Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

Aramus Daimorgul · Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 6:57 pm Post subject: How many XP???

So what do you do -->

When do you give 3?

When do you give 2?

When do you give 1?

What is your average XP per session?
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Wiggy · Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 7:11 pm Post subject: Re: How many XP???

Wendigo1870 · Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 6:08 am Post subject:

We cheat

!
We do an advancement each session rather than XP. For various reasons this works out well for us all, there've been no complaints (mainly we don't play the same game often enough (average once a month), so there would be no real feeling of advancement if we didn't).
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nonefornic · Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 6:51 am Post subject:

Control · Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:30 am Post subject:

When I ran Necessary Evil I decided I didn't want it to take forever to get to legendary so I gave 3 - 5 exp per session. On top of that I let the players roll unspent bennies for a chance to get even more exp. The end result was they were leveling up every session. I didn't like the rapid advancement and will probably use normal exp in my future campaigns. But the players loved leveling up every week. And I definitely agree that for mini campaigns or games run less frequently accelerated advancement can simulate long stretches of time passing between episodes. So once again to each his own and what ever is the most fun for your group is what I'd suggest. Smile

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Aramus Daimorgul · Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:42 am Post subject: Re: How many XP???

Aramus Daimorgul · Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:46 am Post subject:

Ron Blessing · Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:55 am Post subject:

I like shorter campaigns, so I've been giving 3 per session. So a non-productive session is worth 2 or, in extreme circumstances, 1.
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Cutter XXIII · Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:56 am Post subject:

I use the pg. 37 table, typically.

Two is my default. I give 1 XP in cases where failure/death/TPK/hijinks were more or less the result of player "error" (bad planning, dumb moves, impetuous acts). After a big, successful battle, a great victory, a problem solved by player ingenuity, etc. I give 3 XP.

When running Necessary Evil, I recommend planning for 20-23 "issues" and giving out 5 XP (and an Advance) after every session. To me, it really fits the "supers" vibe to do it that way.
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Wiggy · Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 5:36 pm Post subject: Re: How many XP???

DerFinsterling · Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:56 am Post subject:

I started to hand out xp much more generously since we've been playing more rarely.
I didn't want to go through a campaign and after two years real life the character is seasoned.
Might fit to the number and complexity of adventures, but come on, we all want the characters to get up their higher!

So, in effect, I give:
1xp if they really didn't do anything. I actually give out 1xp to characters whose player's don't show up (but told me so beforehand). So they don't lag behind too much.

Then I follow the guidelines from SWEX, but hand out 2,3,4 xp instead of 1,2,3.

This needs some adjusting-to, of course. One of my regular players in my Evernight campaign is - at the start of the fourth act - already a Veteran. Granted, I ran them through a couple of adventures before we started the campaign, but still. I might need to tweak the encounters just a little bit.
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Count Zero · Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 11:51 am Post subject:

We tend to play shorter story arcs so 3xp per session is the norm. We also let people roll to convert bennies.
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sulfurdown · Novice Joined: 05 Sep 2008 Posts: 43

I tend to be more heavy handed with encouraging non-stat based RP.

Players get 1xp for;
-Showing up, mentally and physically
-Accomplishing some plot point movement, either overall or character specific line.(i.e. a 'chapter')
-Stand-out gaming or at least not metagaming (brilliant ideas or RP, individual character based concept development)

So usually it would be 1-2 per session. I tend to draw it more from my days of Vampire games where you play the character for a while before you before advancing them, instead of spending half the time picking and learning new powrz. I'm a bigger fan of the advancements coming during logical downtime instead of the "Poof" you've got upgrades style (a la beginning of OotS).

zeth · Veteran Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 591

If the players do something truly heroic/self sacrificing that surprises me I give them 1 xp instantly instead of a benny. One example is when they gave almost their ENTIRE treasure to help a destroyed village recover and expected nothing in return. I'm talking like over a king's ransom from 50 F amount of treasure they gave up.

Tavis · Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 5:13 am Post subject:

We tend to play our Evernight game once a month, so usually I give out 3 XP, if the session's been successful, and 2 if they did not-so-well. 1 XP is reserved (unless they really screw up) for 'Sir not-appearing-in-this-session', should there be one, to account for what they were doing 'of-screen' (I'll usually allow them to give me one 'thing' they were trying to achieve in their 'down time' and give them a roll for it, rather than have them just sit in camp and do nothing if the player couldn't make it)
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Adam Baulderstone · Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 5:19 pm Post subject:

I always give two or three. They get three points if they hit some kind a benchmark in the story, or if it is just a really exciting session. It tends to alternate pretty evenly between the two.

I don't really like the idea of punishing a group with one. Most groups tend to have a session that is a little off from time to time. Maybe people are tired or distracted. It happens. Whatever the cause, I don't think it helps matters to tell the people that showed up to play in your game, that you are disappointed in them.

I don't factor role-playing into XP as they already get bennies for that.

joshuaslater · Seasoned Joined: 10 Jan 2008 Posts: 109

Our group's been playing steady every Sunday for a while now, and two or three is the norm. It's enough forward momentum to keep our enthusiasm and slow enough that it doesn't feel like we're jumping too fast.

I don't think we've played a session where we got one XP. As with everything about this system, whatever is FFF is really key. Wanna run more powerful characters and campaigns? No problem. Find the formula that keeps your players coming back, keeps laughter and good times at the table, and remember FUN is the most important part of this.

Cheers.

shadd4d · Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 4:49 pm Post subject:

So far, we've had 2 sessions on a weekly basis and they've netted 3XP per session. I haven't had a session pop up yet, in which my players have totally screwed the pooch and deserved 1XP...but it's probably inevitable.

Don
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