Role-Playing XP advice?

[missmvicious]

Everyone I play with is tired of playing for DMs who don't give out GP or XP as often or as generously, as they should. So I'm making a serious stat cruncher game.

We've got a couple of noobs in the group, so I've started everyone off at Level 1, base races, base classes, so leveling up should be fairly quick and easy. They made it to level 2 after the first session, and are almost at level 3 and their 3rd session is tomorrow.

I cranked up the XP gain by writing out some XP rules for role-playing, since the DMG doesn't have a clearly marked guide for that. This also rewards the Players who really get into the game, and penalizes those who don't show (if you're not there, you can't role-play, so you won't get the XP for it.)

But after cranking the role-playing XP up, my players are starting to get complacent. Most of them seem content to stay in town, where there is no combat, and stat crunch on role-playing until they're a high enough level to plow through the combat setting I have set up for them. I've offered some enticements for them to leave town, but only some of them bit, and I'm worried about being forced into running a split campaign. I don't want to railroad the campaign, so forcing everyone to leave town is right out. Maybe I need to tweak the role-playing XP a little.

Here are some of the guidelines I'm currently using to determine role-playing XP:
1. Determine CR of NPC.
2. Compare CR with combat XP reward on chart, pg 38, DMG.
3. Did PC have to role skill checks to accomplish his goal?
If yes, did he get what he wanted? Full XP if he gets what he wanted, half if not, as long as they role-played it well (not just roll-played it).
If no: no XP (unless they just blow my mind with brilliant role-playing, then 50 XP for the effort.)

I also reward combat role-playing XP (100 XP max) if they take the time to describe their attack (describing the attack may involve skill checks during the attack and count as a Called Shot), rather than say, "Did 18 hit your AC? Cool... that thing took 8 points of damage then..." but I've only been able to put them through one fight so far, so they wouldn't even know that.

All the players are really enjoying leveling up so fast without taking a single HP of damage, but some of the players are getting a little bored, while others are thinking about staying in town for a week (or more) just stat-crunching.

I know I blundered here, but how do I fix it without railroading the campaign?
Should I fix the role-playing XP? If so, how would you change it? Should I set up an in-town combat encounter to give them a taste for blood? They know their mission, and they have a rough idea that it's time sensitive, so I don't want to throw a side-quest their way... I don't know.

** Spoiler Alert if anyone from my campaign is reading this**

I've got one more "nudge" that was actually written into the story concept to create a "ticking time bomb" sense of urgency, which will hopefully get things going, but it doesn't kick in until the 3rd in-game day, and they probably won't understand the implications of it until about the 5th or 6th in-game day. On day 3, I'm sending Apocalypse Frogs (sort of a divine warning of impending doom) and every d4 days thereafter, I send them again. Each time they arrive, the CR for monsters and the encounter frequency goes up a little. After a predetermined number of appearances from the little guys, all hell breaks loose if they haven't unravelled the mystery of the campaign by then. This should light a fire under their rears, but I worry that it won't motivate them quickly enough. If they don't get their act together soon, they won't have enough time to solve the mystery before Colossal monsters are rampaging through town like a bad Godzilla knockoff.

[Flickerdart]

If you give out comparable XP awards for chatting up the barmaid as you do for killing things, then of course nobody is going to leave the bar. XP rewards for combat are high because there is risk involved, and if there's no risk, it isn't an encounter. Social and non-combat encounters have to involve a similar degree of risk. For instance, defusing a brawl between two street gangs through peaceful negotiation, or calming down wild beasts that broke out of a zoo, deserves the full XP reward, because it was still overcoming a hostile encounter - but you would need lots of rolls, with opportunities for everyone to contribute (just like combat).

[Quietus]

Another option is to base the reward on how much they accomplished. If they roleplayed well, they get a bonus. The more they actually accomplished, the larger the bonus is. So if they make their way through a tough combat, negotiate payment, and start travel toward the next area, maybe they get 50 exp/level. If they pushed through an entire enemy warcamp (gaining appropriate experience for bluffing, disguising, murdering, or otherwise defeating the encounters found therein), maybe they get 100 exp/level. If they did the above and it was a major plot point, where they've been working toward defeating the orc general for a half-dozen sessions or more and had to fight an epic battle to take him down, maybe they get a whopping 200/level - 20% of a full level, plus the actual experience for the battles.

If they don't roleplay, or they roleplay really well, you can shift this up or down accordingly.

[missmvicious]

Thanks Quietus. I think you both actually made some good points, but I appreciate the guideline for XP awards.

My original plan created a sliding scale downward (exactly like the DMG chart), since most NPCs (Commoner's anyway) in town never rank higher than CR2 (DMG, pg. 107)... Example:

4 level 1's successfully negotiating with a CR2 merchant: 150 XP each (600 XP total)
4 level 9's successfully negotiating with a CR2 merchant: 56 XP each (225 XP total)

But I think you make a valid point. I should've been rewarding battle early on, when battle's are hard to win, and rewarding role-playing later when it's more tempting to kick in the door than it is to get involved in the story. I've been doing it backwards. 200 XP/level is actually a more generous system then I've been running, so I may taper it back even more... like 100 XP/level, because 1,000 XP at level 10 for making an Aristocrat your trusted friend and new financial investor isn't a bad way to make higher level characters explore the world you created and get involved in the intrigue.

[Flickerdart]

I wouldn't base it on CRs. For instance, a high-ranking nobleman might only be a 2nd level Aristocrat, but due to his birth and station, he has the ear of a great many influential people. A 5th level Warrior, on the other hand, is just some army sergeant, and interaction with him will not lead to anything important.

[missmvicious]

I initially based it on CR because, theoretically, a 5th level Warrior will have higher skill sets than a 2nd level Aristocrat, and therefore the skill challenge would be higher and so too would be the XP reward. Of course, information or assistance coming from a town guard (Warrior) will be totally different than information or assistance coming from an Aristocrat, which also affected the XP reward result.

But I already agree that my system was flawed.

What would you base it on, if not 100XP/level or by CR?

What I really want to know about is what kind of system you have in place or can come up with that is fair and balanced.

The most generous DM we've played for before me would give out 50 bonus XP to the player who role-played the best in that session. The system was both stingy and unreliable, because it was based too much on a vague emotional impression that the DM had at the moment, and the reward was so paltry, that it felt more like an insult than a reward to those who got it. "Good boy! You did lots of tricks today... here are your table scraps." I'm trying to set a new standard and get players to forget they're playing a game, and become completely immersed in the story and the world that story is set in, and nothing motivates my group quite like XP. I swear, I could take out all the gold, all the artifacts, all the magic weapons and armor, and just give some XP rewards, they'd still think I was the best DM ever. So I need a system that rewards PCs enough to keep them excited without letting them get fat and lazy in town they started in.

[Flickerdart]

Roleplaying is, by its very nature, dynamic, and no two RP situations are completely identical. Combat, on the other hand, has precise rules for just about everything. So while it makes sense for a CR (and thus XP reward) system to exist for combat encounters, having a hard formula for roleplaying awards might not always be prudent. When I award RP XP, i tend to wing it ("You guys are how far from levelling? Because you did a good job of tricking that demon into releasing the hostage, I'll give you the 500 XP you need to level up.").

[missmvicious]

As a matter of curiosity, how do you deal with skill challenges... specifically.

Lets say, you throw a reasonably intelligent monster at them (speaks a language that at least one of the PCs can understand) that the PCs couldn't possibly beat in a fight, but might be coerced into giving the PCs valuable information or safe passage through their realm if you use your skills to get past.

Ex:
Negotiating safe passage through a stretch of an Ocean Strider's ocean.
Sneaking past a sleeping dragon.
Bartering with a hunting party of Thorns for guidance through an enchanted forest.
Convincing a Glaistig not to take one of your teammates as a mate, or worse, and yet still getting her help passing through her waters to get to that subterranean chamber she has conveniently nested in front of.

If they get what they came for without provoking an attack, would you grant role-playing XP, or combat XP for that?