Awarding XP
- Thread starter Aust Meliamne
- Start date
LostSoul
Adventurer
I think you should realize that you're penalizing the player for role-playing his character. In the future, this player is not going to take any kind of flaw that will keep him out of the action. It's possible that, with this current character, he suddenly overcomes his fear of water so that he's not left behind in the XP race.
If that's okay with you, no problems. But if you keep it up, you'll get characters who are built for one thing and one thing only: smashing heads. Anything that could keep them out of the action will be cut out of their backgrounds, or just ignored. And perhaps that's as it should be.
Hmm... there are a lot of things to consider here.
Anyway, if I was running this game I'd have made it clear what the goals of play were. If it was about getting into character, or smashing down the door, or whatever. I'd reward XP based on that criteria.
If that's okay with you, no problems. But if you keep it up, you'll get characters who are built for one thing and one thing only: smashing heads. Anything that could keep them out of the action will be cut out of their backgrounds, or just ignored. And perhaps that's as it should be.
Hmm... there are a lot of things to consider here.
Anyway, if I was running this game I'd have made it clear what the goals of play were. If it was about getting into character, or smashing down the door, or whatever. I'd reward XP based on that criteria.
Aust Meliamne
First Post
How so? I did give him a bigger role playing XP award than the other characters received. Water boy ended up getting about 70% or so of the XP the other characters received (for the battle plus role playing).LostSoul said:
Also, as I said, earlier in the dungeon, water boy killed a creature by himself and only he was awarded combat XP for that encounter.
Let me point out that this character doesn't have any flaws from Unearthed Arcana or anything. It is simply a role playing hook that the player thought would be fun. The character has no game penalities associated with his hydrophobia.
LostSoul
Adventurer
Aust Meliamne said:
That's why. He role-plays his character, he gets less XP. If he didn't role-play his character, he would have gotten more XP.
So there is more to be gained by playing against character than there is by playing to character.
Not that this is wrong, it just depends on the type of game you want to run. The RAW say that this is what you should do (because D&D promotes a certain type of game).
shilsen
Adventurer
Questions like these are why I stopped using any formulae for basing XP upon things PCs do in the game and simply award the same amount to every PC. XP for combat, for roleplaying, or for most such things, is effectively testing the players for whether they play by your particular set of preferences, and that's not worth it for me. It might be worth trying a "all XP is group XP" sometime.
fiddlerjones
First Post
I agree. I don't even do "all XP is group XP" so much as "level when I say you do," which I find works wonders, as it frees up more time for me to work on the actual campaign without having to keep track of XP totals and without players competing for XP.
In regards to your question, though, I'd say you were consistent, and that is what we're looking for here. You did right by me, and no, you were not "penalizing the player for good role playing." It is just the case that good roleplaying sometimes costs you a few XP. Big deal. You did the right thing.
In regards to your question, though, I'd say you were consistent, and that is what we're looking for here. You did right by me, and no, you were not "penalizing the player for good role playing." It is just the case that good roleplaying sometimes costs you a few XP. Big deal. You did the right thing.
Aust Meliamne
First Post
I appreciate everyone's insights. Please keep them coming. This is giving me something to think about.
I don't agree with giving XP to characters who don't put themselves at risk during combat, but I'm also not fond of the way DnD seems to say "Combat = XP; No Combat = No XP" (as paraphrased from DMG page 37).
I'm trying to find a happy medium. What I don't want to happen is to fall into the trap that the only way to earn XP is to play a character a certain way, be that way all combat, all role play, or what have you.
I don't agree with giving XP to characters who don't put themselves at risk during combat, but I'm also not fond of the way DnD seems to say "Combat = XP; No Combat = No XP" (as paraphrased from DMG page 37).
I'm trying to find a happy medium. What I don't want to happen is to fall into the trap that the only way to earn XP is to play a character a certain way, be that way all combat, all role play, or what have you.
No you're not.
The roleplaying award was 70% of what the other players received. If you added the character into the combat, his full share would have been about the same as he received.
IMO, you handled the situation perfectly. Sometimes the dice are crule, and they keep you out of combats. Other times they smile on you, and you defeat a creature on your own. In the end, it all works out.
I find the notion that you are penalizing the player for roleplaying ludicrous. Without the roleplaying bonus, he would have got squat, zippo, nadda. He chose the flaw, even if it's not an official flaw, and he received a bonus for it, where's the problem?
bodhi
First Post
I agree that you've been consistent and fair.
IMHO, what that passage means is experience = XP, no experience = no XP. You participate, and you gain more XP than if you don't. You awarded Combat XP for combat, and Roleplaying XP for roleplaying.
Here's a simplistic analogy. Hydrophobia Boy does the multiple choice part of an exam, while the rest of the party does both that, and the short answer part. (He who would cross the Bridge of Death must first answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see.) He aces his part, and gets a 50. The rest of the group gets about 35 on each section, for totals of about 70. He shouldn't complain about not getting marks on the section he skipped.
And like you (I think) said, if he had roleplayed overcoming his fear for the sake of his friends, that'd be worth RP XP, too. And he would've gotten some combat XP.
Aust Meliamne said:
IMHO, what that passage means is experience = XP, no experience = no XP. You participate, and you gain more XP than if you don't. You awarded Combat XP for combat, and Roleplaying XP for roleplaying.
Here's a simplistic analogy. Hydrophobia Boy does the multiple choice part of an exam, while the rest of the party does both that, and the short answer part. (He who would cross the Bridge of Death must first answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see.) He aces his part, and gets a 50. The rest of the group gets about 35 on each section, for totals of about 70. He shouldn't complain about not getting marks on the section he skipped.
And like you (I think) said, if he had roleplayed overcoming his fear for the sake of his friends, that'd be worth RP XP, too. And he would've gotten some combat XP.
LostSoul
Adventurer
devilbat said:
Because of the way he role-played his character, he got 70% of what the others received. If he hadn't role-played his character, he would have got 100% of what the other received.
So: role-playing character = less XP.
There are two big rewards in D&D: XP and gold (ie. magic items). If one PC gets less XP for role-playing his character, how is that not penalizing him? (Maybe "penalizing" isn't the best word, but the point is still valid.)
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