What does XP mean to you?

[Rackhir]

Actually, IIRC, there were two successful ambushes on Skull Island, i.e. the forest trolls and the dragon. The singing tree was heard at a distance, the dinosaur swarm spent two rounds sitting around and chirping before attacking, the hill giant group was heard coming and ambushed by you guys, the drider + dolgrims and the PCs went at each other the same time, the hill giants + fire giant got ambushed by the PCs, and so on.

Player memories are notoriously unreliable things

There was also the displacement creatures at the start of the island.

The micro-dino swarm "warning" was "You see A small chirping dinosaur" for a round (clearly something that should cause us to flee for the hills since we'd never seen or encountered them before). Then the swarm showing up with no warning.

The Singing Tree was "You hear a song. Make a save".

While we did get two whole turns of warning before the Dino stampeed, for what good it did us, as we were in a rift with steep cliffs for sides and no place to hide or get out of the way.

DM memories are also apparently unreliable things.

 

[ruleslawyer]

I use XP as a purely metagame construct. It does effectively create an in-game conceit (although my players haven't voiced it): Namely, that facing great challenges causes heroes to rise to the occasion. I use the Conan model: The heroes are incredibly talented people who learn the arts of combat, magic, and great skill far more quickly and easily than warriors with decades more experience. The reason I use XP rather than declaring level-ups is because I like to vary advancement depending on how grueling or "successful" a session was; it's basically a tool for me to vary the pace of the campaign.

I don't give out more XP to players for inspired roleplaying, or less for missing sessions; rather, my own reward system uses glory points (the Iron Heroes version of fate or action points).

 

[shilsen]

There was also the displacement creatures at the start of the island.

Where everyone blew their Spot checks other than one NPC porter, hence a surprise round.

The micro-dino swarm "warning" was "You see A small chirping dinosaur" for a round (clearly something that should cause us to flee for the hills since we'd never seen or encountered them before). Then the swarm showing up with no warning.

A number of PCs heard lots of chirping ahead, with enough time for Luna to fly in that direction, hear a lot more chirping and rustling in the undergrowth, and return to report about it. Followed, a couple of rounds later, by more chirping nearby and the appearance of a dozen dinosaurs, which moved up to the party. Gareth attacked one and then the swarm attacked. Ambush?

The Singing Tree was "You hear a song. Make a save".

And PCs/NPCs who weren't affected got 5-6 rds of preparation before they got to it, which some used for protective spells and such.

While we did get two whole turns of warning before the Dino stampeed, for what good it did us, as we were in a rift with steep cliffs for sides and no place to hide or get out of the way.

True. Sometimes happens. But there's a big difference between happening and being ambushed 60%-80% of the time with no recourse.

DM memories are also apparently unreliable things.

Check the writeups for the above.

Anyway, this doesn't have much to do with XP, so we can discuss it via email if you really do feel your PCs are too persecuted.

 

[Mycanid]

Well ... I honestly don't mind using the old system of pc's getting xp for defeating opponents. For me it just makes sense somehow.

The old system of xp for treasure, whether coins or magic items (as I mentioned elsewhere) I think is just plain foolish. I did back then and I think so now.

I do like the idea of awarding xp for "realistic" rp'ing (as long as it does not injure or massively slow down the overall game!) , for "problem solving, or for dealing with difficult problems in heroic ways ... yes, I usually run my adventures for "good" aligned pc's as the understood reference point, and base "rewards" xp wise with that in mind.

That's really about it. I know I will have many who disagree with me on this one. I really am not much of a "rules lawyer" ... I really don't have the brain for it! But I do have a clear understanding of what the adventures will be like when I DM and what kind of character I want to be like and want to adventure with, and therefore stay within particular parameters pretty frquently.

Is it a surprise that I also am quite fond of super-hero rp'ing games? I liked the "Karma" system in the old Marvel game. (Ducks to avoid tables and chairs thrown at him.)

 

[wmasters]

As a player, it's a number on a character sheet which I ignore until I gain a level. I don't see it as a reward particularly, the levels just change the dynamic of the game a little. Once I've got a character I'm attached to it means I get to play with more cool abilities and get to fight more cool creatures, but actually even with high level characters I can spend hours roleplaying without swinging my spiked chain, or casting my new Wish spell or whatever. For me, a good game and x hours enjoyable time with friends is the reward.

As a DM - I don't use the DMG rules at all, and give an amount depending on how fast I want the party to level. If it's a tough adventure, I tend to be a little more generous because I know the some people do see it as a reward. But if I know one adventure I want to run will hit problems if the party can teleport, I'll scale xp so they don't hit 9th level before we play it. Seems to work well for us anyway. If I want to run the next adventure as a 4th level adventure I can run it as a 4th level adventure, rather than thinking 'oops, they'll be 5th because I made that fight too hard'. Plus I can't be bothered to do all the maths.

 

[merelycompetent]

As a DM:

1. XP are a measure of experience - how much a character has grown in knowledge, skill, power, and ability. It is a tool that allows me to pace the adventure, series, or campaign more accurately to the PCs' capabilities.

2. XP are a reward - for characters that have stretched their limits and for players who like seeing their characters (and NPCs) grow and change.

3. XP are a resource for casting spells and magic items. (I have real game mechanics problems with this: A wizard becomes *less* experienced after he makes a magical item?!?!)

As a Player:

1. XP are a reward that serves to increase my character's power, allowing me to add new dimensions and elements to the character. I have, in my mind's eye, an "idealized" vision of my character - the goal that the character works towards that may include multi-classing, prestige classes, or other mechanics-related elements. XP are the progress meter towards that goal. Note that this is not the only facet of that image. Depending on the character, land-ownership, revenge, military/political/magical power, contacts, networking, and so forth all factor in as well.

2. XP represents level-advancement that allows my character to take on bigger and tougher challenges. These challenges may border on the impossible - but they only border on it after XP awards. They're not *quite* impossible. When my character is low-level, I thirst for the time when I can take on giants. When my character is mid-level, I thirst for the time when I can take on dragons. When my character is high-level, I thirst for the time when I can take on extra-planar threats. When/if my character is epic level, all bets are off

3. XP represents a resource. It gets spent on permanent negative levels, casting certain spells, and creating magic items. (I've already mentioned why this irks me as a DM.)

4. It isn't all about power-tripping either. Depending on the game, players, and DM, XP also represents the increase and improvement in skills and abilities that grant greater role-playing range. I also thirst for the time when my bard, horribly scarred by the black pudding's acid, sings so sweetly that the entire Imperial Court is moved to stunned, silent tears at the pure, ephemeral beauty he evokes, while hiding his hideous visage behind a cloth mask.

I want my characters to be ~LEGENDS~ in the campaign, not just showered in glory for feats of arms. XP represents a progress meter to achieving that goal.

 

[shilsen]

Nice to see lots of variety in the ways people conceptualize and (for DMs) award XP. I guess this is even more proof of the viability of D&D for approaches that vary drastically from the core rules.