Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
How Do You Reward Attendance and Participation?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Ruin Explorer" data-source="post: 7871136" data-attributes="member: 18"><p>These seem like table problems, not milestone problems. I don't mean that as an attack but I've been running milestone (i.e. DM sez when) since I first heard it suggested (3E sometime?) and I've literally never seen any of these issues, including the "players don't go off-mission", because if anything, my players go off-mission MORE on milestone than they did pre-milestone, because they're no longer concern that messing around doing what they think is cool will hold them back from getting XP!</p><p></p><p>I used to give out tons of XP for RP and stunts and stuff, and that, in my experience made players who weren't good at doing what it took to get that XP feel apathy or less involved. Especially in 3E, where the XP tables became one XP table, so if you were a level or two behind, that was clearly down to less XP, not down to being a Mage or whatever. Now I see everyone involved, because everyone is excited to be playing an RPG.</p><p></p><p>It may also be that you're running milestone very literally - i.e. achieve a major goal, get a level. I don't run it like that. I run it as "You all level up when it seems reasonable that you would". The other 5E DMs I play with IRL all run it the same way (to the point where I hadn't considered you might not until now). Not "because you defeated the duke", but because it seems like, after so many sessions and events, you should level up (though that may well coincide with defeating the duke). That your players are mission-obsessed suggests to me that you might be running it in a very literal way, so they can see a goal and know that means a level-up. Which is probably not ideal. For me it's more about hours at the table than actual progress on missions that leads to leveling with milestones (though both factor in).</p><p></p><p>Also re: character rewards, if leveling is the only thing your players care about well, that's your problem right there.</p><p></p><p>Magic items aren't a given in 5E. They aren't needed. They aren't part of the calculation (really). You don't have to have a Cloak of Resistance +2 at level X or you break the math (unlike 3.XE, where that was explicitly the case). So you can reward people with them for stuff - especially for going off-mission, if that's the issue. Indeed, thinking about my main 5E campaign, virtually all the best magic items the PCs have, have indeed come from going "off-mission".</p><p></p><p>Inspiration points or Hero points replace the small XP rewards of the past very well, but have the benefit of not making players feel excluded in the same way. Give them out freely and explore alternatives to the default Inspiration system.</p><p></p><p>In-setting titles and respect can mean a lot to players, even ones you wouldn't expect, too. So can fat stacks of cash. Even if the players have no idea what to do with it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ruin Explorer, post: 7871136, member: 18"] These seem like table problems, not milestone problems. I don't mean that as an attack but I've been running milestone (i.e. DM sez when) since I first heard it suggested (3E sometime?) and I've literally never seen any of these issues, including the "players don't go off-mission", because if anything, my players go off-mission MORE on milestone than they did pre-milestone, because they're no longer concern that messing around doing what they think is cool will hold them back from getting XP! I used to give out tons of XP for RP and stunts and stuff, and that, in my experience made players who weren't good at doing what it took to get that XP feel apathy or less involved. Especially in 3E, where the XP tables became one XP table, so if you were a level or two behind, that was clearly down to less XP, not down to being a Mage or whatever. Now I see everyone involved, because everyone is excited to be playing an RPG. It may also be that you're running milestone very literally - i.e. achieve a major goal, get a level. I don't run it like that. I run it as "You all level up when it seems reasonable that you would". The other 5E DMs I play with IRL all run it the same way (to the point where I hadn't considered you might not until now). Not "because you defeated the duke", but because it seems like, after so many sessions and events, you should level up (though that may well coincide with defeating the duke). That your players are mission-obsessed suggests to me that you might be running it in a very literal way, so they can see a goal and know that means a level-up. Which is probably not ideal. For me it's more about hours at the table than actual progress on missions that leads to leveling with milestones (though both factor in). Also re: character rewards, if leveling is the only thing your players care about well, that's your problem right there. Magic items aren't a given in 5E. They aren't needed. They aren't part of the calculation (really). You don't have to have a Cloak of Resistance +2 at level X or you break the math (unlike 3.XE, where that was explicitly the case). So you can reward people with them for stuff - especially for going off-mission, if that's the issue. Indeed, thinking about my main 5E campaign, virtually all the best magic items the PCs have, have indeed come from going "off-mission". Inspiration points or Hero points replace the small XP rewards of the past very well, but have the benefit of not making players feel excluded in the same way. Give them out freely and explore alternatives to the default Inspiration system. In-setting titles and respect can mean a lot to players, even ones you wouldn't expect, too. So can fat stacks of cash. Even if the players have no idea what to do with it. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
How Do You Reward Attendance and Participation?
Top