Bonus XP for writing up a story hour?

[Desdichado]

That's a good idea. I don't use XP, though -- just arbitrary levelling.

 

[Benben]

That's a good idea. I don't use XP, though -- just arbitrary levelling.

How do you handle magic item creation?

 

[egarvue]

I give 'em 250 xp per character journal. It doesn't bother me that some do it and some dont; they only have a 250 word minimum (which is rather short). Although I rather like their 50 xp per level, that way the journal's worth will grow with them as their characters get better. Its settled - I'm stealing the idea!

 

[ES2]

I always liked the idea of giving bonus xp for writing a story journal but in the three games I have tried implementing this idea, only one person has taken me up on the offer, and during that game the rest of the plyaers were constantly bickering with me as to why he leveled faster then them, even if it was just by one session each time.

I told them they had the same chance as the writer, but they thought i was being unfair. Any of you experience this?

 

[Skarp Hedin]

I tried this as well. I think I was giving 100 xp per character level for each journal, but only two players did it, and neither of them kept it up for very long -- it was too much work. Also, one player wouldn't participate unless he could get more XP than the others for writing a better journal.

 

[Kichwas]

250 word minimum is nothing. I'm one of those people who can fill out a few thousand in short order when an idea hits me.

I think at least half my posts in these RPG forums meet the 250 word limit.

I've put a list of XP bonus awards up on my game's site:
http://arcady0.topcities.com/Kalamar/
Taken from this thread.

[Mouse over 'Character Rules' then 'Bonus XP'.]

I had the brief idea of 1XP per level per word per session, but then with that if I was a player in my own game I'd level every session.

 

[DispelAkimbo]

My DM awards me 100xp per log so far, but the group is only level 1 and 2. I'm hoping he will raise it slightly as we get higher level.

Oh and the word count varies vastly. It was as high as 13,000 words for one weeks log and as low as 2,000 for other weeks depending on if we have lots of plot development or a single long combat. So xp depending on word count wouldnt work for us.

<obligatory pimp>Oh and the link to my story hour is in my sig if you're curious </obligatory pimp>

 

[GamerMan12]

I like to reflect the quality of the submission from players. So, for a character background I award 300 to 500 xps depending upon how good it is, with some recognition of the word count as well.

Of course, as a DM you have to use the hooks in the character background in your campaign, as you need to properly incorporate that character in your campaign. Siblings, parents, lost loves, childhood friends and enemies all are excellent grist for the campaign mill.

GM12

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

In the Gaxmoor campaign I'm currently playing in (soon to become the Necropolis campaign ), we're getting around 200-350xp, depending on the DM's judgement of the Story Hour. It might not be much, but it adds up over time.

It's interesting that because the DM is using a level based XP system (meaning higher level characters get less xp than lower level ones), the highest level player is now starting his own account in order to 'keep up' with the Xp the other players are getting.

I like the system. It encourages us to remember what's happening, why it's important, and how everything hangs together.

 

[diaglo]

i do it for the fun of it.

if my DM were to award xps based on my Story Hour...i think i'd lose xps.

[pimp]check it out. it's in my sig.[/pimp]