CoC - how is experience awarded?

[Plane Sailing]

Since standard D&D awards almost all experience for combat, and Call of Cthulhu rather depends on not getting into combat if you want to survive, how is experience awarded by the GM?

I'm particularly interested in case it would make a workable method of assessing xp awards in standard D&D too, if I wanted to move away from straight combat-based awards.

So how does it work, Mythos keepers?

 

[mmadsen]

Awarding experience in d20 CoC is pretty easy. The first option is The Quick and Dirty Method: When a character finishes two adventures, he gains a level.

The second option involves Story Goals. Each goal is worth 300 XP, with four to six such goals in a four-hour game session. A typical goal list might be:

• survive an attack of zombies,
• recover a tome,
• discover a cult leader's secret,
• find the hidden room in his basement,
• destroy an artifact, and
• stop a summoning.

Easy or hard goals can earn less or more experience.

In effect, each Story Goal is worth as much as a typical (combat) encounter in D&D.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I see, that's interesting.

I suppose the closest analogy might be a D&D adventure which consists entirely of traps - and you get xps for either avoiding the trap or surviving it

 

[Wicht]

The second option involves Story Goals. Each goal is worth 300 XP, with four to six such goals in a four-hour game session.

Actually it is 300 exp multiplied by party level and divided by number of characters IIRC.

 

[Tonguez]

Awarding experience in d20 CoC is pretty easy. The first option is The Quick and Dirty Method: When a character finishes two adventures, he gains a level.

The second option involves Story Goals. Each goal is worth 300 XP, with four to six such goals in a four-hour game session. A typical goal list might be:

• survive an attack of zombies,
• recover a tome,
• discover a cult leader's secret,
• find the hidden room in his basement,
• destroy an artifact, and
• stop a summoning.

Easy or hard goals can earn less or more experience.

In effect, each Story Goal is worth as much as a typical (combat) encounter in D&D.

Well - haven't looked at CoC but this is more or less how I do XP in my DnD games basing them on average CR of each encounter but looking at the PCs 'overcoming' the challenge rather than pure combat.

So following the example

• survive an attack of zombies CR = Zombie
• recover a tome CR = average of Traps, DC and monster CRs protecting it
• discover a cult leader's secret CR = Level of NPC cult leader
• find the hidden room in his basement CR = Search DC
• destroy an artifact CR = average of Traps, DC and monster CRs protecting it
• stop a summoning CR = Average level of NPCs