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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7754325" data-attributes="member: 29398">In 2e, possibly.In 1e as written, the vast majority of earned xp (at least in published modules of the era) comes from recovery of treasure; assuming the PCs are the least bit efficient at scooping the loot they find.  [MENTION=3854]Quasqueton[/MENTION] did a bunch of detailed analyses years and years ago on just this; the threads he started to discuss the results are buried in here somewhere if you want to dig 'em up.It's odd, but I agree with the last line of this for my own preferences (I prefer level-up to be a side effect of play rather than the reason for playing) while greatly disagreeing with the logic and points that got you there.The way I see it, xp (or levels if using a non-xp model) have moved from a reward for individual PC achievement to a reward for collective player participation.In and of themselves, no; but they are reflecting a societal shift towards rewarding participation for its own sake rather than rewarding achievements within that participation.You call it a pacing device, I call it a reward for showing up, and it's the same thing - as long as you're at the table every week you get the xp regardless of what your PC does in the game.Which means there's no game-mechanical incentive for your PC to do anything special, or to go above and beyond; while there is a mechanical incentive (you'll get the xp anyway) for hanging back and letting others take the risk.Ah, but there is. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  We have a thing we call "dungeon bonus" given out at the end of each adventure, reflecting a combination of mission achievement or success (which means if the mission failed they get less!) and xp for all the little class-based things a typical character does every day that don't otherwise get tracked.  We brought it in when we took out xp-for-g.p. as a vague wave at a replacement, though the dungeon bonus is nowhere near the amount of xp that treasure-based would have been.See above re incentives and disincentives.  Also doesn't account for things done by just one PC, or by a split party.Lanefan</blockquote>

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