Author Topic: XP... what system of rewards do you use?  (Read 9810 times)

0 Members and 5 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline jdale

  • RMU Dev Team
  • ****
  • Posts: 7,103
  • OIC Points +25/-25
Re: XP... what system of rewards do you use?
« Reply #60 on: September 20, 2016, 01:49:26 PM »
One GM we played with gave out special points for great roleplaying as well as out of game things like taking notes, tracking initiative, bringing food, etc. They weren't usable as XP but could be expended for bonuses on any roll. (It was World of Darkness, so +1 die per point, max of three per roll.) We could use them on other people's rolls, too, so they could be personal or things important to the whole party, or just to yourself (e.g. you might spend some on the healer's attempt to heal your character). He used coins as the representation, so it was a tangible reward and a tangible investment to use them.

It's a little out-of-game, but it gave incentives without affecting long term party balance. I thought it worked pretty well, although I haven't done it myself. My players don't need much incentive. (Although I would like them to take better notes.)
System and Line Editor for Rolemaster

Offline Spectre771

  • Revered Elder
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,385
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: XP... what system of rewards do you use?
« Reply #61 on: September 20, 2016, 03:38:40 PM »
And to track back to JDale's example, if it's a failure by the GM to design adventures which have potential for all characters, then YES I do blame the GM. A good GM should design things to allow for each character to contribute, or modify the design if that proves to not be the case. RM did a very poor job of allowing for non-combat XPs; something I house ruled as soon as I could.

Well put.  There should be a little creative balance on the part of the GM.  Something for everyone to allow them participation.  It's not easy, and not every single session calls for it, but the overall campaign should have all of the PC archetypes considered to exploits strengths as well as weaknesses.  This (to me) is where the XP for the PC's really starts to shine, but it really keeps all of the player engaged and invested in the session.

One GM we played with gave out special points for great roleplaying as well as out of game things like taking notes, tracking initiative, bringing food, etc. They weren't usable as XP but could be expended for bonuses on any roll. (It was World of Darkness, so +1 die per point, max of three per roll.)

We did something similar as well  I would give out +1 to +5 XP if the PC stumped me or came up with a really awesome way of overcoming something I threw at them.  +1 for making the GM laugh.  +1 for bringing Funyuns. ;-)  I love Funyuns!  In RM2, when it takes 20,000XP to go from Level 6 to Level 7, 1XP won't be any impact, but I found it really encouraged the players to be creative... because conversely, when it takes 20,000XP to level up, they do anything they can to get XP.

One particularly well spoken player (he ended up switching careers from architect to lawyer in real life) had me fast talking and had me so engaged in trying to follow the conversation so my NPCs wouldn't slip up and he ended up tripping me up anyway.  The guard gave him the sword, the Burglar stabbed the dragon wing, the dragon woke up pissed off and blasted every one with a fireball.  Much fun was had by most of the party. LOL.  (not those who got stuck in the blast).
If discretion is the better valor and
cowardice the better part of judgment,
let's all be heroes and run away!

Offline Witchking20k

  • Revered Elder
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,312
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: XP... what system of rewards do you use?
« Reply #62 on: November 11, 2017, 08:43:13 AM »
I can't recall if I actually posted in this or not......but, I don't track Experience.  We play once or twice a month, so , I track sessions.  Leveling from 1-2 is 2 sessions, 2-3 is 3 sessions etc.  If a player misses a session they cannot level up until after the next played session and cannot skip levels.
Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

Offline Grinnen Baeritt

  • Senior Adept
  • **
  • Posts: 505
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: XP... what system of rewards do you use?
« Reply #63 on: November 11, 2017, 11:33:16 AM »
Depends what system I'm running :)

For RM I was as detailed as the system. What can I say... I liked the complexity!

We kept a record of:
The hits caused/suffered.
The crits caused (per different type of Creature) and suffered (by Type)
Significant skill use (by difficulty).
Loads of other stuff..

What the players earned as individuals they received.

I then totalled the total xp for the session and allocated this as "bonuses"
 
50% was shared evenly between all the characters that participated.
50% was based on Role-playing and ideas.. (this bit was subjective but gave the unlucky but inventive players a reward). Quite often I'd let the players chose how this was divided...

Also, since I was using the original RM diminishing XP returns method of the awards, continued success in specific xp areas tended to be accelerated at the beginning of a characters career and reduced markedly in the mid-levels. Generally, players quickly progressed to 4-6th level. (which is my favourite Level ;) )

Rather than have players effectively pre-select and allocate skills on which their DP would be spent when they increased level, I allowed players to earn DP with the XP they had earned each session.

Each character could pre-select up to 10 specific skills which their characters *wanted to improve*, as they earned xp.

The total number of DP that could be earned in a level was divided by the number of XP required to achieve the next level.
This gave a XP = DP number so, that when players earned XP, they would also gradually be able to "spend" it on DP, reducing the DP they gat when they achieved the next level.

They could only spend XP to get the DP early, if it was on this list or was actively used in that session..

If the DP earned wasn't used, then once the level was achieved (and a period of rest/recuperation/training was available) they could spend any remaining DP however they pleased. Characters still couldn't earn more skill levels than they would normally though... so a fighter with a 1/2 skill could still only earn 2 ranks etc.

Therefore the acquisition of skills would be a relatively gradual affair, rather than a "lump" when they went up a level.   

Offline Dragonking11

  • Neophyte
  • *
  • Posts: 88
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: XP... what system of rewards do you use?
« Reply #64 on: November 11, 2017, 04:23:46 PM »
What I personally like about RPGs (be it video games or tabletop RPGs) is the choice we have as a player to choose our challenges based on a risk/reward ratio

I like that if i take great risks (e.g. exploring a cave full of trolls at low levels), there will be great rewards (loot and xp)

The RAW for RMSS XP system is based on that fact by giving bonus xp for higher level monster, skills used while in danger, etc

I admit it is tediously slow at times when calculating everything manually but the system is not bad at its core. A software that calculates everything is of great help in that regards.

Missions or goals based xp is a lot simpler though and is not a bad way of doing it either. It all depends on the general pace of your campaign in the end and what kind of gameplay you like to promote in your games

Offline Fingolfin80

  • Seeker of Wisdom
  • **
  • Posts: 203
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: XP... what system of rewards do you use?
« Reply #65 on: November 13, 2017, 05:19:47 AM »
I usually give players the same amounto of XP, and if a player did something really outstanding (brilliant idea to manage a situation, unconventional solution to a problem, finding a way to advance in the plot that I didn't foresee or achieving a personal goal very important to that character) gets an extra.
I really don't appreciate the classic "killing things"  method to amount PX, I always found it very prone to turn an roleplay game into a dungeon crawler boardgame. It's not always the case, I know, but  i really have that feeling. And also the ability reward system does not completely sitisfy me, because in the end you are rewarded only for playing your character "as it's supposed to be". A thief MUST steal, pick lock etc. all the time, a wizard HAS to cast spells like there's no tomorrow, otherwise they are left behind. It shift focus on archetypes and less on roleplay, leaving the players less free to create a unique character.
Just my opinion, of course, but people I play with have the same view on this point so I thought it was worth sharing.

Offline Dragonking11

  • Neophyte
  • *
  • Posts: 88
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: XP... what system of rewards do you use?
« Reply #66 on: November 13, 2017, 08:00:54 AM »
A thief MUST steal, pick lock etc. all the time, a wizard HAS to cast spells like there's no tomorrow, otherwise they are left behind.

I think this is true if the GM rewards all the mundane "non-important" actions or skills. Like I said, I like the RAW but I do not grant XP for using a skill or a spell that serves no purpose.

So no xp for a PC that uses his "Locate Hidden" skill for every square-inch of a cave just to make XP. If the action (skill or spell) serves a purpose, or if I judge that the player really thought it would (even if it is useless in a given situation), I award the XP.

In the end, the spell casters gains xp by playing normally, as does the thief. Of course, the GM must make sure that every PC shares a part of the story and if not, some PCs will get far behind others and that will really be unfun for them. So if you have a Thief character, make sure you give him opportunities to use his skills by putting locked doors, locked chests or by having enemies stand watch "looking the other way" so he can stalk and ambush

So in the end, if the GM creates game scenarios that involves everyone, everyone will have to use their character the "way it's supposed to".

Offline Grinnen Baeritt

  • Senior Adept
  • **
  • Posts: 505
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: XP... what system of rewards do you use?
« Reply #67 on: November 13, 2017, 10:18:06 AM »
I think this is true if the GM rewards all the mundane "non-important" actions or skills. Like I said, I like the RAW but I do not grant XP for using a skill or a spell that serves no purpose.

So no xp for a PC that uses his "Locate Hidden" skill for every square-inch of a cave just to make XP. If the action (skill or spell) serves a purpose, or if I judge that the player really thought it would (even if it is useless in a given situation), I award the XP.

In the end, the spell casters gains xp by playing normally, as does the thief. Of course, the GM must make sure that every PC shares a part of the story and if not, some PCs will get far behind others and that will really be unfun for them. So if you have a Thief character, make sure you give him opportunities to use his skills by putting locked doors, locked chests or by having enemies stand watch "looking the other way" so he can stalk and ambush

So in the end, if the GM creates game scenarios that involves everyone, everyone will have to use their character the "way it's supposed to".

When my players performed skills that seemed to serve no purpose and succeeded, I award in most cases, that sounds illogical, but it's "the practice makes perfect". However, continuous repetition simply meant that they received less of a reward for doing so, eventually becoming so mundane they'd get nothing.. unless it DID have a purpose. Think of it like sparring.. no different.

Offline Jengada

  • Adept
  • **
  • Posts: 409
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: XP... what system of rewards do you use?
« Reply #68 on: November 13, 2017, 10:30:35 AM »
(Apologies if I already posted this, but the Forum icon says I haven't.)
My XP system is very much a homebrew, but it does follow the basic outline of the RM2 system. They get Xp for
Crits given/received
Hits given/received
Spells cast
Maneuvers
Death/near-death
Ideas
Kills
Avoidance
Basic multipliers for first time, second time, etc. apply to crits, spells, maneuvers, ideas, and kills (species specific).
Maneuver points are on a different scale than the RM2 scale. It's based on the actual probability of success for the maneuver AND the maneuver difficulty level.
I'm pretty generous with Idea points. I apply them to targets of sleep, hold, calm, etc. when the caster controls the target then the fighters take it down. (Last session, the cleric calmed a giant snake, and got 1/2 of all the xp others were able to get because the snake was calmed - up to the first attack on it, when the spell was broken.)
Avoidance points are given when the choice of entering battle is under the PCs' control, and they maneuver to avoid that combat. They get 1.1x(Kill Points+Hit Points+Bonus Points).
Also, experience is increased based on MEmory stat bonus, up to 10%. (Memory should be good for SOMETHING!)
Because I've also modified the development point system, experience feeds into how many DP a character gets. All characters get 35 DP/level to start with. Each character has a chosen "motivation", things like cleverness, some big cause, playing with magic, traveling, or beating things up. For every 1000 xp they get in that realm for a level, they get an extra DP. This has helped encourage the PCs to both add color to their characters, and to look for opportunities to use their relevant skills for their motivation.
We ask the hard questions here, because they keep us too busy to worry about the hard questions in the real world, and we can go with the answers we like the best.

Offline Dragonking11

  • Neophyte
  • *
  • Posts: 88
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: XP... what system of rewards do you use?
« Reply #69 on: November 13, 2017, 10:50:23 AM »
When my players performed skills that seemed to serve no purpose and succeeded, I award in most cases, that sounds illogical, but it's "the practice makes perfect". However, continuous repetition simply meant that they received less of a reward for doing so, eventually becoming so mundane they'd get nothing.. unless it DID have a purpose. Think of it like sparring.. no different.

Well in order to prevent abuse, I generally do not reward repetitive use of a skill or spell unless it is really appropriate to the situation. Instead, I like to be generous if needed with the basic available multipliers to the XP rewards such as, failure of the skill results in danger / extreme danger / etc .. those multipliers make a big difference in the long run ...  Though I do not know if they exist in RM2 ( I play RMSS)

I also like to use "extra" xp rewards such as Quest rewards, ideas and roleplay bonus, etc. I usually attribute a flat Quest XP reward that everyone receives at the end and while playing I take notes of good ideas or roleplay situation that arise. I then divide another flat xp amount between the players by looking in their respective "good ideas and roleplay" column

Offline Grinnen Baeritt

  • Senior Adept
  • **
  • Posts: 505
  • OIC Points +0/-0
Re: XP... what system of rewards do you use?
« Reply #70 on: November 13, 2017, 11:32:14 AM »
I play RMSS as well. I do use those modifiers.. so if the players "burn" the XP from skills use without the extra danger, they don't get the big boost.