GP = XP is the best single D&D rule. It's a perfect metric for rewarding players for being cunning bastards and for getting them to act like Swords & Sorcery characters.
However you don't necessarily want a S&S feel for every single campaign you run, in a lot of stories power and status are more important than raw gold. Encounter-based XP can go fuck off and die, but what would be some other good systems for handing out XP? Some ideas:
Cow = XP
Cows (and goats) are awesome. They taste good, they make great offerings to the gods, leather is useful for all kinds of things and you can push them off of cliffs onto ghouls.
Then there are the white cows of Apollo that Hermes stole and Number 19:1-8 and so many examples in history of large herds of cattle being status symbols.
The adventure hooks write themselves from cattle rustling to cattle drives to having your herd cursed.
So maybe 1 XP per cow per week? Have a high enough upkeep cost for PCs and enough bad stuff happening to their cows to keep them from sitting around and watching cows as the XP pour in.
Bling = XP
One that really strikes you when reading old heroic epics is how obsessed with showing off possessions everyone was (especially those gold arm rings, why was everyone so into them?). In the Dark Ages royal treasuries weren't composed of stacks of cash so much as special treasures that were kept around to display just how badass the kind was and that were never really intended to be used for buying things.
In D&D, no matter how much your blather on about the history of the crown the PCs just looted it's no different from a pile of coins worth the same amount of GP.
So how about instead of getting XP for looting gold you get XP for displaying your treasures. Looted treasure, heirlooms and gifts from high status NPCs would count but not store bought stuff (except for maybe at a heavily discounted rate).
In order to get the XP, the PCs would have to display their treasures prominently and let everyone know about them. That way a crown with no magical properties could be a prized possession instead of something to be pawned off at the first opportunity.
Things along the lines of trophies from rare dead monsters, books of lore and relics of saints would count as well. For low level PCs even things like fancy looted clothes would be a good source of XP (which would make them end up looking a good bit like historical pirates).
For the rules something along the lines of X% (5%? 10%?) of the value of your displayed treasure would be given to you as XP each month (with a limit on how many items of bling you can get XP for displaying, perhaps?).
Land = XP
Giving XP based on land lets land holdings be good gold sink while giving PCs a strong incentive to conquer land. I also really like "the king is the land and the land is the king" and I'd really like to see an RPG with rules for the connection between a ruler and their land. Getting XP simply for holding land could be a step in that direction.
If you give PCs 1 xp for each acre claimed about 15,000 XP for one six mile hex. Or you could give XP each month/year/whatever based on the value of the land or the number of subjects. With a ruler PC there'd certainly be enough events going on to keep them from sitting back and letting the XP roll in.
How do those sound?
Any other alternatives?
However you don't necessarily want a S&S feel for every single campaign you run, in a lot of stories power and status are more important than raw gold. Encounter-based XP can go fuck off and die, but what would be some other good systems for handing out XP? Some ideas:
Cow = XP
Cows (and goats) are awesome. They taste good, they make great offerings to the gods, leather is useful for all kinds of things and you can push them off of cliffs onto ghouls.
Then there are the white cows of Apollo that Hermes stole and Number 19:1-8 and so many examples in history of large herds of cattle being status symbols.
The adventure hooks write themselves from cattle rustling to cattle drives to having your herd cursed.
So maybe 1 XP per cow per week? Have a high enough upkeep cost for PCs and enough bad stuff happening to their cows to keep them from sitting around and watching cows as the XP pour in.
Bling = XP
One that really strikes you when reading old heroic epics is how obsessed with showing off possessions everyone was (especially those gold arm rings, why was everyone so into them?). In the Dark Ages royal treasuries weren't composed of stacks of cash so much as special treasures that were kept around to display just how badass the kind was and that were never really intended to be used for buying things.
In D&D, no matter how much your blather on about the history of the crown the PCs just looted it's no different from a pile of coins worth the same amount of GP.
So how about instead of getting XP for looting gold you get XP for displaying your treasures. Looted treasure, heirlooms and gifts from high status NPCs would count but not store bought stuff (except for maybe at a heavily discounted rate).
In order to get the XP, the PCs would have to display their treasures prominently and let everyone know about them. That way a crown with no magical properties could be a prized possession instead of something to be pawned off at the first opportunity.
Things along the lines of trophies from rare dead monsters, books of lore and relics of saints would count as well. For low level PCs even things like fancy looted clothes would be a good source of XP (which would make them end up looking a good bit like historical pirates).
For the rules something along the lines of X% (5%? 10%?) of the value of your displayed treasure would be given to you as XP each month (with a limit on how many items of bling you can get XP for displaying, perhaps?).
Land = XP
Giving XP based on land lets land holdings be good gold sink while giving PCs a strong incentive to conquer land. I also really like "the king is the land and the land is the king" and I'd really like to see an RPG with rules for the connection between a ruler and their land. Getting XP simply for holding land could be a step in that direction.
If you give PCs 1 xp for each acre claimed about 15,000 XP for one six mile hex. Or you could give XP each month/year/whatever based on the value of the land or the number of subjects. With a ruler PC there'd certainly be enough events going on to keep them from sitting back and letting the XP roll in.
How do those sound?
Any other alternatives?
Alternatives of GP = XP
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