How do you prefer to earn/award XPs?

[T. Foster]

I prefer about 80% to come from goals (which usually means treasure, but if the DM has designed an adventure in which the goal isn't to gain treasure, he should also modify the XP rewards appropriately -- or at least not wonder why the players are more interested in gathering treasure than accomplishing their ostensible goal...). Combat is, for me, one of the least fun parts of the game, so I really don't like XP-rewarding schemes that expect/force me to spend a lot of time in combat and especially ones that punish rather than reward me for successfully avoiding it.

 

[Phlebas]

i use CR for xp where CR doesn't always equal combat.

It probably comes out 3/4 combat and the rest is traps, puzzles, goals (rescue this item etc) and rp challenges. i'd probably prefer a 50/50 set up but that means too much houseruling on cr and i'm basically lazy....

 

[Jhaelen]

i use CR for xp where CR doesn't always equal combat.

Same here. I'm looking forward to the new 4E encounter types. They should make it easier to assign appropriate XP awards for non-combat situations.

 

[LostSoul]

If you award for goals, you're telling the players "Don't have your characters decide their own goals, and don't worry about your characters' reasons for accomplishing my preset goals, you're just doing it for the level."

Unless you award for player-defined goals.

 

[Flynn]

I chose Other. I give each non-combat encounter of significance a CR, and treat the resolution of that scene as if the party defeated a creature of the given CR. Therefore, it depends on how many combat versus non-combat scenes of significance there are in the adventure as to the split, and it varies with each adventure (although if I write them myself, it's about 60/40 on combat/non-combat at lower levels, on the average, balancing out as the levels get higher).

The players are made aware of this award process in the beginning, and we move forward from there. I feel it encourages a progress-oriented game instead of a combat-oriented game.

With Regards,
Flynn

 

[Woas]

I run an Iron Heroes game currently which is heavily focused on combat. So you'd think I'd vote 100%. But I didn't! It's actually more like 80%. Which is still pretty significant but there have been several times that negotiations and such gained the characters XP.

 

[Masquerade]

Other. Forget XP - level at the speed of plot. As a player, I much prefer this.

Same here. I prefer to level when the DM agrees it's the right time.

 

[Roadkill101]

I don't run any D20 style games as a GM, so my response on how I prefer to award XP is a little bit skewed due to system differences. I personally prefer to award XP based upon completion of goals, where the amount of the award is greater based upon the amount of physical danger the PC's found themselves in.

The game I play in (which is D20), the GM prefers to to simply say "level up." I'm not sure what exactly he's basing his ruling on, but I prefer it to be more than just body count.

 

[Arnwyn]

For us, we like 70/30 in favor of combat. Maybe even 80/20.

 

[Fenes]

I prefer to not earn/award XPs for anything to do with in-game events. I'd much rather that XPs be awarded to keep the party advancing at a speed the DM is comfortable with. That also, in my estimation and experience, frees players up to have their PCs do precisely what they think they should in any given situation without worrying about whether it would earn them XP and how much.

In fact, I'd rather just drop XP and have PCs advance a level every few sessions.

That's how we do it in our campaigns. Although "every few sessions" becomes more like "once a year" at higher levels (playing weekly).