Handing out XP in your campaigns
- Thread starter tjoneslo
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Wombat
First Post
We hand out awards at the end of a given adventure, based on various encounters, roleplaying, story elements, and other factors.
By handing out XP per adventure, rather than per session, we get rid of the messy question of "How do you actually become stronger in the middle of a story?"
By handing out XP per adventure, rather than per session, we get rid of the messy question of "How do you actually become stronger in the middle of a story?"
Sinjucala
First Post
I am not honestly sure where how I evaluate XP falls, though perhaps story and session are the closest of the categories given. For the curious, instead of just saying I do this or that, I thought some explanation wouldn't hurt. Here is how I explain XP to my players, new and old.
I break things down and these are my top five general categories of experience. I usually evaluate experience for everyone in these categories and provide feedback from my perspective as the GM so they understand how I got the numbers I did for each category (where they apply).
Group: [Essentially, the experience the entire group earns together. This encompasses all conflicts that the group together overcomes or surmounts. This can range from battles to riddles; outmaneuvering a foe, surpassing use of tactics, overcoming an obstacle through combined use of skills, etc.]
Leadership: [This requires a little explanation. Essentially, it is how well you lead within the limitations of your character. This is more than barking orders and getting the party to go where you want them to go. That is only a small portion of the whole. Leadership encompasses how you play your character and whether it inspires the rest of the group or just one other person to role-play more than they did previously. It also holds within it how well you teach the other players to game well; whether by guiding a new player in understanding the rules without taking away from the game or sharing your experience with others.]
Character Development: [Separate from role-playing is how well you develop your character from the first game to the next. Are they always stagnant or do they change with events? Are you taking the time to react and think like your character would? Acting like you were bound or unleashed by their cultural mores? Or to be blunt, is your character a piece of paper dotted with magik items for definition, or a personality that is no more restricted by the paper it is written on than our own?]
Role-playing: [How well do you game? Do you drop deeply into the storyline and reflect on events like your character would? If you are the strong silent type, do you live up to that appellation? If you are the boisterous, but well meaning, do you act that way? Essentially, this is how you played the role you defined at character creation and continue to define in game play. It also encompasses how you make mechanics (adding levels, stat, etc) reflect in game play, the story, and other like things.]
Story: [A measurement of how you interact with the ongoing storyline. Do you change its direction, nurture it along, or build it into something altogether different? This is tightly related to role-playing and character development.]
Every since I have started doing this it has made character development and role playing explode. The feedback makes the players as a whole feel better on how some players can progress faster than others.
I break things down and these are my top five general categories of experience. I usually evaluate experience for everyone in these categories and provide feedback from my perspective as the GM so they understand how I got the numbers I did for each category (where they apply).
Group: [Essentially, the experience the entire group earns together. This encompasses all conflicts that the group together overcomes or surmounts. This can range from battles to riddles; outmaneuvering a foe, surpassing use of tactics, overcoming an obstacle through combined use of skills, etc.]
Leadership: [This requires a little explanation. Essentially, it is how well you lead within the limitations of your character. This is more than barking orders and getting the party to go where you want them to go. That is only a small portion of the whole. Leadership encompasses how you play your character and whether it inspires the rest of the group or just one other person to role-play more than they did previously. It also holds within it how well you teach the other players to game well; whether by guiding a new player in understanding the rules without taking away from the game or sharing your experience with others.]
Character Development: [Separate from role-playing is how well you develop your character from the first game to the next. Are they always stagnant or do they change with events? Are you taking the time to react and think like your character would? Acting like you were bound or unleashed by their cultural mores? Or to be blunt, is your character a piece of paper dotted with magik items for definition, or a personality that is no more restricted by the paper it is written on than our own?]
Role-playing: [How well do you game? Do you drop deeply into the storyline and reflect on events like your character would? If you are the strong silent type, do you live up to that appellation? If you are the boisterous, but well meaning, do you act that way? Essentially, this is how you played the role you defined at character creation and continue to define in game play. It also encompasses how you make mechanics (adding levels, stat, etc) reflect in game play, the story, and other like things.]
Story: [A measurement of how you interact with the ongoing storyline. Do you change its direction, nurture it along, or build it into something altogether different? This is tightly related to role-playing and character development.]
Every since I have started doing this it has made character development and role playing explode. The feedback makes the players as a whole feel better on how some players can progress faster than others.
the Jester
Legend
My xp system, which I have posted so many times I oughta bookmark one so I can just cut & paste:
1. Figure xp per dmg, using standard system.
2. Cut this in half.
3. Add in roleplaying xp. I divide this into four categories: class, race, alignment and personal. Simply using abilities doesn't work; it's how you use them. I make it very easy to get all four categories. Each category yields 25 x character level, so (for example) a 2nd level pc who gets all four earns 200 xp for roleplaying.
4. Add in xp for props (miniatures, picture, etc) and for lubricating the game (eg. helping the dm take notes, picking up the player who's stranded when it's inconvenient, etc) at the same rate as roleplaying xp- 25 x level per category.
Occasionally pcs will earn double rp xp in a category, but I keep that rare.
My system has (imho) the advantages of being easy to use and for the players to understand, of promoting roleplaying amongst the pcs, and of ever so slightly slowing advancement (again, imho 3e advances characters too quickly by default). It helps encourage the pcs to help me out with arduous dming tasks, too- the notetaking we do is extensive because everyone digs the story hours, so the fact that I don't have to do it helps keep the moving.
1. Figure xp per dmg, using standard system.
2. Cut this in half.
3. Add in roleplaying xp. I divide this into four categories: class, race, alignment and personal. Simply using abilities doesn't work; it's how you use them. I make it very easy to get all four categories. Each category yields 25 x character level, so (for example) a 2nd level pc who gets all four earns 200 xp for roleplaying.
4. Add in xp for props (miniatures, picture, etc) and for lubricating the game (eg. helping the dm take notes, picking up the player who's stranded when it's inconvenient, etc) at the same rate as roleplaying xp- 25 x level per category.
Occasionally pcs will earn double rp xp in a category, but I keep that rare.
My system has (imho) the advantages of being easy to use and for the players to understand, of promoting roleplaying amongst the pcs, and of ever so slightly slowing advancement (again, imho 3e advances characters too quickly by default). It helps encourage the pcs to help me out with arduous dming tasks, too- the notetaking we do is extensive because everyone digs the story hours, so the fact that I don't have to do it helps keep the moving.
Haltherrion
First Post
I do pretty much the same thing. You didn't mention varying the session award based on how the session went but I do that as well. I shoot for a similar rate of advancement. Also do the no-show 50% award.BiggusGeekus said:
My reasons are partly similar to yours (works well with less frequent sessions) but also:
- I think the EL/CR system suggests alot more accuracy than is actually present. It's like measuring 20 jello cubes with a micrometer and computing the volume. I say mash them all in a measuring cup and measure once
- I like to pace my campaigns. Campaigns have a finite life time and my players and I would generally like to achieve a certain level by the end. Session awards cuts to the chase. If I want X sessions per level, it is pretty easy to figure out what the average session ought to be worth.
- It is pretty darn simple.
- It eliminates arguments about EL/CR calculation when I do mixed encounter groups, which I do a lot.
Marc
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