Promoting the entire party's experience level at the same time

[Hrothgar Rannúlfr]

Anyone here play in a group where the entire adventuring party is promoted in experience levels at the same time? So instead of micro-managing each character's individual tally, the DM (via estimation or elaborate math equations) just keeps track of one experience point pool and everyone goes from 5th to 6th level at the same time, for example.

Good idea for you, or would you prefer to keep your experience gains -- or lack thereof -- entirely to yourself?

We used to do that, but now we've mixed up the characters in the group so that not everyone is the same level (new characters).

Essentially, we're running two groups in the same region and members of each group trade to the other group when the story permits.

 

[Tewligan]

Hm, I'm in the minority, I guess. In the group I was in before I moved, everyone got individual xp. In addition to the regular group xp, individual characters would get bonus xp for completing personal goals, good roleplaying, etc. I prefer it that way, personally - I feel like I'm earning the xp rather than just getting it because it's time for everyone to level up.

 

[Grymar]

I hand it out individually. Some people don't make it to a session...they get left behind and don't get XP. Plus I give out XP for doing things like keeping an updated character sheet on our wiki and writing up session summaries. I have the XP for everyone kept on the same wiki site too, so there isn't any confusion about how much any single player has.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I tend to just do the "level up the group every so often, as appropriate for their actions and the campaign." It's must simpler, and most of the group prefers it that way.

 

[Asmor]

I give out exp to everyone equally, barring significant personal advancements.

The DM in the game I'm playing in right now just tells people when they level up... It's actually kind of vexing, since I wanted my character in that game to scribe a lot of scrolls.

 

[Driddle]

In the last gaming group I joined we each kept track of our points, sometimes down to splitting big monsters according to whether a PC had taken part in the slay-action -- if you helped even a little, you got a share; otherwise none for that particular critter.

On one hand it was kind of nice to be aware of the experience-level markers because it gave you an idea of how close you were getting. On the other hand, it encouraged a video-game kill mentality just to rack up more points.

Back in high school the point-shares were everything.

 

[jmucchiello]

We use collective XP. So even magic item creation/spells with xp components come out of the collective XP total. It saves all sorts of headaches. Next game we'll probably just level up at DM discretion and drop XP costs entirely.

 

[Jubilee]

I have one GM who micromanages everyone's xp and tells us privately when we level. Why he gives himself this added chore is a mystery to me.

One GM keeps track of the XP for the group as a whole and tells us when it's time to level (actually, I think he just levels us when he feels like we should, or when he eventually remembers to calculate the xp we've gotten for the last several big fights - once he commented to me as he was prepping for his game (he's my husband), "You guys were supposed to level two sessions ago. Oops.")

One GM awards experience to us individually and lets us track it (we have an artificer in the group so this is somewhat necessary). We also can get experience the group doesn't get for completing personal tasks and those who write journals get a 10% xp boost (mostly this keeps the artificer from falling behind the group).

One GM always awards us all the same experience, regardless of if someone was missing or whether one person did something more extraordinary than anyone else, so we all essentially level at the same time, but we keep the number on our character sheets so he doesn't have to remember to keep track of it himself.

When I have GM'd in the past, I used preferred the last approach, although if I were running an adventure path or the world's largest dungeon, I would go with the "level when it's appropriate" method. As a player, it's easiest for me if the GM just tells us when it's time to level =)

 

[Harmon]

Never level during an adventure, and the GM keeps track of it so he can slow or increase our level gains as needed for the future campaigns. Makes his life as a GM easier.

Also we have been playing the same characters seen the on set of 3e and have only just recently gotten to 14th lvl.

General session length- about 6-10 hours, once per week (about 45x/year due to life).

I like the GM keeping track and I like the slow motion of the campaign advancement. I have played in campaigns where the GM allowed advancement way to quickly (I recall advancing to 3 rd or 4th lvl being given xp and finding that i was the next level (4th or 5th)). Plus my wife isn't one for character advancement, she would rather tell me the skills and such she's focusing on and spells she wants and allow me to do it.

 

[Lanefan]

When DMing, I give out individual ExP for each combat or encounter, to those characters who participated in it. It's easy enough to keep track of during a session, and it means those who take the risk and get involved get the ExP reward. I don't care if characters don't all bump at the same time.

Every DM I've ever played under does the same. And, as a player, I'd really have some pointed questions starting with 'why' were it done any other way.

Lanefan