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<blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 7792566" data-attributes="member: 97077"><p>For some folks, standard or milestone XP isn't viewed as an incentive because it doesn't produce the desired behaviors within the group. At that point it's at best a pacing mechanism, but if that pace doesn't line up with the speed of advancement they want for a campaign, then it's not even that. If it's neither of those things, then it may as well be abandoned.</p><p></p><p>Commonly, people who don't use XP go with story-based advancement in which level is tied to the achievement of story goals without XP as an intermediary, session-based advancement in which level is tied to frequency of game attendance (again, without XP at all), or level by DM fiat, which is when characters level up whenever the DM decides for whatever reason he or she likes. In the latter case, which is very common in my experience, the method incentivizes no particular behavior at all.</p><p></p><p>So, I get why people don't use it. They just might not think about it too deeply as to why. They might just get a sense that it doesn't work for them and pitch it. And that's fair enough in my view.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That is correct in the context of the games you mention. For D&D 3.Xe and D&D 4e, not so much. Some folks DMing D&D 5e may be engaged in legacy thinking in this regard, carrying over presuppositions from other games they have played and, as a result, have not bothered trying to play with characters of disparate levels. Even the D&D 5e DMG comes right out and says it's not an issue, at least when it's just a few levels' difference, so it's not like they have to take out word for it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="iserith, post: 7792566, member: 97077"] For some folks, standard or milestone XP isn't viewed as an incentive because it doesn't produce the desired behaviors within the group. At that point it's at best a pacing mechanism, but if that pace doesn't line up with the speed of advancement they want for a campaign, then it's not even that. If it's neither of those things, then it may as well be abandoned. Commonly, people who don't use XP go with story-based advancement in which level is tied to the achievement of story goals without XP as an intermediary, session-based advancement in which level is tied to frequency of game attendance (again, without XP at all), or level by DM fiat, which is when characters level up whenever the DM decides for whatever reason he or she likes. In the latter case, which is very common in my experience, the method incentivizes no particular behavior at all. So, I get why people don't use it. They just might not think about it too deeply as to why. They might just get a sense that it doesn't work for them and pitch it. And that's fair enough in my view. That is correct in the context of the games you mention. For D&D 3.Xe and D&D 4e, not so much. Some folks DMing D&D 5e may be engaged in legacy thinking in this regard, carrying over presuppositions from other games they have played and, as a result, have not bothered trying to play with characters of disparate levels. Even the D&D 5e DMG comes right out and says it's not an issue, at least when it's just a few levels' difference, so it's not like they have to take out word for it. [/QUOTE]
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