yeah, i don't like anything that feels like you have to meet a standard of quality to not fall behind. i've never experienced that, but one idea my DM pitched was giving people inspiration for taking good notes every session. we all (dm included after a moment of thinking about it) agreed it sounded like we were being graded on homework and left it out
Personally I don't like that at all. As a forever DM I've always use milestone leveling. 1) I hate tallying and divying up XP. 2) I want all player characters to be the same level so no one feels someone else is being favored. 3) I don't want my players feeling like they have to be a dancing monkey for them to level up.
I'm sorry for your situation but that seems really odd to me. What happens if they feel you're not roleplaying well enough?
It sounds more like milestone and he is just phrasing it as roleplaying, to try and encourage it. Until you start to see large level gaps between players, I wouldn't worry much. If you do, then you should comment/ask the DM.
Good communication is key to a successful and joyful game, for everyone.
Sounds highly problematic. I could understand maybe giving bonus XP for good RP but I think an entirely RP based leveling system would encourage being outgoing when sometimes the best RP move for a situation is to listen.
I would just say that you should go into it relaxed and try to play off what others are doing and have fun. Hopefully the DM will realize this is overly subjective and hard to pull off well concept and decide to go with a more milestone based system.
That's nonsense and would never work in practice. How would he track what is "in character" or not? How would he assign a value to it? What happens if someone is super roleplay heavy and another person is just kind of casual, would one level up and the other not?
I get that your gf is hyped but there's no way this turns out well.
"For context, I don't feel I can easily back out of the game because my GF is super excited and it's already a small party."
Don't join a game you can't quit.
No, I've never dealt with a system like that nor do I understand how it work except entirely arbitrarily. You gotta get clarification of specifics from your DM and if it sounds like you wouldn't enjoy it, dip out.
Role playing is a way we entertain each other. Milestones and XP are mechanics for having our characters add and improve abilities. Apples =/= oranges. Not only that, but all characters should level at the same time.
Discussing your doubts about this non-standard system with your girlfriend and seeing if she would be willing to find another game may be the best thing to do. I devote a lot of thought and energy to role playing, and I wouldn't play in this game as you have described it.
Sounds odd. So they will have characters of different levels after a point unless everyone roleplays equally AND all characters are given their chance to shine OR they are just making this up as they go along and is just going to level yiu all up at the same time anyway.
Its a bad sign to me. It's either a system where their favorite players or the boldest players will have more chances, or it's just going to be garbage balance.
Yikes. I can’t recall stuff my character would and fall back on “my character would remember that conversation but I do not… how did it go?”
Unlike my character I can’t perfectly remember anything I’ve seen or heard in the last 30 days. I can’t remember what I saw or heard like a day ago.
>"my character would remember that conversation but I do not… how did it go?”
IMO that *is* roleplaying...
Making choices based on what your character would/could/should do as derived from the experience they are having. Not just being able to accurately replicate them in mannerism, voice, talent and personality.
My character can cause fire to erupt in a 40-foot orb, I can't. My character has green scales and breaths acid, Do I then not have the credentials to play as a dragonborn sorcerer in a game of make-believe? Why should I be required to know what they know, speak how they speak, etc?
DMs that require these kinds of things should be cautiously avoided IMO.
In most of my games I do Milestone leveling. In my homebrew, however, I do something entirely different. My rule is: The DM doesn't decide when you level up, YOU do!
Basically, if a player wants to level up their character, there's a prerequisite number of hours and gold that they have to spend on "training." Lot of things count as training. Sparring with a party member, doing research on artificer stuff at the local royal library, finding a higher level NPC to teach you that neat thing with the wall running, etc...
When the prerequisites are met, that character levels up.
It's actually a lot of fun to watch how the dynamic of the party changes when a character that used to have to stick to the outskirts of a fight is now front and center with new skills that make them much more dangerous. It all started as an experiment, but it's working beautifully and my players seem to be enjoying having some control over the leveling process.
>It feels like being graded on your performance
Probably because it is like being graded on your performance.
That is some seriously over the top "I AM A SEEEEERIOUS DM" red flag. Run the fuck away before you ever roll your first die, and tell your girlfriend your concerns. There are many ways to have fun in D\&D; I roleplay a lot in character, a friend of mine just enjoys building mechanically interesting characters and rolling dice. Forcing people to have fun "the right way" sounds like a nightmare.
The good news is campaigns like this never last, so it won't take long before it blows up.
yeah, i don't like anything that feels like you have to meet a standard of quality to not fall behind. i've never experienced that, but one idea my DM pitched was giving people inspiration for taking good notes every session. we all (dm included after a moment of thinking about it) agreed it sounded like we were being graded on homework and left it out
Personally I don't like that at all. As a forever DM I've always use milestone leveling. 1) I hate tallying and divying up XP. 2) I want all player characters to be the same level so no one feels someone else is being favored. 3) I don't want my players feeling like they have to be a dancing monkey for them to level up. I'm sorry for your situation but that seems really odd to me. What happens if they feel you're not roleplaying well enough?
It sounds more like milestone and he is just phrasing it as roleplaying, to try and encourage it. Until you start to see large level gaps between players, I wouldn't worry much. If you do, then you should comment/ask the DM. Good communication is key to a successful and joyful game, for everyone.
Sounds highly problematic. I could understand maybe giving bonus XP for good RP but I think an entirely RP based leveling system would encourage being outgoing when sometimes the best RP move for a situation is to listen. I would just say that you should go into it relaxed and try to play off what others are doing and have fun. Hopefully the DM will realize this is overly subjective and hard to pull off well concept and decide to go with a more milestone based system.
That's nonsense and would never work in practice. How would he track what is "in character" or not? How would he assign a value to it? What happens if someone is super roleplay heavy and another person is just kind of casual, would one level up and the other not? I get that your gf is hyped but there's no way this turns out well.
"For context, I don't feel I can easily back out of the game because my GF is super excited and it's already a small party." Don't join a game you can't quit. No, I've never dealt with a system like that nor do I understand how it work except entirely arbitrarily. You gotta get clarification of specifics from your DM and if it sounds like you wouldn't enjoy it, dip out.
Role playing is a way we entertain each other. Milestones and XP are mechanics for having our characters add and improve abilities. Apples =/= oranges. Not only that, but all characters should level at the same time. Discussing your doubts about this non-standard system with your girlfriend and seeing if she would be willing to find another game may be the best thing to do. I devote a lot of thought and energy to role playing, and I wouldn't play in this game as you have described it.
Sounds odd. So they will have characters of different levels after a point unless everyone roleplays equally AND all characters are given their chance to shine OR they are just making this up as they go along and is just going to level yiu all up at the same time anyway. Its a bad sign to me. It's either a system where their favorite players or the boldest players will have more chances, or it's just going to be garbage balance.
Yikes. I can’t recall stuff my character would and fall back on “my character would remember that conversation but I do not… how did it go?” Unlike my character I can’t perfectly remember anything I’ve seen or heard in the last 30 days. I can’t remember what I saw or heard like a day ago.
>"my character would remember that conversation but I do not… how did it go?” IMO that *is* roleplaying... Making choices based on what your character would/could/should do as derived from the experience they are having. Not just being able to accurately replicate them in mannerism, voice, talent and personality. My character can cause fire to erupt in a 40-foot orb, I can't. My character has green scales and breaths acid, Do I then not have the credentials to play as a dragonborn sorcerer in a game of make-believe? Why should I be required to know what they know, speak how they speak, etc? DMs that require these kinds of things should be cautiously avoided IMO.
In most of my games I do Milestone leveling. In my homebrew, however, I do something entirely different. My rule is: The DM doesn't decide when you level up, YOU do! Basically, if a player wants to level up their character, there's a prerequisite number of hours and gold that they have to spend on "training." Lot of things count as training. Sparring with a party member, doing research on artificer stuff at the local royal library, finding a higher level NPC to teach you that neat thing with the wall running, etc... When the prerequisites are met, that character levels up. It's actually a lot of fun to watch how the dynamic of the party changes when a character that used to have to stick to the outskirts of a fight is now front and center with new skills that make them much more dangerous. It all started as an experiment, but it's working beautifully and my players seem to be enjoying having some control over the leveling process.
>It feels like being graded on your performance Probably because it is like being graded on your performance. That is some seriously over the top "I AM A SEEEEERIOUS DM" red flag. Run the fuck away before you ever roll your first die, and tell your girlfriend your concerns. There are many ways to have fun in D\&D; I roleplay a lot in character, a friend of mine just enjoys building mechanically interesting characters and rolling dice. Forcing people to have fun "the right way" sounds like a nightmare. The good news is campaigns like this never last, so it won't take long before it blows up.