I think the D&D experience system has a lot to do with my players being murder hobos.

[Jabborwacky]

I'd also add that it just comes down to D&D itself. Adventurers almost always serve as a flexible, wandering paramilitary used to protect essential services and resolve trouble spots. Plus, there is the whole train of logic where a failed diplomacy check can still be potentially recovered, but getting KOed is game over. That train of thought has a basis in fact, but it is also a catch 22. Combat optimization comes at a cost to non-combat options, and players play to their character's strengths.

 

[Rod Staffwand]

If you don't want them to be murder hobos, what do you want them to be?

Then give XP to reinforce that.

Examples:
1. Arsonist hobos. XP for buildings burned down.
2. Jaywalking hobos. XP for crossing streets in flagrant violation of pedestrian safety regulations.
3. Counterfeiting hobos. XP for coating their cp in gold paint.
4. Big Short hobos. XP for correctly intuiting housing bubbles and the innate insanity of the subprime mortgage system.
5. Polygamist hobos. XP for marrying NPCs.

The list is endless...

 

[Rune]

In my games, 100% of the XP earned is through goals completed--and the players set the party's goals.

 

[Reinhart]

Looks like someone made a module for that:
http://www.dmsguild.com/product/173703/Eyes-and-Experience

 

[Saeviomagy]

If your PCs are murder hobos, then it's because they don't value non lethal interaction (and the alternative is murder) or having an established base of operations (ie - hobo).

Most likely this is because they've previously been punished for these things.

In the case of non lethal interaction - previously has negotiation with NPCs proved more difficult and less rewarding than combat? Are your NPCs generally unhelpful? Do they typically carry treasure? Do they usually have no knowledge or non-treasure resources of value? Do they immediately become unhelpful/hostile through a single failed check? Are they usually irrationally oblivious to the fact that the adventurers will probably make them into mincemeat?

In the case of a base of operations - Do you use the ridiculous rules in the DMG which make establishing a base ridiculously expensive and pointless? Have you presented them with opportunities to establish a base of operations? Have you done things like give them loot that they want to keep, but that is ridiculous to carry with them (ie - reference libraries, fragile magical items the size of a cart)?

In short - PCs are murder hobos because the focus of the campaign and rules push them to be murder hobos. The rules as is say there is no point to establishing a base, and the rules as commonly interpreted make any course of action when presented with a less-than-helpful NPC less beneficial than killing them.

 

[Wuzzard]

In my last campaign, nealy two years long, all XP was milestone based (determined by the players themselves) and they still played as murder hobos!

 

[77IM]

I've tackled this problem twice.

Here is what I use in my campaign:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?442930-Princes-of-the-Apocalypse-Quest-XP

An experiment I'd like to try some time:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?469776-Keys-(ala-Lady-Blackbird)

 

[MNblockhead]

I DM a home brew 5e campaign for a group that meets once per month for a full-day game. At this point, I'm thinking of just having them advance a level each session without worrying about XP and then designing my monthly adventure for each new level. This will allow me to progress plot lines quicker and have a chance of getting to some fourth-tier adventures without having to wait a couple years. Under my current system, it has taken about a year to get to 6th level. That about 8 hours of play once a month. With the time between sessions, I try to have the adventure (or a major chapter in an adventure) wrap up in the 8 hours, so we don't have to pick up cold in the middle of a dungeon or encounter. So, milestone/session based leveling up just makes sense. It also take some work off my plate. Instead of calculating XP, I can just focus on CR and story building.

That said, below is the current rules for my campaign that has been provided to all the players. I was trying to keep to the XP mechanics and avoid making it to arbitrary. But so much is left to DM discretion that is feels a bit capricious and out of the players control. Increasingly, session-based leveling up seems like the more logical choice.



--------------------------------------

HOW EXPERIENCE IS AWARDED

I use a blended approach.

1. Combat/Encounter Based.

This is the XP values of the creatures defeated (not necessarily killed). If a particularly clever use of diplomacy, subterfuge, or other non-lethal method results in "defeating" or avoiding opponents in an encounter, I will award XP based upon the challenge involved. If, compared to a head-on fight, the non-violent or non-combat-victory solutions was very easy, you'll be awarded no, or only a token amount of XP. An example would be that the village asks you to defeat the orgre terrorizing them and you say "no thanks" and head on your merry way leaving them to deal with the problem themselves. You won't get XP for that. If you successfully convince another hero to go in your stead, maybe I'll throw 5% of the challenge your way. See table below:

Alternative is...
XP%
Example

Very Easy
0-5%
You ignore the problem. Do nothing (5% if you arrange for someone else to take care if the issue)

Easy
25%
You sneak past, arrange a distraction

Medium
50%
Political or diplomatic solution. Bold intimidation pays off.

Hard
75%
Elaborate trap or distraction, dangerous and difficult stealth

Very Hard
100%
Exceptionally dangerous ruse. Trap that involves using a character as bait with a chance of great harm or death to that character

Nearly Impossible
150-200%
You convince the chromatic dragon to give its horde to charity and devote its life to protecting the weak.

Again, the above table pertains to traditional combat encounters for which you found non-combat solutions.

For certain non-combat encounters like traps and mazes, a Challenge Rating is assigned and XP awarded based on DM's Guide parameters.

2. Milestone Awards

Rather than come up with a challenge rating for every non-combat encounter, I will set milestones for reaching important non-combat goals. So, for example, rather than award any XP for your various farmstead investigations, after you "crack the case" and/or find a solution to the problem, you'll be awarded XP for successfully completing the mission... even if you had never engaged in any combat.

3. Story Awards

Because we meet infrequently, I may provide experience or level ups to advance the campaign. For example, I allowed some players to roll-up and begin with level 2 characters. If a player misses a couple sessions and rejoins later, I may work with that player on what their character was doing in the mean time and bring the character up to a level where the player can meaningfully participate in the game. ​

--------------------------------------------

 

[FrogReaver]

In my last campaign, nealy two years long, all XP was milestone based (determined by the players themselves) and they still played as murder hobos!

Why do you think they did that?

 

[Unwise]

Out of interest, what does a traditional XP system add to the game? What do you feel would be lost by switching to a milestone system? I am genuinely curious.

Personally, I think that milestone systems are the most honest way of rewarding outcomes rather than giving XP for murderhobo activities. If the PCs can open a secret door and skip the 1000XP of monsters, then the secret door needs to be worth near 1000XP or they were better off killing everything. It is like an MMO where people will go back and farm the remaining monsters for the XP. Do you plan to give the 1000XP for a quick and easy bypass of the monsters? What about a monster that could have been avoided with no effort, is it worth no XP? If you give XP for violence without a purpose, then yes, the XP system is rewarding the murderhobos.

I find giving XP for "stopping the goblin raids" but no XP for any skill checks or killing on the way to that goal, leads to the open ended problem solving that I want in a game. It is always in the PCs best interest to do things the most efficient and effective way, they don't need to think "am I losing out on XP doing it this way?" or "I am 50XP away from levelling, the kobold children are not worth XP alive..."

As far as XP for RPing goes, I have done away with that, because it was not worth tracking when I don't otherwise track XP closely, also it led to people limelighting themselves to get XP, or at least the pat on the back that XP represents. What I do instead is use RP to refresh inspiration and to gain plot-armor points. It is explicit that PCs important to the story or with unresolved drama ahead are less likely to die to random unheroic events than Guy the Fighter with no background or personality.