the combat ends, the treasure is claimed...

[jrients]

Do you hand out xps immediately or keep a tally and award them at the end of the session? Does treasure have to be removed from the dungeon for you to award points? If you hand out xps as you go, do you allow characters to level up in the middle of the dungeon? One DM I knew handed out xps for monsters slain immediately on finishing them off. You could level up in the middle of a fight. Once that saved my bacon as I was otherwise out of hit points!

[philotomy]

I require the PCs to return to a safe area (normally that means town/civilization) before I award XP.

[makofan]

I calculate monster xp after each fight, and make a note of it. I calculate treasure xp at the end of the adventure based on what they hauled back to base. I then award each player their total, and level them up. They definitely do not level up in the dungeon (well, there are always exceptions).

[doc]

I give XP at the end of each adventure, unless it is a looong adventure. Generally they get points every 4-5 sessions. Going longer than that is just cruel. I generally don't give XP for treasure, as treasure is it's own reward. If part of the adventure objective was to obtain or retrieve an item, they would get XP for that, though.

Doc

[Deleted]

If I can get away with it, I like to wait until they either (a) return to the surface (camp, town or otherwise) or (b) a "safe area" in the dungeon (relatively speaking, of course ). What usually happens is that since we play once a month, we usually end up playing a marathon session (6pm to sometimes 6am). I try to establish for myself what I like to call "waypoints"; when the PC's either accomplish a goal or reach a certain area, I'll hand out experience for defeated creatures or compleated obstacles at that point, but I still save treasure XP for the conclusion of the adventure. I agree with makofan; I don't really like doling out XP in the dungeon, but because of our bizarre schedule, it's kind of unavoidable...

[Finarvyn]

I wait for a "safe spot" in an adventure, or I do it at the end of each evening of gaming. Some of it depends upon what sort of campaign I am running. One of my current games is running players through the GDQ series of AD&D modules, and once they finish one module they go right into the next. There aren't many safe spots, other than in between modules.

I think that the key is that players want to see occasional advancement. If too many game sessions occur without some sort of payback, some of the players will get a little grumpy. For that reason, I don't mind giving out XP a little more frequently than I might otherwise.

[badger2305]

I wait until the party has gotten to a safe place, or where there is a natural "break-point" in the action during an adventure (usually these things coincide). Each player got their own XP reward then (which might be different from each other, and I discouraged sharing OOC information such as levels, etc.).

[ffilz]

In my upcoming mega-dungeon campaign, PCs will need to return to the surface. I might even not count gold spent on various expenses (such as raise dead and remove curse) for xp. Certainly gold and treasure must be divided.

I might provide safe rest spots where they can regain spells, but still, no xp, though there might be instant xp grants (certainly reading a book such as a Manual of Puissant Skill at Arms would be an instant gain).

Frank

[crimhthanthegreat]

I give XP either at the end of the game session or if a fair amount of XP have been earned, I will give it out as soon as they are not in combat and are not going to be back in combat right away. Some XP is available for distribution no matter where they are and other XP is only available when they have made it out of the dungeon or back to civilization. There are some case by case rulings of when I give XP that I make from time to time.

[jdrakeh]

crimhthanthegreat said:

I give XP either at the end of the game session or if a fair amount of XP have been earned, I will give it out as soon as they are not in combat and are not going to be back in combat right away.

This is pretty much how I do it though, more often than not, it's an 'end of session' award.

[serendipity]

At the risk of sounding heretical, my group doesn't really use experience points. Every so often the DM says he thinks we've overcome enough adversity as a group that we're able to go up a level. Everyone. Mind, we do work pretty much as a team, with rare, rare forays into individual glory. Perhaps it's because half the group are women (perhaps not) but we figured out early on that we did much better as a team than as individuals. I think our DM is rewarding that by leveling us up en masse as he does.

As for when we get the new levels, I think it generally occurs about when we've all forgotten that there is such a thing. But I have vague recollections that it has occurred before.... ;D

[ffilz]

A problem I would have with the GM arbitrarily levelling everyone up is that different classes have different XP tables, and they serve to balance things out some. How does he handle multi-classes?

I also experimented with group XP (everyone has exactly the same XP total) in 3.5 and found it removed some incentives from players, I saw more absenteeism, and worse, disregard for death (since replacement PCs came in with exactly the same XP).

Frank

[Finarvyn]

ffilz said:

I saw more absenteeism, and worse, disregard for death (since replacement PCs came in with exactly the same XP).

Why do the replacements have to start at the same level? Give 'em a level deduction and start them off that way.

[serendipity]

My group doesn't tend to multi-class, so it's not something that's come up as an issue, and neither has imbalance. When you don't anticipate leveling up, you play your character as-is to the best of your ability and for the good of the group. There's no scheming to get X more points so you can achieve Y in Z more sessions. (shrugging) Maybe it wouldn't work for other groups.

We don't have a disregard for character death, either. I could probably count the number of character deaths in the last decade on one hand, and that's not because the DM saved the day at the last moment. There's no resurrection in our games*; once a character dies, they remain dead.

Those deaths were most lethal to the DM himself, as when his daughter's character bit the dust, his wife shot him that you'll-be-sleeping-with-the-dogs-for-at-least-a-year look. I didn't doubt its message for a moment. (You may never have seen this particular look, but I guarantee you'd recognize it immediately if you ever did.) For the record, even then his daughter's character did not suddenly think she was getting better and suggest going for a walk.

I suspect my group would be content to remain at the same level (that's generally third to fifth) more or less permanently. It certainly requires a great deal of ingenuity to accomplish quests and remain alive when everyone's at a low level. We recognize that there are some monsters we cannot kill and jobs we cannot do without assistance. It lends a feeling of mortality and reality, knowing that once in a while the only solution is to run away (often while humming "Sir Robin is running away, away, Sir Robin is running away...").

Ever run across the mentality that there must be a way to kill that monster and/or get past to gain the treasure, if only we run enough characters through the dungeon? Not here.... As you may have guessed, we're not power gamers. Once our DM suggested we try a high level game; we agreed that it was a lot of fun playing tenth level characters. Oh, I may exaggerate there. They might have been eleventh level.

--Sere
*Except for one evil, psycho enemy dwarf who seems to be unkillable.

[coffee]

I'm gonna have to say "Back in Town" is when the characters get their experience.

On the other hand, I don't have a regular group. My plan is to run Old School Games (tm) at local conventions, to see if I can't open some peoples' eyes to what old school gaming offers. Who knows? I may end up gathering a group of gamers that way.

So far I have lined up: OD&D (of course!), Original Traveller (just the 3LB and maybe some Judges Guild stuff) and 1st edition Champions. I may add Encounter Critical to the mix, and there's alwasy Risus for those late night pick up games...

I also have the first edition of Metamorphosis Alpha, but that will require some study as I have no direct experience with it.

So I'm not sure whether experience will come up. But if I do run a regular dungeon, like I say, it'll be back in town.

[dwayanu]

XP for defeated monsters might be sorted out on the spot, but getting treasure back "home" is part of the challenge. I kicked around for a while the notion (presented in Module B2) of simply dividing treasure XP -- as opposed to the treasure itself -- equally. I came back to my old accustomed practice.

A thousand XP can be a bit awkward in the form of a thousand pounds of silver, and many treasures are worth less for the encumbrance. Things other than cash must usually be converted to it (i.e., sold) before yielding XP. It's all part of the game.

I'm thinking of adding a formal "training" requirement similar to that in AD&D. As things stand, it takes at least a week of set-aside time (i.e., no expeditions) to "cash in" XP for a new level.

[coffee]

I constantly waffle back and forth on the training issue. A part of me thinks it's logical and reasonable and wants to use it.

Then the other part of me says that it's a fantasy game and they earned the experience already doing what they'd be training for -- that's enough.

I'm still on the fence on that one...

[erroneousgrog]

You have to do what works for you.

My standard approach is that treasure must be removed from the dungeon to a safe area to count for experience, usually the town players consider as "home". This may or may not be practical depending on where the players are. Substitute your base of operations here.

XP for monsters I always add up and give to the players at the end of any game session. Since the interval between games can be long that is the most practical in terms of administration. Sometimes I used to let players "level up" if they crossed into a lower "harder" dungeon level during the game providing adding up the XP points at that point would raise the characters level.

Don't let players forget those XP bonus for primary characteristics, a lot of people ignore those but it helps the characters progress.

Here's a little house rule. If a character in the party dies, but the rest are all 3rd level, the new replacement character can start out at the same level as the lost character but with 0 experience, so they have to accumulate more to progress. A little penalty but not too harsh.

Greg
:-)

[erroneousgrog]

Another thing occurred to me, just because they can find treasure doesn't mean they can relocate it all. Encumberance is a factor as well. You can't claim what you can't carry away.

:-)

[dwayanu]

Training a la AD&D adds some interesting dynamics.

A) The "performance rating" that determines time and cost of training is a way to penalize bad (and reward good) play without altering XP awards. For example, a player whose MU flouts class restrictions on arms and armor can be docked for it.

B) It keeps players hungry for money, needing to save for training rather than spend freely. Sometimes a player has plenty of XP but needs more cash for training. By AD&D rules, he can't earn more XP. Expeditions get a more finely honed focus until the training is accomplished.

C) It establishes a relationship with an NPC master that can be a great adventure hook. Its game-mechanical importance can get the attention even of players who otherwise would scarcely bother with role-playing.

[geoffrey]

jrients said:

One DM I knew handed out xps for monsters slain immediately on finishing them off. You could level up in the middle of a fight. Once that saved my bacon as I was otherwise out of hit points!

That's actually pretty cool.

[jjarvis]

For years I've been using the method where I don't give everyone exp for treasure until they spend it on something or flaunt it (if it is jewelry they can wear).

[philotomy]

You could also combine the "training" and "only give xp for spending treasure" concepts. That is, the PCs gain the XP for acquiring the treasure, but upon gaining a new level, they have to spend the amount normally needed to train. But instead of just training, this could include flamboyant carousing, hiring bards to write epics about your exploits, investing in a fancy new wardrobe (e.g. a rich robe and an impressive pointy hat). Looked at this way, the "training" is kind of an adjustment period where you grow into (and broadcast) your new status as a warrior, or hero, or wizard, or whatever.

[blackbarn]

Since recovery of gold is an important part of earning XP, I only give the XP total after the surviving PCs have gotten out of the dungeon (or whatever) and are back in town or other place of safety. Only survivors get included when splitting up the XP. Whatever gold and treasure they recovered gets split however the players see fit.

[codeman123]

I usually ask the players when they get to a safe spot if they want exp.. and i only give exp for treasures that are safely brought back.. at the end of a session i give exp as well and a bonus for role-playing and good thinking etc.