Dragon Warriors

So the Knight goes and hacks up a few orcs. Then he subjects himself to healing. Then he goes and hacks up a few more orcs. As the system stands it doesn't seem to give much recognition for the sorcerer, who might do better throwing DRAGONBREATH spells around rather than doing the teamwork.

How would you resolve this fairly?

_________________
Speech!





And so the show begins!!!
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/dwp ... ssages/640

I give XP for, among other things:

* role-playing
* casting of spells that were useful
* take a combat's total XP of all baddies and divide it among the people who participated in vanquishing/resolving the situation (spellcasters who heal warriors have helped too, since without the healing, the battle would not have finished the same)

As a bonus round, at the end of the game, I let players barter for XP, based on how useful/appropriate they were to the current session, and how much they contributed. This way if I forget any of above, they can remind me "I came up with the whole plan to defeat Mr Orc King" or "I healed everyone, allowing them to go for another round in the gladiator pits" etc

It would appear the D&D influence in old-school role-playing is still alive and well. Dragon Warriors may be old-school, but it doesn't need to be D&D.

The rulebook only 'officially' recognises awarding two types of experience award - for surviving an adventure (note 'surviving', not 'completing'!), from which all surviving characters benefit equally, and for defeating enemies (again, note 'defeating', not 'killing'), the experience reward for which is allocated at the GM's discretion.

Whilst the knights amongst the party might do most of the slaying, the sorcerers amongst the party might do most of the outwitting - through intimidation (remember how superstitious and afraid folk are of magic), using their knowledge to identify weaknesses in supernatural beasts, and so on. And, yes, if it comes to fisticuffs, healing the knight so he can keep on fighting is as valuable (if not more so) than a Dragonbreath. And if an assassin sneaks into a baron's vault to steal a faerie weapon, because an enchanted weapon is the only thing that can hurt the particular antagonist in the adventure, then the assassin character should get a sizable chunk of any reward for defeating it - he might not be wielding the weapon, but his part is instrumental to victory.

Sadly, what the rulebook misses out is roleplaying, which should be the bulk of any experience award, in my opinion. It is, after all, the raison d'etre of the game. So if a knight follows a code of honour that forbids him from striking a woman, and a host of 'female' zombies fall upon the party, then I'd expect some anguished decision-making on behalf of the knight and possibly some hasty convincing on the part of the other characters that would be worth far more than just the few XP from killing some 2nd-rank-equivalent monsters.

At the end of the day, it's a game, and the reward for playing should be sufficient to motivate the players to play again. If the players are getting frustrated that they are not being appreciated or rewarded, then it's your job as GM to restore the balance.

_________________
Cobwebbed Dragon (Lee)

https://www.cobwebbedforest.co.uk/
https://www.dragonwarriors.uk/
https://twitter.com/CobwebbedDragon
Now on YouTube!

Yeah, I've used some fairly liberal interpretations of 'adventure', 'surviving' and 'enemies' in the past.

Most of the xp i give is for roleplaying and entertainment value generally speaking.

_________________
co-author Fury of the Deep
co-author Friends or Foes
co-author Dragon Warriors Players Guide
co-author Cold Fury
co-author Cadaver Draconis
co-author Ordo Draconis 1 and 2.