[Beta2] Suggestions - More ways to level up npc's

I was thinking about hiring people and how that should give you xp (might be the bioware/mass effect fan in me), since I always have a champion in everyone of my cities that has a high charisma but never levels up (is weak). I thought it would be cool to have them level up after persuade so many people to join my side. 

one game I decided to do the opposite of what i had been doing: i went on an npc killing spree.

i travelled around killing npcs with lower combat rating than i, taking a couple extra levels in move helped a ton to avoid the patrolling monsters. i had a level 8 sovereign in just a few turns.

since ive got the hang of building up without npcs, even tho having them helps a bunch, and giving consideration to how hiring them give zero xp of any kind, i actually found it more rewarding overall to just kill npcs.

so thats what i do now.

i think your "main sov" should get a small bit of xp anytime you build, even if its just 1xp per construction, xp from quests, xp for hiring npcs. although building up an empire is awesome, i like more the feel of the sov as he/she levels personally. until then, npcs look out.

lairs should work like in fall from heaven i.e. they should spawn monsters until cleared and should also be protected by powerful guardians.

take the bandit camp for example:

1) should have a small bandit party with a bandit lord as their leader protecting it

2) should constantly spawn more bandits that roam the countryside

I like this idea, I think sovereigns should get xp for doing things that you suggested and a small bonus if the sovereign has a applicable history.  

I like this, I would couple this with another idea.

I think more powerful monsters should pop up as the game progresses and shouldn't the magical shards attract powerful monsters? 

I would suggest a building such as an inn that allows recruited adventurers to train and slowly gain experience.  

I tend to agree; I usually end up with a couple of powerful NPCs and my Sov, and then any NPCs I encounter I kill because leveling them up is simply not practical.

Inns having repetable quests (kill quests, escort quests, etc.) from the numerous Inns would work well (and remove the need for a million Inns in the world) as well as the aforementioned Den idea from Fall From Heaven would work pretty well in terms of allowing NPCs to be leveled up.  It be best for balance to have NPCs only earning XP from monsters within, say, 3 or 4 levels to ensure you don't camp the Den with one NPC and level them constantly.

In any case, it's certainly something that needs attention in my opinion.

If the number of npc's is fixed per game (can't be replaced, out side of children), then killing them may not be a good idea. Something is wrong (game balance issue) if the only way to level up your npc's is to go around killing neutral npc's!

Doing the same quests over and over will get just as boring as killing the same re-spawning creatures.

Maybe special buildings (Guilds) to help train or even spawn the occasional npc is needed.

If you remember, in MoM each army get 1 XP each turn...

There are many ways to prevent farming, such as diminishing returns.