Game in the Brain

Work is a term you don’t hear regarding Character Advancement, Development and Trials. But, it is the one of the more fundamental concepts that underly everything we do. Studying is Work. Practice is Work. Experimenting and Attempting Risks are both Work. Failing and getting back up again is Work.

The GM rewarding or penalizing Players for the work they did is kind of confusing. Sometimes people stick on the same strategies and it panned out only after their skills improved enough to make it possible. This doesn’t mean the strategy was inherently wrong for not rewarding them sooner, sometimes its just that there wasn’t enough work done prior to being successful.

I’m all for rewarding for Role-playing. But maybe, I don’t need to grant XP or CP for the PC, instead just follow the consequences of the actions and highlight the opportunities work and difficulty open up. Role-playing tough decisions and the personal loss or cost of making these tough decisions in itself has rewards in the opportunities it opens up and not the GM who likes it.

Come to think of it. There are so much work related metrics out there used in business and organization to use in the game. Factor in the emotional stress that characters are supposed to be going through, that multiplies the value and effort going into each lesson.

Killing Monsters is work, but the act of killing is just a tiny percent of the bulk of the preparation conditioning and training that goes into being able to kill such a monster/enemy. Thats where most of the time and effort goes. Giving the PCs their Return for the work they do in their prep is not much the GM’s job in XP/CP management but the consequences of the PC’s actions.