But in general, it creates an approximation of a characters monetary resources which is easier to keep track of than having 54,217 gold coins and removing a coin every time they buy a loaf of bread.

Gifts are replenished by the GM. If Gifts were an arbitrary reward (such as experience points), it would be hard for the GM to judge an appropriate amount. But because they have direct relevance, it is easier for the GM to determine an appropriate reward. Keep the Gifts fairly steady, improve them over time, and grant them in such a way that benefits the character (e.g. give mostly Luck to a rogue, give mostly Wonder to a wizard). This may sound daunting, but trust me - it's easy and it really works! (as you will know if you've played Star Wars, 2nd Edition).

One more thing about Gifts. I always liked the Backgrounds table from Rolemaster. You rolled on a table and you could come up with backgrounds, such as a wealthy family, or a cursed family, and so forth. These would produce interesting twists on a character concept, aiding the process of coming up with a living, breathing person. Gifts have allowed me to create something similar with Elements Eight. An optional rule, of course, since it's not everyone's cup of tea to randomise a twist to their character's background. Indeed, some GMs might allow characters to choose from the table... Anyway, I'm rather fond of it. Here's a few of examples from the Elements Eight Backgrounds table:

- "Sweetheart" +1d6 Luck so long as the Sweetheart waits for you.
- "Orphan" If you ever find out who your family were, +2d6 Destiny.
- "Out For Revenge" +1d6 Doom until your revenge is acquired.
- "Rival" +1 Luck each time you get one over your Rival.

So that's Gifts. Hopefully you enjoyed the read. Next article will be on Alignments, something that has rarely been covered well, and which 4th edition D&D has made more relevant than ever.