I like point-based systems, but you are entirely right about most of them being very stingy with character advancement. Reasons I like them anyway:
* They simulate the kinds of stories I prefer better. Most books I like are about characters who start out competent and become better but not enormously more powerful. * Moreover, even if characters start out wimps and become gods, the whole world doesn't look like that. I have a hard time making sense of the level system when it applies to every NPC. Xp in World Tree, though, is built-in to the setting design, so I can see how it applies and interacts easily. * It's more flexible, and again, the kinds of stories I like are not usually about character classes where characters of the same class & experience are interchangeable.
+tb+ and Bard's systems in general do make me think about ways to integrate the flexibility of points systems with very fast progression, though. I really liked the way the characters in +tb+ became logarithmically(sp) more powerful, while that progression was a feature of the game that didn't apply to most NPCs. You could have godlike PCs and some godlike NPCs and not have to worry about why the rest of the population wasn't also progressing towards godhood.
no subject
* They simulate the kinds of stories I prefer better. Most books I like are about characters who start out competent and become better but not enormously more powerful.
* Moreover, even if characters start out wimps and become gods, the whole world doesn't look like that. I have a hard time making sense of the level system when it applies to every NPC. Xp in World Tree, though, is built-in to the setting design, so I can see how it applies and interacts easily.
* It's more flexible, and again, the kinds of stories I like are not usually about character classes where characters of the same class & experience are interchangeable.
+tb+ and Bard's systems in general do make me think about ways to integrate the flexibility of points systems with very fast progression, though. I really liked the way the characters in +tb+ became logarithmically(sp) more powerful, while that progression was a feature of the game that didn't apply to most NPCs. You could have godlike PCs and some godlike NPCs and not have to worry about why the rest of the population wasn't also progressing towards godhood.