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Gunna try and do one of these here design threads about XP... #TabletopChopShop
To me, XP is about a little extra boost for doing the things in play which should already be fun to do. You need to identify what is actually fun though, and lots of designers seem to be bad at that
To me, XP is about a little extra boost for doing the things in play which should already be fun to do. You need to identify what is actually fun though, and lots of designers seem to be bad at that
The issue with most XP systems is that they don't realize what is already fun, or try to make somthing fun just by including XP. Games are sold often by utilizing a play fantasy, through marketing the ideal session. Think of the thoughts around "Nat 20!!!" as an example
All of this assumes you want to give XP for specific things. Only get XP from answering EOS questions. Only get XP by killing, or by kissing dukes, or something. It's a fun model, as it gives a bit of onboarding for new players. "Oh, I want to advance so I should maybe do this"
But like.... sometimes it's fun to just play a game and get things for a new session. Milestones from Fate and the Mission system in Lancer come to mind of solving for this like "well, the whole game is fun. Just play the game!"
I think you should go deeper, and if you are going to have an advancement system (which is often unnecessary IMO) then consider deeply what is fun in your game. Listen for cheers in playtesting, remember what excited you as you wrote it, and think about what is your play fantasy
Numbers shouldn't just go up because that's what we think should happen when we're playing games. Things should change to promote new experiences, for reflection on a story, and for valuing what is interesting in a system
