Gaining Experience

Experience is a part of Nexus. It just is. Experience is the thing that makes you stronger. This could mean Levels, Perks, Refinements, or any number of other things. Check out Spending Experience for details on that. But this page is for something else.

How do you get experience? That's what this is about. I work off a system called Five-Pillar Experience. That is, there are five things which you normally get Experience for, in addition to the Bonus Experience.

Combat
Combat is self-explanatory, though it has a calculation associated with it. It often arises out of a failed Social Interaction, and occasionally transitions to a successful Social Interaction. It also arises from failed Explorations and attempted Lootings. Combat is common.

Combat experience is strange, but simple. Each "side" in a combat is given a value related to it's Tier, such as "Upper 2nd Tier" or "Lower 4th Tier", including the players and their allies. The number of stages of difference then determines the amount of experience gained, and the "victor" of the combat, as appropriate, receives an extra 10 experience, unless they were higher-rated.

Exploration
Exploration refers to the exploration of the wilds, of dungeons or dungeon-like environments, or similar scenarios. These places do need to be hostile, or at least dangerous.

Exploration grants 10 experience upon discovering an appropriate location, then additional experience for properly exploring the place, based on the size and danger of the location.

Knowledge
The Knowledge Pillar handles the unearthing of new information. This information is gathered not through basic study or NPC exposition, but through deduction and adventure. Going to a library and finding the book on Vampires you were looking for? That'll get you information, but not experience- It was too easy. Finding the Sphinx at the end of an adventure and solving her riddles to unearth the Vampire's weakness? Gold mine. This also applies to solving the mystery-style things.

Knowledge grants experience relevant to the information gained. The information is given two values, the first based on availability and the second on importance. The two are added together, and your Tier is subtracted from it. This is multiplied by 10, and that's the amount of experience you gain.

Looting
This Pillar is all about that sick ass loot. Finding magic items and magic crystal troves, places of power... Or just important items. The King lost his crown? Oh no! Is it magic? No? At least you'll get experience for doing it. This Pillar also applies to finding places of power and people, even though those aren't Loot in the traditional sense.

You gain experience based on the Tier of Loot you obtain. Specifically, it is 10 times the Loot's Tier minus 5 times your Tier.

Social Interaction
Social Interaction is something we're all terrible at. Jokes. Mostly. But it gives experience! This isn't just about talking to people, it's about making and changing impressions, getting things done, and such. Getting a better deal on a magic item, not so much for experience. Convincing the dragon not to eat you? Using words, not blades? That's some experience. So too do you get experience for having a meaningful conversation with the King. Meaningful not in the sense of emotional, but in the sense of "Your highness! We seek to fight the Greenskin Armies invading through the South! Will you lend your aid?" Dramatic, Effective meaningful. Of course, it needs to work, at least partially, for you to get experience.

This Pillar provides 5 experience per Reaction Shift per Tier above you the creature is subjected to. Creatures of lower tiers provide halved experience per tier below.

Getting Shit Done(AKA Quests)
This is experience awarded to getting minutia BS done. Not very fun, but when you just bite the bullet, talk to the King to get the quest started or finished, talk to the golem crafters to set them on their creative path, etc., you'll get some experience for it. Depending on how time-consuming and integral to the storyline, it might give as much as a full level, but usually between 1 and 25 experience.

Shenanigannery
Have some fun, get some rewards. Simple.

Trophies
When particularly outrageous moments happen in the game, a Trophy can be awarded. This is on a player basis, not a character basis, so all the players who participate in the nonsense get 10 experience for each of their characters.

Crystals and Training
Since all of everything gets tied up in Nexus, you can consume the magical energy inside of a Crystal to gain experience, and you can have your character undergo some training, also to gain experience. These have systems and nonsense, but it's a way.