I wonder if the debrief questions for experience in Blades in the Dark or Monsters of the Week would work well for leveling in proactive D&D and PF2e games. D&D and PF2e have some varients of three ways of handling XP: xp for kills, xp for story milestones, or levels for story milestones. Milestone leveling has become very popular for running prewritten modules to avoid getting to areas under or over leveled. I have been trying awarding XP for completing character goals, but it is adding complexity to writing and using goals. I think it could work, but is not working with a GM and players new to proactive goals. In Blades in the Dark, each playbook (class specific character sheet) has a set of questions that determine how XP is awarded. Here are the questions for the Whisper: Every time you roll a desperate action, mark xp in that action's attribute. At the end of each session, for each item below, mark 1 xp (in your playbook or an attribute) or 2 xp if that item occurred multiple times. - You addressed a challenge with knowledge or arcane power. - You expressed your beliefs, drives, heritage, or background. - You struggled with issues from your vice or traumas during the session. I would note that this structure means that if you don't build a character that fits the setting and group, you won't get as many chances to level. This has an interesting effect on how the game is played and discouraging lone wolfs. So, as a thought experiment, what would good debrief questions be for tracking experience in a proactive game, I would love your thoughts and additions... Note: the proficiency with level mechanic in PF2e means that it is quite important to keep people at the same level, so I think it needs to be group XP, which negates one of the coolest impacts :( - Did you struggle with conflicting goals within the party? - Did you apply your backgorund/expertise to help anohter party member acomplish their goal? - ??? Need to think more on what exactly I am trying to do...

I'm a retired software developer and technical writer trying to learn how to write adventures. I can write instruction manuals in my sleep, but creative writing is a new skill. I did publish my first novel back in July. I'm working on a one shot or short adventure, depending on the group. I'd like to write it so children or adults could play it, with different challenges depending on player maturity. I'm open to suggestions.

So it just came up when I asked my players for permission to use our game in the workshop. Are players welcome in this community (many of whom also Game Master), or do we want to keep membership to game masters? I think we should keep the focus on game mastering, but wonder if some player perspective would be helpful.

Hello everyone, I’m Neill. I’m a long-time Game Master and RPG writer based in the UK. Most of my current work centres on sandbox campaign design, wilderness exploration, and making the environment matter in play—things like supply, travel hazards, and meaningful journeys rather than fast-forwarding through them. I run a Greyhawk campaign using Level Up: Advanced 5E, with a strong focus on faction play, political tension, and the consequences of player choices. I’m also developing material for my project Circle of One, where I publish articles and tools for GMs on Substack - https:// neillwhyborne.substack.com and in short PDFs on DTRPG - under the name Circle of One. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else is working on and sharing ideas about running better games.

I want to learn about ways you make combat interesting and reward tactical creativity!