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Message: <blockquote data-quote="andy3k" data-source="post: 5543000" data-attributes="member: 6674918">To answer your question, I do not think that XP is a good enough motivator for preventing extended rests (ER). In my experience, players want their daily powers more than they want a slight nudge towards leveling. Experienced players know that leveling generally does not get affected much by small XP rewards.The official Dungeon Masters Guide 2 has suggestions for keeping up the pace and preventing the 15-minute work day. It is best to rotate between different solutions as called for by the story. Here's a few:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Give the party one or more boons or magical items that stop working after an ER.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Do not allow the party to recover healing surges or dailies after an ER until they meet some goal (and have an in-game explanation for it).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Force the party into not being able to take an ER e.g. a disease that is too painful to allow sleep or, as mentioned above, constant interruptions from nature, minions, etc.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Put a time limit on success e.g. if the ritual is not stopped by midnight then all hell breaks loose (and all future encounters go up 1 to 2 levels in difficulty beyond the norm until hell is contained).</li> </ul>One of my current groups raises character levels at specific points in the plot/story. The longer it takes us to complete each mission (or leg of the mission), the longer it takes to level. This keeps the party somewhat on track to completing their mission instead of getting sidetracked.Another group I just joined tracks XP for leveling. One player keeps referring to goblins as "XP bags" and another player wanted our party of 6 to stand up against hordes of goblins (20+ at a time) "for the XP". They are relatively new to 4e and don't realize that 20 non-minion anythings will wipe the party. Half of the plot decisions the players make are based on how much XP they think they can get out of each decision. I want to adventure. They want to level. There is nothing wrong with wanting to get more powerful or kicking some goblin a$$, but if everything is about XP and getting a frost blade (stop mentioning it, dumba$$, you're 1st level) then there is no joy in RPing decisions based on character personalities, discovering the greater world that the DM has created, etc. I might have to quit my Friday group to find a group of people who are more interested in the story than the amount of XP an individual minion gives them.Counting XP is a good way for novice DMs to judge when leveling should occur. Counting 8-10 encounters (skill and combat) is a good way for amateur DMs to judge leveling. Planning the 8-10 encounters so that they fit into the story/plot arc is the path towards mature DMing. In general, plan 7-9 encounters to fit perfectly into your story/plot and leave space for 0-3 random or optional encounters that might occur based on decision paths or unplanned party actions.</blockquote>

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