Gorck
Prince of Dorkness
It was meant tongue-in-check, as I assumed his players do gain levels. But, the very first line of your OP said “if you do milestone leveling, this thread is not for you…”
D&D 5E How do you award XP and how often?
pogre
Legend
I typically award XP at the end of a D&D session. Most of the XP is for defeating foes, which makes sense, because our D&D game is combat heavy. I have a bit of rotating cast, so I make sure everyone is one the same tier at least. I also give a "catch-up bonus" - the top level character gets standard XP, for characters every level below that they get an extra 10%.
Example: 5 players show up. I award 1,000 XP. Top level character present at the session is 7 - they get normal XP (1,000). Another character is 6th level - they get (1,100), a 5th level character would receive (1,200) etc.
It's by no means perfect, but tends to keep the group in the same tier.
Example: 5 players show up. I award 1,000 XP. Top level character present at the session is 7 - they get normal XP (1,000). Another character is 6th level - they get (1,100), a 5th level character would receive (1,200) etc.
It's by no means perfect, but tends to keep the group in the same tier.
I'm in two current games. Both DMs awards XP at the end of a session. It is primarily based on the standard XP from combat encounters, but can be modified for basically anything (mostly for non-combat encounters). Both DMs also follow a rule where the whole party gets the same XP, so we all stay equal level even if someone is not present for a specific encounter or two.
Because XP is awarded at the end of a session, leveling up always happens away from the table. Typically it happens at times that make sense for the story (the DM can award extra XP or hold back as necessary for timing), but we did level up in the middle of a dungeon at least once over the last couple years. I think the DM did it on purpose that time because they wanted to ramp up the boss fight we were working towards.
Because XP is awarded at the end of a session, leveling up always happens away from the table. Typically it happens at times that make sense for the story (the DM can award extra XP or hold back as necessary for timing), but we did level up in the middle of a dungeon at least once over the last couple years. I think the DM did it on purpose that time because they wanted to ramp up the boss fight we were working towards.
payn
He'll flip ya...Flip ya for real...
Back in the beginning it was a total mess. Some XP for this, some for that. We had no clear idea what gave xp or for how much. Also, it was awarded to individuals often arbitrarily based on game flow. In an effort to make it seem more consistent and transparent we went to group XP. Even that became unwieldy and the players focused in only on things they assumed gave XP and the paths expected it hurt overall game play. It was during the PF1 AP era that it was ditched xp all together and both GM and players rejoiced as there was no longer a need for weird breakdowns and math calcs to hand things out.
the Jester
Legend
So for the most part, I award xp for overcoming dangerous challenges, and reward other stuff with inspiration. I give xp for overcoming monsters by the book- xp value of monsters divided by number of pcs.
For traps or hazards, I evaluate it as if it were a monster, usually checking its offensive value only. For instance, if it is a single target trap that attacks at +5 to hit and deals 4d10 damage to one target target, that's 22 average damage, so 7 per round. I treat the defensive CR as equal to the offensive CR.
In this case, I award xp as soon as there's enough in the 'bank' for any pc to level. Also, I run mixed level groups, so this can mean I award xp every combat (or hazard) if someone is close to leveling.
I also have one game I am running that uses an entirely different system, which I call "ale and whores". Basically, you only get xp for throwing your money away (thus the name of the system). Not for spending it on gear, bribes, etc; only for spending it ways that give you nothing, no advantage from making friends, nothing. This system can encourage things like pcs hocking their gear for those few extra gps needed to gain a level, or stealing part of the treasure they find from the rest of the party. These aren't bugs, they're features. "Ale and whores" xp is supposed to encourage a specific playstyle, but what has actually happened is that the party has been scrupulous about not dividing treasure until there is enough for everyone to level. In this case, I award xp as soon as the money is spent uselessly.
I have two more systems that I used previously (in 3e) and have considered as options in 5e, but like I said, inspiration kind of takes their place. In both cases, you still get xp for overcoming challenges, but only half the normal amount. Since I haven't used them in 5e, I am not sure when I would award xp with them exactly, but traditionally, it was at the end of each session.
The first of these variants is the "Four Categories of Roleplaying" system. At the end of each session, in addition to monster/challenge xp, each player can earn xp for roleplaying each of four categories: their class, race, alignment, and personal concerns. I play in a game where the DM uses this system, but you can choose your ideal, bond, and flaw as categories too, with a maximum of four. You can't call simply using your abilities as roleplaying, but other than that, the requirements to gain xp for the categories are very loose; the idea is that everyone always gets those as long as they do a little minimal roleplaying. For example, if you are a LG human paladin, you might get alignment xp for sparing a foe; paladin xp for preaching the virtues of your god or oath; race xp for associating with other humans; and personal xp for visiting the grave of a fallen companion. I tailored the amount of xp gained by your level such that if all you did was roleplay, never dealing with any dangerous challenges or monsters, and you earned all four categories of xp each session, you would level up after 10 sessions.
The second variant is the "Ten Traits" system. Each pc can choose ten character/personality traits, and can add one per level above first if they choose. These can be literally anything. I like to wear blue. I hate spiders. I am scared of big dogs. I speak in a loud voice. I prefer spicy food. Etc. At the end of each session, each player points to how they played up to ten of these traits, earning xp for each. Again, it was tailored so that you would level up after 10 sessions given only "ten traits" xp each game. In this case, I expected a slightly lower rate of pcs getting these xp- I thought ten traits would be hard to hit every time if we had a high combat session- but I found that almost every pc got 10 almost every session.
For traps or hazards, I evaluate it as if it were a monster, usually checking its offensive value only. For instance, if it is a single target trap that attacks at +5 to hit and deals 4d10 damage to one target target, that's 22 average damage, so 7 per round. I treat the defensive CR as equal to the offensive CR.
In this case, I award xp as soon as there's enough in the 'bank' for any pc to level. Also, I run mixed level groups, so this can mean I award xp every combat (or hazard) if someone is close to leveling.
I also have one game I am running that uses an entirely different system, which I call "ale and whores". Basically, you only get xp for throwing your money away (thus the name of the system). Not for spending it on gear, bribes, etc; only for spending it ways that give you nothing, no advantage from making friends, nothing. This system can encourage things like pcs hocking their gear for those few extra gps needed to gain a level, or stealing part of the treasure they find from the rest of the party. These aren't bugs, they're features. "Ale and whores" xp is supposed to encourage a specific playstyle, but what has actually happened is that the party has been scrupulous about not dividing treasure until there is enough for everyone to level. In this case, I award xp as soon as the money is spent uselessly.
I have two more systems that I used previously (in 3e) and have considered as options in 5e, but like I said, inspiration kind of takes their place. In both cases, you still get xp for overcoming challenges, but only half the normal amount. Since I haven't used them in 5e, I am not sure when I would award xp with them exactly, but traditionally, it was at the end of each session.
The first of these variants is the "Four Categories of Roleplaying" system. At the end of each session, in addition to monster/challenge xp, each player can earn xp for roleplaying each of four categories: their class, race, alignment, and personal concerns. I play in a game where the DM uses this system, but you can choose your ideal, bond, and flaw as categories too, with a maximum of four. You can't call simply using your abilities as roleplaying, but other than that, the requirements to gain xp for the categories are very loose; the idea is that everyone always gets those as long as they do a little minimal roleplaying. For example, if you are a LG human paladin, you might get alignment xp for sparing a foe; paladin xp for preaching the virtues of your god or oath; race xp for associating with other humans; and personal xp for visiting the grave of a fallen companion. I tailored the amount of xp gained by your level such that if all you did was roleplay, never dealing with any dangerous challenges or monsters, and you earned all four categories of xp each session, you would level up after 10 sessions.
The second variant is the "Ten Traits" system. Each pc can choose ten character/personality traits, and can add one per level above first if they choose. These can be literally anything. I like to wear blue. I hate spiders. I am scared of big dogs. I speak in a loud voice. I prefer spicy food. Etc. At the end of each session, each player points to how they played up to ten of these traits, earning xp for each. Again, it was tailored so that you would level up after 10 sessions given only "ten traits" xp each game. In this case, I expected a slightly lower rate of pcs getting these xp- I thought ten traits would be hard to hit every time if we had a high combat session- but I found that almost every pc got 10 almost every session.
el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
Yes, this is why I typically award XP at the end of a session or between sessions (if I didn't have a chance to calculate it before everyone has to go home/get offline).
Blue
Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal
I have done milestone XP. A lot more granular than milestone leveling - basically every challenge overcome - by any means - was worth XP. Granted between sessions, and leveling is also between sessions. If you were down resources (HP, slots, etc), you were still down the same amount - so if had 40 of 60 HPs and went up to 68 max HPs you'd have 48 HPs left. If you used two 1st level and one 2nd level slot, those were still used but against your next spells per level. Etc.
I had a really complex XP back with 3ed that I'd shoot myself before using now - my tastes have changed. I had XP for monsters, and a chunk of XP for story advancement and RP. People could give out chips to other players for good RP or awesome/clever play. Everyone started with 2 shares of the XP pool, and each chip was an extra share, +50 XP per level. The static bonus was so that people would give them out instead of thinking "I'm just diluting my share", sort of a prisoner's dilemma sort of logic.
(Last campaign I did milestone leveling, so I don't have anything more recent to add.)
I had a really complex XP back with 3ed that I'd shoot myself before using now - my tastes have changed. I had XP for monsters, and a chunk of XP for story advancement and RP. People could give out chips to other players for good RP or awesome/clever play. Everyone started with 2 shares of the XP pool, and each chip was an extra share, +50 XP per level. The static bonus was so that people would give them out instead of thinking "I'm just diluting my share", sort of a prisoner's dilemma sort of logic.
(Last campaign I did milestone leveling, so I don't have anything more recent to add.)
Blue
Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal
To go back to AD&D, had a DM who gave out XP as normal for that edition (I forget which) and then went around the table three times. Each time you could say something you did that felt extraordinary and if the DM agreed he'd give you some extra XP for it. The three times around the table kept it quick.
Similar Threads
