Search results

I don't think I would characterize it as lazy, except perhaps in those instances where someone can't be bothered to do simple addition and division, but often I find that to not be the actual reason they don't do it, just a smokescreen for some other objection to calculating XP. For me as a...

Milestone XP is in my view best for plot-based games or for sandboxes with party-driven goals. It's also not railroading. It's rewarding behavior that supports the game everyone agreed to play together. Nobody is being coerced or tricked. In a D&D 5e game that I am currently playing, at the end...

Lots of DMs do level up the PCs whenever they feel like it and call it "milestone." That doesn't really incentivize going after particular goals, sticking to the plot, or engaging with certain thematic challenges, which was my point. It doesn't really incentivize not caring about leveling up...

There's nothing about the spell that suggests the target must do anything in particular except believe that the phantasm is real. Combined with the context of the target living in a world of swords and sorcery, I would say it's reasonable to believe that these are real leeches summoned by the...

Oh, the player being surprised then. Yeah, I encourage the players to have that sorted out in advance. It's not hard to get a sense as to whether you're going to level up in the next session when using XP.

Oh, you mean the DM is surprised? Not sure I see how that matters much. If I'm running a sandbox where they are incentivized with XP to do particular things (combat & social, say) with exploration incentivized with treasure and opportunity, then it works itself out naturally. It becomes less...

What do you mean?

Transparency is key in any incentive structure in my view, whether that's in a game or at work. If players are motivated to advance their characters and they know what specific things they need to do to achieve that, they tend to do those things. Not every player, not every time, but the...

I've never met a player who didn't think about leveling up from time to time. It's part of the game.

The solution to that is to have the players plan out what they will do on next level-up prior to the session.

In the event your players wanted to, at least you have a means to make it satisfy your v-tude requirements.

I posted one some years ago: Barrow of the Evensong.

Fair enough. We get so much done in a given session that 5 minutes spent leveling up doesn't seem like a huge investment for the payoff in player excitment. I'm sure if you thought about it, you could come up with a reason why it makes sense in the context of a fictional world to satisfy the...

Why? Players in my games seem to really like it.

Unless I'm using a hub-and-spoke model for town/rest character advancement in the campaign (which is rare for me), PCs level up the moment they get the XP necessary to do so. I award XP after every challenge. It's pretty easy in my experience, and the players get pretty excited about seeing...

If your group is anything like mine, they'll share the wealth and the wizard will be allotted more to account for any expenditures they will have to make to add spells or for component costs. It's to their own benefit as a party that their spellcasters have what they need. Leveling up will also...

Players tend to do what they are incentivized to do. If the DM gives XP for combat, they players will tend to engage in combat. If the DM gives XP for staying on the plot, they'll tend to stay on the plot. If the DM gives milestone XP for achieving specific goals, then they'll tend get after...

I would expect a player to choose optimally for rules 1 and 2 - whatever benefits them the most. What a player would do in the face of rule 3 I would expect to be determined chiefly on what the "cost" is for creating a new character (start at 1st level, start at level of lowest level PC in...

This is why when a lycanthrope shows up in a random encounter in my games, the characters take off their armor, lay on the ground, and say in a deadpan voice "No, stop, please don't bite me..."

The games my regular group has are hilarious from start to finish every time. The D&D movie's got nothing on us!