Combat XP division/sharing.

[Mandemon]

Good system perhaps, but too little information to player. Game should inform player of all important details, like XP.

As for thread, I say each use of the skill should give XP. Failure in that skill rewards let's say half of the XP, where as successful use rewards full XP to the character.

Battles should have 3 XP pools: Base, Damage and Killing Shot.

Base XP is something that is given to everyone.

Damage XP is given based on how much damage each one did.

Killing Shot is XP boost given to one who gives killing blow.

This way it even out, one who makes that 99% of damage get 99% of Damage XP and one who kills it gets 1% Damage XP, but Killing Shot boost. Everyone gets Base XP, which can represent pretty much anything, like "look and learn"- So if one guy does all the work, he gets highest XP. On the other hand, others get token XP too. If all participated in killing the target, they all get slightly more XP.
How does that sound?

[Zombra]

How does that sound?

Sounds like you've covered everything! I like it.

I would also venture to add that skill use should give xp in combat as well, even if it is just a minor amount. Firing your Clip Pistol and missing should still give you a little xp in stressful situations. Using your Dodging skill by Evading should give you a little. Or maybe you should just get the skill increases; I don't know.

[Sub-Human]

In my opinion, anyone that was in the fight should get experience points. I think Mandemon's system sounds pretty good, but that all comes down to the combat/active skill use ratio.

[Lucius]

Good idea for combat xp!

I like it too. This also helps when you have one guy do 99 damage and the next guy does 204, but the enemy only had 1 hp left. This way the guy who killed it isn't hosed on xp even though he did massive overkill damage.

[Fuzi0n]

Battles should have 3 XP pools: Base, Damage and Killing Shot.

Base XP is something that is given to everyone.

Damage XP is given based on how much damage each one did.

Killing Shot is XP boost given to one who gives killing blow.

Souns good, I like it.

Only problem is, what about your medics and supporters? They probably won't cause much damage, so you have to consider that too.

You would have to either have them either 1.) level up faster or 2.) add a "healing XP multiplier".

[Zombra]

Only problem is, what about your medics and supporters? They probably won't cause much damage, so you have to consider that too.

Just give better xp per use of noncombat skills.

[Fuzi0n]

Only problem is, what about your medics and supporters? They probably won't cause much damage, so you have to consider that too.

Just give better xp per use of noncombat skills.

So you mean that the XP a medic receives should be multiplied by the number of times he used his tech skills in combat?

That is exploitable... at least if I understood you correctly.


Well anyway, it all has to be balanced out, so you would need a 4th pool... a Noncombat-XP pool with some kind of multiplier.

[Zolishoru]

What about overall XP pool, which the player will distribute between party members according to his visions(nightmares)?
Details: for solving/winning the quest/fight, your party has been awarded 9 XP; the player will add 7XP to the medic, and 2XP to the main fighter, or whatever distribution (s)he like fit to the situation. Practically teamwork: you can spend the experience when you see fit.

[Zombra]

Just give better xp per use of noncombat skills.

So you mean that the XP a medic receives should be multiplied by the number of times he used his tech skills in combat?
That is exploitable... at least if I understood you correctly.[/quote]
Not in combat, necessarily. I don't have a very strong vision of what it would look like; I just think that noncombat skills should award xp such that a noncombat character could feasibly "get by" on just the base xp from combat, and do his levelling from picking locks, fixing carburetors, and tending the wounded outside of combat. Only a character who never uses any skills would be left behind.

I can see what you mean about exploitable: leave one mole rat alive, let him bite your tank for 1 point of damage, have your medic heal that point for 10 xp, repeat 20,000 times ... that would be awful.

What about overall XP pool, which the player will distribute between party members according to his visions(nightmares)?

Not a terrible idea really, but I don't like it. Feels too artificial. The game should decide when each character levels up based on their accomplishments; the player shouldn't have direct control like that. My opinion.

[Drool]

Only problem is, what about your medics and supporters? They probably won't cause much damage, so you have to consider that too.

Give them a gun and have them earn their damn keep.

If character generation is sufficiently similar to the original, you aren't likely to have a straight up medic or other support personnel. You'll only have four characters to start with, and they're all "Desert Rangers". Bob might have more medical training than Bill, but they'll both be expected to pull their weight in combat. If the game doesn't have classes and you try to force classes onto it, it isn't the game's job to balance for your deviant play style.

Note, I don't use deviant as a pejorative here; I'm using it as a technical term for "play style not intended to be used"

[Zolishoru]

...

What about overall XP pool, which the player will distribute between party members according to his visions(nightmares)?

Not a terrible idea really, but I don't like it. Feels too artificial. The game should decide when each character levels up based on their accomplishments; the player shouldn't have direct control like that. My opinion.

Artificial like the old seasoned rangers teaching the rookies? Or like the heavy lifters take the weight off from the wounded? None of these actions are scripted in the game, both are player decision.
Or a little different idea: Individual and common XP earned in each quest/combat, so the player can decide how to spend the common XP, and the game has rules on how to attribute the individual XP.

[Fuzi0n]

Give them a gun and have them earn their damn keep.

If it was only that easy...

If the game doesn't have classes and you try to force classes onto it, it isn't the game's job to balance for your deviant play style.

Exactly. If it does have a classlike system, then this system will probably not work.

Anyway, it is probably a good idea to see what kind of RPG system Brian and the boys are planning before we start recommending XP distribution systems.

[paultakeda]

Anyway, it is probably a good idea to see what kind of RPG system Brian and the boys are planning before we start recommending XP distribution systems.

This has not stopped all the other topics, why wait to talk about it for this one?

[Fuzi0n]

Anyway, it is probably a good idea to see what kind of RPG system Brian and the boys are planning before we start recommending XP distribution systems.

This has not stopped all the other topics, why wait to talk about it for this one?

Heeey, it was just a recommendation.

Anyway, most of the other stuff doesn't really affect the RPG-System directly. So I guess they're okay.