WOIN WOIN XP and advancement when grades are not the same across the party

You're getting a percentage of the points needed to get to your next grade. You could ignore the point totals altogether and just say "one-tenth of a new grade". Everybody is essentially receiving the exact same amount - an equal fraction towards their next grade.

If you base it off an average party grade (which is fine, if you prefer that), then people aren't getting the same effective gain each time. Some are getting more than a tenth of their next grade, some are getting less than a tenth.

Don't forget, this is about rewarding players who take the initiative. If there is a player taking the lead most of the time and solving a lot of the problems and the rest of the party don't mind that and are still enjoying themselves. The XP reward would not work, the gap would only get bigger. A REP reward may be more fitting. "Your fame travels far good sir, we have heard of your deeds"

I like to give REP rewards at the end of adventures.

One last point.

When one of my players PC dies, their new PC will be 1 Grade less than their original PC. Death = -1 Grade worth
This is the same for players joining the group, always 1 Grade less.

The only way they can catch up is by pushing themselves to solve more problems and by being brave and smart in their decisions.

Morrus said:

If you base it off an average party grade (which is fine, if you prefer that), then people aren't getting the same effective gain each time. Some are getting more than a tenth of their next grade, some are getting less than a tenth.

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Yeah, that is exactly what I was suggesting. By slightly boosting those who have fallen behind (or slightly holding back the folks who are ahead), the party will tend to converge on the same grade, as a constant difference in XP will shrink relative to the amount needed for a new grade. I think that a group that is mostly the same grade will be more cohesive, as everyone can contribute to a similar degree. If some characters are way ahead of others (e.g. always a full grade ahead, or seven tenths of a grade or whatever), the ones in the lead may do most of what needs to be done, not just because their players are the most dynamic or creative, but because their characters are also the most capable.

This is most notable at low grades, where each step from grade 3 to grade 6 gives an increase to MDP (and thus a significant boost in capability), but I think it can still be little bit of an issue at higher levels where MDP increases are less frequent.

knikpiw said:

When one of my players PC dies, their new PC will be 1 Grade less than their original PC. Death = -1 Grade worth
This is the same for players joining the group, always 1 Grade less.

The only way they can catch up is by pushing themselves to solve more problems and by being brave and smart in their decisions.

Click to expand...

I fear those new players may be even further behind than you intend. Most experienced characters have also been spending little bits of XP here and there on incremental advances to give us some key skills (e.g. picking up weapon and utility skills like "hardy" and "reactions" that we may not be able to get from our careers). The costs of those skills aren't reflected in our grade, and the characters starting behind us may need to spend similar amounts to become fully functional, before they can even start to catch up on grades.

I also fear the possibility of players who are behind seeming less "brave and smart" not because they don't want to do clever or dangerous things, but because their characters are less capable of succeeding when they try. It may actually be to be good tactical sense to leave the crazy maneuvers to the more experienced player playing a more experienced character, but that runs the risk of making the experience gap worse!