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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 4803461" data-attributes="member: 3424">I'm not sure that giving out fixed amounts of XP is the solution. In fact, as alluded to by Ariosto in his post, I think that any solution that involves changing the way that XP is awarded kind of misses the original point.However you deal it out, XP is not the answer because, as the OP puts it, more XP just means that your character is better at taking out the trash. Essentially, the non-gamer does not consider earning XP to be satisfying or rewarding.So, the first thing that needs to change is the reward structure, and this means that the DM's mindset has to change, too. All those side benefits that DMs used to hand out in addition to gaining a level - membership in an elite organization, a position of responsibility and authority, noble titles, the respect of the common people, relationships with NPCs, etc. - are no longer the icing on the cake; they are the main course. The second key change would be a shift in emphasis from structured problem-solving (like most combats) to unstructured problem-solving (e.g. how do I help the poor?). Unstructured problem-solving puts a greater emphasis on skills that a DM may not use very often when dealing with structured problem-solving, e.g. improviziation, adjudicating the consquences of a variety of creative proposals (some of which he may not have thought of and prepared for), pacing the resolution of the challenge (adding complications and opportunities as necessary) so that it seems neither trivially easy nor frustratingly difficult, etc.A game with these elements would be very different from a typical session of D&D, though (at least, the way I play it).</blockquote>

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