Reward for Roleplaying?

[ShrooMofDooM]

I'm running a d20 Future campaign pretty soon, and while it will have a lot of action and whatnot, I intend for it to be a pretty roleplay-heavy game. Would any of you suggest rewarding the players xp for good roleplay, and if so, where can I find rules for such a system?

 

[swrushing]

IMX, "rewards" for roleplaying don't encourage more or better roleplaying.

those who like to roleplay will, bonus or no, because they find it fun to do so.
Those who don't, who are more there for other reasons like tactical challenge solving or puzzles or social group interaction, won't, because its not what they are there for, whether or not there is a bonus.

if you want more roleplaying, bring more of the former type of player into your gang and less of the latter. tailor your game's scripts and challenges to the former, not the latter and that may very well accomplish this by leading the former to recommend your game and the latter to seek other GMs.

but really, neither type is gonna change their preferences, change their spots, cuz there is an extra skill rank or attribute point or +1 sword in it for their character.

 

[ShrooMofDooM]

Thanks for the input.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Ask the players (separately - away from the other players) how they felt about the session. Ask them about their character and how they feel about their PCs abilities and how theyd like to expand their character based on what they experienced. My last DM did this and he awarded a bonus of 10 to 20 % extra xp if we feel we made a breakthrough in roleplaying. It worked everytime.

Another thing to do is to offer them assignments; make an npc and develop its history a little or as in depth as they choose; flesh out a small portion of the game world, like a map of a series of caves and small encounters to go with it. Let them have a hand in the creation/expansion of the world. Reward them an amount of XP you think is appropriate for what they've done. Remember this though: don't take what they've done and accept it at face value, instead accept it and tweak it to what you know to be true about your world.

 

[Zappo]

I've tried in the past to give roleplaying rewards, but it doesn't really help and it is extremely hard to assign them fairly. I've dropped the idea nowadays.

 

[Mithran]

I haven't actually tested roleplaying XP awards my self but I do have the links to a system you might want to look at:
http://www.farlandcampaign.homestead.com/XP1.html
http://www.farlandcampaign.homestead.com/XP2.html

 

[clark411]

At the end of our sessions, our DMs have had a tradition of basically rubbing each player on the belly with some individual closing attention, pointing out one, two, or three really nice things done in character- and then award a couple hundred xp to them for it, regardless of level.

It's not really done to exactingly give appropriate rewards, but rather close on the note that "Tonight was not about killing 8 billion goblins, it was about coming together and playing characters. You did that and you did it very well and we all saw it. Congrats." And we go home happy for coming. Belly rubs rule.

 

[tetsujin28]

IMX, "rewards" for roleplaying don't encourage more or better roleplaying.

Yep. They encourage acting, which is not the same thing.

 

[painandgreed]

For role playing intensive games without a lot of combat I usually doi several things. First, I give a set amount of XP every game. For D&D its usually equal to a CR equal to their level. This just lets them know that they're getting XP and they don't have to fubar the role playing aspect by starting fights and such to get XP. From there, I usually go by the rule of thumb that you don't get XP without having to roll the dice. I keep track of social enounters that requires various rolls such as bluff, intimidate, diplomacy etc, and roughly equate that to how many rolls they'd usually make to kill a monster of their level. That gives a guesstimation on the CR of the encounter. Working from the other way it can also give you and idea of how hard to make the rolls. If they could normally kill some generic monster of their CR with five hits, then a social encounter of equal CR would take five successful rolls of various skills although it can become tricky to determine what rolls that might be. To finsih things off, I usually give XP awards each game for people who turn in things that help with fleshing out their character. A sketch or picture of their character would be worth such a bonus. Mapping out any buildings they own or sketches with descriptions of thei weapons or armor also would count. I only allow one such turn per game session and you have to watch what they turn in and not give them any XP unless you really think that it fleshes out their character. Another thing I allow is turning in fiction about their character. It has no game effect except for the XP they get for turning it in but both you and the player get a better idea what the character is like. They also like it becuase it gives them a chance to do whatever they like with their character and fullfill those fantasies they have. Just remember to keep telling them that it has no effect on the game except for the XP they get for it (unless somethign is good enough for you want want to include it). XP equal to their level again in CR for a max, usually a fraction of that unless they turn in stuff that is really impressive.

 

[MerricB]

The best way to promote role-playing is this:

Award XP for overcoming challenges whether or not they are overcome with combat or roleplaying. (That's actually the default rule).

So, if the adventure requires you to get in past three CR 3 Ogre Guards (or whatever) award full XP whether they Bluff their way past or whether they leave them dead.

In a Modern setting, you can probably set up things so fighting all the time is undesirable. ("Well, you did retrieve the microchip like I asked. Unfortunately, you also drew the media's attention to you, so I'm afraid your bonus is off the table.")

Cheers!