Since the game book leaves it up in the air (which is certainly fine by me, I hated messing with the CR system), how are you all dealing with handing out EXP.
First I give a survival award equal to 100xp times current character level.
What I do is keep a set of poker chips next to me. Each time someone kills something, I throw one chip at them. Each time someone uses a skill or spell for something useful, I throw one chip at them. At the end of the session each chip is cashed in for 100exp.
The system has a few advantages:
1) Player competition
We call each chip a "Hack" and there is considerable competition for getting the most Hacks. Someone who finishes off an enemy who you've already whittled down is called a "Dirty Hack Stealer". It might not work with every group, but we find it to be a lot of fun.
2) No paperwork
Neither the GM nor the PC has to make any notation until the game is over. You also can't forget to write a particular award down.
3) Simplicity
Since each hack is worth the same amount, there's no need for figuring out relative values of encounters or obstacles. If the GM thinks folk are advancing too fast or too slow, just change the value of the Hack.
I used to make a Hack worth about 1% of the experience needed to gain a level when we played D&D, and we gave a bigger story/survival award. But with Conan we've made the Hack worth a lot more to encourage rampant action.
First I give a survival award equal to 100xp times current character level.
What I do is keep a set of poker chips next to me. Each time someone kills something, I throw one chip at them. Each time someone uses a skill or spell for something useful, I throw one chip at them. At the end of the session each chip is cashed in for 100exp.
The system has a few advantages:
1) Player competition
We call each chip a "Hack" and there is considerable competition for getting the most Hacks. Someone who finishes off an enemy who you've already whittled down is called a "Dirty Hack Stealer". It might not work with every group, but we find it to be a lot of fun.
2) No paperwork
Neither the GM nor the PC has to make any notation until the game is over. You also can't forget to write a particular award down.
3) Simplicity
Since each hack is worth the same amount, there's no need for figuring out relative values of encounters or obstacles. If the GM thinks folk are advancing too fast or too slow, just change the value of the Hack.
I used to make a Hack worth about 1% of the experience needed to gain a level when we played D&D, and we gave a bigger story/survival award. But with Conan we've made the Hack worth a lot more to encourage rampant action.