What! Limper has a gripe?

[Bendris Noulg]

Limper, the question I have is: How is this individual in real life? Is he like that in all regards, or just for the game?

If just for the game, than I'd have to agree, he's gotta go.

 

[Limper]

IRL they are a bit better but not much.

I suppose I'm selfish... I dont like to share with someone who doesn't contribute. I don't think uselessness should be rewarded. Their getting an equal share deminishes my effort.

 

[Dinkeldog]

Limper, shame on you for bringing a political discussion to Morrus' board and trying to (thinly) disguise it.

I think you're doing a disservice with your suggestion. If this person's role-playing is so offensive to you, then maybe you should suggest that the group no longer play with that person. You've got a shy person, or maybe a not-very-bright person. Suck it up if they're your friend (friends do that for each other--likely this person puts up with whatever about you they find offensive).

Oh, and some of us have a memory. Your "bonuses inherent in the system" in 2E were an optional rule only.

 

[hong]

Psion: Thats what I do... woefully I'm playing currently and this issue is sticking in my craw!

So quit the game.

 

[Maraxle]

I don't care what the rules say. I always give bonus XPs for outstanding play. The players know that bonus XPs are not guaranteed, so they don't miss them when they're not awarded, but when they are it's a real treat. I also like to give out 200 XP at the end of an adventure that the players can divide however they want. They have generally awarded all of it as an MVP award of sorts to someone who saved the party's butts. Other times they divide it up evenly.

 

[Tom Cashel]

Crafting a great character is a LOT of work, it's a benefit to the game.... do you think just having your job is it's own reward? Do you not want a bonus for being the best?

I dunno...sounds a little munchkin to me.

 

[Kestrel]

Bah! Individual awards breed resentment in players. You share killing xp, so you should share roleplaying xp.

I do roleplaying for my enjoyment, not for competition with other players, the game is group-based anyway. The DM should look at the roleplaying from a group perspective and award the entire group equally, not individually.

 

[Gothmog]

What I'm going to suggest is going to sound extreme- stop giving XP awards for killing monsters, period. Instead, give XP for accomplishing goals during the adventure, good roleplaying, innovative problem solving, etc. You still figure up appropriate encounters based on CR and EL, but just don't award XP for them. I have been doing this for about a year in my campaign, and the difference in play styles is dramatic- this results in less random violence on the part of the PCs, and encourages roleplaying. The system I use is:

1. First, find out how many XP it will take for a character to reach the next level. Example: going from 4th to 5th level would require 4000 XP.

2. Before running the adventure, designate a number of minor, lesser, and major goals the PCs are looking to accomplish. For example, the characters have been hired to investigate the disappearance of the inhabitants of a small town, find them if possible, return them alive, and remove the threat that caused their disappearance in the first place.

A minor goal is something that the PCs need to do in order to get to the heart of the adventure: in this case, investigate the town looking for clues, and following a disguised trail that leads from town to an isolated forest. Finding and disabling a trap that guards the corridor into a cave where the track lead would also me a minor goal. Typically I give 2-5% of the XP needed to get to the next level for accomplishing a minor goal. So for our 4th level party, it would be 80-200 XP each, depending on the difficulty of the task.

A lesser goal would be something the PCs do in the course of accomplishing the reason for the adventure. In this case, finding the missing townspeople being held in a cave by bugbear guards, and eliminating the bugbear threat and their aboleth master are both lesser goals. Lesser goals should net the PCs 7-10% of the XP nedded for the next level. In this situation presented above, there were two lesser goals, each worth 280-400 XP each.

Finally, a greater goal would be the main reason the PCs went on the adventure in the first place. In the example, bringing as many townspeople back alive as possible is the major goal. Major goals should net the PCs 15-20% of the XP needed for the next level, or in this case 600-800 XP each.

There can be multiple minor and lesser goals in an adventure, but there should usually only be one greater goal. You should adjust the XP recieved in each goal to match the difficulty the PCs had in overcoming it. Also, the more goals you have, the less XP you should dole out for each goal.

3. Roleplaying XP- I usually give 0-15% of the XP needed for the next level for good roleplaying, staying in character, and innovative problem solving. In this case, something around 0-600 XP for each character, which is nothing to scoff at.

Using this system, characters will advance at roughly the same rate for each level, even if there are characters of differing levels in the party. It takes 3-4 adventures for characters to advance a level with this system. The 4th level party mentioned above would get around 1600-1800 XP each for the adventure. And the big bonus is you don't have to mess with that wonky CR/XP chart.

Try using this system for a while and let me know what you think. We found that it encourages better roleplaying, and minimized the amount of random hack-n-slash the party was willing to engage in (always a plus).

 

[Silverthrone]

So gaming is it's own reward and being good at it is it's own reward as well eh?

Then I suppose by that rational sports players should play for free. Gamiing is it's own reward.

Or if they do get paid, they should all get the exact same amount and no one should get MVP or Rookie of the Year awards because being good at something is it's own reward and deserves no further recognition.

Riiiiight.

That may well be how sports would be run if WOTC did them, of course since certain heights, weights and pieces of equipment offer unfair advantages, to preserve game balance all games would be played by people of the same height, same weight, in open fields (Differences in stadiums could cause unfair advtanges.) and butt naked.

D&D is an RPG. An RPG. That RP stands for Role Playing, and guess what it comes before. That's right, the word game. D&D is Role Playing first, game playing second. The utter idea of the pathetically and cravenly PC attempt to say there is no wrong way to play D&D and power gaming it like it was table top War Craft is just fine is nonsense. People who do it that way, are, by very definiton of what D&D is, playing it wrong and those who play correctly should get a bonus, esepcially if they are good at it.

If someone is so mousey, quite and shy they don't like acting or spekaing in front of a crowd, they areplaying the wrong game.

It is like if I was 3 ft tall and weight 60 pounds and then got angrey because I was rejected from being able to play for the NFL because I was too small. By moder 3e logic, the problem would be in the leaue's unfair hiring practices and they would have to change rather than me accepting that this is simply not for me.

It is pathetic, nearly sickening to one' stomach, and definately sad to see that the modern world of equality (What a false word that is.) make it's way into fantasy.

The old books had it right. Reward those who role play, punish those who don't because they are in fact doing it wrong.

 

[Silverthrone]

Also, this is off topic, but I have a request of Aaron L.

Where did you get this quote:

"Ryoko is the strongest extraterrestrial among them by far. It'd probably be beyond the power of Earth's technology to destroy her."

I am a huge Tenchi fan and I cannot place this one. I would appreciate if you would be so kind as to let me know where it came from. The otaku in me is going nuts.