Leveling Up in Legend of Zelda

I am currently writing a Legend of Zelda-based campaign. Because I hate myself, and I like a challenge. One of the questions I have been asking myself for a while was, “how do I handle experience in a Legend of Zelda-based game?”

An intriguing question to be sure. Legend of Zelda, as a series, has so many dramatic themes and through-lines that it really makes choosing one style difficult.

I think this is the the thematic style I'm looking for.

 Several of the games, for example, put exploration and discovery at their height. The first game for the NES, A Link to the Past, and A Link Between Worlds are all heavily focused on exploration and discovery. They present you with an open world and allow you to explore it at your leisure. Once you gather the appropriate items, of course. Bombing walls, lifting giant rocks, and burning bushes are your methods of discovering the world around you and seeking its riches. Therefore, I thought of perhaps running a game similar to the Kingmaker adventure path for Pathfinder. Present the players with a huge hex grid, and allow them to explore and discover at their leisure, granting experience for fully exploring temples, caves, and ruins, rather than combat.

But I’m not much of a cartographer, and hex crawls have never really been my strong suit.

So…what about mission-based experience? After all, games like Link’s Awakening and Majora’s Mask are heavily themed by the missions that you, as Link, accomplish. Hell, that’s basically the whole point of Majora’s mask. It’s ALL ABOUT the side quests, and it’s one of the best LoZ games out there. So why not use the same method for experience? Whenever the PCs come across a mission, give them a note card with the mission’s title, its goal, and an experience reward written on it. Should they complete the quest, then they gain the mission. Add in a ticking clock for some, or all, of the missions, and you have an interesting game.

But if you’re basing experience off of quest completion, then how do you prioritize important main-story quests? Offer additional rewards, like action points? Offer larger amounts of XP? None of that feels quite right, since it’s likely that players would just go after the quests which offer the greatest reward first, and I get the impression that “wrapping up” a bunch of side quests before taking on a major one would feel more than a little bland and game-y in a tabletop setting.

No witty caption necessary.

So what about milestones? It’s something that’s been encouraged in 5e, after all. And it was a HUGE component of 4e design, so why not include it here. It’s not like there aren’t Zelda games that heavily emphasize story and major quest completion. Ocarina of Time, anyone? Twilight Princess? Freaking Adventure of Link!? All heavily story-focused games that would be perfect for a chapter/milestone-based system, whether that meant granting XP for achieving milestones, or automatically leveling the characters at appropriate moments.

But this has the opposite problem as the Mission-based XP example, since it overly-emphasizes giving players XP for completing story objectives. It leaves little room for side quests, unless the player is getting a seriously awesome reward for doing so. Remember. Side quests are something that the player chooses to do, aside from the main story. So granting XP for those in a milestone-based game would be less than appropriate.

I genuinely think they turned you into a wolf in
Twilight Princess just to keep you from side questing.

I suppose one could make an argument for combat-based XP in a Zelda campaign. I mean…Hyrule Warriors was combat-focused. But…I mean…then it’s just D&D with Gorons and Moblins.

Let's face facts. I just mentioned Hyrule Warriors so I could justify this picture.
...I'm not proud of it.

But, of course, the perfect answer was the last to come to mind. The one answer that could provide incentives for all of the above examples: exploration, mission, and milestones. It can also provide incentives for players to attack the Social pillar of the game—something that has never really been Legend of Zelda’s strong suit.

That answer is, of course, the Heart Piece.

By having actual, collectible Heart Pieces in your game, you provide players with an amazing incentive that actually becomes a part of the game world. Why didn’t I see it sooner?

Put pieces of heart scattered throughout dungeons, encouraging exploration? Check!

Give pieces of heart to quest-givers in order to give out as a reward for accomplishing a mission? Check!

Award pieces of heart to players at certain milestone moments in the game, like gifts from fairies, goddesses, or royalty? Check!

Give out heart pieces and containers for defeating certain major boss enemies (ex. Gohma, King Dodongo, Armosaur etc.)? Check!

A perfect example of both exploration and intimidation-based leveling.

And by making it a tangible resource, you make it something that the players can LOSE, as well. Talk about encouraging players to accomplish certain goals by stealing their stuff. What if you were LITERALLY stealing their experience points?

Imagine if Heart Pieces could be used like Action points, allowing you to absorb its energy in order to re-roll a failed save, attack roll, etc. Or what if you could use one to fully heal yourself when you’ve got 1 hit point and the big bad villain is through that next door, just waiting to kick your ass and feed it to you. Suddenly you’re weighing your options, aren’t you? Sacrifice a potential increase in level in the future for the chance to defeat a major foe? That’s a big decision, especially if you’re really invested in the game.

And finally, by creating a tangible object that the PCs can use to advance in level, you create inter-party conflict. Does the rogue hide his Heart Pieces from the rest of the group? Does the paladin offer his up freely in order to allow another player to advance, so that they will be a little stronger in the next boss fight? Do the players pool their Heart Pieces, and award them to the person that’s “up next?” Or do they all keep tallies of their own pieces? It creates a staggered party in terms of level, which always keeps things interesting. Some might view this kind of thing as a negative. I say that as long as you’re not gaming with complete children (re: people who bitch and moan because they don’t want to share, or dickholes that steal heart pieces from other players), then it becomes fun and strategic play, rather than douchey shenanigans. Remember, inter-party CONFLICT can be good and interesting. Inter-party FIGHTING always sucks.

I know they spelled Always wrong.
Just ignore it and look at the adorable picture.

Admittedly, there is something thematically lost, if heart pieces are your method of gaining levels. Suddenly, a character’s actual level of experience doesn’t matter so much. One could argue that a commoner who is gifted 25 heart containers would be the strongest motherfucker on the planet. And while this is true, I would say that so long as you consistently make the acquisition of heart pieces a challenge, this shouldn’t be a problem. Heart pieces are a physical representation of one’s experience. Gaining 4 heart pieces in order to gain a level isn’t just about sitting around and letting them be handed to you. It’s about getting your hands dirty, fighting off the big bad monsters, and solving the deadly puzzles in order to reap the rewards. Just because you’re not gaining experience points doesn’t mean you aren’t gaining experience.

Then again, I could be completely wrong. This is all just theory-craft, and I could be proven completely wrong once I actually put it into play. We shall see.

…

Enjoy this article? Want to see more like it? Consider following this blog, leaving a comment, and sharing it with your friends! The more feedback and exposure I receive, the more I am encouraged to continue providing the Z-class content you all enjoy!