Level titles as DCCRPG quests

Thru henchmen, all things are possible, 
so jot that down.

So you've seen this idea from be before (when I did it for old D&Ds), but this time it is a DCCRPG flavored take.

In my upcoming game, I'll give an adventure credit per session a player attends. A PC can spend credits equal to a level to earn it, but first they have to finish a quest that matches with their level title (PCs or Judge can suggest different ideas, trying to weave quests into other PC's wherever possible).  

It's quite possible PCs will acquire quite a few credits between quest realizations, but that's fine.

There are a few entries where I came up with a couple ideas and put them in. Sometimes multiple ideas. I learned a lot about DCC doing this. Not only should you not feel restricted to the level up ideas here nor even the level titles. The book mentions that these are just the most common.

So let the player propose a title they are working towards. What could they do to get called that? Thus spoke Goodman: "Characters of 6th level and above are extremely rare, so much so that no generic titles exist. Players are encouraged to develop their own titles for such levels using Appendix T for inspiration as needed."

At other times, retroactive titles may be acceptable, based on level-appropriate exploits. "I am now Yak-friend!"

Cleric Title Quests

Lvl	Lawful	Chaotic	Neutral
1	Acolyte: Fetch an item that will serve useful in religious ceremonies to your gods.	Zealot: Slaughter a den of infidels. For chaos!	Witness: Observe a rare phenomenon and survive to tell the tale.
2	Heathen-slayer: Strike down a dirty cultist leader.	Convert: In a place where the gods must listen, reject the Law Lords.	Pupil: Seek and serve a hermit to learn their secrets.
3	Brother/Sister: Bring a small fortune to a monastic order and join it for a year and a day.	Cultist: Bring us three skulls; we need something to drink out of.	Chronicler: Travel to a ruin to record a name lost to time. •Witness a crazy ass thing your party gets into and write it down.
4	Curate: Find a relic of a saint--a foreskin or some-such that is purported to heal the sick. • Heal a sick community.	Apostle: Join a dark savior in their creepy pilgrimage.	Judge: Arbitrate a dispute between strange entities.
5	Father: Clear out and re-sanctify some ancient fane to house your flock.	High Priest: Gather your minions for a great ceremony. • Have a god-duel with another cleric, old testament style.	Druid: Kill the current druid title holder in mortal combat. Survival of the fittest!

Thief Title Quests

A lot of thief things feel urban and guild related to me. They might be good as play-by-post tasks done between games. Or maybe they can trick the other PCs into thinking they are in the guild too.
 

Lvl	Lawful	Chaotic	Neutral
1	Bravo: Win a duel in a public square to earn a spot in the thieves guild.	Thug: Bash some ponce and take their jewelry.	Beggar: Case and rob a temple that is foolish enough to let paupers in.
2	Apprentice: Accompany a elder-thievesman on a job.	Murderer: Garotte a guy that looked at you funny.	Cutpurse: Grab a bag and run.
3	Rogue: Take a job that uses your luck, guile, and charm.	Cutthroat: Lead a kidnapping of a high-value specialist.	Burglar: Steal 39 girdles from a high-security temple.
4	Capo: Discipline some underlings that snitched or killed the wrong noble.	Executioner: Someone pissed off the guild and you are taking them out.	Robber: Successfully hold up a noble's carriage: "Your money or life."
5	Boss: Take the reigns of a city's underworld; all the other potential bosses seem to have fallen out of windows.	Assassin: Kill a king or hero during a highly secure ceremony.	Swindler: Trick some nobles into investing in your sure thing.

Warrior Title Quests

Note that noble warriors should probably try out being part of a military order (p46). I say if you earn the title Knight then you are in!

 

Lvl	Lawful	Chaotic	Neutral
1	Squire: Save your mentor or a noble from a deadly threat.	Bandit: Raid a local outpost and escape with the pay-chest.	Wildling: Slay a predator with 2× your HD using primitive tools.
2	Champion: Deal the killing blow on a baddie giving a town trouble.	Brigand: Organize a gang and hold a strategic bridge for one week.	Barbarian: Crush your enemies. Hear the lamentations of their women.
3	Knight: Fend off those who disturb the king's peace!	Marauder: Search the land till you find something worth sacking.	Berserker: Defeat a monster 3× your size while naked.
4	Cavalier: Fucking joust to the death with mounted foe(s).	Ravager: Plunder a great hoard with your horde.	Headman: Slay the leader of a tribe in an honorable or brutal duel.
5	Paladin: Complete a mission for royalty or extra-planar big wigs. Check out Lankhmar DCC agents.	Reaver: Unleash the horde! Take out a settlement worthy of your military might.	Chieftain: Unite three disparate tribes under your banner.

Wizard Title Quests

Hey did you notice the rulebook has chaos first for wizards? Also, they share cultist with Clerics. 

Lvl	Chaotic	Lawful	Neutral
1	Cultist: Procure the heart of a monster to use for a cult party. •Make a pilgrimage to an entity's stronghold, and learn Patron Bond in the process.	Evoker: Get the components for a summon spell (Consult Spirit & Find Familiar counts), which you learn too.	Astrologist: Follow a supernova to witness a supernatural event. •Quest to change an ally's birth augur.
2	Shaman: Snort purple lotus. Deady, rare, and addictive! • Turn a family member into a magic servant.	Controller: Cow or boss around something with your arcane might.	Enchanter: Bewitch or transfigure an important creature or place.
3	Diabolist: Summon or manifest a creature from the seven hells.	Conjurer: Bring forth entities to fight for you. This could teach you a spell like Animal Summoning p129 or Monster Summoning p184.	Magician: Craft a magic staff or item (this teaches you a spell).
4	Warlock/Witch: Make a pact with a powerful entity for power. You know patron bond for this purpose.	Summoner: Call forth a great entity with a ritual-style spell.	Thaumaturgist: Warp a foe with your magic might.
5	Necromancer: Raise the dead for a great purpose (like a siege).	Elementalist: Specialize in elemental magic (this teaches you Arcane Affinity p162)	Sorcerer: Eat another mage's brain to absorb their power.

Dwarf Title Quests

Lvl	Lawful	Chaotic	Neutral
1	Agent: Recover a stolen clan item.	Rebel: Sabotage a king’s forge to protest unjust conditions.	Apprentice: Gather fine materials for your elders.
2	Broker: Negotiate a trade deal between two rival clans.	Dissident: Free political prisoners from a mountain hold.	Novice: Discover a new vein of metal in dangerous territory.
3	Delegate: Represent your clan to an supernatural entity or body.	Exile: Perform an act of greed so great you are kicked out of the clan.	Journeyer: Travel to the world's lowest depth and return with treasure.
4	Envoy: Deliver an important object.	Iconoclast: Destroy an ancient statue you believe is a "shackle."	Crafter: Forge a weapon using an extraordinary component. For this purpose, you have the ability to cast Sword Magic p229 until you succeed.
5	Syndic: Establish a new stronghold recognized by the Dwarf Kings.	Renegade: Lead a revolution that overthrows a corrupt Rune Pope.	Thegn: Lead a force of dwarves to reclaim a dwarven treasury*.

*: In my setting, hoarding treasure turns dwarves into monsters, so something big is waiting for ya.

 

Elf & Hobbit Title Quests

Elves and Hobbits have the same first level title. Odd. Also, the bookmark for the PDF has Elf as ELF and it bugs me. And I am also thinking we shoulda had a bit more Melnibonésé  in the titles.

Lvl	Elf (All Alignments)	Hobbit (All Alignments)
1	Wanderer: Visit a place not on any map; return with a strange plant.	Wanderer: Travel far and return with a new ingredient.
2	Seer: Get a patron (you learn the spell to bond) and get from them a vision of the coming end.	Explorer: Map a dungeon or wilderness. Gotta find all the rooms/features. • Visit another plane of existence.
3	Quester: Find visit three strange locations for three different purposes. • Make up an epic quest. It's in the name after all.	Collector: Acquire three impossible items (e.g. bottled moonlight). • Acquire a full set of something, such as The Rod of Seven Parts.
4	Savant: Research a new spell not in the book (you make and quest; Judge edits)	Accumulator: Amass a hoard so large it attracts a dragon.
5	Elder: Help one of the young kingdoms of the  with a great trouble.	Wise One: Win a riddle contest with a sphinx while pipe-weeded out of your gourd.

Feats of Hexploration for Old School Revelries

I’m still running DCC peons through Tegel Manor, but the usual DCCRPG Experience Point doling is a bit too slow for us, as we only play two to three hours a week. Thus, I’ve added these achievement-based XP rewards.

The game is pretty much RAW, but it doesn’t hurt to add this system a nd some MVP votes on top of it to wrap up the session with the feels goods.

If you want more ideas, try out Arduin XP, which I posted about here.

Achievements:

• Talked in character multiple times to other characters (roleplayed): 5×LVL extra XP. Maybe 10 for a damn fine job.

• Did a risky job or carried out a foolish plan:5×LVLextra XP.

• Got a killing blow: 5×LVL extra XP 

  or 15×LVL XP extra XP if it was a crit.

• Can claim you did a deed never seen in the campaign: 20×LVL extra XP.

• Have a prime ability score of 15 or higher (for instance, a Warrior needs high STR or DEX): 5×LVL extra XP.

• Found one or more treasures: 5×LVL extra XP for everyone.

• Figured out a puzzle or riddle: 10×LVL extra XP.

• Found and took a secret door or passage: 5×LVL extra XP.

• Friendly fired (spell misfires fit here): 5×LVL extra XP to you and the person you shot.

• Went down to 1HP but no lower: 5×LVL extra XP  

• The party would have been cooked if it wasn’t for your action: : 20×LVL extra XP.

• Spellburned, cast a reversed spell, or used a spell in a novel manner: 5×LVL extra XP.

• Got downed (0HP), corrupted, disapproved, cursed, or mutated (permanent potions and spell effects count): 10×LVL extra XP.

• Used a magic item or potion for the first time: 5×LVL extra XP.

• Came back after successfully attempting a long-ass casting time spell: 5+spell level×LVL extra XP.

• Defeated a worthy foe mano a mano: : 5×LVL extra XP.

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Old School Saving Throws as Milestone Advancement

 

Remember years ago when I talked about Barony/Conrad's Game? Today we're gonna mix the ignobles milestone advancement from that RPG with the old D&D saves. In never actually talked much about the ignoble deeds before. It’s a neat system. Maybe the first milestone system in RPGs! To advance from one job to the next in Barony, you need to check off the following things:

Adventure (Travel Exotic Lands, Danger and Intrigue) 

Bard's Tale (Fame, Triumph, Notoriety) 

Battle (Military Engagements and Strategy)
Crafty Deeds (Cunning Execution of Skills and Ingenuity) 

Desires Fulfilled (Profit, Revenge, Power)
Exercising Prudence (Forethought Plans or Precautions) 

Growth (Leadership, Comradeship, Political Authority) 

Heroics (Boldness, Courage and Audacity) 

Magical Events (Acquisition, Exposure, Use)

Each deed can only check off one thing. 

 

I could actually say to use this system and call it a day, but we are here to provide a slightly simple alternative to XP counting for old school D&D type games, or at least in the spirit of them. 

 

So, here comes my idea:

When, in the course of your wanderings, you character survives* something that falls under the following categories, check it off. If they are all checked, you erase the checks and you can level up.

□　Death Rays or Ray-guns

□　Poisons or Diseases

□　Mesmerism or Mind Control
□　Paralysis or Stonification
□　Dragon Breath or Explosions
□　Wands, Rods, Staves, Curses, or Spells

There you go, no need to count XP. 

You might have noticed that my old school D&D saves don’t match your rulespedia or whatever. That’s okay, none of the old D&Ds agree with each other. Just use yours. Mine are better tho.

Maybe undead can be slightly friendlier in this system; if you get caressed by a ghoul, you lose one of your check marks (not the paralysis one!) instead of a whole level. 

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*: Or is resurrected after experiencing.

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A less tedious way to do prime requisits

The tired-sauce way.

I've actually done this in a couple campaigns now, and it worked pretty fine, though this is the simplest iteration of the rule: Your prime requisite score is applied as a percentile reduction to the XP you need to level up.

Simple example: A Wizard with INT 10 needs 100XP to reach level 2. She only really needs 90XP to level up. Easy peasy, wizard-squeezy. 

Aw, I started my example on the high road to really drive home that the glass-ceiling was being burst, but ended it creepy.

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Spells That Level Up the More You Use Them

So for our very hacked version of Swords & Wizardry/Crypts and Things/DCCRPG, called Crypts & Cryts, we needed a bunch of spells. I coulda use the C&Þ spell list, but it was feeling a little vanilla, and I kinda wanted unleveled spells. So at first I had a lot of PC-level based effects, but then it hit on me: Why not let the spells get more puissant the more you use and master them?  So far the Google Doc has 64 spells, and there might be room for more, but I think I can fit most high-level spells into lower ones with this method.

Here's an example of a kinda boring spell that got much better with this exercise: Stone to Mud.

Clay and Stone: You can convert LVL cubed yards of natural rock to mud or vice versa, lasting ten minutes. After you have cast this spell in ten dungeons, you can affect worked stone. 10 times beyond that and you can start to make LVL in number 1 HD mud elementals. 20 beyond that and you unlock the secret of stone golem-craft, and can up to LVL×2 HD of golems serving you. You also gain the ability to cast this spell to create out of thin air rock walls of up to LVL yards square (height times width). 5 times beyond that and you can use this spell to turn targets into statues and statues into flesh and blood creatures.

The game also lets you expand on the spirit of a spell, casting it in an unintended way, but you must cast it with disadvantage. However, if you do such five times, your twist on the dweomer becomes easier (no disadvantage) for you. For instance, maybe you could pull an Elohim with the above spell and make a new lifeform from the clay of the earth.

The whole RPG is embedded below; check it out in a browser that can handle it, or use this link. Oh, and the formatting gets really messed up by the single column that is forced by embedding. Meh. Full glory at the link.

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You shoulda been there when I kicked Satan in the Jimmies: A new way to level up

I'd eyed a lot of goal-based and accomplishment-based systems of late to include in Quest for It, but none of them were sitting quite right with me, so I came up with a system whereby you get drunk and recall the exploits of recent sessions.

 Rules:

The players get together to petition the Judge every once in a while, in the form of boasting PCs talking over drinks. “Remember the time you got turned into an egg and the dragon laid you?” For each of these stories the barflies (Judge) are impressed with, the players have gained one chance as a group. When the players are out of stories, the judge rolls a d10. The players’ chance of leveling up is x in 10, where x is the number of stories. Players that are below the party average level will have 1 higher chance in 10, but only the one die is rolled. If the die rolls x or lower, players level up.

Today was the first time we'd actually tried the bragging part out. The players talked about 8 things by my count. I was surprised by how fun it was to hear the players play this out as I goaded them on as a bunch of non-descript NPCs and the occasional hireling.

Things the party has done or seen:

1. Zombies that were their former compatriots from the funnel
2. Mankies--monkeys without heads and upside down faces on their chests, that they got paid to head-hunt
3. The battle of giant ants and climbing/sleeping foibles
4. Sexy oil stories (basically, the barbarian +Paul C  saw a bunch of oily dudes and got curious)
5. Met a god that was an eye (thanks, +Rafael Chandler)
6. Rival factions (this was a bit of a gimme, and maybe I shouldnna counted it, but there was a story about how the party stumbled into danger because they didn't realize how packed that manse was)
7. Fought a ghost king
8. Lost valiant hireling Igor to yellow mold (made the crowd weep until the cleric started dealing mold like a drug)

8 out of 10 chance there. I rolled a d10 and got a 7, so the party leveled up. If I'd had rolled a 9, just the newish wizard would have leveled, as they were only level 2 compared to the level 4 party average.

So, some drawbacks I noticed to other systems that make mine the obvious one true path:

• XP for Gold: My players never found gold. Like never, ever. Always missed secrets and never checked under the right beds. And they still just murdered anything they could. But usually got murdered first.
• XP for murder: Just reinforces the bad habit of stabbing all the things. Players do that anyways.
• XP for danger ala DCC: It's pretty close to XP for murder, and hard to assess how much danger was averted when PCs are smart enough to actually avoid a fight because it is the severity of the fight that gets you XP in the first place. Also, didn't work well for our weekly 2 hour games; took forever.
• XP for goals: Sometimes, everyone has different goals. But it's not too bad, really. Can take a really long time for some goals if the players are hexcrawling and whatnot.
• XP for ignobles ala Rogue Swords/Conrad's Fantasy: Takes a long time at 2 hours a week. But it inspired the current system a lot.
• XP for failure ala DW: Actually, I like this, 8 out of 10, would roll to hit again. Players are encouraged to try stuff.

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Carousing, orgies, and their alternatives

When the DCCRPG beta was first being played, how to gain experience and level up was a mystery. So I went with gold-spent equaling experience points. Then it kind of mutated into Carousing rules much like those that others before me have proposed. 

First, Jeff Rients came up with this famous table for carousing mishaps. Then I found the old article on orgies from Dragon Magazine (warning NSFW cartoonage). Ideas were gained.

Your character doesn't like to level up by partying like Conan? Not a problem. Check out Martial training, holy Sacrifice, and Esoteric research. But if wine and wenches is your bag, check out the system below.

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When you perform this leveling action, you must roll a Carousing check (1d20+ luck mod, DC 15 for success), spend your gold (which becomes XP), then role-play through the results (though the DM can just tell you what happened). Success nets you a roll on the right side of the following table as a kind of bonus to the joy of getting XP. 

Failure means nothing special, but rolling a 1 means you have to roll on the left side of the table!

Due to the limitations of the local economy, you may carouse (throw a raucous party with many attendants and lots of food) every d3 weeks in a berg or d3 days in a city unless below half hit points in which case you need to rest. If your stamina is under 3, you need to roll a save or die...

1. Gain reputation as a lecherous lush. Social interactions in this town are *raises tone* awkward. 2. Get in a fight, lose 1d2 teeth, get a black eye, or break your nose and you'll be sore (-1d3 hp) in the morning. 3. Wake up next to someone ugly or crazy (50-50 chance) or both (5% chance). Lose reputation. 4. Alcohol poisoning. Constitution/stamina lowered by 1. 5. Things got a little crazy. Did we kill the stripper?! Move you alignment one step towards evil/chaos. Can be undone by Sacrifice carousing. 6. Insulted someone important, and challenged to a duel if you are equals or charged with a quest if you are the inferior. 7. Someone takes your bag by mistake, but leaves theirs, which has an interesting item... 8. A couple days after the party, someone claims you are the father. Even if you are a woman. Cause fantasy setting, that's why. 9. You are mistaken for someone else, and charged with their tab. Pay 30% more money (no xp for it) or wake up in the slammer. 10. You expose one of your important guests as a reptilian! Have a fight with our scaly secret masters. 11. You are inducted into a cult. It takes your friends a week to deprogram you. -10% XP from this leveling action. 12. You wake up in stocks. -1 luck. Authorities let you out after a day. 13. You were robbed whilst unawares. Was it that saucy wench that you swear came to your room? You lose everything of value that you are carrying. 14. You break some knuckles punching a dude. No two-handed weapons/shields for 6 weeks. 15. Nobody comes to your party. -1 personality/charisma until you throw at least 500 gold into one party. 16. You are challenged to a duel, but cannot remember with who. At the most inconvenient time they show up. 17. If you are a halfling or a dwarf, you are tossed (if not, reroll). -3 Intelligence from hitting your head. +1 Charisma.  18. Your boasts have gotten you into trouble. You can't gain experience until you do something really awesome designated by the judge, like killing a legendary monster or stealing a legendary treasure.  19. You upset the mercantile guild. Everything is 20% more expensive for you and your associates in this town, unless you go to the black market, where things are 10% cheaper. 20. An evil magic user has some of your hair and flesh... you wake up with a gash and covered in strange runes. 21. Parlor trick hypnotised. It would seem that whenever someone says the words "my, its drafty in here" you feel the urge to do something embarrassing...

If you role a natural 20 on your Carouse check, you gain double experience and a luck point, then check for results in this column. 1. Gain a reputation as the life of the party. You will be invited to a fancy one soon. 2. Humiliate that one jerk/bitch you hate. Gain one to your luck or charisma. 3. Get on the good side of the local government representative. They will help you out when you need them. 4. Someone dies from too much partying at your party. Pity, but you are offered their job! 5.  A comely lass or lad falls for you. 6. One of your guests is actually a supernatural entity that wants to be your bud, familiar or patron. 7. Your body adapts to all the partying. You get +1 to stamina checks versus alcohol and poisons until you fail a carousing check. 8. You run into a long-lost relative. Maybe they want to go adventuring with you?! (henchman) 9. You win a bar bet and gain the services of two henchmen with low morale for a month. They may stay on if you pay them. 10. You gain 3 rumors about the next adventure. 11. You are mistaken for an important figure and the party gets really going. +25% experience. 12. You make buds with a master and get a free training session worth 300 gold (roll on the martial training luck table now!). 13. The drunken friar joins your party! Get a friar as a NPC companion till he loses a morale save or you carouse again. 14. You totally see through Sir Bearington's disguise, but are cool about it, and he will show up when you need him most. 15. You gain a jester minion. He constantly grabs treasure from others (not you). You like him, but others may not... 16. You have a good gambling session. Get some booty and +1 luck. Your game judge determines the booty by their own system. 17. You judge some kind of bar event, and everyone praises your decisions! Gain +1 Personality. 18. You wake up next to a master spy that night. They mumble state secrets in their sleep that could be very lucrative for you. 19. You have an enlightening jape with some amazing adventurer! It nets you knowledge that gives you the saves (if better), hit die, or basic abilities of a random class different to your own. 20. Wake up with a random wand, potion, or magical version of a weapon from the weapons table.

Orgies and trips to the cat-house are also possible, but if you roll a fumble on your luck, we might have to check on the Dungeon Funk tables to see your fate.