Shattered Kingdoms

You know, while it wouldn't be an amzing boost to RP, the simplest thing would be that which so far Dulrik has frowned on. That would be giving xp for actually playing your class. It makes perfect sense for fighters to get most xp via fighting. But its rather strange that that's the only real way everybody gets xp. Not saying it should not necessarily be gangbusters but scouts should get xp for finding herbs. Heck, now with lag trying to tame an aggressive animal should give some xp. Hellions should get xp for successfully intimidating people. Priest should get (more) xp for healing, rogues for stealing, bards for singing... when the only real viable way to get xp is to kill stuff, doesn't it stand to reason that most important part of the game most players are going to think about is... killing stuff?

You're not shooting anything down Dulrik I was merely indicating that the playerbase could take some actions into their own hands by voting themselves. I wasn't suggesting they be rewared for doing so.

I have had an idea for a system like this for a while now. I am sure that it will be seen as weak sauce, but what makes certain characters more respected in a political sense than others? I know PK often affects it. I feel like this is where RP should matter. Maybe award people for showing leadership and devoting themselves to handling issues. Maybe represent rewards in a charisma modifier. It may be able to affect things related to charisma like skills and such. I was truly thinking of it as something related to affecting global RPs and competition for leadership of player groups and other things that could be related to being more charismatic or possibly less charismatic.

I did not frown on it and in fact I addressed this two weeks ago in the original Incentivizing RP thread:

Although your suggestion of gaining XP for stealing, intimidating and taming is worth a second look.

Now, the only issue with mode stun leveling is this. Usually there are multiple NPCs in the same room. If you stun one, to head to the next, once the first one wakes up and has enough life to fight again, you are battling two NPCs. I personally, would probably do this more if the stunned NPC wouldn't auto attack at whatever health they are to be out of stunned status, but instead they automatically go to sleep until they are fully healed. Second, make less NPCs remember you. You stunned them! You knocked them in the head enough to forget you... or something like that. Not saying that should apply to all NPCs, just the most commonly used ones in training areas.

I was thinking about different ways to make leveling using stun more viable. Perhaps a unique action description for those NPCs which indicates that they are not currently worth full XP.

A dwarven acolyte is standing here looking battered and bruised.

Suggestions for a more appropriate action description are certainly welcome. I spent 10 seconds coming up with that.

A dwarven acolyte looks beaten yet not defeated after a tough battle.

Killing NPCs causes respawns, do stunned NPCs respawn full health when an area respawns?

Or would a stunned NPC slowly regain health and then chase down the person who stunned them?

Or do they simply slowly gain health and force the player who has stunned everything in the area to wait a lot longer than if he killed them?

I only ask for the sake of the discussion, you can see the problems these things might cause.

(PS - I highly support the avenue of brainstorming going on regarding giving xp for playing your class)

I inherited my ANSI skills from a good place.

I abhor the "salesman-like" rewards listed here. I almost feel like any rewards ought to be accumulated and just cashed in on character creation on a further character.

It'd be cool if you could buy penalties/feats for your character on creation that simultaneously made grinding harder/easier depending on how much you've nerfed/buffed your character accordingly. Stuff like having a one-armed character (so a penalty to handedness, no shields, etc.), but then you can take a boon to make your character "fast" so you get +1 attack or something -- but that's mechanical.

In general I think roleplay and its reciprocity is really its own reward, just like spoils in PvP are their own reward (and the satisfaction of success / a good fight, etc.)

You do have to wait longer. You can't just stun them over and over and gain easy mega-XP. (Note: That was a big loop hole once upon a time.) On the other hand, killing has always been understood to be the easy path.