[Divinity] experience tied to point bid.

[sean2099]

Sorry for bombing this forum here,

I just came up with a quick idea.  In my own personal experience, I have not seen this idea but perhaps some of you have.  I am using a point bid system for resolution and I am using the "will" attribute for this.

What if the players at the beginning of each session decide how many will points they are setting aside as xp?  i.e.  they can't get these points back until the beginning of the next session.  They have a will of (let's say 15).  They can either keep their full will points, having more points to use for conflicts or delayed gratification in terms of points to use towards future improvements.  Right now, they are getting one will point back per scene or more if they perform miracles for their mortal worshipers and those miracles are tied to their portfolio or areas of influence.  Now, if they set aside 7 points for experience, then their effective will point maximum is now 8 for the rest of the sessions?

Opinions?  Questions?  Comments?

Sean

[matthijs]

It depends on what Will is used for in the game.

If it's very necessary for the character's survival, for instance, then players have a real choice: Risk death and get experience, or play safe and stay the same.

If it's something you can do without for a few sessions, but those sessions will be dull, the choice becomes: Have fun and don't grow, or be bored while you grow. That's not a good choice at all - you should never have the opportunity to choose boredom.

So you should try to find out what choices you force the players to make with this mechanic, and see if they're the kind of choices you want in your game.

[stefoid]

Sorry for bombing this forum here,

I just came up with a quick idea.  In my own personal experience, I have not seen this idea but perhaps some of you have.  I am using a point bid system for resolution and I am using the "will" attribute for this.

What if the players at the beginning of each session decide how many will points they are setting aside as xp?  i.e.  they can't get these points back until the beginning of the next session.  They have a will of (let's say 15).  They can either keep their full will points, having more points to use for conflicts or delayed gratification in terms of points to use towards future improvements.  Right now, they are getting one will point back per scene or more if they perform miracles for their mortal worshipers and those miracles are tied to their portfolio or areas of influence.  Now, if they set aside 7 points for experience, then their effective will point maximum is now 8 for the rest of the sessions?

Opinions?  Questions?  Comments?

Sean

its like 'hero points' from HeroWars?  You get a certain number from the last session and you can choose to save them for in-game play or use as XP to bump skills.

Its a funny idea - divinities having 'experience'.  Arent they immortal?   In myths and legends, divinites only gain powers as a direct consequence of their actions - the god of whatever ate the magic fire of wosname and therefore gained power over fire, or stole the magic sword of spirit-severing and gained the power of death.

[sean2099]

Thanks for the replies,

Let me expand on my idea a bit more.  My game is using a diceless system.  They have a base rating for powers and skills.  These ratings are compared against opponents if needed.  Then, they spend will points (1:1)if they want to add +1 or more to the rating for that particular "showdown."  If are doing things without opposition, then they are either good enough or not, based on descriptative rating for skills and guidelines for powers.  Now, their pool refreshs every session and they have the option of performing miracles to replenish some of their will points.   In other words, every session they get the same number of will points to decide to save for future development or spend during play.

This may or may not make a difference...Any saved will points are turned into "ambient glory" at the beginning of the next session.  This allows the divinity to pay for incidences of "Hubris".   Hubris is committed when the players use powers outside of their sphere of influence or for using higher level powers than their station permits.  Their station is based on how many mortals worship them.  Ambient glory is also the "experience" of the game.  In addition, they gain a minimal amount of experience based on their station.

Finally on the subject of mechanics, I am also working on an idea for Divinities who are "lazy" and don't send aside any will points.  They risk losing influence because they are not actively seeking to increase their presense, etc.

Right now, I have experience because I am basing Divinity based on the powers they possess.  I have expanded the definition to include "evolved" beings, machines, traditional gods, or personification of ideas or forces.  In all, if anyone has ideas for rewards or growth, please feel free to share those ideas with me.

Thanks,

Sean