Ever had an idea lodge in your mind and refuse to leave? Lately, I’ve been reflecting on reward systems in TTRPGs, especially character advancement. What a game rewards shapes its gameplay; XP for defeating enemies steers players toward combat, even when other routes might better suit the story. Traditional milestones can stall campaigns if used poorly. So what can we do?

One approach is to flip the idea of milestones on its head—and let the players define them.

Why now?

This began with a YouTube video. Two and a half weeks ago, DNDtuber Dabi of the channel MysticArts released a video called Why Both XP and Milestones Fail. Dabi examined the shortcomings of both progression systems and introduced his own approach, called keystone leveling, where the Game Master specifies what players must accomplish to level up (Note: this is a simplification).

Dabi also referenced another video, Toward Better Rewards | Running the Game by Mathew Coville, which goes even deeper into reward systems in games and TTRPGs. I watched this video, and my mind was blown. Matt suggested giving players index cards with objectives and the rewards for completing the objective, almost like what you would see in an MMORPG.

These concepts, combined with additional discussions I encountered about in-game economies and progression systems, raised a new question: how can these ideas be implemented?

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So what’s this Progression System you’re So Hyped about?

Warning: Untested rules and systems ahead

At the beginning of the campaign, have each player write down their player character’s life ambition. This goal becomes their legacy quest, forming the core of the system. The legacy quest should be both world-changing and heroic, something remembered long after the character’s story ends. To qualify, the quest must clearly meet at least one of the following five criteria, as detailed below, to guide players in creating concrete, impactful goals.

1. Change a community, institution, or region.
2. Slay a creature of legendary scale (e.g., an adult dragon)
3. Defeat a powerful ruler or sovereign-level figure.
4. Break or alter a repeating pattern (This one is specific to the Feengrenze)
5. Create consequences that extend beyond the character.

Milestones

Along with their legacy quest, each player writes at least two milestones required to fulfill it. These are concrete steps toward the Legacy Quest.

A milestone should require significant effort or risk.

• Milestones should noticeably alter the campaign setting.
• Each milestone must directly advance the Legacy Quest.

Example Milestones include:

• Defeat a major agent of your nemesis.
• Secure the loyalty of a powerful but unwilling ally.
• Uncover hidden knowledge critical to your goal.
• Establish a stronghold or base of influence.
• Clear and reclaim a dangerous location

Players may add milestones as needed to reach their legacy.

Character Advancement

Characters advance when they participate in an adventure that completes a milestone. For every milestone they complete, depending on the pacing of the campaign, either:

• Level up all player characters who participate in the adventure.
• Reward a large fraction of the XP required to level up to all player characters who participated in the adventure.

Ideally, a milestone should take 1-3 sessions of adventuring to complete, and no more than one advancement should occur per session.

Sidequests

Not all adventures result in a milestone being achieved. Some deal with local problems and resource gathering—these are sidequests, which do not provide advancement but instead yield:

• Magic items
• Allies and followers
• Reputation or influence
• Information or positioning

Their purpose is to support the pursuit of legacy, not replace it.

Changing One’s Legacy

In real life, people’s ambitions can evolve, and so may those of player characters. However, changing a legacy quest should be a serious decision, not something done on a whim. This advancement system intentionally limits when and how players can change their legacy to maintain meaningful progression and consequences.

Ergo, a player character has two chances to change their legacy quest:

• First opportunity: Before reaching level 4 and after completing the first milestone, a player character may change or abandon their legacy quest. This reflects early uncertainty in pursuing their goal.
• Second opportunity: After gaining level 4, a player character may only change their legacy quest after a major in-game event fundamentally alters their beliefs or identity. This change must be justified by significant narrative consequences and approved by the group or game master.

Regardless of changes, completed milestones and the legacy’s impact remain as part of the world. Actions already taken cannot be undone, and others may pursue the original abandoned quest.

Crisis

The campaign world does not sit passively by waiting for the players.

A Crisis is a major unfolding event or situation that threatens the setting, the players’ homes, their allies, and their legacies. Left unaddressed, it will permanently alter:

• the players’ homes
• their allies
• and their legacies

Examples of crises include:

• Encroaching armies
• Natural disasters
• Awakening ancient powers
• Political collapse or feuds

A campaign should not have more than two crises at a time. Each crisis should be linked to at least one of the player’s legacy quests and ideally threaten multiple legacies.

If ignored, a crisis will escalate and reshape the world, possibly rendering some legacy quests impossible or irrelevant.

Running A Crisis

Each Crisis is tracked using a clock with at least 4 and up to 8 segments. The clock starts at zero and is filled in segments at the beginning of the campaign.

A Crisis clock advances when:

• A fixed amount of time passes, such as:
  • Every two sessions
  • One month in setting
• The players achieve a milestone that:
  • Does not address the crisis
  • Worsen the situation
  • Or draw attention from the forces behind it.
• Or specific world triggers are met, such as:
  • A faction gains power.
  • A specific battle happens.
  • A ritual completes

A Crisis in motion produces consequences that are noticeable to players. At the start of the campaign, the players will hear rumors and witness omens without context about something happening in some corner of the setting. As the segments unfold, these signs become increasingly dramatic and potentially disruptive to the player’s plans and to the setting itself.

Resolving the Crisis

The existence of a crisis in a legacy-based campaign is not to become the campaign’s storyline. It is meant to contextualize the player’s potential legacy and prompt them to refine their goals: Do they pursue their legacy? Or do they work together to stop the crisis? Could the solution to one be the means to achieve the other?

Players can choose to

• Slow their progression
• Reduce the clock
• Redirect the threat
• Partially resolve the situation.

Any Meaningful engagement with a crisis prevents the Crisis clock from advancing by the required interval.

Ending the Crisis

If the players can mitigate or otherwise resolve the crisis, they level up and change the campaign setting forever. If they fail to resolve the crisis, the world is permanently transformed. If the transformation renders a legacy quest impossible to complete or functionally moot, the player must redefine it in response to what has been lost.

So what are the Advantages?

There are three potential advantages to the legacy progression system.

It makes players engage with the World.

By tying advancement to narrative goals, players engage with the world as an active setting rather than just a battleground.

• Instead of being mere fluff, lore can become( so long as you do not go overboard) clues to fulfilling their legacy quest.
• NPCs become potential allies and followers, not just obstacles.
• Situations and Plotlines become something that they can bend to their own purposes.

It makes the GM’s life easier.

Milestones are quest hooks. Getting players to engage is often a GM’s hardest task. Player-created personal quests give the GM motivation to weave them throughout planned adventures.

Players become self-directed and self-motivated to explore and change the world.

When progression and crisis both revolve around milestones, players are motivated to seek out world content.

What Are the Potential Drawbacks?

There are several drawbacks to using the legacy leveling system.

It Requires a Character-Driven Sandbox

This system works best when players freely determine their course.

It assumes:

• proactive players
• an adaptive GM
• and a group comfortable with emergent storytelling

In linear or tightly scripted campaigns, the system will feel constrained and out of place.

That said, it can still support a more focused story if:

• The campaign begins with a crisis in motion.
• And all player legacies are tied to it.

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It Requires a Longer Campaign

This system is suited for the gradual pursuit of a meaningful legacy.

It does not work well for one-shots and will struggle in campaigns shorter than 4–6 sessions.

There simply isn’t enough time for:

• milestones to be completed
• crises to escalate
• or characters to meaningfully evolve

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It Requires Strong Player Buy-In

Players must create compelling legacy quests and engage with each other’s goals.

If legacies are vague, trivial, or ignored, the system quickly loses its strength.

A strong session zero is essential. It ensures that:

• legacies are clear and ambitious
• and players are invested in the shared narrative

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Pacing Requires Active Management

Because advancement is tied to milestones, progression can vary widely between groups.

• If milestones are too small, the party advances too quickly.
• If they are too large, progression can stall

The GM must actively manage pacing by:

• adjusting milestone scope
• and guiding how frequently they are completed