D&D 4E 4e Quest XP

Iconik · Dec 2, 2010

I was wondering what kind of XP you folks hand out for minor quest completion. I can never seem to get it right. As I understand it, the XP should equal that of a monster of that quests level. So...if the party completes the minor quest they get 250xp divided up evenly? That doesn't seem like enough.

Granted, my idea of a minor quest may be a little more grandiose than usual. I have a party of 5 that I DM for and the amount of XP I've handed out has always been dependant upon ease of completion, thinking outside of the box, and good RP.

So, a party of 5 completing a minor quest should be awarded what exactly?

Mengu · Dec 2, 2010

Iconik said:
So, a party of 5 completing a minor quest should be awarded what exactly?

Story benefit or treasure. I don't award XP. For anything. Ever. I keep an approximate tally of how many encounters they've been through, and how many sessions it's been since they leveled, when I feel it's time, sometimes during an extended rest, sometimes during a few days of down time, they level up.

Quest XP, roleplaying XP, idea XP, etc. is just a way for the DM to decide, oh you guys haven't leveled up in a while, or I want faster level advancement, so here have some extra XP. I'm just of the opinion, it's better to cut the excuses, and hand out levels when you want rather than worry about tracking XP.

Iconik · Dec 2, 2010

I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum in regards to handing out treasure. I've handed out treasure twice in 26 sessions. Granted, they each got a piece but, if you dole out treasure too much it seems the PCs become way too overpowered way too fast.

With all the dailys or effects related to a particular piece of armor or weapon it becomes quite ridiculous.

I give them "story benefit" and intangible awards. But, that's not always enough. XP values is what I'm after here.

Dausuul · Dec 2, 2010

Iconik said:
I was wondering what kind of XP you folks hand out for minor quest completion. I can never seem to get it right. As I understand it, the XP should equal that of a monster of that quests level. So...if the party completes the minor quest they get 250xp divided up evenly? That doesn't seem like enough.

I would assume it's supposed to be "encounter of the quest's level," in other words, 250 XP per character (assuming you've got a 6th-level party). Remember that that's on top of whatever they got for monsters and social encounters.

However, I'm with Mengu. I quit giving out XP shortly after we started 4th Edition. Now that XP costs and level drain are a thing of the past, neither I nor my players have any reason to bother tracking it. Much easier just to tell the PCs, "You level up now."

Of course, typically the point when I say that is when the PCs have just completed a minor quest, or reached an important milestone* in a major quest. So you could say that the quest reward is "1 experience level."

[size=-2]*Not referring to the "milestones" you get for beating 2 encounters.[/size]

LostSoul · Dec 2, 2010

Mengu said:
Quest XP, roleplaying XP, idea XP, etc. is just a way for the DM to decide, oh you guys haven't leveled up in a while, or I want faster level advancement, so here have some extra XP.

Not always.

In my game you get Quest XP for specific things:

If your quest is to explore an area, XP is equal to a Minor Quest of the level of the area. Eg. Find the Black Warrens of Ruin - level 3 area - 150 XP.
If your quest is to "defeat" a specific character, XP is equal to a Minor Quest of the level of the character. Eg. Kill Lord Padraig - level 5 character - 200 XP.
If your quest is to "defeat" a specific group, XP is equal to a Major Quest of the group's level. Eg. Defeat the gnolls - level 6 lair - 1250 XP.

"Defeat" can mean a lot of things. In general, if you overcome the challenge they present, they have been defeated.

Players pick their own Quests, and the XP is handed out to the PC, not the group.

They also get a Goal: "Your Goal is something that you are constantly striving for, something that you want to retire on. It's your life's purpose, the reason why you are interested in this character - and the reason everyone else is, too." (Divine characters get Oaths that act like Goals, but are mandated by the god they worship and if the Oath is broken, they get a penalty.)

They get XP for their Goal for these things:

Achieving your Goal. This will give you 6000 XP.
Undertake risk in furtherance of your Goal. This will give you XP equal to a Minor Quest of the level of the risk.
Sacrifice something in furtherance of your Goal. This will give you XP equal to a Minor Quest of your level.
Exploring a new feature of the setting in furtherance of your Goal. This will give you XP equal to a Minor Quest of the area's level.

The goal of all this is to reward players for doing specific things, to reinforce a specific style of play.

the Jester · Dec 2, 2010

Dausuul said:
I would assume it's supposed to be "encounter of the quest's level," in other words, 250 XP per character (assuming you've got a 6th-level party). Remember that that's on top of whatever they got for monsters and social encounters.

No, that's a major quest.

So for instance, retrieving the Soul Gem from the Ghost Tower of Inverness might be a major quest; the same adventure might also include several minor quests (for instance, for each of the four keys required to enter the central chamber, the pcs might get a minor quest award).

So yeah, a party of 6th level pcs would receive 250 xp for a minor quest, split amongst them. A major quest should earn them 250 xp each.

MatthewJHanson · Dec 2, 2010

The Jester is right by the books, but I agree that it seems too little, so I don't divide the XP. Minor quest is a monster XP for each character. Major is an encounter XP for each character.

I actually been thinking about moving to a purely quest based system, where they only get XP for completing quests, and how many monsters they kill along the way does not matter.

Jhaelen · Dec 3, 2010

Iconik said:
So, a party of 5 completing a minor quest should be awarded what exactly?

Are you sure you're thinking about a minor quest here?

Minor quests are typically associated with a single character. In my games, I provide lots of minor quests, typically at least one or two per pc. In addition the pcs actively search for additional quest opportunities to solve by the side. In that way xp quickly accumulate.

Having said that - I stopped tracking xp in 4e. Having the party level up when it's best for the story works much better. My players still enjoy knowing how much xp they would have received, so I tell them, but it's not really relevant in any way.

Emerald Hawk · Dec 3, 2010

As a player, I enjoy getting XP. It's my reward for overcoming obstacles, defeating enemies, and completing quests. It represents my character becoming stronger and more skilled through practice, and it adds to the feeling of accomplishment. It is, of course, totally up to the DM how much I get.

Thus, when I DM I always give out XP. There's no reason to go straight by the book with this though. Most players neither know nor care how much XP each monster or quest is worth. So, if I want the players to level up, that quest they completed was worth 1000 XP. If I don't want them leveling up then it was only worth 100 XP. This fits well with my goal of having as few "visible" house rules as possible. The players also don't have to worry that I'll forget to level them up for a long time.

D&D 4E 4e Quest XP

Iconik

First Post

Mengu

First Post

Iconik

First Post

Dausuul

Legend

LostSoul

Adventurer

the Jester

Legend

MatthewJHanson

Registered Ninja

Jhaelen

First Post

Emerald Hawk

First Post

Similar Threads