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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Herpes Cineplex" data-source="post: 1924458" data-attributes="member: 16936">So why not abolish all XP awards for combat entirely?I'm serious about that.  Switch to story awards.  Let your players know that XP will be awarded for accomplishing things: if they figure out who the bad guys are, if they foil their opponents' schemes, if they perform heroic deeds which have an impact on the world around them, then they get XP.  If they just slaughter a bunch of dudes, that's not worth anything.Then hang another carrot in front of them, and let them know that XP will also be awarded for good roleplaying, for "heroic acts," and for willingly complicating their own characters' lives.  Suddenly, that encounter with a bunch of orcish mooks and an Orc Chief isn't just an exercise in pounding the snot out of them as efficiently as possible, it's a set of opportunities that they can exploit.  They might try to take prisoners, they might try to drive the orcs into a retreat and track them back to their village, they might take steps to fortify the nearby village and train the townspeople to defend themselves (thereby making the orcs want to move somewhere else where the pickings are easier), or any number of other things.  Or, y'know, they could bust out the spell artillery, make a pile of orc corpses in three rounds or less, and get absolutely nothing for their efforts.Doesn't matter if it's a goblin or a dragon or a full-on high-and-mighty god, just hacking it into itty bitty chunks gets you zero XP.  The story award only gets doled out when they actually do something that matters.--of course, they'll still get to take the stuff of the guys they kill, but xp > loot</blockquote>

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