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<blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 5464509" data-attributes="member: 467">I don't care much for ad hoc XP -- whether house ruled or official -- simply because IMO it disenfranchises the players. They are responsible for going and getting XP, by making choices about what they do and where they go and how the engage the things in the system that provide XP. In a way, it is related to the idea that everything has to be &quot;level appropriate&quot; and that the notion of &quot;story&quot; games and &quot;adventure paths&quot;. All of these things work together to change the relationship between GM and Player in a way i don't like.I like to think of the GM as adjudicator of the rules, referee of the game and, most importantly, Framer of the action. He isn't a storyteller or a narrator. His job isn't to put hoops in front of the PCs for the players to jump through. His job is simply to open the door to the whole funhouse and let the players loose.Ad hoc XP awards fail, I think, in allowing players choice about how they are going to &quot;succeed&quot;. of course, there are other measures of success, but I have found in 25+ years of GMing that it is XP that still drives the D&amp;D player. Even the amateur dramatist who wails and chews scenery as they take down the Nefarious Villain ends up asking, at the end of the session, &quot;How much XP do we get?&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Reynard, post: 5464509, member: 467"] I don't care much for ad hoc XP -- whether house ruled or official -- simply because IMO it disenfranchises the players. They are responsible for going and getting XP, by making choices about what they do and where they go and how the engage the things in the system that provide XP. In a way, it is related to the idea that everything has to be "level appropriate" and that the notion of "story" games and "adventure paths". All of these things work together to change the relationship between GM and Player in a way i don't like. I like to think of the GM as adjudicator of the rules, referee of the game and, most importantly, Framer of the action. He isn't a storyteller or a narrator. His job isn't to put hoops in front of the PCs for the players to jump through. His job is simply to open the door to the whole funhouse and let the players loose. Ad hoc XP awards fail, I think, in allowing players choice about how they are going to "succeed". of course, there are other measures of success, but I have found in 25+ years of GMing that it is XP that still drives the D&D player. Even the amateur dramatist who wails and chews scenery as they take down the Nefarious Villain ends up asking, at the end of the session, "How much XP do we get?" [/QUOTE]

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