Experience

In the DARK SUN(TM) game world, substantial experience-point awards are made available to characters, based not only on their defeat of monsters, but also on their roleplaying use of racial and class special abilities. These latter awards help promote better roleplaying of distinctions between races and classes. Experience for defeating monsters is divided normally among party members in a DARK SUN campaign and individual awards should be considered for every character based on the following guidelines.

Individual Class Awards

Action Award

All Warriors:

Per Hit Die of creature defeated 10 XP/level

Fighter

Stand commanded 50 XP/day

in combat or war construction of defense or war machine 100 XP/day

Gladiator:

Per Hit Die of creature defeated in arena* 10 XP/level

Ranger

Spells cast 50 XP/spell level

Track, hide, or move silently 100 XP

use followers in crisis 100 xP

All Wizards

Spells cast to defeat foes or problems 50 XP/spell level

spells successfully researched 500 XP/spell level

Potion, scroll, or magical item made xP value

Preserver

Maintain spell-casting secrecy 50 XP/spell level

Defiler

Spells cast for sorcerer-king 25 XP/spell level

All Priests

Per use of granted power 100 XP

Spells cast l00 XP/spell level

Potion or scroll made XP value

Permanent magical item made XP value

Cleric

use element creatively 100 xP

Druid

Defeat defiler 200 XP/level

Templar

Profit by accusing, judging, or pardoning freeman 150 xP

Profit by accusing, judging, or pardoning noble 500 XP

Profit by accusing, judging, or pardoning templar 750 xP

Advance sorcerer-king's goals 100-1,000 XP

All Rogues:

Special ability successfully used 200 XP

Treasure obtained 2 XP/cp value

Hit Die of creatures defeated 5 XP/level

Thief

Treasure obtained for patron** 4 XP/cp value

Bard

Effective use of poison 100 XP/level

Psionicist:

Psionics used to defeat foe or problem 10 XP/PSP

Psionics used to avoid combat 15 XP/PSP

Psionic opponent defeated 100 XP/level or Hit Dice

Create psionic item 500 XP/level

* For gladiators, this award only applies to creatures slain without outside aid. The gladiator gets no experience points for being part of a group kill. The 10 XP per level, however, are added to the normal allotment for kills, representing the gladiator's subsequent glory.

** The thief adds this XP allotment to the rogue gain for treasure obtained.

Individual Race Awards

Dwarf:

Pursue present focus 20 xP/day

Ignore present focus -100 xP/day

Complete major focus* 5,000 xP

Elf

Subtle test of trust 20 XP

Life-threatening test of trust 250 XP

Refuse animal or magical transport 50 XP

Continuous run l0 XP/mile

Half-elf

Observe human or elven custom 50 XP

Better a human or elf in custom 250 XP

Half-giant

Imitate charismatic friend 20 xP/day

shift alignment per influence 50 xP

Halfling

Practice another race's custom 50 XP

Aid another halfling 100 XP

Mul:

Heavy exertion 50 XP/ 12 hours

Thri-kreen

Per kill brought back for food 50 xP

Per creature paralyzed 100 XP

Per missile dodged 10 XP

* Dwarves do not consider any mission a major focus unless it lasts at least a year.

Individual Class Awards

Fighter: The fighter's greatest skills lie in organized mass warfare; conducting himself well during such times will gain him additional experience points. Awards for commanding followers only apply during critical situations--even during war, fighters do not gain experience points for spending weeks camped in reserve.

Gladiator The intensity of arena combat sharpens the senses, tests the courage, and magnifies the skills of gladiators. The award for combat within the arena therefore adds to the points given for defeating a creature as a warrior. The arena experience bonus only applies to gladiators.

Ranger: Among the warrior class, rangers have the most unique abilities. Casting clerical spells and employing thieflike abilities provides experience awards. Awards for using followers do not, however, apply to everyday applications; only use of followers in life-threatening situations gain the ranger experience. DMs should not reward cowardly or greedy use of followers.

Preserver Preservers benefit from the normal wizard experience point bonuses. However, when trying to maintain spell-casting secrecy, success wins for the preserver an additional bonus. Because use of magic is often illegal--or at least discouraged-- preservers who try to conceal their magic use deserve the listed XP bonus.

Defilier: A defiler also receives the bonuses listed for all wizards. When carrying out the business of the sorcerer-king, defilers receive an additional experience point award for spells cast. The sorcerer-kings send their defilers out into the countryside to maintain order and terror; sorcerer-kings who notice a successful underling send him additional support.

Cleric: The cleric's granted powers can be very powerful, and so provide their own reward. With them, a cleric and his party should be able to defeat greater foes and, therefore, get greater group experience awards. There is consequently no special experience award for clerics; the priest awards suffice. However, should a cleric use his granted powers in an original way, employing his particular element with finesse and flair to overcome an obstacle, the DM may wish to grant these bonus experience points .

Druid The priest awards are generally adequate to give druid characters the experience they deserve. However, defeat of their arch-enemies, defilers, warrants a class experience award in addition to group experience.

Templar The conniving ways of the templar demand that he abuse his position for his own ends. The class awards listed separately for the templar reward the use of that deceit. DMs should make certain that PC templars make enemies every time an accusation or judgement is made. Victimizing a freeman brings few or low-powered enemies. Nobles command greater respect and friendship, so a templar who accuses or judges a member of the aristocracy may well expect foes in high places. Assassination is a common end for templars. Similarly, pardoning individuals can also gain a templar valuable friends.

Note that accusations, judgements, and pardons only give a templar experience when these acts further the templar's ends. Pardoning an important noble for a bribe or favor or accusing a stone merchant to temporarily get him out of the way will earn the templar experience. Simply accusing, judging, and pardoning the general population at random-- though perfectly acceptable to the sorcerer-kings-- won t gain any experience for the templar.

Pleasing the sorcerer-king is always a boon for a templar. The sorcerer-king grants him special attention and favors that manifest themselves as an experience point bonus.

Rogues Note that rogues all gain experience points per ceramic piece of treasure obtained, not per gold piece. This system only works if the DM appropriately reduces the amount of treasure in DARK SUN(TM) campaigns (see Chapter 10 Treasure and Chapter 6

Money and Equipment).

Thief A thief in the employ of a patron generally does not get to keep his prizes. He does, however, gain an addition 4 XP award per cp taken, making such tasks worth a total of 6 XP per cp.

Bard Every use of poison gains the bard the expe- rience point bonus given to all rogues for successful use of an ability (200 XP). However, bards also get points based on the level of the victim. Note that poisons can be used for many things: to weaken, to sicken, to temporarily incapacitate. Rogues don't necessarily always kill victims with their poisons.

Individual Race Awards

Good roleplaying of the player character races in DARK SUN brings with it substantial experience point awards. Conversely, poor roleplaying brings drastic penalties, regardless of individual class awards. Judgement of good roleplaying ultimately lies with the DM, so he must be familiar with all the nuances of the Athasian player character races.

Players should be careful never to forget the peculiarities of their character's race, and should apply these to all the roleplaying situations they can. The lines of communication between the DM and the players should be clear to allow good roleplaying and to emphasize the unique nature of Dark Sun campaigns .

Dwarf A dwarf's roleplaying revolves around his focus. The focus of a player character dwarf should be agreed upon by the player and the DM. Examples of dwarf foci range from the broad (e.g., construction of a temple, protection of a village, quest for a lost family member) to the narrow (e.g., journey from one city-state to another, escort a caravan explore a half-buried ruin). The pursuit of a relevant mission is perfectly acceptable, but relevance must be agreed upon in advance by both the player and the DM. Dwarves rarely shift focus drastically before a project is completed, and only in the face of exceptional circumstances (e.g., imminent war, assassination of a brother, dragon attack on the area). Again, these exceptional circumstances must be agreed upon in advance by both the player and DM.

Elf: An elf's roleplaying revolves around his self-reliance and relationships with outsiders. Outsiders include anyone not of the elf's tribe--even other elves. Thus, an elf on Athas should not wish to gain friendship and trust with every character he meets; on the contrary, he tests the trustworthiness of outsiders who display some redeeming characteristics (redeeming to an elf, that is). Elves also perform such tests on outsiders who try to befriend them. Elven PCs should put outsiders to tests of trust or loyalty whenever possible rather than trust them from the onset just because they're other player characters. The trust of an elf is not easily earned. Subtle tests of trust include the following: entrusting an outsider with a confidential piece of information, leaving a valuable item out in the open, in clear view, to see if the outsider takes it, arranging a secret rendezvous, then making sure the outsider shows up in the right place and on time, asking the outsider to deliver a message or item.

Life-threatening tests of trust include the following:

* letting oneself get captured by gith to see if the outsider attempts a rescue (this is among elves of the stony barrens),

* faking unconsciousness after a battle to see what care the outsider provides,

* making certain part of the water supply is lost on a cross-desert journey, then seeing if he gets a fair share of what s left,

* challenging a particularly deadly enemy to see if the outsider stands with him or flees.

An elf will also recognize displays of trust and loyalty that are not planned in advance. If an outsider fails one or more tests of trust, an elf player character should not consider him a friend and should never retest him. However, if a series of tests are passed, the elf player character can declare the outsider a friend--no further tests will be necessary unless the friend severely breaks that trust. With regards to self-reliance, elves never take animal transport unless they have been too injured to run. Elf player characters should use running as their chief means of transport.

Half-elf: Seeking acceptance among humans and elves is important to every half-elf, though they will vehemently deny it. Simply observing a local custom of a human or elven community he is visiting gives a half-elf PC an experience point award. These customs are usually very simple, such as drinking the local ale with the elven chieftain or participating in a human wedding ritual. Such opportunities come up rather frequently when a half-elf character comes upon a new human or elven community. Experience point awards, therefore, should be received the first time the half-elf performs a particular custom. In extreme cases, a local custom may take the form of a contest or competition. If the half-elf character can get involved and perform better than any one of the humans or elves also participating, he receives the experience point award listed. If he does better than all of the humans or elves involved, he gains double that award. Examples of such contests are archery contests, psionic strength games, artistic competitions, and animal training. Winning such half-elf awards will entail a great deal of roleplaying; if the player makes the effort, he should be rewarded.

Half-giant Adopting the lifestyles of others gives a half-giant purpose. As a player character, a halfgiant should seek out the most charismatic member of the party and imitate his racial and class customs. When he does so, he will gain an experience point bonus. Sometimes a particularly charismatic nonplayer character may attract the attention of a player character half-giant. The half-giant character might, for a time, even switch sides in an adventure, during which time he should get his experience point bonus.

When a half-giant character shifts his alignment according to the influences he is experiencing in the campaign, the DM should give him the experience point bonus listed. This can be earned every time the half-giant properly shifts alignment and roleplays that shift accordingly, but no more than once per day.

Halfling: Their curiosity and open-mindedness demand that halflings experiment with the customs of other races. When given the opportunity to do so, no matter how trivial the custom, the Halfling gains an experience award bonus. This bonus includes everything from drinking from a caravan master's ceremonial cup for luck to hunting wild erdlus with the elf warriors. The DM should grant the award only once per custom observed, regardless of repetition. Halflings are honor bound to aid one another when in need. This award should only be handed out when there is a danger of injury or loss of life to the aiding Halfling.

Mul: A mul's ability to exert himself over long periods of time can earn him an experience point award. Each 12 hours beyond the first 12 that a mul exerts himself (such as carrying a wounded party member, keeping watch, etc.) merits the listed award. Note that the exertion must be necessary to the adventure, a judgement subject to the DM's approval.

Thri kreen: A thri-kreen's natural combat abilities are formidable and shouldn't be overlooked in favor of human tactics. A player whose thri-kreen uses natural combat abilities will gain the awards listed. Again, instances must be relevant to the adventure to warrant an award. Each creature slain and taken back to a camp or nest for food also warrants an experience point award; the Hit Dice or relative toughness of the creature has no effect on the award.