Player characters generally gain experience points (XP) for every two gold pieces spent (2:1 XP for gold). That includes vice, tithes to the church, equipment costs, fees, tolls, living expenses, livery, retainers, bribes, mercenaries, domains, strongholds, or business ventures. It does not matter what the source of money is, treasure from a dungeon, rewards from grateful Lords or peasants, profit from a business venture, the take from a robbery, even tax money and farm income from a lordship, as long as it accrues from player action. Perhaps the only expenditures that do not also yield experience points are paying for services or goods rendered by another player character or sharing shares of treasure with henchmen (since they themselves claim the XP bonus for these expenditures).

For each of the four classes, certain expenditures yield XP for every one gold piece spent.

• All characters receive 1:1 XP for gold spent on any construction such as monuments, strongholds, buildings and land improvements.
• Scholars receive 1:1 XP for gold spent on crafting scrolls, potions, magic items, magic experiments, research, and books of any kind.
• Warriors receive 1:1 XP for gold spent on weapons, armor, horses and troop retainers.
• Zealots: receive 1:1 XP for gold given to the founding of a local church or monastery, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, or tithes toward the crusades in Jerusalem.
• Specialists receive 1:1 XP for gold spent on luxury goods.

PCs level up when they earn enough XP. A PC gains new benefits each time they level up, per their class and archetype. PCs are unable to level up in more than one class. Max PC level is 9. Refer to class rules for specifics (such as dice rolled for HP, etc).

• Characters receive experience points for gold pieces spent, or given to the Church.
• The default value is 50%, i.e. 1 Xp for every 2 gp spent. This includes equipment costs, fees, tolls, living expenses and most other spending.
• No xp accrues to the PC for treasure shares given to henchmen, as the henchman receive the xp from that money, nor does it accrue from the 10gp/hd spent on wages for retainers.
• All characters receive 100% xp for gold spent on buildings and land improvements.
• Scholars receive 100% xp for gold spent on crafting scrolls, potions, magic items and books of any kind.
• Warriors receive 100% xp for gold spent on weapons, armor, horses and troops.
• Clerics: receive 100% Xp for gold given to the Church.

• Hermits never actually keep possessions beyond the bare minimum, so they distribute all money acquired among the poor or sick as soon as humanly possible, receiving 75% of the gp value as xp.
• Templars all swear an oath of poverty and as soon as humanly possible give their treasure to their commander to be sent on to Jerusalem, for which they gain 75% of the gp value as xp. The order keeps them armed, fed and horsed but Templars must apply for an allowance for other expenses.

I'm totally on board except for this bit about Hermits and Templars. Isn't spending on the poor and sick or sent to Jerusalem the same as spending “on the church”? Or is the difference that they should ALWAYS be spending it all and not hoarding it? If that's the case, perhaps we have a procedure at the end of the adventure where we decide what we spend to get XP, and part of that calculation is that if the Hermit or Templar (or any Zealot IMHO) have any money left at the end not only does that cash not count as XP, it counts AGAINST the XP gain for the session. Alternately, perhaps Zealots lose the ability to cast divine spells if they have over 20gp at the beginning of any adventure? The thing is, Hermits whole deal is that they have no stuff, and the Templars swore an oath of poverty, like monks, and owned nothing, but the bulk of the clergy were not so bound. I don't think that clerics should be under the same stricture as the other two. Hermits are going to be begging other for cash, and Templars asking their boss all the time,

How about the idea that hermits and Templars can't use their Divine spellcasting for a session if they hoard anything of value? –AHS yes, let's go with that.“

One question. What if a PC returns with enough gold to go up TWO levels. Perhaps the rest of the party dies on the return trip, leaving all the cash for them. Do they just go up two levels? I'm inclined to say “yes.” –AHS Sure, why not

• Specialists receive 100% xp for gold spent on luxury goods.
• It does not matter what the source of money is, treasure from a dungeon, rewards from grateful Lords or peasants, profit from a business venture, the take from a robbery, even tax money and farm income from a lordship, as long as it accrues from player action. The exception is inherited wealth or gifts between players.

I was watching Matt Colville's latest video about “downtime, but really Side Quests” and I really, really want to do stuff like that. Back in my pre-Lords of Hack days, that sort of thing was the normal mode of gaming for me. I think we need XP that is quantifiable, that PC's feel that they've earned it and choices they make could earn more or less XP. Giving XP for treasure is a good start, maybe even a necessary one. But, I don't know if it's enough. We definitely have to have it structured so that the XP works exactly the same no matter who DMs a session, that it seem objective.

Yes! We should all certainly be on the same page with respect to XP. I've got to catch MCDM's video! I played that way as a younger man, but I don't know if we'll find players who want to game between sessions. Maybe just me and you doing side quests?

I think we need to start out by thinking “what do we want the PC's to do during the campaign?” ​ Then tailor the XP award to those activities or actions. So, campaign structure should come first and then tailor make the XP to match the structure.

I am 100% with you on this! I wrote the stuff above just to get us started, and here we are!

I'm a little hesitant about getting XP for spending rather than securing treasure, since it seems that some people just dump it into the same thing every time, especially the Vice thing.

I mused that PCs should spend it for XP simply because then the alternative is to hoard indefinitely for no purpose. At least by requiring spending it adds SOME interest to the campaign.

We could tailor XP awards, to a degree, to Class and/or Archetype too. Thieves might actually get XP for heists, Assassins for bounties/assassination fees, Venturers for profit on shifting goods, Bards for performance fees or prizes (these archetypes are the easiest).

I agree we should encourage some spending over others! We want our PCs building things that change the game world! We want monuments and headquarters that they are then forced to defend! I suppose we could tailor XP awards depending on class and how the gold is acquired as well. My only concern there is that these rules might encourage the party to break up since some PCs get rewarded for certain adventures and others aren't. At the very least, I believe that in DOWNTIME PLAY the XP rewards could be tailored by class and archetype.

We could say that treasure taken is credited as XP, when returned to Company Headquarters or your home. If you have no home, no XP. Zealots, on the other hand, might only receive XP for money given to the Church.

Again, just spit balling. but I do think structure comes first before we settle on XP awards.

The ball is back in your court! How would you do the structure?

To get us started, I propose we add an XP multiplier for gold spent on permanent changes to the campaign world like guilds or keeps or churches, but at the risk that the XP bonus could be lost if these emblems aren't defended successfully.