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<blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 3899750" data-attributes="member: 467">It is.&nbsp; That for which XP is given in D&amp;D is perhaps thye most important aspect of what determines playstyle (except in the rare cases where you have players that don't care about advancement).If you give XP for gold, for example, as 1E did, you create a playstyle where the PCs tend to clean the place out.&nbsp; It has good and bad points.&nbsp; On the one hand, it drives PCs to explore, just in case there might be some treasure down that there hallway.&nbsp; On the other hand, it makes it difficult to get PCs to focus on something, anything else sometimes.If you give XP primarily for combats, you get a lot more combats.&nbsp; If you broaden the definition of &quot;overcoming a challenge&quot; to include sneaking or talking past it, you have a lot more freedom to create encounters with variable possible solutions.If you give XP for &quot;good roleplaying&quot;, you usually get hurt feelings.If you give XP for achieving specific quest goals, though, you end up with railraoded adventures because players know the &quot;victory condition&quot; for which they will be rewarded.I don't give Role-Playing XP or Story Awards in XP.&nbsp; There are plenty of in game benefits that can be bestowed upon PCs in regards to those things.&nbsp; I do give XP for overcoming challenges, regardless of whether it is combat, and I withhold XP if the challenge is not overcome.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Reynard, post: 3899750, member: 467"] It is. That for which XP is given in D&D is perhaps thye most important aspect of what determines playstyle (except in the rare cases where you have players that don't care about advancement). If you give XP for gold, for example, as 1E did, you create a playstyle where the PCs tend to clean the place out. It has good and bad points. On the one hand, it drives PCs to explore, just in case there might be some treasure down that there hallway. On the other hand, it makes it difficult to get PCs to focus on something, anything else sometimes. If you give XP primarily for combats, you get a lot more combats. If you broaden the definition of "overcoming a challenge" to include sneaking or talking past it, you have a lot more freedom to create encounters with variable possible solutions. If you give XP for "good roleplaying", you usually get hurt feelings. If you give XP for achieving specific quest goals, though, you end up with railraoded adventures because players know the "victory condition" for which they will be rewarded. I don't give Role-Playing XP or Story Awards in XP. There are plenty of in game benefits that can be bestowed upon PCs in regards to those things. I do give XP for overcoming challenges, regardless of whether it is combat, and I withhold XP if the challenge is not overcome. [/QUOTE]

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