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crymerci · 06-26-2003, 08:42 PM

One of the most imaginative xp systems I've seen is on one of the less popular Simutronics games, Modus Operandi, a game in which you can achieve a respectable level without ever entering combat, though it can take longer. One thing to note with these examples, is that there is no death in Modus Operandi, so the equations for risk are generally financial...you can rack up expensive hospital bills or police fines, for example, and if you get too far into debt you have to spend time in jail.

They have a number of nonviolent methods of gaining xp such as:
--you can make citizen's arrests of criminals, by reading wanted posters in various places around the city, showing descriptions of criminal NPCs, then finding the matching criminals wandering the streets of the city. After the citizen's arrest, the NPC despawns and something new spawns elsewhere, based on a random description/name/crime generator. (Mostly NPC's with descriptions like "a young man", "a middle-aged woman" etc. where you have to look at them to see their descriptions.) PC's who get wanted for a crime can also be apprehended this way. False arrests are punished with a fine. As you move on to harder areas, there may be more hideyholes the NPCs can wander into, or the speed at which the NPCs move from room to room can increase.

--In the same crime-fighting vein, people can get xp for turning in certain mob loot to the "police station", such as stolen wallets, counterfeit money, and weapons. Although you have to kill to get these items, they can be given by the "killer" to a non-violent character.

--you can make deliveries for various shopkeepers, bartenders, and other NPC's. However, in that game they don't allow NPC-killing, so you never have to worry about the NPC in question not being around when needed. This xp method gives less xp at a time, because the NPC's are stationary and some people can create auto-walking scripts.

--Quests (or "mysteries" in Modus Operandi's case since it's a modern murder-mystery setting) give xp for getting solved, but can only be solved once per character.

06-26-2003, 08:42 PM	#5
crymerci Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 32	One of the most imaginative xp systems I've seen is on one of the less popular Simutronics games, Modus Operandi, a game in which you can achieve a respectable level without ever entering combat, though it can take longer. One thing to note with these examples, is that there is no death in Modus Operandi, so the equations for risk are generally financial...you can rack up expensive hospital bills or police fines, for example, and if you get too far into debt you have to spend time in jail. They have a number of nonviolent methods of gaining xp such as: --you can make citizen's arrests of criminals, by reading wanted posters in various places around the city, showing descriptions of criminal NPCs, then finding the matching criminals wandering the streets of the city. After the citizen's arrest, the NPC despawns and something new spawns elsewhere, based on a random description/name/crime generator. (Mostly NPC's with descriptions like "a young man", "a middle-aged woman" etc. where you have to look at them to see their descriptions.) PC's who get wanted for a crime can also be apprehended this way. False arrests are punished with a fine. As you move on to harder areas, there may be more hideyholes the NPCs can wander into, or the speed at which the NPCs move from room to room can increase. --In the same crime-fighting vein, people can get xp for turning in certain mob loot to the "police station", such as stolen wallets, counterfeit money, and weapons. Although you have to kill to get these items, they can be given by the "killer" to a non-violent character. --you can make deliveries for various shopkeepers, bartenders, and other NPC's. However, in that game they don't allow NPC-killing, so you never have to worry about the NPC in question not being around when needed. This xp method gives less xp at a time, because the NPC's are stationary and some people can create auto-walking scripts. --Quests (or "mysteries" in Modus Operandi's case since it's a modern murder-mystery setting) give xp for getting solved, but can only be solved once per character.