Forum > General Discussion
adventuring with a pacifist
PiXeL01:
I think it was Earthdawn or shadowrun (maybe both) that do not use a combat focused experience system. Instead the game master set a number of goals or/and milestones and once they are reached rewards are granted.
I used this system plus a RP reward system in all my games though usually I award the same amount to all players, active or not given the frequency of play and schedule complications.
foilfodder:
--- Quote from: PiXeL01 on February 11, 2024, 02:57:29 AM ---I think it was Earthdawn or shadowrun (maybe both) that do not use a combat focused experience system. Instead the game master set a number of goals or/and milestones and once they are reached rewards are granted.
--- End quote ---
Shadowrun 2nd edition still sits on my rpg shelf, the rewards were karma points which could be used to improve a characters skills and attributes, or spent to improve dice rolls.
As far as getting through a actual game session of Shadowrun as a pacifist, I'm certain a decker coukd pull off some data-thefts...any other mission type typically left a lot of bodies. "Life is cheap" was built into the game setting and my players never hestitated with lethal force,
Falconer:
It’s funny because in 70s D&D, the awarding of experience is heavily goal-based, i.e., it’s mostly based on how much gold you gain by whatever means. In the 80s the attitude crept in (I would have guessed from RM) that this was not “realistic,” and that’s when the shift to killing-based XP became the norm (in 2nd Edition AD&D).
MisterK:
I'm not sure it is period-specific. After all, the Basic Role Playing system awards experience on a per-skill basis, based on actual use and specific training, so you get better at what you actually do, regardless of whether it is combat-oriented or not.
I believe, on the other hand, that the level-based systems tend to have combat-focused experience, because they approximate experience with conflict resolution, and conflict resolution with combat. It is even more pronounced with class-based systems because an experience system must find a generic common ground between all classes, and the easiest common ground is combat.
Rolemaster starts in the category of systems most prone to using combat-focused experience. It reduces combat emphasis by adding extra rewards for a bunch of things and applying diminishing return (so chain-killing orcs loses its effectiveness over time), but still suffers from the generalisation that, since combat is available and is a challenging activity, it is still an efficient way to 'level up' if you survive the ordeal.
The amusing thing is, you could easily go towards a training-based and usage-based experience system since RM is also skill-based. It requires getting rid of development points and designing a mechanism that rewards skill training and/or skill usage in a non-routine situation with additional ranks, with built-in diminishing return (e.g. you need a number of "uses in non-routine situations" equal to X times the number of skill ranks you already possess to gain an additional skill rank, with every training period being rewarded with T uses, T being influenced by the quality of training, skill complexity and natural aptitude).
So I guess that, if RM still feels like an old-school action-rewarding RPG, it is because the class/level aspect of the system is considered more significant than the skill aspect. In other words, that players still use it as a "more realistic D&D" instead of using it as a "Runequest with character templates".
rdanhenry:
--- Quote from: MisterK on February 16, 2024, 11:38:27 AM ---Rolemaster starts in the category of systems most prone to using combat-focused experience. It reduces combat emphasis by adding extra rewards for a bunch of things and applying diminishing return (so chain-killing orcs loses its effectiveness over time), but still suffers from the generalisation that, since combat is available and is a challenging activity, it is still an efficient way to 'level up' if you survive the ordeal.
--- End quote ---
Maybe even more efficient if you *don't* survive, if you can get resurrected. You get good experience for dying in the old RM experience system.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[*] Previous page