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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aethelstan" data-source="post: 1333987" data-attributes="member: 14304">After reading some of the replies to my post, I’d like to offer some more comments and clarifications.  I have, of course, read the experience section of the 3.5 DMG.  Yes, it does allow for xp bonuses for role-playing.However, these rules are only an optional add-on to the core system which awards xp based solely on the number and power of bad guys bested.  In my option, the xp for role-playing rule does not address the underlying problem of the official experience system, namely that playing well often does not earn players any more xp than playing poorly.  As long as the monsters are dead and you are alive when the dust settles, you get all the xp.  An RPG experience system should reward players for more than racking up a good body count.      Let me set up a scenario which illustrates my point.  A DM runs a campaign for two groups of players of with characters of equal level.  On different game days, each group is tasked with exploring a crypt guarded by mummies in order to find an entrance to a dungeon below it.  Group A makes thoughtful preparations before entering the crypt and explores it cautiously.  By scouting ahead, group A avoids an ambush set by the mummies and is thus able to battle them on more favorable terms.  By uses sound combat tactics and thoughtful use of their spells and abilities, group A defeats the mummies handily, receiving only minor wounds.   The next day, group B simply marches into the crypt without a plan or clue and are promptly ambushed by the mummies.  They fight poorly and fail to use their spells and abilities effectively.  As a result they are badly mauled but still manage to kill all the mummies.  When the two groups next meet, the DM awards xp as prescribed by the D&D rules.  Each group killed five mummies so each group gets exactly the same xp.     Is this fair to group A?  They played the game far more skillfully than the slackers of group B, yet still get the same xp.  What do both groups learn for this?  Just muddle through and kill things, you’ll level up just as fast regardless.  Want I am proposing is an experience system that would factor in the skill level and quality of game play in all its facets, combat, role-playing, player-driven interaction with the campaign setting, etc.  The current system simply does not do that very well.  An alternative experience system that was more subjective and less numbers oriented could address the aforementioned shortcomings of the current system.  A system that valued the quality of play over quantity of kills would encourage more players to raise above the level of simple hack and slash.  Once players realized that thoughtful game play resulted in faster leveling, I believe the overall quality of play would improve.  p.s  I apologize for the multiple posts.  They were the results of browser problems and my inexperience with these boards.   It was a mistake, not an attempt to “troll.”</blockquote>

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