I have an ongoing game, with most PCs at level 4 and some scratching the fifth; but I'm already thinking on a second set of rules... I'm an infidel gamer. It's probably too late to implement XP per milestones instead of gold and monsters, but here it is for posterity. Based on my untested idea for Monks & Mummies. The concept is that whenever a session ends, players check if they have done any of this list (GM as arbiter) and if they do, they can cross out ONE of them (if they did two or more, they must choose one).
[_] [_] I have helped an NPC with his first world problem
[_] [_] I've passed a master's test and enduring his training
[_] [_] I've found some treasure that is beyond mere gold
[_] [_] I've bested somebody in an honorable duel
[_] [_] I've fought an infernal beast
[_] [_] I've solved a mystery
[_] [_] I've stood for my beliefs even when it was risky to do so
[_] [_] I've kept the honor of my liege/master/dojo
[_] [_] I've taught my skills to others.
[_] [_] I've righted a wrong the best I could
[_] [_] I've performed a profession to make a great work
[_] [_] I've retrieved a big treasure
[_] [_] I've been commited to a holy quest
[_] [_] I've fulfilled a holy quest
[_] [_] I've kept a promise
[_] [_] I've atoned for a past misdeed
[_] [_] I've ventured where the world gets weird and came back alive
[_] [_] _______________ (to be decided by the player. I will as a GM make it worth the level it implies)
As you see, every box can be filled twice, but no more; so you can't bank into helping NPCs forever or retrieving treasure. Also, when you tick one of them, also tick a box here:
[x] 1 [_] 2 [_] [_] 3 [_] [_] 4
[_] [_] 5 [_] [_] [_] 6
[_] [_] [_] 7
[_] [_] [_] 8
[_] [_] [_] 9
After you tick all the boxes of a given level, you get that level.
As for the motive, I want to encourage all those things happening in game; but with a big array of options so they are not pigeonholed into doing a specific one. All of them are traps that encourage PCs to search for trouble and do risky shit on their own. I am moving a lot outside dungeons now, with tons of town play, and right now I feel bad having the players choose between the roleplay they love and the XP they crave. The milestones are meant to be interpretable to a loose degree, but not too much.
This method incidentally goes well with my obsession with introducing knightly characters and quests; and some of the clauses can be used to roleplay knightly prowesses. Note that commiting to a holy quest (and its up to the GM what counts as one) gives you a box straight away. The downside is that I will treat it as a "Quest/Geas" spell with penalties if you try to scam your questgiver. Also, finding a giver of a holy quest can be a little more difficult of what one thinks a priori.
Willem and Jan Dermoyen, after Bernard van Orley: Battle of Pavia
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