Grindy but fun
Reputation ranks
Ranks only ever go up; points can drop but your rank stays.
About reputation ranksI liked the pack conceptually, but the grindyness of the earlygame took away from a lot of the fun of it.
For the mage class, the only way to get magic XP from the start of the game is from mining a specific ore before you can unlock any sort of way to cast spells, forcing you to use melee weapons and such. Other classes seem to make leveling and unlocking items more fun, but regardless there are many other skills (e.g. woodcutting, mining) which will require a good amount of time to level before you can unlock important items.
Regardless, if you are looking for an adventure pack and enjoy a slower, grindier experience, then you will likely enjoy RAD2.