What's your preference? Why?

I know this will not be the majority on here but I say Milestones. Because it is easy and makes sense.

I freely admit, I hate tracking 4-digit XP totals in my current 5E game. Put me down for milestones or small but meaningful points a la D6 Star Wars or Savage Worlds.

Depends on the game. But overall, I also find milestones simpler to track and integrate the characters with setting/situation.

Points per session. I like to assign xp to/for just about everything, so I need to be able to divide the xp rewards fine enough.

In general, it doesn't matter.  I'll swap between methods from campaign to campaign.  If I had my druthers for a default though, it would be XP points with a bunch of the zeroes dropped.  I'd have been fine, for example, with a 5E chart that filed one zero off of everything, scaled less, and awarded less.  With some judicious rounding.  I don't, however, want it scaled down to the Hero/GURPS 1-5 XP point.  I like a system where getting about 10 per unit (session, half-session, hour, whatever) is the standard, but you might get 8 or 12.

Definitely XP. I/players see the counter ticking up to the next level. It makes me hungry for more XP.
I didn't know just how much I loved XP until I played with GMs who just gave out levels when they felt like it. Compared to that, XP feels very empowering - I can see the results of my actions in my progress.

Never milestones or story arcs.  Boring, boring, boring.  One of the things I hate about Pathfinder adventure paths.

What you get them for will vary from game to game, but it should be for what you DO.

A milestone is XP for what you do.

Im kind of on the fence but in my experience I have found that any XP/Development award directly connected to player/character behavior tends to push that behavior. Need gold? Characters are grabbing all they can. Need to kill monsters? Characters are murdering maniacs. When switching to something like Milestones it puts the emphasis back on their actions as adventurers, back on the overall objective of their current plot or whatever. Suddenly it makes sense to avoid conflict sometimes, let treasure go and just move on with the mission at hand.

Quote from: rgrove0172;1002059Im kind of on the fence but in my experience I have found that any XP/Development award directly connected to player/character behavior tends to push that behavior. Need gold? Characters are grabbing all they can. Need to kill monsters? Characters are murdering maniacs. When switching to something like Milestones it puts the emphasis back on their actions as adventurers, back on the overall objective of their current plot or whatever. Suddenly it makes sense to avoid conflict sometimes, let treasure go and just move on with the mission at hand.

Who defines the "plot" or "mission at hand"? I've taken to really liking sand box games. Having anything other than an objective XP system is sort of counter to the sand box.

But, hey, what about "none of the above" as an answer? I'm playing and running a bunch of Classic Traveller. There is no xp reward system (there IS a means for character improvement though).

As to OD&D, yea, so it gives XP for gold (and killing monsters, but much more for gold). So yea, players are incentivized to loot the dungeons. Well the game IS Dungeons and Dragons... But with the bulk of the XP coming from gold, there actually is incentive to avoid killing just for killing's sake. And that also means that if you find some other clever way to earn gold, that should work just as well for gaining XP. And as a GM of OD&D, if you really want to entice your players to do something for the king? Offer gold. BAM, you've got your milestone reward... The trick is the players get to decide whether to accept the mission or not...

I would also play Rune Quest. Almost any skill may be improved by using it, and almost any skill may be improved with training (which usually costs silver). So players can be rewarded for non-combat missions, improving the skills they use in said mission, and using the payment for training.

Frank

Ive never played in the higher levels of D&D so I would have to ask ... do the steadily increasing XP requirements more or less even out with the XP awarded by appropriate encounter challenges? A glance at the chart and the MM would seem to indicate they do and if so then an alternative that more or less allows leveling on a flat scale of 1 Level per so many adventures or encounters or months or whatever... wouldnt seem to be all that much of a hindrance/advantage/difference. Or am I wrong?

Quote from: ffilz;1002065Who defines the "plot" or "mission at hand"? I've taken to really liking sand box games. Having anything other than an objective XP system is sort of counter to the sand box.

Frank

How would that be? If anything I would think the freedom of Sandbox would be enhanced by a system wherein the character's objectives and priorities determine their development rather than some arbitrary number of dead critters or coins in the pouch. If in your Sandbox they decide that they just HAVE to end the plot against Good King Nutcracker then that sounds like a great goal to mate with some XP, or even a level all its own. Dont you think?

I award experience for what happens during the game. I don't know what "milestones" or "story arcs" mean in relation to experience points in RPGs. Explicate,if you will.

Quote from: Dumarest;1002116I award experience for what happens during the game. I don't know what "milestones" or "story arcs" mean in relation to experience points in RPGs. Explicate,if you will.

THey are alternative way points towards earning experience. A destination reached, a piece of information gained etc. Or in the line of a story when the party reach a certain point in the action.. when they clear the monestary or land at the Port City they are headed to or whatever. Its an attempt to make experience fit more narratively into the game when occasional priorities are met, rests are taken and that sort of thing. I havent used it yet but Im really considering something along those lines. I can see many advantages and havent seen a downside yet.