How much XP are you giving out?

[JonAcheson]

My campaign is about to hit its fifth session, and it's high time I gave out some XP.

It seems out of keeping to give out XP for kills and treasure in a B5 game.

What I would prefer to do is give out a flat amount of XP for attendance, plus a bonus for good roleplaying.

My players are 5th level, and I would like them to go up a level at least once in the next year, and we meet once a month. That means they need to go from 10,000 xp to 15,000 xp in 12 sessions, which is 417 xp per session.

I would like to hand out 500 xp per session as a base, going up to maybe 750 xp for good roleplaying.

Does this sound reasonable? Too high? Too low?

Please let me know what you think.

Sincerely,

Jon Acheson

 

[LoneStranger]

That does sounds like a good amount of XP but rather limited. I mean these people have gone up in level somewhat and not only should the group be encouraged but expected to come up with good ideas in character. I will say that about the level the group is currently at you could stand to start raising the max amount of XP possible.

What all do you factor in when you are coming up with XP for a session?

 

[JonAcheson]

What all do you factor in when you are coming up with XP for a session?

Right, now, I am thinking:

500 just for showing up (prorated if they were only there for part of the session)

+100 for being active, coming up with good dialog, etc.

+250 for a brilliant plan, hilarious dialog, touching character moment, etc.

I might go higher than that if someone, but it would take a magnificent achievement on the players' parts.

Jon Acheson

 

[LoneStranger]

Nah dude, that's not encouraging the group to come up with good ideas, try this instead:

100 for showing up (less if they show up late or leave early without a good reason)

Up to 500 for good plans, good ideas, being active, being a group, contributing to the game (the XP limit can and should be raised as time goes on)

+? for funny moments, personal character development, strokes of dumb luck, or anything else not covered that comes to mind.

Unfortunately the way you have it set up if the group finds out about it you won't have too many people participating since they get most of their XP for being there. A good idea but I don't see that working too well.

 

[El Cid]

I believe in keeping the EPs equal to keep the compitition for EPs out of the game.

I find that player's feeling can be hurt if there is any appearance of favoritism.

Some folks are naturally more active than others and sometimes it's just staying in character that keeps a player less active.

I find that giving the more active players some goodies such as contacts can work well as a reward.

By the end of the first year, I'm aiming at getting the PCs up to a level where they can join the Rangers.

I'm also trying to keep an eye on the major NPCs advancement from season to season as a guide so we don't end up with PCs who are either much higher or lower than the major NPCs.

Sidney

 

[LoneStranger]

Actually the groups I've played with haven't had people compete for XP, I mean yeah people want to increase in levels but they're not trying to gain XP at the expense of the other players.

The part I gave for the plans and such is subjective based on what people did, give people credit for coming up with the plan then give others credit for carrying out their part of the plan. And yes some people may not do much with their character but if that is their character concept they should get something for staying in character.

 

[Anonymous]

Nah dude, that's not encouraging the group to come up with good ideas, try this instead:

100 for showing up (less if they show up late or leave early without a good reason)

Up to 500 for good plans, good ideas, being active, being a group, contributing to the game (the XP limit can and should be raised as time goes on)

:shock: Wow. That's pretty radical, and I don't mean that as 80's slang.

Most of the groups I have played in tend to have a couple more decisive players who give the game session its direction, and a slightly larger number of players who are more "team players," who get on board with the direction set by the leader types, and then support, react and riff.

I don't want to leave the second group behind.

BTW, I pretty much went with the approach I outlined above. One player got a total of 2000 xp, since he has made every session and been active. You rock, Ian! Others were in the 900-1250 range, mainly because they missed one or more sessions.

Jon Acheson.

 

[LoneStranger]

Well honestly you can do whatever you like with the XP but if you hand out most of it just for showing up that's not really encouraging people to get involved. What I gave for suggestions doesn't only have to apply to the people who make the plans, if someone offers serious suggestions for a plan, take that into account. If the entire group goes along with the plan outlined, take that into account. If someone gets out of position and screws things up, take that into account. If someone finds out info that causes the whole plan to be revised, take that into account.

The short form of it is to ask yourself "Did this person contribute to the game and if so what?", the harder it is to answer that the less the person should get. It's what the groups around here do and it works pretty well.