Proposal for Xp awards for Bios, please give your thoughts

[Regas]

Admin's been looking at allowing a one-time xp award for submitted bios of active pcs. Currently Admin is in favor of the idea but we will need to hammer out the mechanics of making the award.

The rough ideas so far are:

-250 xp award for completing a bio that meets a basic criterion.

-Open to all active PCs.

-Will not be judged for writing ability, spelling ect.

-Xp to be awarded by the DMs

We are currently looking at ways to automate the xp awards either from the DM client or the web-site.

Please give your thoughts and suggestions here regarding the policy. After we have a formal proposal I'll poll the community for finial feedback on allowing xp for Bios.

Thanks,

Regas

[Teric neDhalir]

*makes a puzzled face* Why would you want to do this? I vote no, as if that made any difference.

[Castano]

I like this because it rewards specific RP as opposed to anything one chooses to type out in chat. It will also help to flesh out our PCs.

[Regas]

Teric, thanks for your feedback. Can you elaborate on your thoughts and concerns?

[Teric neDhalir]

Teric, thanks for your feedback. Can you elaborate on your thoughts and concerns?

I suppose it boils down to, "since when do we give in-game rewards for out-of-game actions?".

[Rumple C]

I lean towards no thanks, or a smaller xp amount. 100xp perhaps.

The road to level 2 has never been easier, or safer that it is now.

Its also a personal thing for myself, but i always take a while for my pcs personality (and back story) to flesh out.

[Witchdoctor]

What about xp for RPing your bio in game to significant effect? How? well that depends on what rules can be agreed on.

[Matti]

My own experiences align with Rumples. It takes several sessions of rp to flesh out the characters tweaks and thoughts before a bio seem plausible to write. At least for me.
The Bio itself serves as a finalizing act for me to settle the characters personality and some descriptions of what made him/her/it what he/she/it is today and sofar I've very seldom seen the bio having any effects IG. Rather than focusing on the bio as a means to earn xp by itself I would propose (without real knowledge of how it works now) to sort the contents of bios or the bios themselves in a way that DMs can look through quick and easy. I think that an approach to use the bios themselves would serve ALFA by providing the DMs with inspiration and it would also serve as a powerful tool to engage characters and the players behind them.

[FoamBats4All]

The road to level 2 has never been easier, or safer that it is now.

Incorrect. It was a lot easier a month ago than it is now. The diminishing returns even makes it harder for a level 1 to level up.

[Galadorn]

Does it say only level 1 PCs can get such a reward?

What about very long term and high level PCs, who've had 10+ page word documents, updated regularly, (from level 1 and onward periodically), with family history, animal companion histories, family trees, personal mannerism descriptions, and cultural/traditional traditions/customs mannerisms/beliefs described, who need more XP to level than level 1s?

I'm thinking 250........per page.

But, 2500xp is a bit much, i'll take half that (erm even 1073xp will do ). k-thx-bai.

[Rumple C]

Wouldn't it make it harder from level 2 to 3 then?

Since level 1 to 2 shouldn't be diminished... right?

[Rumple C]

I feel kind of like people are racing to the end game... high level pc's that outgrow our world.

Take your time, smell the flowers, enjoy the ride.

[FoamBats4All]

Since level 1 to 2 shouldn't be diminished... right?

Level 1 to 2 does make further diminished returns. Every level you get means you earn less XP for un-DMed content (other than RP XP).

Given that we now earn at most 1/3 of what we used to from mail/mushrooms/whatnot (at level 1, when I tested my high level [11] toon, she didn't earn any XP at all from content), I don't think anyone can argue that 250xp for a well-written bio is absurd.

I feel kind of like people are racing to the end game... high level pc's that outgrow our world.

Take your time, smell the flowers, enjoy the ride.

There's a reason it's called Low Level Hell.

[Rumple C]

There's a reason it's called Low Level Hell.

It's a perception thing. Just because you can't shoot fireballs out your butt (in game), does not mean that you can't enjoy the rp and low level goblin harassing adventures.

But... once again I see i'm in a minority of view points. No worries, whatever. Carry on!

[Galadorn]

I feel kind of like people are racing to the end game... high level pc's that outgrow our world.

Take your time, smell the flowers, enjoy the ride.

Same. Some players do rush. Others even play 40+ hours a week without gaining levels quickly.

And you can't outgrow RP. Ever.
For me, the higher level my PC got, the more fun the "potential" damage that could be done was the most fun. And the older he gets, the more back-story to enhance current story/actions the better.

"Levels" and the cookies that come with them are just fun. Something to enhance RP most times. And help that "growing development" survive.