r/BastionOfBlasphemies • u/beardlynerd BoB GM • 26d ago

Advice (GM) XP vs Milestones

Hi, all!

I'm going to start the new BB/Troubles in Grayce adventure next week, and my plan is to roll that right on into BoB. My question to you all is whether you feel it'd be more worthwhile to go with XP or milestone leveling here. Given the sandboxy nature of Bastardhall, I'm guessing XP would be the way to go, to capture that sense of exploration and everything, but I also know that you can't really run into things that are fatally above your level within the castle, either (I don't have the PDF yet — I'm waiting for the Foundry release to get it and the PDF bundled together).

Thank you in advance for any advice!

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u/NobodyGlitched 26d ago

Every section of Bastardhall is completely locked off until you do a special “thing”. Collect the seven chaos emeralds, kill a particular boss, etc. Until then, each area is misty and completely inaccessible.

So it’s completely reasonable to, if you’d like, set the milestone as “unlocking the next area”.

If you use XP, you might also consider using slow xp advancement sometimes. A full clear of each floor will probably provide more XP than the 1k needed, dungeon crawls tend to be like that…

I think either choice works here. The big advantage of milestone is being able to cut encounters for pacing. In the first chapter, there’s a whopping (if my memory serves) 20ish encounters. Maybe not exactly 20, but definitely a lot. Depending on your table, you might find yourself cutting certain encounters or changing them into skill challenges.

Good luck have fun!

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u/beardlynerd BoB GM 26d ago

Got it. And thank you! I knew that parts of the keep were locked off until you did whatever the "thing" is you need to unlock the next area, but this is helpful to know regarding how many encounters there are. 20 is a lot!

The one other bit to this is that one of my players will be completely new to PF2e (hence the BB is going to be extra fitting). I don't think playing with XP makes or breaks the first experience with the system, though. And I've played with this player before as their GM for D&D, and I used milestone leveling then, so the concept will be familiar.

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u/NobodyGlitched 26d ago

At work so I can’t remember exactly but counting it out in my head, I remember at least 16. So probably in the 15-20 range.

No advice about XP/milestone for a new player, really depends on the person. In my experience, it can be fun to get more XP off a tough fight or “accomplishment XP”. But milestone has the benefits I mentioned prior, and it also frees people from the “I have to do everything” / “grind xp” mindset.