D&D 4E No Roleplaying XP in 4e

[BlindOgre]

Please show me the codified rules for roleplaying XP in 1e,2e,3e, or 3.5e.

Thanks.

BTW, old school RPGA amateur thespianistic roleplaying? Ick. Do Not Want.

AD&D First Edition DMG pg 84. Though speaking about character actions, such is generally the result of roleplaying by the player choosing the course of action for and behavior of the character:

"...The gaining of sufficient experience points is necessary to
indicate that a character is eligible to gain a level of experience, but the
actual award is a matter for you, the DM, to decide.
Consider the natural functions of each class of character. Consider also the
professed alignment of each character. Briefly assess the performance of
each character after an adventure. Did he or she perform basically in the
character of his or her class? Were his or her actions in keeping with his or
her professed alignment? Mentally classify the overall performance as:
E - Excellent, few deviations from norm = 1
S- Superior, deviations minimal but noted =2
F - Fair performance, more norm than deviations =3
P- Poor showing with aberrant behavior =4
Clerics who refuse to help and heal or do not remain faithful to their deity,
fighters who hang bock from combat or attempt to steal, or fail to boldly
lead, magic-users who seek to engage in melee or ignore magic items
they could employ in crucial situations, thieves who boldly engage in
frontal attacks or refrain from acquisition of an extra bit of treasure when
the opportunity presents itself, "cautious" characters who do not pull their
own weight - these are all clear examples of a POOR rating..."

There are other examples - I just knew where to find this one immediately.

Regarding the old-school RPGA thespian roleplaying, I've always found such to be a good bit of fun... but then, I'm an old-school RPGA thespian

 

[pawsplay]

Most of the objections can be addressed by only awarding one XP prize to the best roleplayer at the table for the night.

 

[DandD]

AD&D First Edition DMG pg 84. Though speaking about character actions, such is generally the result of roleplaying by the player choosing the course of action for and behavior of the character:

"...The gaining of sufficient experience points is necessary to
indicate that a character is eligible to gain a level of experience, but the
actual award is a matter for you, the DM, to decide.
Consider the natural functions of each class of character. Consider also the
professed alignment of each character. Briefly assess the performance of
each character after an adventure. Did he or she perform basically in the
character of his or her class? Were his or her actions in keeping with his or
her professed alignment? Mentally classify the overall performance as:
E - Excellent, few deviations from norm = 1
S- Superior, deviations minimal but noted =2
F - Fair performance, more norm than deviations =3
P- Poor showing with aberrant behavior =4
Clerics who refuse to help and heal or do not remain faithful to their deity,
fighters who hang bock from combat or attempt to steal, or fail to boldly
lead, magic-users who seek to engage in melee or ignore magic items
they could employ in crucial situations, thieves who boldly engage in
frontal attacks or refrain from acquisition of an extra bit of treasure when
the opportunity presents itself, "cautious" characters who do not pull their
own weight - these are all clear examples of a POOR rating..."

There are other examples - I just knew where to find this one immediately.

Regarding the old-school RPGA thespian roleplaying, I've always found such to be a good bit of fun... but then, I'm an old-school RPGA thespian

That's how such a thing should be dealt with.

 

[BlindOgre]

I am glad to know that D&D 4th edition will not support the dumb idea of "roleplaying XP"-awards.

Hmmm... So, should we be referring to 4e as a "Roleplaying" game?

Never mind... Silly rhetorical question.

 

[marune]

Hmmm... So, should we be referring to 4e as a "Roleplaying" game?

Never mind... Silly rhetorical question.

Narration / In-character acting are components of a role-playing game, like is character creation and resolution of actions (with dice rolls) in the imagined universe.

I.E. Playing a role-playing game means to create a character, use mechanisms defined in rules books to interact in the shared imagined universe and describe those interaction with narration / acting.

A reward system, like XP, is a way for a game to say to the players what they should try to achieve playing the game.

D&D is about overcoming challenges (combat, negotiations, avoiding hazards and traps, solving mysteries, etc.), so XP is awarded when a challenge is overcome.

Quests XP are fine if Quests act as an extra challenge, for example, the players have to destroy the Cult leaders and return the prisoners alive (that means that they must act fast and/or avoid destroying the Cult HQ).

 

[FadedC]

AD&D First Edition DMG pg 84. Though speaking about character actions, such is generally the result of roleplaying by the player choosing the course of action for and behavior of the character:

"...The gaining of sufficient experience points is necessary to
indicate that a character is eligible to gain a level of experience, but the
actual award is a matter for you, the DM, to decide.
Consider the natural functions of each class of character. Consider also the
professed alignment of each character. Briefly assess the performance of
each character after an adventure. Did he or she perform basically in the
character of his or her class? Were his or her actions in keeping with his or
her professed alignment? Mentally classify the overall performance as:
E - Excellent, few deviations from norm = 1
S- Superior, deviations minimal but noted =2
F - Fair performance, more norm than deviations =3
P- Poor showing with aberrant behavior =4
Clerics who refuse to help and heal or do not remain faithful to their deity,
fighters who hang bock from combat or attempt to steal, or fail to boldly
lead, magic-users who seek to engage in melee or ignore magic items
they could employ in crucial situations, thieves who boldly engage in
frontal attacks or refrain from acquisition of an extra bit of treasure when
the opportunity presents itself, "cautious" characters who do not pull their
own weight - these are all clear examples of a POOR rating..."

Interesting to note that very few of the examples they give have anything to do with roleplaying but more with playing your character effectively. Kind of underscores the point of the article........why should we give xp for acting skill but not other things like rules knowledge.

 

[BlindOgre]

Most of the objections can be addressed by only awarding one XP prize to the best roleplayer at the table for the night.

Yep... in my experience, that does seem to work best. I like the pennies idea for keeping track during the session... I've similarly used poker chips.

 

[Rex Blunder]

To be fair, the DMG passage quoted was not about awarding extra XP, but penalizing players who didn't fulfill their class roles by making them spend extra time and money before they could level up in their class.

1e was generally less concerned with "thespianic roleplaying" and more with "player skill" -- i.e. tactics and cleverness. I'm sure we can come up with many EGG quotes which support this hypothesis.

 

[Raduin711]

We gave RP XP off and on, and usually it just turned into a standard xp bonus.

I think the fact that they are talking about it this time around (I don't recall any mention of RP XP during the introduction of 3e) may be an indication that the game was designed without the assumption that DM's would give out bonus xp, which is a good thing.

 

[BlindOgre]

Interesting to note that very few of the examples they give have anything to do with roleplaying but more with playing your character effectively. Kind of underscores the point of the article........why should we give xp for acting skill but not other things like rules knowledge.

D&D Rules Cyclopedia (1991), Ch. 10, page 127:
"In the game, there are five normal ways for player charactes to acquire experience:
1. By Role-Playing Well
2. By Achieving Party Goals
3. By Defeating Monsters and Opponents
4. By Acquiring Treasure
5. By Performing Exceptional Actions

...Exceptional Role-Playing: Finally, whenever a player performs some role-playing that really impresses the DM, the DM can award him some extra experience. Such a demonstration of role-playing might be an emotional encounter with an NPC, reacting to the loss of a loved one, spontaneously composing a speech that motivates the army of NPCs and improves their mood, and so forth. If the demonstration of role-playing enlivens the game, impresses the DM, or makes for a very memorable scene, the DM may decide to give the player a bonus. The bonus given to the character should be about one twentieth the points it takes him to get from his current level to the nest. Don't use his current experience point total: use the base number... A character should not receive more than one such bonus in a single play session. even if he role-plays well throughout the session."

There are many more examples in the various rules for granting XP for role-playing. The point is that such has indeed been codified and part of the game for a very long time.