Ways to earn xp?

[Vaxalon]

Quasqueton, given that the rules explicitly state that the answer is "yes" to all of these... what kind of answers did you expect?

 

[Quasqueton]

Quasqueton, given that the rules explicitly state that the answer is "yes" to all of these... what kind of answers did you expect?

Well, note that few above posters answered "yes" to all of them.

Quasqueton

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I would probably award most XP for battling the 40 bad guys - if fighting them is so risky that the odds of the entire party surviving is low. Greatest risk = greatest reward. For the other scenarios I would give XP for getting the mcguffin and a portion of the XP for "defeating" the foes. The total would probably be somewhere in the 75-90% of what it would be if they fought them. The exact amount would be based upon how creative the solution they used was.

 

[Quasqueton]

I'd like to add that I think #6 above is actually avoiding the challenge, and I probably would not award xp for the 40 badguys in that instance.

Several folks here have mentioned awarding xp for the mcguffin. How do you calculate the xp for an item? Do you have seperate xp for the badguys *and* the item? I mean, the badguys are the obstacle, right?

Quasqueton

 

[jerichothebard]

I'd like to add that I think #6 above is actually avoiding the challenge, and I probably would not award xp for the 40 badguys in that instance.

Why do you say that? I look at it this way: they accomplished their goal, they dealt with the obstacles, they got out. Avoiding an fight is the best way of winning it! Full XP.

Several folks here have mentioned awarding xp for the mcguffin. How do you calculate the xp for an item? Do you have seperate xp for the badguys *and* the item? I mean, the badguys are the obstacle, right?

Quasqueton

Not entirely - think of it this way:

XXXXX
XXXXX
XX$=B
XXXXX
XXXXX

$ is the treasure. = is a passageway, guarded by B(ad guys).

What's preventing them from getting to the $ ?

B.

And X.

So if they go through the bad guys, they have achieved their goal - gotten through the obstacle, gotten the treasure. But X is also responsible for keeping them from their goal. So, if they bypass X instead of B, what's the difference? Why give them less XP for taking the smart route and bypassing the tough encounter? That's playing smart!

 

[Campbell]

I use the experience system outlined in the World of Time rpg for my d20 games. You receive experience for completing the adventure, no matter how you approach it.

 

[Quasqueton]

Why do you say that? I look at it this way: they accomplished their goal, they dealt with the obstacles, they got out. Avoiding an fight is the best way of winning it! Full XP.

In the example (#6), the PCs completely avoided the obstacles. They didn't "deal with the obstacles". Now, if digging the hole meant concealing the effort from the badguys, or misdirecting the badguys, or holding off the badguys, or something else like that, then sure, they get xp. But if the badguys are *completely* avoided, they don't give xp.

If an ogre is guarding a path in the woods, and PCs walk an extra 3 miles out of their way to avoid encountering it, do they get xp? They may still reach their destination, but they didn't overcome the ogre obstacle. That's how I saw #6.

So if they go through the bad guys, they have achieved their goal - gotten through the obstacle, gotten the treasure. But X is also responsible for keeping them from their goal. So, if they bypass X instead of B, what's the difference? Why give them less XP for taking the smart route and bypassing the tough encounter? That's playing smart!

Well, if they completely avoid B (and I mean "completely avoid", vs. find a way through or around), why give them xp for B? Do you give xp for encounters completely avoided? (See above.)

If they overcome X to get at $, then shouldn't they get xp for X, not B? And what is the xp for 20 feet of rock wall? (And did the PCs overcome the rock wall, or did the sappers?)

And I ask again, for those of you who say you'd give xp for the mcguffin: how do you figure the xp value of it if not based off overcoming the obstacle(s) to getting it?

Quasqueton

 

[the_bruiser]

I just give XP for playing the game, so my answer to all of the listed situations would be "Yes". Of course, my system also means that they get the same amount of XP whether it was 40 bad guys, 4 bad guys, or 1 bad guy and 12 nice guys having a bad day.

I'm on board with Shilsen. After our sessions are done, I tag the session with a 1, 2, or 3, with 3 being best, based on the group getting started on time, people playing in character and not getting distracted, and just in general getting stuff accomplished. So the way I play the characters can - literally - earn as much experience talking to townspeople as fighting dragons; in the long run it all balances out, most characters go up one level for every 8-10 hours of playing time.

Nobody's complained yet, and this way nobody gets exasperated during the role-playing parts of our sessions, thinking, "Hey, hurry up, you're costing me experience!" Works for us, anyway.

 

[ConspiracyAngel]

Speaking from "experience"...

Consider this...

What do you consider your profession to be? I work in HR. I have over 8 years doing what I do. If I converted this to levels, then I would have to define what is "experience"?

Well in HR our main goal is to Hire, Fire, and Train. Just like adventurers... their main goals are to Live, Kill, and Seek. As an HR person, do I only gain experience in my career when I do these few things? For example:

A person in our company does drugs. He is a very, very important and valuable resource to the company. No one else knows this situation but me and his boss. It is against our policy to do drugs. Should I just fire him? Is that the choice that should get me the most "experience"? Or do I get the same, more, or less experience for counseling him, evaluating his and our needs, getting him help, retraining him, and saving this huge company asset? Do I not learn just as much, if not more, for making the extra effort to do something that is a little different?

An adventurer doesn't and shouldn't have to go in guns blazing. I think that it takes more skill to roleplay (without metagaming) the situation than it does to just kill your way through... unless you are a 7th level barbarian... then I guess you can just do that if you want to.

The point is to OVERCOME obstacles, whether you DEAL with them or choose not too... if they new about it, then they dealt with it... whether the GM admits it or not.

 

[Quasqueton]

Consider this...

Was this directed at me? <shrug>

The point is to OVERCOME obstacles, whether you DEAL with them or choose not too... if they new about it, then they dealt with it... whether the GM admits it or not.

Huh? How do you overcome an obstacle without dealing with it? In your example of the druggie employee: Is ignoring the problem and not doing anything "overcoming the obstacle"?

Or do I get the same, more, or less experience for counseling him, evaluating his and our needs, getting him help, retraining him, and saving this huge company asset?

Sounds like dealing with it and overcoming to me.

Quasqueton