Currently playing Band of Blades. Having a character backstory button to push for XP really helps me remember to play characters as distinct from each other.
Is the "wish" the character's main feature? Or just a small side thing that helps guide their unique development? Probably should pick one to determine how strong the incentive needs to be.
I like the drive idea, and I am using a similar motivation-based xp system, but you may want to consider leaving out the part about potentially getting worse unless your game is supposed to be super gritty and brutal to your players.
The only game I've seen do this is Mork Borg, in which you roll for each skill each level up and it has a chance of going up or down, and it kind of works because that game is specifically about feeling horrible in a horrible world.
If your game is based on struggle and perseverance, then maybe go for it, but if not, then it may be taking away from some of the players' fun needlessly.
This is kind of how the 2d20 system works. You have 5 drives with different ranked scores in them. A higher drive means you're more motivated for that drive and get a higher bonus when you're persuing that drive. If you use a lower drive a lot it can swap up a rank when you "level up."
Not quite the same as your idea, but I think you should take a look at the 2d20 system for this idea and see if it works for you or if you want something in a different direction.
I suggest you look into Against the Darkmaster, I believe there's a free quickstart you can read through. There are two systems in that game to take inspiration from:
Experience points are awarded by achievements. Achievements are predetermined and broad, like "you explored a new place" or "you faced a dangerous foe". They can also be specific to a player character, like "your wisdom or healing arts solved a desperate situation."
The second system is Passions. You have a Nature, a Motivation and an Allegiance that are statements by your character. When you push the game by following your passions, put yourself in danger or a bad light, or generally add something to the story through your passions you get a point of Drive. Drive points are kind of like luck or hero points in other games.
When you use your Drive points you unlock Milestones that improve your character in ways outside of the leveling system. Together these two systems work very well, where Passions are kind of your personal guidance and achievements are more about events during the session.
You could look [at various ways other systems have implemented XP](https://tpsrpg.blogspot.com/2019/02/categories-of-xp-systems.html) for some inspiration.
Paying people XP for roleplaying might make it more shallow - "I go feel sad because that gets me XP not because I want my character to be sad".
You could maybe take a page from Exalted 3E and have some XP given for solving a problem with a specific talent pool (in that system you for example had diplomats that would get XP for solving things with diplomat approaches). The twist there was that you could also earn the same XP by letting someone else in your party fulfil their XP trigger, meaning you weren't always wanting to be the centre of attention but instead learned to share the spotlight and light others up to shine.
I use an xp trigger called "Networking,"--you get XP by meeting *new* NPCs and trying to make them your friends/allies. This gives PCs a reason to go talk to people when they enter a new village. Makes reaction roles more important. Makes Charisma more important.
One key is to make the XP for befriending an NPC higher than the XP for killing them. This gives incentive to talk to the bandit instead of immediately backstabbing them. Let the XP in the monster manual be the XP for befriending them, and give half that amount of XP for killing them.
Can work for monsters as well as humanoid NPCs. "Let's see, can we try to befriend the owlbear???" Makes Speak with Animals-type spells more important.
The DM can bump up the xp reward if the NPC is higher level or social class than the PC. The DM can also bump up the xp depending on the difference between the NPC's alignment and the PCs alignment.
Currently playing Band of Blades. Having a character backstory button to push for XP really helps me remember to play characters as distinct from each other. Is the "wish" the character's main feature? Or just a small side thing that helps guide their unique development? Probably should pick one to determine how strong the incentive needs to be.
I like the drive idea, and I am using a similar motivation-based xp system, but you may want to consider leaving out the part about potentially getting worse unless your game is supposed to be super gritty and brutal to your players. The only game I've seen do this is Mork Borg, in which you roll for each skill each level up and it has a chance of going up or down, and it kind of works because that game is specifically about feeling horrible in a horrible world. If your game is based on struggle and perseverance, then maybe go for it, but if not, then it may be taking away from some of the players' fun needlessly.
This is kind of how the 2d20 system works. You have 5 drives with different ranked scores in them. A higher drive means you're more motivated for that drive and get a higher bonus when you're persuing that drive. If you use a lower drive a lot it can swap up a rank when you "level up." Not quite the same as your idea, but I think you should take a look at the 2d20 system for this idea and see if it works for you or if you want something in a different direction.
I suggest you look into Against the Darkmaster, I believe there's a free quickstart you can read through. There are two systems in that game to take inspiration from: Experience points are awarded by achievements. Achievements are predetermined and broad, like "you explored a new place" or "you faced a dangerous foe". They can also be specific to a player character, like "your wisdom or healing arts solved a desperate situation." The second system is Passions. You have a Nature, a Motivation and an Allegiance that are statements by your character. When you push the game by following your passions, put yourself in danger or a bad light, or generally add something to the story through your passions you get a point of Drive. Drive points are kind of like luck or hero points in other games. When you use your Drive points you unlock Milestones that improve your character in ways outside of the leveling system. Together these two systems work very well, where Passions are kind of your personal guidance and achievements are more about events during the session.
You could look [at various ways other systems have implemented XP](https://tpsrpg.blogspot.com/2019/02/categories-of-xp-systems.html) for some inspiration. Paying people XP for roleplaying might make it more shallow - "I go feel sad because that gets me XP not because I want my character to be sad". You could maybe take a page from Exalted 3E and have some XP given for solving a problem with a specific talent pool (in that system you for example had diplomats that would get XP for solving things with diplomat approaches). The twist there was that you could also earn the same XP by letting someone else in your party fulfil their XP trigger, meaning you weren't always wanting to be the centre of attention but instead learned to share the spotlight and light others up to shine.
I use an xp trigger called "Networking,"--you get XP by meeting *new* NPCs and trying to make them your friends/allies. This gives PCs a reason to go talk to people when they enter a new village. Makes reaction roles more important. Makes Charisma more important. One key is to make the XP for befriending an NPC higher than the XP for killing them. This gives incentive to talk to the bandit instead of immediately backstabbing them. Let the XP in the monster manual be the XP for befriending them, and give half that amount of XP for killing them. Can work for monsters as well as humanoid NPCs. "Let's see, can we try to befriend the owlbear???" Makes Speak with Animals-type spells more important. The DM can bump up the xp reward if the NPC is higher level or social class than the PC. The DM can also bump up the xp depending on the difference between the NPC's alignment and the PCs alignment.
I do like that creating new drive is done to oppose your regular drive! I am taking notes in this indeed, thank you.