awarding xp

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Dorrak
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awarding xp

Post by Dorrak »

I'm new to the forums and this is my first post, so if this topic has been covered before, please direct me to the right place. Thank you. And now my question:

If I follow the core rules, character advancement will seem to take forever. What are some of your ideas and thoughts about awarding xp
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Dmasterdad
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Re: awarding xp

Post by Dmasterdad »

If you feel leveling is taking to long you can always award 1xp per gp found, it is an option in the rulebook.
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teluria
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Re: awarding xp

Post by teluria »

I award xp for achieving story goals. For example, making your way through the woods to find the giant's cottage might be 50 or 100 per player. I also award xp for really good role playing and other behaviors I want to encourage at my table.

Another thing I do is award 50 xp a night to anyone who writes up the previous session from their character's point of view.
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SmootRK
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Re: awarding xp

Post by SmootRK »

In my opinion, rewarding XP is one of of those aspects of game mastering that I prefer to be purposefully vague. I like to have some measure of control over the pace of leveling... let it go too fast and your party may out-pace your intended adventure encounters. Too slow, and players get frustrated and impatient.

So, I tend to award XP for goals and reaching of certain "plot points". The timing of this varies, but the pace of which is something I learned while playing/gm'ing the old classic, "Star Frontiers" (though there is a substantially different XP system in place for that game). FYI, seems that WotC is gearing up for some sort of re-release or new edition of this game, but I would still suggest snatching a copy of the original materials if one can.

With regard to BFRPG, in general I agree that by-the-book the pace seems rather slow. I will admit to liberally applying extra XP as I see fit to speed things along when I am wanting the game to reach a new general level of play... for instance, I want to get the party past Keep on the Borderland levels and into Monkey Island levels; I might give very generous XP rewards to speed them up to where I need them next.
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orobouros
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Re: awarding xp

Post by orobouros »

In general, if you start slow and start giving bonuses later you don't run the risk of xp inflation. If you start giving it too freely then it's hard to reign it back it. Just as with treasure.
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Metroknight
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Re: awarding xp

Post by Metroknight »

As I run my games online, I tend to do things slightly different than what the book says.

I award 100xp per character level for each session actively attended.
I award a flat 100xp for any between session work; be it updating a journal, additional rping, or any downtime work.
I award the monster's xp for dealing with the encounter, not defeating the monster. Player's should have to option to avoid the encounter, diffuse the encounter so there is no combat, or have combat. Any of those should be rewarded.
I award bonus xp for completing a goal.

I don't award xp for gold.

This method I use (still tweak some) allows the characters to grow at a semi-organic rate that allows players to settle into their characters and expand their story.

No matter what you choose, have fun and enjoy the hobby.
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Solomoriah
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Re: awarding xp

Post by Solomoriah »

XP awards are made slow in the Core Rules intentionally; the GM may always give more, if he or she so desires, but if I gave more to start with, it would be hard to convince players if you wanted slower advancement.

It's always easier to give more than to take some away, in other words.

Want faster advancement? Divide the XP awards by some number smaller than the number of players. If you have four, divide by three, or even two, so that player characters get more each.
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orobouros
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Re: awarding xp

Post by orobouros »

I had forgotten to mention: in some games the GM levels characters automatically by story progression. If you have a semi-episodic campaign this may work well. Benefits are that characters are properly (in the GM's mind at least) leveled and players don't need to worry about tracking XP or making game decisions that are focused on progression. The obvious example is that it really doesn't matter anymore if you sneak past the goblin horde, go murder hobo on them, or stealthily assassinate the goblin general to throw the army into disarray so long as they never make it to the capital. For games with more emphasis on role-playing and less so on combat this makes sense. For dungeon crawl games not so much.
Dorrak
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Re: awarding xp

Post by Dorrak »

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who replied. You’ve given me several ideas and things to think about.
Considering that it’s been 35 years since I was a gm, I needed the help.
Again, thank you.
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Hywaywolf
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Re: awarding xp

Post by Hywaywolf »

as a player, if the only way to get XP is to kill monsters then killing monsters will be at the top of the "to do" list. If you're looking to build a party of exterminators thats how you get one. There are a lot of good alternates listed in the previous posts that will lead to a fuller game experience as well as player advancement .
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