As a Dungeon Master, I have a small confession to make to you.  I hate experience points.   They take a great adventure with team-work, flair and lucky rolls and break them down into points. The worse part is that calculating experience points is somewhat more complicated than Revenue Canada tax law.  Sure, you can use the quick totals from the 2nd edition monster manual, but what about the mutant trolls you threw at the party with the immunity to fire and ability to breath a cone of cold? What will you do now? Pull out the chart and start adding numbers? Assign a completely random number? Use the amount owing on your Visa bill? (Admit it! You've done it!)

  There is also the issue of bonus experience points. A character may make a brilliant move at first level and get 100 xp. But when a 10th level makes the same brilliant move and 100 xp, it just isn't gonna make them feel warm all over.  What I have to offer you here is an alternate system for going up in levels called Prestige Points ("PP"). "PP" are based on tasks, adventures and personal quests accomplished, not on killing monsters and collecting gold coin. As the characters accomplish the missions set before them and the ones they set themselves, they gain prestige and notoriety. Furthermore, the rewarding for role-playing well becomes a more "real" reward for the players. It is through this that they move up in levels and become better characters. The numbers are smaller, easier to work with and resolve the "how many bonus points" to give a character dilemma.

  As you can see below, this works on a basis of all classes using the same table for determining the ascension of levels. With the use of "PP" to chart levels, it no longer becomes necessary to use a different chart for all classes. All party members can contribute and earn equally. To chart the levels beyond 20th, simply take the last total "PP" needed and add the value of the next level (21st level: 210+21=231).

Level                Prestige Points

  Multi-class characters have to gain full prestige points for all their classes. So a Fighter/Mage/Thief at 1st level would need to gain a total of 9 PP to go up a level in each class.   Some Prestige points can be class specific, and therefore must be applied to a specific class of the multi-class player. Some suggestions of assignment are as follows:

• Party completes major quest: 2 Prestige Points per player involved.
• Party completes smaller quest or a side adventure: 1 "PP" per player involved.
• Individual Prowess in the Use of Skills and Abilities: 1 "PP" per player involved only toward class of skill.
• Teamwork under Pressure: 1 "PP" per player involved.
• Heroic Effort: 1 "PP" per player involved.
• Exceptional Role-playing: 1 "PP" per player involved.

Other than a major quest or a player accomplishing a personal mission, all prestige points awarded should be 1 per player per event basis.

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