XP for roleplay/social accomplishments

[Ahnehnois]

On average, I want PCs to be gaining the equivalent of more than 1/10 level/hour in XP, as long as they're doing something interesting and productive. I really don't care whether the "something" is combat-based or not.

Assuming you don't want to get rid of rewarding xp entirely (which is really the best option, imho)

I agree. I dropped XP because I didn't want to bother with thinking about metagame issues like whether or not something constitutes an "encounter". Just level my characters when the time is right.

 

[Hussar]

S'mon, is this one being run through VTT?

Something I did back a while ago, was give xp based on the number of posts someone made in the chat. Generally about 1 xp per post in a combat light session, less in a combat heavy one (cos, well, there just wasn't that much rp going on). It worked rather well in 3e actually. I found in a 3 hour session, those who really got into the rp would post around 300 lines, for a nice 300 xp shot. I modified it by the level of the PC's as I recall as well - multiply by the PC level and it gave about 10%-20% of the level in a session.

Worked out rather well to be honest.

 

[S'mon]

Assuming you don't want to get rid of rewarding xp entirely (which is really the best option, imho), I'd first look at how meaningful the roleplaying was to the pcs goals. I.e. I'd only reward roleplaying that helps them to solve their 'quests'. If it does, they gain xp for completing a minor quest.

These minor 'quests' pop all all the time in my games. I usually prepare a couple of quests, but the majority comes from the pcs actions. They actively look for opportunities to complete tasks on the side. Often these are their own rewards, but sometimes they may earn them extra treasure, favors, etc.

Yes, I am primarily awarding accomplishment-based XP - the roleplaying should involve achieving something, not just 'shooting the breeze' or planning to do something, say - though I might give smallish awards for character-building scenes that don't directly accomplish much. The achievement can be something non-tangible though, as long as it takes effort (good RP and/or good rolls) and is a goal of the PC/player rather than just accidental. Eg yesterday in my City State game one PC (Karmak) got some extra XP for seducing a damsel he had rescued from Orc thugs; nice for him but she's property of a powerful Sage, Gigex, and the PC might consequently make a dangerous enemy. Karmak might equally well have escorted her straight back to the Sage's guild, befriended Gigex, and made a useful contact, that would also have earned him XP. Conversely doing nothing, or achieving nothing, would earn no XP.

 

[S'mon]

S'mon, is this one being run through VTT?

Text based chat in the dragonsfoot AD&D 1e chatroom. No mapping utility. AD&D rules mean we don't need to worry much about positioning, unless a player says "I fall back into the doorway" or somesuch.

 

[the Jester]

I like to give rp xp but not based on time, rather based on actual roleplaying.

I figure 10 no-combat sessions with lots of rp should level you up, but that's dependent on the players doing a lot of roleplaying.

 

[S'mon]

I like to give rp xp but not based on time, rather based on actual roleplaying.

I figure 10 no-combat sessions with lots of rp should level you up, but that's dependent on the players doing a lot of roleplaying.

How does that compare to your normal rate of advancement in a heavy-combat game?

 

[MortonStromgal]

Whenever the players give me an awesome roleplaying scene I like to give them 1/10th to the next level in XP. So if this happens multiple times in the session you could end up with 1/3rd or more of your level coming from RP.

 

[C_M2008]

I'll get some flak for this, but I've always been of the opinion that good Roleplaying should be worth MORE xp than combat. Of course I'm currently running Warhammer FRP 3e so there is no XP......

 

[the Jester]

How does that compare to your normal rate of advancement in a heavy-combat game?

Well- that "ten no combat games" thing was my ideal in 3e, and I had mechanics to back it up. By the same token, I usually cut combat xp in half, so a combat-only, no rp-award level would probably have taken 5-6 games.

Please note that, if the pcs had real social conflicts with serious potential consequences, they could earn the equivalent of "social combat" xp on top of the roleplaying xp in the no-combat hypothesis.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

At the moment I'm running a HERO fantasy game. Per session I give: 1xp for showing up; 1xp for good role play; 1xp for for achieving adventure goals (which may well be a social goal) and 1xp for doing something cool.

So far the 'cool' awards have gone to the guy who, last minute as the heroes are preparing to escape in their ship, says: get us some 'illegal' cargo to help make the trip more profitable. GM love PC giving him excuse to be bastid.

Other 'cool' award went to the player who tells the sexy pirate captain where their merchant ship will be sailing to, in the hope of meeting up there and 'getting it on.' Of course they meet somewhat earlier when the pirate ship attacks them.

But in DnD, and I assume this is what the OP really wants to hear about: I give XP for bypassing monsters the same as for defeating them. For social goals where the critter's (NPC or monster or whatever) XP value is not really relevant or indicative of challenge I make a number up.