Adaptive Experience (5e Variant Rule)
From D&D Wiki
Adaptive Experience[edit]
This rule is intended for games of D&D 5e using Experience Points (abbreviated as XP).
Rather than mere linear progression, Adaptive Experience allows a player to choose how their character develops over the course of a game. Rather than automatically leveling up after gaining enough Experience Points, this variant rule allows for characters spend their XP as they wish. Upon completing a long rest, a character can spend their XP in the following ways:
| Benefit | Base XP cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Level Up | Varies | The character gains a level in one of their classes. |
| Multiclass | 300 | The character gains their first level in a new class. |
| Ability Score Improvement | 500 | The character increases one of their Ability Scores by 1 |
| Gain a Feat | 1,000 | The character gains one Feat that they fulfil the perquisites of. |
| Additional Proficiency | 200 | The character gains proficiency with a new Skill, Tool, or Language. |
Character Advancement[edit]
You can determine the base XP cost of your next level up by consulting the Base XP Cost per Class Level table.
The class a character gains at 1st level becomes their Primary Class. To determine a character's equivalent level, add together a character's level in their primary class, and half their levels in any Secondary Classes (rounded down). A character's equivalent level cannot exceed 20. Use this total to determine where your character lies on the Character Advancement table.
The Character Advancement table determines your character's proficiency bonus, as well as the maximum number of Ability Score Improvements and feats you can spend XP to buy normally.
If you purchase a level of a class that would normally give you an Ability Score Improvement as a feature, you may deduct 1000 XP from the cost of that level if it is from your Primary Class. Otherwise, you may only deduct 500 XP.
|
|
Multiclassing[edit]
The class a character gains at 1st level becomes their Primary Class. All other classes a character gains are their Secondary Classes.
The XP cost of Secondary Classes is influenced by two factors: The number of Secondary Classes a character has, and character's level in their Primary Class.
Each time a character buys their first level in a Secondary Class, the XP cost for doing so increases by 300 for each Secondary Class that character has.
Additionally, each time a character's wishes to raise their level in a Secondary Class above their level in their Primary Class, they must spend 10% more than normal to do so.
This "Tax" increases to 20% if a character's level in a Secondary Class exceeds the level of their Primary Class by 3 or more.
A character only increases their maximum hit points when they gain a level in their Primary class, or when they gain an even level in one of their Secondary Classes.
Additionally, a character's level in their Secondary Classes is halved (rounded down) when determining their Spell Slot Contribution. For example, a character with 5 levels in bard (primary class), 2 levels in sorcerer (secondary class), and 4 levels in paladin (secondary class) would have spell slots as if they were a 7th level spellcaster.
Other Improvements[edit]
Ability Score Improvements, Feats, Epic Boons, Skills, Tools, and Languages all fall under this category.
Ability Score Improvements and Feats[edit]
At 1st level, the number of Ability Score Improvements (abbreviated as ASI) and Feats a character can have is limited to 1 each. However, a character unlocks the ability to buy more Ability Score Improvements and Feats as a character's equivalent level increases, as determined by the Character Advancement Table.
Like normal, a character cannot increase their Ability Scores above 20, unless they have an item or feature that allows them to do so.
You can purchase ASIs and Feats over your maximum indicated amount at a cumulative 50% additional XP cost for each instance of an ASI or Feat over the maximum.
Epic Boons[edit]
Upon reaching an equivalent level of 20, a character can begin spending XP to gain an Epic Boon. The cost for doing so is 30,000 XP. Page 231 of the DMG has examples of some standard Epic Boons.
Alternatively, a character could have their Epic Boon be replaced by increasing one ability score by 2 or increasing two ability scores by 1 each. When increasing an ability score in this way, it can be raised up to a maximum of 30.
Skills, Tools, and Languages[edit]
By expending XP, a character can gain proficiency with one Skill, Tool, or Language of their choice. This is in addition to all the Skills, Tools, or Languages that character is normally proficient with.
- For Skills and Tools, this means that your character can now add their Proficiency Bonus to ability checks using that skill or tool.
- For Languages, this means that your character now speaks the chosen language. For a character to be able to learn a new language in this way, they must have an instructor that is fluent in the desired language.
Supplemental Experience Points[edit]
Normally, characters can only gain XP by defeating monsters, and are rewarded based on the Challenge Rating of their foes. However, this does encompass the full range of challenges a character will face. For this reason, a DM can reward supplemental XP, either to an individual or group, when they complete any of the following challenges. If rewarding XP to a group, the XP is divided among all members of the party, including NPCs that notably contributed to success, as normal.
Skill Checks[edit]
Skill Checks should only reward XP when they help to further the progression of a story. For example, unlocking a door in a dungeon for the first time would reward XP, while simply buying a lock and picking it would not. Additionally, Skill Checks only reward XP when completed outside of combat. If a check has a DC that does not cleanly fit into any of these categories, the DM can either round the DC to the nearest 5, or give up to 20% more or less XP, corresponding to the how much the DC is increased or reduced.
| DC | XP reward |
|---|---|
| 10 | 25 |
| 15 | 50 |
| 20 | 100 |
| 25 | 200 |
Treasure Hoards[edit]
Upon finding a Treasure Hoard, a DM might decide that XP should be rewarded. As these Hoards are usually found at the end of dungeons, this XP reward encapsulates all of the traps, monsters, and other challenges a character faced to reach this point.
| Challenge Rating | XP Reward |
|---|---|
| 1-4 | 2,000 |
| 5-10 | 8,000 |
| 11-16 | 64,000 |
| 17+ | 200,000 |
Quest Completion[edit]
By rewarding players for completing specific quests with XP, characters will be more incentivized to seek out tasks and follow certain storylines. However, characters should typically only be rewarded with XP for quests that lack a specific Treasure Hoard, otherwise characters might gain levels at too rapid a rate.
| Quest Level | XP Reward |
|---|---|
| 1-5 | 1,000 |
| 6-10 | 4,000 |
| 11-15 | 32,000 |
| 16-20 | 100,000 |
The amount of XP rewarded can be further modified depending on the type of quest. If the quest was central to the story, the DM should increase the reward by 50%. If players did an exceptional job completing the quest, such as by fulfilling optional objectives, the DM can increase the reward by up to 50%. Finally, if any characters were particularly crucial to the success of the quest, or if they maintained exceptional in-character roleplay, increase the reward of those players by 20%.
Back to Main Page → 5e Homebrew → Rules
