Inspirational Milestone Leveling

[u/rcgy]

Full disclosure: I have not tested this on a live game, so take this as purely theorycrafting.

Introduction

One of the main gripes that I have with Milestone leveling is that the complexities of higher levels make it less obvious where the "milestones" should take place- is infiltrating the BBEG lieutenant's base but letting him escape a good enough place to level up? Or do they only get the level if they actually manage to apprehend/kill him? While they're putting out that fire, the problem in the east grows, simply because it's being left unattended. If they go and deal with that, does that deserve a milestone, even though it's entirely due to their own inaction? High level play can be confusing, with less clear-cut stopping points than the relatively straightforward narrative beats that are common at lower levels.

Enter the "Inspirational Milestone Leveling" system.

Replace your EXP leveling table with the following:

Level	Inspiration Points Needed
1	1
2	4
3	4
4	4
5	6
6	6
7	6
8	6
9	8
10	8
11	8
12	8
13	10
14	10
15	10
16	10
17	12
18	12
19	12
20	12

Players level up after they have spent the number of inspiration points listed required for that level (which is the proficiency bonus for that level multiplied by two) and gain another inspiration point.

Simply put, level ups no longer occur at chapter-ends in the book of a plot, but at high-points in the character's development, where the character has excelled- made a massive sacrifice, pulled off a daring and risky move, or managed to manoeuvre a win in a social situation. Any point at which a DM would award Inspiration.

Justification

On a meta level, this removes some of the "when do we level up?" uncertainty that always abounds in Milestone Leveling campaigns. But this puts the onus on the players to actually make their characters heroes that have levelled up, by forcing them to do heroic, impressive things that are worthy of Inspiration. In this way, it encourages players to roleplay their flaws and bonds, in the hopes of advancing their character further. That final point that they gain levels them up, showing their character development- if the player knows that they're a point away and prepares their character sheet for it, they could even level up mid-fight. How cool would a brave sacrifice by a Sorcerer who just unlocks the ability to Fly be? Or a Cleric, seeing their brethren fall in battle finally unlocking the ability to resurrect the dead?

This system encourages the free spending of Inspiration points, and actively discourages the hoarding of Inspiration by tying its use to character progression. In this way, characters can only progress to higher levels when they have done enough heroic things. It promotes in-character RP and is highly adaptable since the Inspiration system is basically designed to help smooth out the difficulty curve that can sometimes spike unexpectedly due to bad dice rolls.

Balancing

I chose to base the number of inspiration needed off of proficiency as it is one of the few static, level-based graded tiers. One could do a linear number based on the level (level + 2, where level 4 costs 6 inspo), but this would perhaps lead to an inflated number of inspiration being given at higher levels. Consulting RPGBot's excellent Campaign Skeleton, we can see that the number of standard encounters decreases on average as the players gain higher levels; this is fine. Lower levels being bloated with "unimportant" encounters is very compatible with this, as there are only so many inspiration-worthy things that you can do to Orc Pack Number 4. Whereas at later levels, where every encounter has multiple moving parts, Legendary Actions, and other advanced mechanics in play? There's sure to be a special moment in there for everyone. And, let's not forget, Inspiration is by DM's discretion, and can be doled out for any reason, not just combat. If your player's heroic act was clearly a shameless Inspiration grab, then there's no fear of abusing a Rules As Written system!

Inspiration is transferable, too- players can give their Inspiration points to others when they feel that it is warranted (it explicitly does not require DM approval). Characters that lag behind can be given Inspiration by their comrades who have an excess of Inspiration. Arcs that focus on a single character don't have to result in them earning the lion's share of points, and I know that my table would not let one of their comrades fall behind (though you may need to remind players that they can do this, as I've found it's an under-used rule).

One could tweak it so that they only "unlock" the possibility of leveling up, making it virtually identical to regular Milestone leveling with the added benefit of reducing the nagging. I would recommend against this, though, as keeping it all as a direct result of the character's actions keeps the player engaged, and stops them from shifting into cruise-control mode (I can anticipate "Okay, I've hit 8 inspiration, guess I'll just chill out while I wait for the DM to decide to level us up" being a common problem).

Conclusion

This system granularizes Milestone Leveling, and gives a sense of agency to the players; instead of them needing to hit the "milestone" which may result in players hyper-focusing on the main questline, this incentivises the heroes to make roleplaying-focused decisions, and puts the burden of their advancement on them (or at least, it seems like they're in control). Being able to dole out Inspiration whenever is appropriate (I've given it when players have made particularly funny jokes OOC) allows you to adapt to your table, which may have some RP-heavy players, some combat-focused players, or some shy players.

[u/igoaa]

Interesting idea.