[Balanor]

The experience system in Thay is unlike the standard NWN experience system. This system was created because Thay was designed by drawing heavily on source lore from the 2nd and 3rd edition rules and source material. In that lore, it is rare for high-level individuals to be encountered. Therefore, Thay is intended as a world of adventure primarily for low to mid-level PCs, with high-level PCs being very uncommon. The experience system has been implemented to prevent rapid leveling of a PC and to help encourage players not to be overly concerned with the mechanics of the game and the ‘points’ they earn, but rather try to focus on enjoying their character’s adventure no matter their level.  

This system enforces Effective Character Level (ECL) for all XP that subrace and template PCs receive. However, there is no longer the multiclass penalty in Thay, which means a PC of any race may take any classes that make sense for their roleplay-driven build. 

 

Level Progression 

The most obvious difference with Thay's experience system is that the experience points you gain are silently tracked and not immediately displayed on your character sheet. Instead you have just as many listed on your character sheet as you need for the level of your PC. However, you may check your PC's progress to the next level by typing this at any time: !xp 

Next to note is that upon reaching level 3 and above, the amount of experience a PC can accumulate is determined by the amount of time the PC spends in-game and the length of time since it reached its current level. The ability to accumulate more XP per gaming session increases each minute a PC is logged in. The maximum amount of XP a PC can have since achieving their current level increases every minute as well, but does so even if the PC is not logged in. 

For example; each minute a level 5 PC is logged in they may accumulate more XP at a rate totaling 250 XP/hour. Additionally, the maximum amount of XP a level 5 PC can earn increases each minute since they leveled up so that 10 days later they may reach the next level. As your PC gains levels, the amount of XP that can be accumulated per minute decreases slightly, while the number of days that it takes to reach the next level increases slightly. To put this into perspective; a character may reach level 10 in around 175 hours of gameplay over the course of 84 days. Level 20 may be reached in around 1180 hours of gameplay over the course of 459 days. 

Finally, it is important to note that XP awarded by DMs is not limited by this system and counts directly toward advancement to the next level. Get involved in DM events as that can greatly reduce the amount of time required to level-up your character! 

Gaining Experience 

Experience can be gained through many ways. The most common ways are by receiving roleplay experience awards from PCs and DMs, killing creatures in combat, completing quests, simply exploring and spending time in-game, training at a combat dummy, unlocking and disarming traps, solving riddles, among other methods. The two most common methods are explained here in more detail. 

Roleplay XP 

The Thay PW has been designed as a roleplay-centric world. Outstanding roleplay can be awarded by DMs and players, which also gives highly sought after notoriety as well. Players may give a roleplay awards of XP and notoriety to another PC by typing this in a Tell to them: !xp 

Combat XP  

Combat in Thay can be difficult. Solo play is not discouraged, but wading into battle alone without any planning or forethought will often result in a quick death for your character. Plan ahead, go slow, use what tactics you can, and don’t be afraid to run away if needed! When a creature is killed by a PC, a member of the PC’s party, or by a trap laid by a party member, XP is awarded.  

Additional Combat Details 

-No combat XP is awarded when killing a commoner, when killing a DM Possessed creature, or if the party member is further than 20 meters from the kill.  

-Whenever you deliver the killing blow on a monster, you receive a 10% increase to the XP reward.  

-To encourage teamwork and PC interaction, you receive a 10% bonus to the XP reward for every PC who is in your party. 

-While it is encouraged that PCs work together, we want to discourage tactics where those of much lower levels party up with those of much higher levels for the sake of trying to quickly gain XP for the lower-level PC. Therefore, PCs of differing levels may incur XP reductions when adventuring together.  

1. PCs within 0-2 levels of the Average Party Level (APL) will receive no XP reduction 

2. PCs within 3-4 levels of the APL will receive a scaling XP reduction based on their distance from the APL 

3. PCs of 4 levels or more than from the APL will receive the lowest possible combat XP reward for any kill made by the party 

Losing Experience 

When a PC loses enough XP they drop below the minimum to maintain their current level, the amount of XP listed on their character sheet drops to the minimum XP needed for the previous level, but their true amount of XP is likely going to be much higher. 

For example, consider a PC at level 7 will have a character sheet that shows him having 21,000 XP. But perhaps he has adventured for some time since leveling up, so his silently recorded true amount of XP is actually now 21,500 XP. But then something really terrible happens to him, which results in the loss of 1,000 XP. Because of this, his true XP is lowered to 20,500, which means he becomes a level 6 PC. As a result the XP recorded on his character sheet will be lowered to 15,000, which the minimum amount of XP required for level 6. And while he will get a combat window message that he lost 6,000 XP (the difference from level 6 to level 7), it is important to note that his true silently recorded amount of XP is actually 20,500 XP, so he will only need another 500 XP to reach level 7 again. 

[Balanor]

I just wanted to clarify that the only change for the XP system as of 8/22/09 is the fact that PCs now receive full credit for a monster kill while in a party of other PCs (plus a bonus to the XP for each PC party member). In addition, the XP reduction for NPCs in the party was just reduced as well. Other than those two changes, everything else described has been a part of the XP system since the beginning of time. :)

So if you have played here before, combat XP has actually become more generous than it was in the past.

[Balanor]

Updated as of 2/18/14 to reflect major systemic changes to how the custom XP system in Thay has been setup.

[Balanor]

As of the last server reset moments ago, an important change has gone into effect, providing a second way for high-level PCs to level-up.

As most people likely know, there is a notoriety requirement that must be met to level-up beginning at level 12 and beyond. But around the inception of the new Custom XP system back in February, the time that a character is in-game has also been tracked. As a result, the custom XP system has just been expanded to give PCs the option to either a) accumulate the required amount of notoriety to level-up, OR b) spend a certain amount of time in-game.

This means that several high-level PCs who have been actively played in recent months are likely eligible for level-up, even if they are/were lower-notoriety PCs who previously could not. So some high-level PCs will notice the effects of this as soon as they get their next XP reward, and you'll potentially hear the glorious level-up sound.

I want to stress that this time-based change only affects level 12+ PCs, and actually makes it easier to level-up now as there are two ways to do so, once the necessary XP has been acquired (usually the easy part). But I also want to mention that the amount of time required to spend in-game at each level does increase with the level, and is still intended to take real-time days, weeks, or months to level-up. Finally, I also want to caution that, like Timed or Life XP rewards, if your PC is simply standing still (like if you’re AFK, etc) for a long period of time, the in-game counter does not increment the amount of time it consider you ‘in-game’. You do need to be active and occasionally moving around and doing stuff for that timer to continue. ;)

[zDarkShadowz]

Thank you for providing us this option.

[Animayhem]

To clarify and apolgies if its posted elsewhere. We can choose which one we want? If we do not it will take both factors into account?

[DarkRanger]

Whichever comes first. Notoriety is faster, time is more certain.

[Animayhem]

Whichever comes first. Notoriety is faster, time is more certain.

I see. So we do not choose which system then?

[Sundraoi]

No. The player does not choose as DarkRanger said.

Whichever comes first. Notoriety is faster, time is more certain.

I see. So we do not choose which system then?

[Animayhem]

No. The player does not choose as DarkRanger said.

Whichever comes first. Notoriety is faster, time is more certain.

I see. So we do not choose which system then?

Thanks for clarification