XP question

[Maraxle]

Hi. I was wondering, how do you guys handle doling out XP? I have been doing party-based XP, where all participants in an encounter receive a share of the XP. However, the hard-hitting barbarian is complaining that he should get a bigger share because he racks up more kills? I personally do not agree, but he might have a point. My thought is that the cleric who runs around healing the front-line people is no less valuable than the barbarian dealing out the damage.

 

[Darkness]

Killing isn't everything.

 

[Crothian]

So, how long does that Barbarian last when the Cleric stops healing him?

I give XP equalling unless a character does absolutely nothing or does something way above and beyond what is expected.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

When the group works together, they get Party Experience.

If the Barbarian wants Solo Experience, he can adventure (and try to survive) solo.

 

[kengar]

Although I am not DM-ing at the moment, I have run campaigns in the past. When I hand out XP, I give everyone equal shares of the "base reward" for a straight combat. Then, after the session (usually the next day via email), I give individualized XP including such things as good RP, solving puzzles/problems, good use of skills/spells & exceptional combat XP (i.e. "The barbarian did solo that Ogre, so I'll give him some extra points.").

 

[Maraxle]

Although I am not DM-ing at the moment, I have run campaigns in the past. When I hand out XP, I give everyone equal shares of the "base reward" for a straight combat. Then, after the session (usually the next day via email), I give individualized XP including such things as good RP, solving puzzles/problems, good use of skills/spells & exceptional combat XP (i.e. "The barbarian did solo that Ogre, so I'll give him some extra points.").

That's basically what I did. However, the individual awards were lower than the encounter award. I was trying to make it less important than the whole of the encounter because we had a new player, who was clearly shy and hadn't roleplayed before. Therefore his RP skills were, well, less than the others, but he was trying. So, in order to stop him from falling behind because he wasn't as experienced a RPer, I pumped up the encounter xp a bit.

 

[Umbran]

My thought is that the cleric who runs around healing the front-line people is no less valuable than the barbarian dealing out the damage.

To my thinking, you've got it right here. Being the one to get the killing blow on the critter isn't what earns XP. You earn XP for being an active participant in the encounter, even if your participation doesn't seem to have been very effective. So long as the characters try to take part, they learn something. That's what matters.

So, both the cleric who heals the front-line fighters, and the rogue who tried throwing daggers but always missed get XP.

 

[boothbey]

EXP can be pretty controversial issue with the wrong mix of people. I always give out equal exp for encounters and story rewards at the end of an adventure. That total forms my base exp award.

Bonuses are given for creative play or outstanding accomplishments in roleplaying. I've even given out exp for players who have made improvements in their rp skill. Positive reinforcement is a good thing.

I agree that a character wanting more exp for getting more of the kills in is ridiculous. Sounds like he has spent too much time kill stealing in Everquest and what not. heh.

If he really wants to play that way, he should lose exp everytime he benefits from a healing spell from the cleric, everytime an enemy is damaged by the party wizard, every copper he is swindled out of by the party rogue.

 

[StalkingBlue]

Equal XP shares all the way.

Winning combat encounters is a team effort.

Plus, if you distinguish between characters, PCs will advance at different speeds, which leads to power imbalance within the group and eventually to discontent in players whose characters aren't front line fighters or (especially at higher levels) combat-optimised wizards or sorcerors.



If your barbarian hasn't quite caught on to how his hp keep returning during long battles, find a way to separate him (or the cleric and any other healers) from the group for an individual encounter - see how he feels without the medics!

 

[belegost]

I use the same base experience for each party member based on the encounters. Like others have said, the Barbarian may single handledly take out his attackers but that doesn't mean the rest of the party aren't contributing. Combat is usually a small piece of the game.

I also like to give out bonus XP as others have mentioned. It isn't the end of the world if one PC advances faster than others as long as long as it is handled fairly and it is possible for every player to get a bonus not just the same one or two experienced players every session.

In my case, I give out bonuses not just for good roleplaying and puzzles but also to encourage the players to improve. I have a shy/new gamer that I usually reward if she shows improvement in roleplaying or just a little extra involvement. She might not have done as well as Player A, but it was a great showing for her. Of course, these bonuses are pretty moderate but it is enough to excite the players.