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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ThirdWizard" data-source="post: 2556084" data-attributes="member: 12037">I find these two statements contradictory. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Not being snarky, I understand you. There is no rule that things have to get harder. But, in reality, they do have to get harder. It's just the way the "implied setting" of D&D works. You kill stuff, you get more powerful, you kill bigger stuff, and along the way you get cool new magical items and abilities.So, over time, they'll fight bigger things. That's just a fact of life for most campaigns, although I accept maybe not in all, but it seems to be in both of ours. If that is the case, leveling is less of a reward and more of a means of the PCs keeping up with the situation as it develops, in my eyes. The culmination of my current campaign, at least as far as it sits now, is going to be a battle [spoiler]against a ressurected Archdevil.[/spoiler] (spoiler tags just in case) An extreme example, but if they don't level, then that plot arc doesn't reach the end. This has less to do specifically with the subject at hand, and is more a general explaination of how I view advancement, don't take this as a reason to give XP to absentee players. It's just a part of my thought process on what XP is, thus affecting my outlook on XP awards in general.It might be interesting to note that in my games, getting cool new abilities isn't always tied to leveling, but often to story awards. So, if a PC trains with a mentor, or finds an ancient scroll, or anything else I can think of, they can get abilities like haste as a Supernatural Ability, the ability to make any weapon they hold a holy weapon, spontaneous use of metamagic, etc. In that way, leveling isn't the only mechanical means of improving one's character in my game.Also, I only give out XP for overcoming challenges with a specific CR. This might include convincing the captain of the guard to give your party an extra thousand gold, or it could be killing the captain of the guard, depending on the circumstance. And, the award is always given to all the players whether they're present for the encounter or not. That last part is most definately not simulationist, and I wouldn't expect a simulationist to do that! I only ask acceptance. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></blockquote>

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