Do you use D&D XP system as written?

[shilsen]

Hell, no. I just award a set amount of XP per session to keep PCs advancing at a rate I'm comfortable with.

As far as I'm concerned, XP is a completely gamist construct, only existing because players like to see their characters improve and gain interesting new abilities, and what provides XP in the game is completely arbitrary. So I made the gamist angle explicit and moved it away from in-character actions. PCs get the same XP whether they kill a dragon or hang out at the tavern. That lets the players do whatever they think their PCs would, without having to ever concern themselves about whether it'll garner them XP or not. And the rewards/penalties of success/failure of things in-game is provided in-game too, rather than through XP.

 

[Psion]

I generally have decided the CR XP chart is not worth the effort.

I basically use the guidelines in the DMG for "XP per hour", and adjust for factors I want to factor in. Basically I half the rate, but then award % bonuses for things I want to encourage or reward for, including (but not imited to):
- difficulty of the game (beyond just combat)
- clever or otherwise good/effective play
- advancing towards adventure goals
- good roleplay
- otherwise making the game enjoyable

 

[Richards]

Like several other posters here, I calculate the XP earned as per the rules - and then cut it roughly in half. Hitting a new level every 13.5 encounters is too fast for my tastes.

Johnathan

 

[The Green Adam]

When I play D&D, which is rare these days, I use a completely different system for xp. I have a chart that lists XP amounts next to things like "Creative Problem Solving", "Cooperation with Other PCs", "Defeat/Capture Superior Opponent" or "Plot Point Revealed". The next column is for noting the number of times the player scored in that category. At the end I add it up and award XP.

 

[FireLance]

These days, I generally have all the PCs level at the end of an adventure. Of course, I will generally place enough challenges in the adventure that the PCs would have gained a level from the standard XP method, anyway.

 

[Lanefan]

I run 1e and long ago modified the ExP advancement tables (and did away with ExP for treasure found). Encounter ExP are worked out using an expanded version of the chart in the DMG. Ad-hoc ExP for clever thinking etc. I wing. Adventure bonus ExP I also wing but with a bit more of a system in mind.

If I ever ran 3e I'd probably do pretty much the same things, with an eye to slowing down the too-fast advancement and making it a bit more free-form.

Lanefan

 

[Warren Okuma]

Street legal. Rules as written. However I just tell the PC's how many monsters and what CR and let them figure it out. It's not my XP after all.

 

[Old Gumphrey]

Like several other posters here, I calculate the XP earned as per the rules - and then cut it roughly in half. Hitting a new level every 13.5 encounters is too fast for my tastes.

Johnathan

Ugh, I would absolutely die in a setup like this. My weekly group tends to go for quality over quantity and we fight 1 or 2 knock-down drag-out battles per session. If that group played this way we'd level up once every four months...and say goodbye to item creation!

If my monthly group played this way, we'd have to do one shots.

I haven't used the CR tables in a really long time. I play D&D to have fun, and to me, having fun involves leveling up frequently. Everyone in our group has a lot of real world time constraints, and it's nice to not have to worry about missing a game now and then. The advancement even as written is just too slow for my taste. I found myself saying "that's it?" every single time I calculated the party's XP based on the CR table. I found myself doubling and even tripling those awards. I want to actually play high level D&D without starting at level 18.

 

[amethal]

I don't use XP.

We don't have any magic item crafters, and so far no one has cast a spell with an XP cost, so it works out fine.

I hand out levels at dramatically appropriate times. The characters levelled last night, and reached the dizzy heights of 20th level. The campaign is building up to a climax, and once they defeat their nemesis adventuring party, the Iron Fists, and thereby end the war which is threatening to destroy the Kingdom, they will reach 21st level.

And then we'll do War of the Burining Sky, when I might have to go back to awarding XP per the rules.

 

[Old Gumphrey]

Sounds like a party of fighters and rogues...cause I can't imagine any game where a 9th level caster didn't use gate.