D&D 5E EXP options That we use.

[Agamon]

I run this way too but sometimes as a player it can feel a little arbitrary as you are rwwarded with Xp no matter what you do. If xp are and feel like only a small part of the party achievement then this is lessened. Ie treasure, status and thwarting villains can be rewarding.

I've always seen XP as the means to an end. The party is trying to accomplish something. The reward is accomplishing it. Levelling up helps in that.

Mileage may vary for others in this regard, though.

 

[Joe Liker]

You're going to get a slightly different answer from every single DM because this really depends on the group and the type of campaign that's being played. The first thing you have to do is answer a few questions:

Where does the campaign fall on the story-based vs sandbox spectrum?
If it's a totally on-rails story, milestone level-ups are the way to go. If it's sandbox, you pretty much have to go with monster-kill XP. (You could assign self-directed quest XP in a sandbox game, but that involves a lot of guesswork and possibly negotiation.)

How much tolerance do your players have for story-based rewards?
Sounds like not much. But note that this can be mitigated by telling them ahead of time that they will level up (or gain a specified amount of XP) up reaching such-and-such goal. It's hard to do this without spoilers, but there's nothing wrong with pulling a switcheroo -- make them think they're pursuing one goal, then when they find out that the original goal is not what they thought, give them the same reward but for a different reason.

How fast do you want them to level up?
Obviously you have the most control over this if you don't use XP at all. But you can still control it to a degree even if you use monster XP. If you think the default rate is too fast, just multiply all XP rewards by some fraction. You should try to keep it consistent, however, and remember that the game is intentionally designed to speed parties through the first three or four levels very quickly.

How much work do you want to put into it?
Quest-based rewards require the most work if you intend to delineate the exact amount of XP ahead of time. Milestone level-ups are the easiest. Monster XP is on the easy side of in-between. I use a combination of monster XP and goal-based XP rewards, but the goal-based amount is done on an ad-hoc basis because I refuse to plan anything around what the group may or may not do. (My game is fairly sandboxy.)

One thing I like to do is grant XP for players who set (and fulfill) personal story-based goals. They only get this XP if the goal is completely fluffy and does not involve gaining equipment or mounts or stats or any other mechanical advantage. It must be done in the pursuit of fleshing out the character's background or making the world more interesting.

 

[CM]

We quickly stopped tracking xp with the introduction of 4e, since item crafting no longer required it. Haven't looked back and don't intend to. To me it's just useless drudgery and I haven't had a single player complain or even mention it.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

In another thread @LittleElvis said,

Here's one thing I do in 13th Age, though, and I think I've stolen this from a game called Old School Hack: Awesome Points. The party levels up once it has earned 12 Awesome Points. We award Awesome Points when players actually do awesome things. No keeping track of XP (not that you do that in 13th Age--you don't) or even encounters, and it encourages the players to be more creative.

Awesome indeed!!

 

[Nebulous]

In another thread @LittleElvis said,
Awesome indeed!!

Yeah, that's kinda cool. So I guess at 1st level, clearing the basement of 4 giant rats is pretty awesome!

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Yeah, that's kinda cool. So I guess at 1st level, clearing the basement of 4 giant rats is pretty awesome!

I'd definitely award an awesome point if they cleared the rats using a Rube Goldberg device!

 

[Lanefan]

I don't use XP either, haven't for years. My players could care less and it is far easier on me, not a bit of math to think about. I think some players (or many probably) like the feeling of granular progress as they creep toward the next level. XP just seemed so arbitrary and meant nothing to me until you hit X number that indicates you level up.

As I point out every time this comes up, the problem with arbitrary party-wide level-ups is that it unduly rewards the passengers: those characters (and-or players) who tend to sit back and let others take the risks. Having played with such, let me assure you the last thing I want is to see them get the same rewards that the risk-takers receive.

Per-encounter xp gives the DM the ability to only give xp to those who actually did something in said encounter; with the long-term result being that those characters who do more will tend to advance a bit faster - as they should.

The other problem with party-wide level-up is that in any party sooner or later you're going to end up with PCs of different levels (unless you're hard-forcing level parity, which to me is poor form) and if everyone levels up at once all the time the lower-level types will never catch up. At least with per-encounter xp and a j-curve advancement table the lower-level types have a chance.

Lanefan

 

[Bupp]

At the beginning of the campaign I verbally list off some of the things I give XP for, killing monsters, overcoming obstacles, solving problems, diplomacy, ect, ect, ect.

In reality I don't like being bothered with tracking all that. I used to do it, but don't like the tedium of it. So I award however many XP I want at the end of an adventure. I usually have an idea of where everyone is XP wise, how close to leveling, so I give enough for them to level when I want them to.

So it's a milestone leveling system with the illusion of individual XP awards. A hybrid system, if you will.

 

[Mouseferatu]

As I point out every time this comes up, the problem with arbitrary party-wide level-ups is that it unduly rewards the passengers: those characters (and-or players) who tend to sit back and let others take the risks. Having played with such, let me assure you the last thing I want is to see them get the same rewards that the risk-takers receive.

I don't play with such people, so I'm not worried about it. My group vastly prefers to avoid the bookkeeping and hassle of XP.

The other problem with party-wide level-up is that in any party sooner or later you're going to end up with PCs of different levels (unless you're hard-forcing level parity, which to me is poor form) and if everyone levels up at once all the time the lower-level types will never catch up.

If you're using this sort of leveling system, there's no need to "enforce" level parity. It's automatic.

Lanefan[/QUOTE]

 

[Lanefan]

I don't play with such people, so I'm not worried about it.

You're either uncommonly lucky, or uncommonly forgiving.

If you're using this sort of leveling system, there's no need to "enforce" level parity. It's automatic.

Sure, until someone loses a level somehow (a mechanic that absolutely should be in 5e, count me disappointed that it's not), or gains a level from something like a Deck of Many Things or divine favour or a wish or whatever. And this is assuming you-as-DM allow replacement characters (after deaths, retirements, etc.) to come into the party at the same level as the rest of the group; not everyone is cool with this.

Lan-"every experience point I have has been earned with blood, be it my own or someone else's"-efan