Milestone XP

Dan and Paul talked about XP in their wandering DMs podcast here and Alexis recently put up a post about Milestone XP awards here.

After playing in a 5e game for a while now I have come to detest Milestone Awards for xp or leveling. In the past I have played in D&D games where xp was awarded through 'milestones', yet it was always xp that was awarded and not direct levels. I have also played in skill based games where xp was awarded based on story milestones. In both cases I tolerated the practice, yet now with a new perspective I see the perniciousness of milestones in conjunction with D&D.

The root of the problem applies to all RPGs in general; milestone awards are given out when the DM feels like it. The advancement of a PC is entirely dependent on the whims of the DM, granted that could be said for every other method of XP awards, yet with milestones a player has no real choice in the matter. Using milestones to level up a D&D robs a player of their choice to do things that will advance their character. What constitutes a 'milestone' is always an uncertainty to the player, and so it can seem as though anything they do has no consequence.

Level based games, like D&D, exacerbate the problem. In D&D it can take a significant number of sessions to level up when using standard XP awards. In skill based games, some XP is usually earned every session, and so even if the awarding of the xp is arbitrary and based on milestones, the player can still feel invested in their character. When a DM doesn't ever give out XP and just tells the players when the PCs have gained a level after 4 or 5 session or some arbitrary story point is passed, the significance of the increase in level is lost. That sense of reward and gradual increase that comes with every single session is gone, and the new level is just some new numbers on the character sheet. I don't feel like I earned that new level. And no matter how much work we put into the game as players, we have no idea how close we are to leveling up. There is no longer the incentive to do a little bit more so we can get that last 100xp. And in addition levels don't matter, not just because everything is scaled based on challenge ratings, but because being level 10 doesn't feel any different than level 1; my investment in my character hasn't increased over 10 levels. I don't feel like my character is more powerful. There are different numbers on the page, but we haven't changed our behavior in the game world. We don't act more powerful or experienced and the NPCs don't treat us any differently.

RPG Mapping Solved

Here I discussed some of my problems with accepted mapping practices for RPGs and some thoughts on possible solutions. Just now I think I hit on an something that just might be the solution to all my problems.

For a while now I have come to the conclusion that we should treat campaign setting and general overland maps for RPGs the same as we do maps in the real world. My issue for a long time was how to best incorporate all the disparate elements representing different things in a single map. I came up with ideas dealing with the coloring of interior of hexes, the color of the hex border, the design of hex borders, and symbols placed inside of hexes. I would't say it's impossible to include everything and still have a single readable map, but it is certainly unnecessary. When mapping the earth each map is tailored to a specific purpose. We have topographic maps, and climactic maps, and road maps, and political maps, etc. Putting all these elements on a single map is rarely the best way to go. So I came to this conclusion quite some time ago, it feels like a couple of months, but it was probably more than a year ago; basically we should use different maps of our RPG campaign world for different purposes. We don't need all the details in one map and different elements can be better captured on their own specialized map than being a giant jumbled mess. And this is made even easier with modern technology and overlapping layers, this can even be implemented in pdf format.

What has I have been racking my brain for the longest time was how to deal with dungeon/interior building maps. Because as I said in my previous post I really think the key and location description format should be a thing of the past, and honestly the short little adventure Hole in the Oak that was designed for Old School Essentials is a huge step forward, but it's still not exactly what I'm looking for.

So here's my great big Genius Idea (if I may indulge in some hyperbole): Present dungeons in the form of an atlas.

What do I mean by that? Well, I'm applying the same principles of outdoor maps to indoor maps. Basically, atlases start with different small scale maps of the world, have some text with general descriptions, then they are organized into regions with text about those regions and then those regions and even more detailed large scale maps. One of my main goals with dungeon maps was to translate everything to the map so there isn't a great need to reference a key during the running of the game. this can be done with maps that have a large enough scale and can fit those kind of details.

This would result in a dungeon module looking like this. A few general overview large scale maps showing the entire dungeon, maybe a faction map, a cross section map, etc. These maps would take up a page and on the opposing page would be a description of the factions or whatever the map depicts. Then there would be regional map, say of a particular faction, with more detailed description of how the faction makes use of the different sections of their lair, and who is likely to be in what rooms at what times and wandering monsters, etc. and then follows hyper detailed maps of each room in that region. These room maps would aim to include every detail of the room, furniture, decorations, traps, etc. and the opposing page would include the consequences of interacting with said objects (reference the Hole in the Oak for the format that could possible take). Following all the room maps of a single region would be the next regional map and it's associated room maps, and so on. With maybe an index or other reference material at the back of the module.

EDIT: just realized I had a half written post about the purposes of maps in rpgs meant to follow up on my post linked above. Maybe I will finish it sometime this week; in this post I've just presented the how, without delving deeper into the why of rpg maps.

Dust Bunny

Go to the Delvers and Denizens Index

If you listen to some of my interviews with my dad, you'll hear us talk about a creature called a Dust Bunny. My dad did write up the stats for the Dust Bunny on a piece of binder paper, and I remember seeing this sheet of paper after I moved to Northridge to go to University  in 2015. Yet when I moved to Las Vegas and started talking to my dad about our old games I discovered I had lost that sheet of paper at one point. As a result I have had a conversation with him with the goal of recreating the stats for this creature. So without further ado, here is the rebuilt Dust Bunny!

Dust Bunny*

AC: 9
HD: 1/2*
Move: special
Attacks: special
Damage: Nil
Number Appearing: 4-80 (0)
Save As: Nil
Morale: Nil
Treasure Type: V
Intelligence: 0
Alignment: N
XP: 6 (25 for Mother Bunny)

The Dust Bunny is a collection of dust and hair and cloth fibers bunched together in a small ball-like shape about 2 inches in diameter that is semitransparent. These 'bunnies' will naturally occur in old abandoned buildings and/or rooms that have been locked shut with little airflow where dust has been allowed to settle for years. Where many Dust Bunnies are present they will tend to clump together and appear as one large pile of dust. Any treasure in these rooms has accumulated from the the bodies of victims of the Dust Bunny who were unable to escape.

The Dust Bunny does not 'attack', any character who comes in contact or is within 5 feet one when it is disturbed must make a Saving Throw vs Breath Weapons or be seized by a coughing and sneezing fit and watering eyes rendering the character incapacitated and unable to see. A Saving Throw made be made every round to stop the sneezing fit. This saving throw is made at a penalty of -1 for every round the character has been sneezing and is within 5 feet of the Dust Bunny. A character will die if they are consumed by this sneezing fit for a number of rounds equal to their Constitution. A successful Saving through indicates the character was able to move away from the dust or splash their face with water. Splashing water in a character's face will negate the effects of a dust bunny for 1 full minute.

The Dust Bunny cannot move of its own volition, but may be blown about by gusts of wind such as that caused by opening doors, or windows, removing sheets or blankets from a bed, etc. A character may also move the bunnies about with a broom, while doing this the character should cover their face or take other precautions to avoid their effects.

A Dust Bunny may be neutralized through the use of water. 1 cup of water is sufficient to douse 1 Dust Bunny. Once a Dust Bunny has been doused with water it will remain dormant for 1d4 days, at which point it will have dried out and doubled in size to be a Dust Bunny of 1 HD.

The Dust Bunny can be harmed only by magical weapons or fire. Any attack made by a normal or magical weapon will cause a Dust Bunny to split into two Bunnies with 1/4 HD and results in the attacking character needing to make a Saving throw vs Breath Weapon even if they have taken precautions to avoid sneezing. Any further attacks by normal weapons will not harm the creature, but attacks with magic weapons on the 1/4 HD size bunnies will kill them and disperse the dust throughout the room and cause anyone in the room to have a sneezing fit for one round if they do not save vs breath weapons.

Dust Bunnies are extremely flammable and will be destroyed by fire. When a Dust Bunny is alight it will set anything else it touches that is remotely flammable (curtains, bedding, clothes, etc) instantly on fire. As most places Dust Bunnies are found are covered in dust, lighting a single Dust Bunny on fire will often ignite an entire room. Any character within 5 ft of a Dust Bunny when it is on fire needs to make a Saving Throw vs Breath Weapons to avoid also being caught on fire. A character on fire will receive 1d6 damage each round until the fire is extinguished. A Dust Bunny will burn for 3 turns before it is completely destroyed by fire.

For every 20 Dust Bunnies in one location there will also be a Mother Bunny which appears as a cottontail rabbit made of dust. This Mother Bunny has 2 Hit Dice, can move on her own at a rate of  120(40), has an animal Intelligence(2) and is worth a total 25 xp. The Mother Bunny is on a mission to create more Dust Bunnies by collecting dust and herding large groups of  Dust Bunnies to places where there is a lot of dust present. She can create a new dust bunny once every day. If doused with water she returns as 2 Mother Bunnies after 2d4 days. If lit on fire the Mother Bunny burns for 10 turns and may still move as normal. Normal weapons have no effect on the Mother Bunny, yet magical weapons will cause her to split into 1HD smaller bunnies with same properties of a Mother Bunny, but when these are split again into 1/2 HD size they revert to the properties of a normal Dust Bunny.

Dust Bunnies are a favored collectors item for fine mattress makers. Mattresses filled with dust bunnies make for extremely soft and fluffy beds. A fine mattress maker will give 10gp for every 50HD of dust bunnies collected. Mother Bunnies are not accepted, and adventurers must be careful in the collection and transport of dust bunnies to ensure no more than 20 bunnies come in contact with each other in order to avoid the formation of a new Mother Bunny.