XP for session accounts?

[S'mon]

Just to note that I've been doing this in my 5e game as follows:

First person to do account gets "easy encounter" XP for their PC. Other players get half that amount.

Second+ players to do accounts get half easy encounter XP.

This has been reliably generating session reports & everyone gets XP so they seem happy
enough.

You can see accounts here: http://smonscurseofthecrimsonthrone.blogspot.co.uk/

The advantage for me is that I get a permanent reminder what happened, often in complex
sessions (my memory is generally not brilliant these days), and players can also refer to it.
The extra XP does not seem unbalancing.

 

[Imaculata]

I keep record of both my own campaign, and the one I'm playing in. But I don't feel it needs to be rewarded with xp. The fact that we have session accounts in itself should be rewarding enough.

 

[S'mon]

I keep record of both my own campaign, and the one I'm playing in. But I don't feel it needs to be rewarded with xp. The fact that we have session accounts in itself should be rewarding enough.

IME if you want it, you gotta pay for it...

 

[Psikerlord#]

I have found the best way to get player RPing engagement is to use very minimal background BEFORE play begins (one or two liners). Then, once the game begins, players are encouraged (and really, end up organically - because the pre-game history is so succinct) making up on-the-fly history as the game unfolds. I find this works well for a number of reasons, and without any need to award XP, but primarily because: (i) the insta-history/flashback becomes relevant to the game session at hand, (ii) the whole table learns about the history at the same time (instead of being on a single PC's sheet, often never read, or read once, and forogtten), and (iii) encourages creative/out of the box/collaborative story telling, where the players get to make up aspects of the world (subject to GM ok, goes without saying really, but I have yet to encounter a problem).

Same goes for "personality" type blurbs too. In fact, even moreso, dont touch on this at all BEFORE the game begins. Just start playing - and SHOW everyone at the table what your PC's personalty traits are, by the way you portray him during the session. When players cant point to their sheet and say "see, he's a loner with a chip on his shoulder", they end up playing that, instead.

Bit longer version of this approach at DnD Hackers Guild: http://dndhackersguild.weebly.com/