Just need 20 more xp!

[Dannyalcatraz]

Thanks for all the xp on my OP, but I really wasn't trying to get it.

Yes, we know...but we had our jollies anyway!

 

[Celebrim]

I'm wondering if this phenomenon was a common thing among other groups back in the day, and if it is still a thing for some these days?

Bullgrit

It's pretty common. I remember one memorable session where the fighter ended up 1 XP short of what he needed to make name level, and so he went looking for something - anything to kill - and he eventually found a flock of ducks. After killing the duck, he was initially chagrined when the DM refused to reward XP for the duck (ruling that, since the duck was a noncombatant, it represented no threat), so the fighter just brought the duck back to the party and cooked it. Thereafter, slaying ducks was a running gag.

In my current campaign, one party member ended up 17 XP short of leveling at the end of a session. Soloing a giant rat would have indeed leveled the character up at that point, though it would have required 3-4 if it was split amongst the party.

I should also note though that even back in 1e, I never enforced the training rules and allowed leveling in mid-play. This was because I felt the training rules constrained the campaign too much to scenarios where you went to the dungeon and then returned in the evening to the haven. It didn't seem fair to suggest that no one got tougher while spending four months in the wilderness, or to punish the players for my pushing the plot away from civilization. As such, usually when a player is 17 XP away, he'll start asking that I award XP after every encounter.