Do You Use XP

[Ahnehnois]

Having seen it raised recently here, I'm curious as to how many people are using the XP system of their rpg as written. Feel free to explicate your response and the reasons behind it.

For my part, I used to ad hoc XP but now have discarded the system entirely and level up when it seems right. The main effect of this change has been to reduce the amount of bookwork I do; it also seems to have made the players less competitive among each other. One of the few aspects of 3e rules I never learned was the actual EL/CR system.

 

[Zhaleskra]

My main problem with XP in many systems is not so much its presence as it is a "sitting" number that stays in one place and gets arbitrarily larger in most of the systems I've seen.

One way I thought to get around the "sitting number" problem was to have XP reset to 0 when you level up, showing you "buying" the next level. I feel this makes sense in systems where leveling automatically brings you benefits.

My favorite anthropomorphic animal RPG, World Tree, has XP = skill points. They can be spent immediately if you have enough to level up your skill. They could also get arbitrarily large if you already have a high rank in the skill you want to increase, given WT's pyramidal XP sceme. If you want to raise a rank 0 to rank 1, that costs one XP, rank 0 to rank 2 costs a total of 3 XP, and so on. Granted, that usually only matters in character creation, as thereafter you only need to be concerned about next rank costs current rank+1 in XP.

So World Tree has more frequent, smaller, increases in power. Especially with GMs like me who give you XP for scenes rather than just the whole session.

Another game I like, High Adventure Role Playing (HARP), uses character and party goals, and the XP amounts needed to level are much smaller than most versions of D&D I've played. Leveling in that system sometimes gives you another iteration of a special class ability, but mostly it gives you DPs to spend on skills and/or talents.

 

[Piratecat]

I tossed XP about the time that I realized I was making up ad hoc roleplaying awards in order to pace the campaign. I just formalized it by tossing XP. As a younger player I used to love XP, craving those last 15 xp before I'd go up a level, but I don't miss it (or the tracking) at all nowadays.

 

[Steel_Wind]

I've tried doing XP several ways -- and in the end, I think awarding them by the book, with the occasional extra "story award" when appropriate works best.

 

[Smoss]

Considering I made my OWN medieval fantasy RPG, I follow those xp rules well. Especially since XP is more like "build points" in my system.

So, I want the character to grow? Throw them an XP!

But as far as systems one can buy from some company? No, I don't use their XP systems. They are often goofy and reward the wrong things (IMHO).

Smoss

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I'm experimenting right now with a quest system. Basically the level up after three minor quests (which they could complete after an evening of play) or one major quest (which takes several nights of play). We've only been using it a few sessions, so we'll see how it goes.

 

[Stoat]

I gave up on giving out XP a while ago. By the end of a session, I'm tired, and I want to go to bed. I'm in no mood to do the number crunching required. After, I'm too interested on the next session to want to mess with it.

 

[Crazy Jerome]

I stopped using XP as written after about the first three years with 3E. Never went back. As near as I can tell, the only reason to use XP as written in our group is to handle characters leveling at a different rate. Since we don't want that, using it as written is counter-productive.

In 3E, we replaced the level drain with a variant of the temporary level loss that was floating around on the web. Since we were playing Arcana Evolved, we replaced the magic item XP component with a combination of Hero Points and GM fiat. (One Hero Point and Scribe Scroll let you scribe a whole bunch of scrolls.) Worked fine for us.

We found giving out Hero Points as individual rewards was sufficient to scratch that itch. In 4E, I do something similar with action points.

I do keep a rough total of XP for pacing purposes, but it really doesn't matter whether or not the players ever see it. (Sometimes they do; sometimes they don't.)

 

[Rel]

I came up with a couple alternative XP systems for 3.x that were popular among some folks around here back in the day. But there came a point when it seemed pretty pointless and the only reason (not a very good one) for me to track XP was for magic item creation. Since that cost went away with 4e then I dropped XP entirely and just leveled them on a regular basis (every three sessions).

Now that I'm running Savage Worlds I have one game where they gain an advance every other time we play (which is irregularly) and another (weekly) where I award 2XP per session. I don't use the Extra Bennies = XP rule. I could reasonably have done away with XP entirely but it's so simple in SW that either way is fine by me.

 

[Mallus]

No.

Characters level every few sessions or at the conclusion an adventure, which ever comes first. Our game isn't about leveling up, it's about the crazy adventures of our crazy characters in their quest for fame, fortune, goblin rights, and universal health care (the party dwarf is a Socialist).