I saw A-Maw giving D&D advice, that you should be giving uniform XP to everyone in the group. That's interesting to me, because I'd thought of XP as an individual reward (i.e. roleplaying bonuses for individuals, XP for larger achievements), sometimes mitigated to give anyone a default participation bonus (so no one feels they lost).

But, if you're doing uniform XP for the group, it makes more sense for me to think of XP as a pacing metric. (Rather than "rewards".) You accomplish tasks -> get XP -> get higher level -> you are good and ready for harder tasks. Is this how it works in some of your games?

If you don't want to find yourself ripping your hair out guaging encounters, it's best to keep the players all on the same page.

In my group, the only way you didn't get XP was if you either didn't show up, or wandered off in the middle of the session.

While I can total dig the everybody moving at the same rate. With encounters and such. I find people dont deserve the same amount. If your all passive and some else does all the work. Your shouldnt be entitled to the spoils. If someone is behind in XP. They need to step up their game. Obviously there are exceptions to this rule. But typically this is the case. That being said. The game I am currently running. Takes place in three time periods or parts. They have just finished the first part and everybody will go up two levels. After the next time period/segment they will go up another two levels. Then starts the current/contemporary timeline/segment. From this  point on XP will be awarded on achievement/play. Not just levels handed down.

Quote from: DevPI saw A-Maw giving D&D advice, that you should be giving uniform XP to everyone in the group. That's interesting to me, because I'd thought of XP as an individual reward (i.e. roleplaying bonuses for individuals, XP for larger achievements), sometimes mitigated to give anyone a default participation bonus (so no one feels they lost).

But, if you're doing uniform XP for the group, it makes more sense for me to think of XP as a pacing metric. (Rather than "rewards".) You accomplish tasks -> get XP -> get higher level -> you are good and ready for harder tasks. Is this how it works in some of your games?

Hi Dev!

I dropped individual XP awards after about ten years of my 20 year D&D/AD&D campaign, and went to uniform awards for exactly this reason. When I designed the StarCluster system some eight years ago now, I dropped XP entirely and went with a time-based progression, cutting out the middleman. Nowadays when I want to reward a player for a cool thing the character did, I give the character a one-time bonus to a die roll that can be used any time. IMO, immediate in-character rewards for in-character actions are better than deferred OOC rewards, and the party advances together as well.

-clash

I've never really thought of XP or level in terms of a reward so it was inevitable that I dropped the rules altogether and just leveled by adventures/sessions completed.

I think most people here (including the original poster) have covered just why I think Uniform XP is the way to go.

Bottom line: Everything else in the game is team oriented, so why shouldn't the reward also be as a team? Handing out a uniform award reinforces teambuilding and collaboration and alleviates the idea of "me first" types who want to jump in and seize the spotlight.

Also, award every session. That's important.

I think I'd be strongly towards leveling more like James & Clash suggested, i.e. somewhat chronologically, but otherwise; I'd keep stuff like individual roleplaying rewards & such in there, but just toss it on the common pile that's divided up at the end of the night. (Of course it comes down to what the group at the table is actually interested in - I can understand some folks preferring flat XP for all, rather than contributing to a common XP.)

Quote from: RoninWhile I can total dig the everybody moving at the same rate. With encounters and such. I find people dont deserve the same amount. If your all passive and some else does all the work. Your shouldnt be entitled to the spoils. If someone is behind in XP. They need to step up their game. Obviously there are exceptions to this rule. But typically this is the case.

Now, I'm personally against passing judgement on other peoples' play styles through IC mechanics - but then again, I'm very much about gaming with friends rather than strangers, and if I have a problem with the way someone's playing I'll just talk to them about it.

However, if you're going to go down that route, I have a counter-argument for your opposition to uniform XP: if you just give individual XP to everybody, it's entirely possible for the players who are doing well to just accept their reward and just let the player(s) who is lagging behind coast along. If XP is uniform, then it's in everyone's interest to have everyone in the group firing on all cylinders, and people will encourage each other to reach higher.

I play mainly with my pals, in a highly competitive PvP environment, and we give out both team-based awards and individual XP. Every participant in a fight gets XP for that fight, and then there's an RP award at the end of each session. The longest running system we had was the "multiplier" system, by which the DM would assign each person a number that the base XP for the sessions' combat was multiplied by. So, you might get "1.5 x 500". It topped out around x2.

I give equal xp to the group except in games where it is very specifically necessary not to (Pendragon, for example).  With the exception, of course, of the Best Roleplaying vote we hold at the end of each session. Whoever wins that gets an extra XP award.

RPGpundit

We tend to give XP however the game we're playing says XP should be given. We play traditional mainstream games pretty much exlusively, which means group XP with individual awards. I also try to make sure that in character actions which deserve a reward get rewarded in game instead of out of game, but sometimes one person's great idea benefits the entire group equally, or something they did had us all laughing but really wasn't rewardable in character.

We also give XP to anyone that buys sodas or food for the group, or donates to the "upgrade our space and get a better table" fund. This is usually around 1 or 2xp for games that measure it in small doses (SR, WoD, Exalted), or 10% of your current level for the d20 systems.

I've always been partial to group + individual XP awards, but I'm slowly changing my mind on that, especially because I really dig how FtA! handles progression.  You go up levels by completing a number of adventures equal to your current level.  Simple and to the point.  No XP to fiddle with, no players feeling slighted.  I run mostly skill-based games nowadays, but it seems like there ought to be a way to incorporate that mechanic into a skill point system.  

Pete

My XP handouts break down as follows:
1) XP for opponents defeated, divided among surviving members (dead characters take away a share of 1/2 each)
2) XP for accomplishing various challenges, divided among surviving members (dead characters take away a share of 1/2 each)
3) individual XP for good ideas, extraordinary deeds or selfish accomplishments

The players can also get individual XP from
4) spending loot on wasteful things - wine, women, drugs, gladiatorial games and what have you on a 5 XP per GP basis (granted, I am a pretty tight-fisted DM).

It's vile communism.

Actually, I don't bother with XPs much. I just tell the group to level up... (pretty often btw.)