D&D General What do you prefer to give/get XP for?

[payn]

The issue I had with milestone in the AP I am running is it’s a dungeon crawl with multiple paths through so it is entirely possible they could level up twice quickly by meeting the objective on 2 different levels which then creates a chunk of the adventure where they wouldn’t level up again for a long time while they finish exploring the rest of the levels they have already finished the goal for leveling. It felt like it was going to create severely uneven pacing.

They’re nearing the end of the AP, so I already told them I will stop awarding exp when they hit level 10 and milestone them to 11 when they finish the AP so they’re at the correct level for the start of the 11-20 AP we are following it up with. Undecided if I will do milestone or track exp for that one yet. I am still reading the material.

Oh I think I know the one you are talking about. I dont think PF2 is a good game for that type of campaign.

 

[Aldarc]

But it's all at the whims of the DM. The DM places the monster, places the treasure, places the obstacles to overcome.

If you have an adventure generated and adjudicated by a DM, everything ultimately is up to them, whether it's "player-facing" or not.

There are lots of good games that have no DM role at all, which would remove the issue for you. But D&D by default isn't one of them.

This feels like unnecessary pedantry that goes against the spirit of what I was saying. So congratulations on that.

 

[TerraDave]

My journey was annoyance at all the work deciphering every twiddly action into an XP award divided by solo/group or who was present...im getting a headache just thinking about it. Then it became add up everything done during a session and divide it equally amongst the party. Finally, just getting rid of it and going milestone. Never going back.

I have had that same journey. In theory I would like to use XP for all sorts of things, but I know the hassle factor is to great in practice.

 

[wedgeski]

I don't use XP for my main campaign. We switched to milestone XP at level 7 or 8. After discussing it with the group, we decided that we would fit the 1-20 levels around the narrative, and not the other way around.

I do use XP for more throwaway games, where we have a few weeks to fill, or everyone wants a change of pace. It's as fun as it ever was. But when I need some control over advancement and pacing, we use milestone, with the table's agreement.

 

[Horwath]

nothing.

you level up when the DM says you level up.

 

[delericho]

I give XP for a few different things:

• Each time the party complete an encounter (regardless of difficulty) they get a fixed award (the amount depends on their level). Partial completion gives a half award, and they can claim the second half if they then loop back to "finish the job".
• Completing a quest also gives a fixed award, of the same value as completing an encounter.
• Permanently expending any magical item (except for a potion of healing) grants a one-quarter award.
• Finally, each campaign defines a "side dish" (to go with the Orc&Pie) - one campaign might have "collect treasure", another "learn a secret", a third "explore a new region", or whatever. Engaging with that side dish gives a one-quarter award.

That last item has a few different uses. Firstly, it sets campaigns apart from one another since each has a different "side dish". It also encourages players to engage with the exploration and/or social pillars of the game. And, finally, since the "side dish" is always optional (characters will get 'enough' XP from encounters and quests), it means there's something extra for those players who want to be more involved, without penalizing those who don't really care.

 

[Zuranthium]

I give exp only for bank robberies, bedding the bar waitor/waitress, or completing an encounter where a party member died.

 

[Stoutstien]

I use the old school gold is spent on training for advancement but I kept EXP for when the party pushes themselves above and beyond.
It's basically weightless gold that can't be spent on anything but reducing training cost/time to a minimal.

 

[Stormonu]

Just pointing out something about my vote for Killing Monsters I am including "defeating" as well as killing. Monsters driven off, surrendering, etc. count as full XP.

Also, monsters encountered but when the characters LOSE and must flee themselves, still grant half the XP as if they had won.

For once, I'd like to see the reverse. Seems like you would gain MORE experience from surviving and escaping to tell the tale than simply walloping an enemy into submission.

 

[Voadam]

As a player I don't really care about advancement, I am fine advancing slowly or regularly, I just want to game and I don't want disparities between PCs to make it unfun such as playing a 1e level 1 fighter with 15 strength next to a level 3 fighter with double specialization and an 18 percentile strength who does the same thing I do just better in every way.

As a DM I usually run adventure paths or module trilogies which are designed for specific levels and I level up the party when appropriate so the mechanical challenges are in a good spot for them. Paizo's APs in particular are good about telling the DM up front where they expect the party to level and are designed to provide good challenges for a party at that level. This is ideal for me.

I used to track and calculate xp according to formula and advice in the 1e DMG in the AD&D era for my decade long campaign, but it was very cumbersome and time consuming and I would often get behind on it. In 2e in college I borrowed a friend's DMG and copied down the revised xp stuff and even though the individual awards were a bit fiddly the monster math was much simpler and that was a little easier. I also played in an AD&D campaign where Arduin xp charts were used and every session the DM awarded either 1000 xp for success, 750 for in progress, or 500 for failure with possible +10 or 20 percent for exceptional roleplay or tactics. I really liked the regular progression not tied to combat or loot, it allowed advancement in a campaign with a lot of politics and roleplay as well as dungeons and magic and combats.

In 3e I was really excited at the equal xp charts and equal combat power design of the edition and the start of being able to really do milestone levelling and have it work in the system.