Granting XP help

[pemerton]

Because the DM can police it, to make sure that the players haven't just arranged to stage this dramatic conversion for the cheap XP.

If my players are arranging to stage dramatic conversions that add to the game, they're welcome to the XP!

 

[Sunseeker]

If my players are arranging to stage dramatic conversions that add to the game, they're welcome to the XP!

That's the trick through isn't it, and why a DM has to police the issue to begin with. It's one thing for a couple players to talk in and out of game/character about possibly doing something amazing, from changing their faith to building homes for the homeless. When this is true and honest RP, it's great!

But sometimes it isn't good and honest. Sometimes it's "Hey Bob I want some XP, let my character convert yours to your religion!" "Well okay Phil, but how will that get you XP?" "Well Bob I told the DM that my character's goal was to convert everyone, so if you just write my god's name on your sheet, i'll get XP!"

Personally, when a player asks "What can I do to get more XP?" it says a one of two things to me.
A: That player is greedy and wants more for themselves.
B: The game lacks enough XP/opportunities for the players.

A player asking how they can act on the desires, goals, and wishes of their character is a great thing. Working that out with other players and the DM is also a great thing. But "asking for XP" strikes me more as a player trying to get something they want without having to actually earn it.

 

[pemerton]

Well Bob I told the DM that my character's goal was to convert everyone, so if you just write my god's name on your sheet, i'll get XP!

In what sense is that a dramatic conversion?

 

[Sunseeker]

In what sense is that a dramatic conversion?

I was referring to the fact that shallow motivations can be hidden behind dramatic roleplay that is really pre-planned as nothing more than an XP grab.

 

[pemerton]

I was referring to the fact that shallow motivations can be hidden behind dramatic roleplay that is really pre-planned as nothing more than an XP grab.

But if it's dramatic roleplay, why should I care that the motivations are "shallow"?

 

[Manbearcat]

I was referring to the fact that shallow motivations can be hidden behind dramatic roleplay that is really pre-planned as nothing more than an XP grab.

But if it's dramatic roleplay, why should I care that the motivations are "shallow"?

Better still, how could you assertively confirm it and then commit to adjudicating the consequences? As a GM, this sort of "referee of the ambiguous" or "assertively clarify the murkiness of the ether and consistently apply that clarification in the future" is the exact sort of thing I wish to avoid in an RPG ruleset. Its made considerably worse when the "opposition" is more emotionally and psychologically loaded than just "words on a page".

What's more, it seems to me that "shallow" incentives/carrots (bennies etc) for properly rendering your character archetype/theme or genre expectations is sound game design. The last thing I want to do is make that relationship dysfunctional. If players properly rendering their character archetypes and adhering to genre expectations sows "fun"...and "fun" is the sought "end"...then whatever "means" are used to get there (so long as they do not perturb the rest of the system or the table dynamics) is superfluous.