XP - How do you do it?

[Merkuri]

Right now we're playing a very informal 4e game where the DM rotates for every new adventure. We decided early on that all of the PCs come from a larger adventurer's guild, which explains why the current DM's PC disappears during his adventure (which was easier than NPCing the DM's PC).

Not everyone wanted to DM, and we were afraid that the folks who didn't DM would end up with more experience. We didn't want to punish the PCs of the folks who DM'd so we ruled that all PCs got the same amount of experience, whether they played or not. XP is calculated for each session taking into account the number of PCs that were there, but then everyone gets the new XP total regardless if they were there or not. The in-character reason for this is that the PCs who were absent were out doing adventures elsewhere.

We initially toyed with the idea of just having everyone level when the DM said so, or getting a set amount of XP per session but we played a game like that in the past and I wasn't sure I liked it.

When you get the same amount of XP each session if you have a session where a lot of stuff happens then it almost feels like a letdown when you get the same exact amount of XP as last time. I'm sure it works fine for some groups, but I was against it. I like having the amount of XP reflect how much we did that session (whether it's killing things or accomplishing a lot of goals, doing a lot of RP).

 

[IronWolf]

When a character dies, what level do you start the player's next character at?

They will start at the same level as the lowest level character in the party. Though in most cases I am expecting this to be pretty much the same level for everyone in the party.

 

[IronWolf]

When you get the same amount of XP each session if you have a session where a lot of stuff happens then it almost feels like a letdown when you get the same exact amount of XP as last time. I'm sure it works fine for some groups, but I was against it. I like having the amount of XP reflect how much we did that session (whether it's killing things or accomplishing a lot of goals, doing a lot of RP).

I would probably account for this by announcing a level-up early if a session was particularly full of encounters or a lot of stuff happening in it. Just to give some sort of perk for especially meaningful sessions.

Of course if there a large number of these sessions then my idea quickly falls into chaos...

 

[Rel]

When a character dies, what level do you start the player's next character at?

Same level as everybody else. In 4e it seems like a no-brainer because a raised PC suffers no level loss so why should a replacement PC?

As for XP reflecting a busy session, one of the things I like about not tracking it is that the players tend to spend as much time as they like doing stuff they think is fun without worrying whether it is earning them XP. In the past I've seen pressure from a player or two that wanted to cut short some pretty good roleplaying scenes with NPC's or other party members because they wanted to get to the part where they got XP.

Now when they accomplish a lot it means that they are making progress toward some greater goal that has nothing to do with gaining levels. I will say that, if I've got some sort of climactic encounter planned where it would serve them well to be Level X, and they have moved through the prior encounters so quickly that they are threatening to encounter it before Level X, then I'll hasten the level gain.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I gave up on XP and just started leveling the characters whenever it felt reasonable. Saved me a ton of work and lost nothing in the process.

When a character dies, what level do you start the player's next character at?

The same as everyone else. Unequal levels cause problems.

 

[Crothian]

One camapgin the PCs gained a level after X sessions were X equaled the level they were going to attain. So after the first two sessions they gained second level, after session 5 they gained third level, after session 9 they gained level 4, and after session 14 they gained level 5. It worked really well and the players never figured it out but were wondering why at level 8 it seeemed they gained levels really slow.

 

[LostSoul]

When a character dies, what level do you start the player's next character at?

Playing 4E: Level 1.

Players can decide to run henchmen as their PC, so if your PC dies you're not totally screwed. They can also play multiple PCs, though not in the same session without a serious XP hit.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I generally don't bother tracking XP these days and consider it somewhat of a hassle. Normally when GMing I have the PC's level on a set schedule (every 3 sessions was what I used for 4e) or just whenever I feel like they should.

We've pretty much given up having any sort of XP penalty to players who can't make a session. Our group is of the opinion that missing a session and the attendant fun is a big enough penalty already.

Same level as everybody else. In 4e it seems like a no-brainer because a raised PC suffers no level loss so why should a replacement PC?

Rel seems to be channeling me in this thread, so I'll just say "See Rel for my answers."

I'll add that I've been doing the same since the start of 3E, and I don't see myself ever going back to numerical, by-the-book XP.

 

[WizarDru]

Not to be just another copy-cat....but what Rel said. That pretty much sums it up for us.

 

[DumbPaladin]

The level of the lowest party member.

We've been starting new characters at the level of the lowest party member, except now we have an issue where, due to one player missing far too many sessions, our lowest party member is 9th and our highest has just turned 13th thanks to gaining a level via the Deck of Many Things.

If our level 13 character died, I don't think the DM would ever possibly consider making that player start a level 9 character.

For character death, we have decided you only lose 1 level if you decide to start an entirely new character.