Thank you for elaborating. How'd the playtesting go? Also, you referred to a specific XP To Lvl 3 video, would you be ok with sharing the link, pretty please?

Interesting concept, but I just need to ask for some clarification before I can consider using it for my players. Are the Exhaustion points you use disconnected from the condition Exhaustion, where you get various negative effects until death at the 6th point? If I read the last line correctly, you get 10 points and you die? If they're not regular points of exhaustion, a player can just use an action to heal themselves with a potion or spell, remove themselves from combat. Then they just need a short and long rest and they're good to go. I think this might make them too powerful in the long run. If you use regular points of Exhaustion, you suddenly raise the stakes, while still keeping the player's ability to move half movement and talk. Otherwise you're indtroducing another value to keep track of that might raise more questions than solve problems. Can they be removed with a powerful enough healing spell/potion?

Keep the system, but use regular points of Exhaustion instead. You get one action that'll really mess you up, where you are able to heal yourself, but you suffer the consequences of it after. Now that seems exciting. Just my two cents.

Lurker here, wanted to chime in to say yeah, all the time. Everything's usually been said or will be said, so why bother. And arguing with strangers online rarely amounts to anything constructive. It seems a lot of people just aren't open to change or have their opinion/biases changed or challenged, though I'm hoping I'm wrong!

I would just like to thank all the kind souls that helped recap the situation. It is very appreciated.

Sorry, I'm out of the loop on this one. Would anyone mind elaborating on what happened exactly? Thank you for your time!

I was in an volatile business before COVID. Then I was laid off due to no work and I was just fed up. Now I'm trying to get work in IT instead and the paycheck difference hurts my wallet and plans to buy a house. Hopefully it'll be more stable and hopefully the pay will end up being better in the long run.

Much appreciated, I'll give them a search! I have never heard of THE PACK, so that'll be interesting learning about a new community. Thanks for your great suggestions! They hit the spot just right.

These are all great, thank you very much! Especially newcommunities, it's a great way to learn about other communities. Nice, thank you. I wish you a lovely day!