Alternative Experience Points

[dren]

I have just started a new campaign where there's a balance of role playing, action & intrigue but much less combat. I want to institute a method of giving extra or alternative experience points for their creativity and superb moments of either co-operation or role-playing. Here are a few ideas I am toying with, and want to hear some opinions:

1. Give out ex points on the spot when a player does something worthwhile
2. Give out ex points at the end of the night
3. DM gives one player a PC of the night award
4. As 3, but let the players nominate the PC

The reason why I hesitate with 1 - 3, is that one of the players is my best friend and I really don't want to be seen as favouring him. I have found in the past, that many decisions are seen as arbitrary and while one player may consistently show up, play their character well, may not have a shining moment like some of the other players. (A hit or miss type of situation.)

Are any of these reasonable? Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks!

 

[Galeman]

hey dren,

i've found that the fourth method can be really rewarding. i usually handled it a little differently though. i would use a secret ballot for the "rper of the session" along with votes for the 2nd, 3rd ... nth and then allot a bonus to xp based on that vote. it really encouraged rping amongst my players and i was gaming with ppl that were mature enough to vote fairly consistently without bias. i also voted in the process, even though one of the players was my gf at the time, and my opinion generally coincided with the players.

good luck deciding though.

 

[LiVeWiRe]

dren,

I played in a campaign where we voted for the 'MV(r)P'--the Most Valuable (role)Player. Each player would vote secret ballot style and turn those in to the DM. The DM did not have a vote. If I remember correctly, the base reward was 100xp but it was then multiplied by the character's level.

In the event of a tie, each player received 50xp per level.

Of course, this was the same group that went through a phase where when a PC did something really dumb or messed things up, they had to sport the 'Hat of Folly' (a jester's style hat we picked up at a local Ren Fair).

There wasn't an xp penalty (that I was aware of) but having to wear the hat was punishment enough!

-LW

 

[S'mon]

Currently at my table I generally give out XP for party achievements rather than by-PC, although PCs can get extra XP for off-table stuff like doing story hours. I use the standard CR system for combats, but for non-combat stuff I tend to give out flat awards like 1000 XP per PC, either at the end of the night or at an appropriate point in the game. That would be for something fairly major like getting made King, overthrowing a local government, forging an alliance, and such - I have a fairly heavily political game with 11th-14th level PCs.

 

[Driddle]

I prefer to give out coupons I've clipped from the newspaper and magazines. For a standard sorta-average adventure, I'll award a few pennies-off coupons for local grocery store items (dog food, tomatoes and the like). For a really remarkable roleplaying experience, maybe the players will get an extra chicken plank with their next Long John Silvers or KFC extra value meal, or perhaps a Supersize upgrade at Wendy's or McDonald's.

The characters themselves tend to stay at first level for a long time, but the players eat well.

 

[Negative Zero]

an idea that i've been toying with, is to give each player an "xp allowance" that they can spend during a game to reward good play or ideas and such.

each player would get say, 25-50xp x average pc lvl, that they could award at any time they choose, up to three times per session.

your buddy just came up with a great idea, hand him some xp. of course, a player would not be able to award him/herself.

what d'you think?

~NegZ