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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CharlesRyan" data-source="post: 4697590" data-attributes="member: 5265">I agree with the OP. In a recently concluded campaign the GM simply promoted us every so often. It felt arbitrary, even though I bet he was basing it on the XP values of the encounters or at least the expectations of the published campaign.As a player, I find the getting and tallying of XP, and the looking forward to getting the next bit that bounces me up a level, a satisfying element of the game. As a GM, I like the players to have mechanical responsibility for their characters.That said, I'm not sure I'm into the whole "reward to promote behaviour" aspect of the analysis. I guess I just never play with people who measure their options on an XP scale. Most players in the games I play and GM make their decisions based on the situations, characters, and contexts within the game. I don't think I'm aware of any play decision made on the basis of what generates the most XP.Also, in my current campaign, one player had to miss a lot of action last year due to a medical crisis in the family. Based on XP earned in play, she would have been a solid 2 levels behind the rest of the party. You're right that roleplaying isn't a win-lose situation, but who wants to be the junior member of the party for the next year of play? Everyone wants to contribute meaningfully to the group's actions, and in a level-based game like D&D, being behind the power curve is just emasculating.So despite my agreement, I also believe in being flexible enough to react to unusual circumstances and keep people in the fun zone. Like any other aspect of D&D, XP is subject to Rule 0.</blockquote>

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