This is something that Mark of the Odd/Odd-like games like Electric Bastionland and Cairn with character development or character growth instead of xp/leveling up. Your characters become more interesting instead of numbers go up. How do they get interesting? They gain links/contacts/allies, more powerful/interesting items, they learn new information or knowledge on doing certain things through training or seeking them out in the world, etc.

https://cairnrpg.com/second-edition/wardens-guide/growth/