Frostgrave has been out for about nine months now, and in
that time it has received more ‘play testing’ than I could have ever dreamed.
Thousands of games have been played, and I’ve done my best to read, watch, and analyse
as many as possible. From that, I am confident in saying that there is nothing
in the game that is ‘broken’, that is, there is nothing that makes the game
unplayable. However, I do believe there is plenty of room for improvement.
Probably the most controversial aspect of the game system
is experience points. There was a lot of shouting about them right after release,
and I suspect it is the most commonly house-ruled element of the game. That’s
wonderful. I love house rules, and it is great that people like the rest of the
system enough to spend the time modifying the game to suit their needs. That
said, as a rules-writer, it would be better if I could come up with an official
system that kept game balance while making the vast majority of players happy.
I am now beginning that process, and I’m asking for
feedback! So please comment below.
Currently there are four main ways for wizards to earn
experience points in Frostgrave, and these are my thoughts on them.
1. Killing Stuff
This is the main point of controversy. Since wizards only
receive xps for stuff they kill directly, it stands to reason that wizards who
are better at killing things will receive more xps. There is some internal
balance to this, but perhaps not enough. If I were writing the game now, I would
definitely lower the killing stuff xp rewards. In fact, I would probably take
it all the way down to a flat 25xp for killing a wizard, apprentice, or
soldier. I know there are some people who have done away with kill rewards altogether.
In most of the scenarios in The Thaw of the Lich Lord
campaign, wizards are given xps for all servants of the Lich Lord killed by
anyone in their warband. Although this doesn’t make strict sense, I wonder if
players would prefer this system where the reward is just for the kills and
regardless of who exactly does the killing?
2. Treasure
When working on the game, I don’t think I fully
grasped how the recovery of treasure in a game was a double reward. First you
get the xps and then you also get the treasure. I don’t think this is a major
issue, and since grabbing treasure is still the point of the standard game, I
wouldn’t want to change anything too drastically. I would probably take
treasure recovery down to 35xp. This would mean in a tie game, where each player
gets 3 treasures, they would each gain a level. Or, if a player sweeps the board, they
still only gain two levels instead of three from treasure.
3. Spell Casting
If other xp rewards are going to go down, this is the
most logical one to put up. When I first wrote the game, the plan was to give
25xp for each different spell successfully cast by a wizard or apprentice
during a game. I can’t remember why I changed it, and I have always been
slightly disappointed that I did. This system would give more reward to wizards
who used a variety of spells during a game, which is more in keeping with the
theme. It also means that wizards that had a bad spell casting game and only
got off one or two spells would still get a descent xp return.
4. Scenario Goals
While not used in a ‘standard game’, I think most people
generally play scenarios. I think most people will agree that xp rewards
for specific scenario events (such as drinking from the Well of Dreams and
Sorrows) add a lot to the game. However, the more scenario rewards that are
available, the less xps should be gained from the above three sources. In a
future supplement, I am planning on introducing a table of ‘subplots’ that
players can roll on before the game to generate scenario rewards, thus turning
even standard games into more specific scenarios. So, it might be a good thing
if xps from killing, treasure, and spell casting actually go down.
5. Misc
There are a few other ways to gain xps. The most obvious
is the Absorb Knowledge spell. This spell exists partly to offset the advantage
of killy wizards. In retrospect, I think I should have made its casting cost a
bit higher, probably a 10, but I don’t think it is a major issue. I suspect,
even with all of the possible modifications above, it would still not be a
major issue. Yhere are a few other ways to gain bonus xps. I think
these can be fun, but I don’t want too many of them out there as combined they
could get out of hand.
So, those are my thoughts on experience points at the
moment. Now, I really want to hear what you, the players think. I don’t know
when, if ever, I will make an official change to the rules, but if I do, I want
to make sure they are ones that both I, and the vast majority of players, are
happy with.
