OSR How Do You Award XP?

[Michael Linke]

I believe the question is really "what is XP and why do characters get it?" If you take rules as written, you get experience points for earning treasure, and defeating (not necessarily killing) monsters. You don't strictly get experience for overcoming traps or solving puzzles (though those are suggested as optional sources). I think the commonality between the main sources of experience gain is that these are actions that further the cause of civilization. You get XP for bringing wealth into the local economy, removing chaotic monsters from the area, or convincing those monsters to leave the area or get jobs and contribute to the society. Most of your XP from adventuring comes from that wealth accumulation, and the little bit you do get from monsters seems to have less to do with the challenge those monsters pose to the party than it does with the impact those monsters have on the locals.

I think you could easily alter the why/how of XP gain with literally any system you want, but the game would and should very much become "about" whatever it is you end up rewarding, and you may need to deprioritize some player character abilities and mechanics in favor of new ones that actually simulate the new pursuits you're rewarding.

 

[Maxperson]

If it's truly "old school" only award XP for monsters defeated and gold looted.

And magic items gained.

 

[Flamestrike]

2 Hour sessions?

Wow. We'd only be cracking out the snacks and finishing general chit chat by 2 hours in.

 

[Quickleaf]

I'm coming off a "milestone-only" XP philosophy to playtest an OSR adventure, which has XP awards as a staple of the system (even down to classes needing more or less XP to go up in level based on their perceived power level).

I ran a typical 2 hour session last night, and we wrapped up before the first combat of the evening. The night was spent with roleplaying, exploration, mystery investigation, etc., just not collecting gold and killing monsters.

So how would you give XP for this session? I'd hate to give them nothing for their characters, especially when even the quickest advancing character at the table will need 10+ sessions to get to level 2 based on our current rate.

The only OSR-ish adventure I recall in recent memory that included specific notes on role-playing / exploration XP awards was 3e's Gary Gygax's Necropolis. Compared to the combat rewards, I think the RP/exploration awards ended up being around 30% of the XP required to reach the next level.

I think understanding that ratio is the main thing. Figuring out which ratio works for your play group and the needs of the specific adventure.

For instance, the first chapter (presumably for 10th level PCs, who need 10,000 XP each to reach 11th) says...

STORY AWARDS
Per the DMG, you may award the following XP for certain story accomplishments. While peril lurks at every turn, there is more to this adventure than combat, and the PCs should be rewarded for their actions and interactions in Aartuat!

Locating and befriending Khonsu-khaibet: 200 XP
Befriending Merha-aptut: 150 XP.
Being invited to the temple of Hapy by Merha-aptut: 100XP.
Befriending Atmu-thoth-rahat: 200 XP. Obtaining figurines from Atmu’: 300 XP.
Significant Interaction with any of the other major non-Evil NPCs (Nemekh, Hetet-f, Bas-f-py, Hamephat, Mastuti, Khepifar): 250 XP.
Befriending or aiding Afu-abtem: 200 XP.
Discovering any of the three Evil leaders (Shenau, Gerhit, and Hept-f-hra): 300 XP per Evil NPC discovered.
Defeating any one of the three Evil leaders: 300 XP per Evil NPC defeated (beyond the XI’ for the combat encounter).
Obtaining the Serpent Ankh: 500 XP.
Getting rid of any of the associated Evil NPCs (Hept-fehra’s wife, 2 sons, daughter, 2 guards, or Hep-thait the boy-thief): 200 XP per associated Evil NPC eliminated.
Overcoming the demoncroc: 500 XP.
Locating the statuettes inside the demoncroc: 500 XP.
Taking the statuettes to Atmu’ for his analysis: 300 XP.
Causing trouble in Aartuat: -200 XP. Stealing from any non-Evil NPC: -400 XP.
Harming any non-Evil NPC: -400 XP.

 

[Mannahnin]

And magic items gained.

AD&D 1st ed is the only one of the old school games that has this rule, right? I remember there being some mention of it as a concept in OD&D, but no real rules. It's not a rule in the Basic/Expert or BECMI lines, and they dropped it in 2E, right?

 

[Maxperson]

AD&D 1st ed is the only one of the old school games that has this rule, right? I remember there being some mention of it as a concept in OD&D, but no real rules. It's not a rule in the Basic/Expert or BECMI lines, and they dropped it in 2E, right?

It was for 1e. In 2e it became the amount of xp gained for creating the item, so it was still there, but much more limited. In 2e we still used it for the PCs that found the magic items, though.

 

[Mannahnin]

It was for 1e. In 2e it became the amount of xp gained for creating the item, so it was still there, but much more limited. In 2e we still used it for the PCs that found the magic items, though.

Interesting. We played 2E for years, and the rules for creating magic items were phrased so restrictively that I don't think we ever had a PC create one. (As opposed to 3E, where we did it all the time).

 

[Marc_C]

At mid-point of 2e I stopped awarding XPs by the book. We played less often. Maybe 12 times a year. I awarded a lump sum of XPs after each session. PCs gained a level every 3-4 games. I've keep doing the same thing since then.

 

[Maxperson]

Interesting. We played 2E for years, and the rules for creating magic items were phrased so restrictively that I don't think we ever had a PC create one. (As opposed to 3E, where we did it all the time).

We made a few. The restrictions weren't what caused that, so much as the 5% chance of permanently losing a con point. Nobody wanted to risk that.

 

[Mannahnin]

At mid-point of 2e I stopped awarding XPs by the book. We played less often. Maybe 12 times a year. I awarded a lump sum of XPs after each session. PCs gained a level every 3-4 games. I've keep doing the same thing since then.

Leveling every 3-4 sessions appears to be a pretty good pace, at least once you've gotten up around 5th to 7th or so, into what a lot of folks call the sweet spot.