Group, individual, RP, any other XP reward...

[Kerilstrasz]

Ok..
i need your advice on XP rewards..
in which situations should a DM give XP???

We left aside the obvious "combat win" XP...

1.RP XP? what we take in consideration?
2.In which cases an individual should be awarded XP?
3.In which cases a group should be awarded XP in out of combat situations?

PS: I know my questions are a bit .. hmm.. not too specific..
just provide some examples of your Xperience as DM or PC and i ll get the
general idea..

[Ailowynn]

I always provide RP XP, and sort it by player. Slackers don't get others' XP. I actually track it with "Character Points" which are a house rule I created for my group--1 pt = 100 XP (can scale with level) or some other reward specific to game system (such as gold). I hand out cards to represent these Points, which players get whenever they do something heroic or stay in character well--that is, talking and deciding as their character would without meta gaming, especially if this ends up with a worse situation than otherwise.


Incidentally: please give your players XP whether they go through combat or not. A certain GM made the opposite call even when IT SAYS IN THE FREAKIN RULES....sorry. Ranting stopping....stopped.

[Hyde]

If they clear an encounter, be it a trap or combat or "skill challenge", award xp. The enemies need not be slaughtered, but summarily routed or captured.

Incidentally, avoiding an encounter entirely by being clever should also award xp, especially if you're using a module.

I personally provide party-xp, where everyone is at the same level. it makes for clean book-keeping, while allowing for some players to be away for personal reasons without nuking their progression. As such, I don't award xp for individual roleplaying, but we do it anyway because it's fun.

Quest rewards (milestone and completion) are also a thing, to be used at your discretion.

[Demorden]

Roleplay is expected in a roleplaying game.

When I DM, I give XP if someone goes an extra mile, e.g. avoids any sort of metagaming. (some low metagaming is always expected. PC played by experienced players tend to be more cautious than expected. Give some xp to the player that make the effort to remember that his PC is less experienced than him... but I don't penalize the 1st lvl PC who is strangely wise, 'cause often it is not planned, but comes natural)

Individual XP may ruin the party balance.

When I DM, the first thing I ask is if players this:
"do you want individual experience? you'll all get some more xp, BUT you may have significant differences, on the long run."

Out of Combat experience is educational and funny at the same time.

At almost every table, there is at least a player believing that rpg stands just for "rocket-propelled grenade": blasting and slaughtering enemies is the essence of the game. While this is partially true, teach them that they can become better (and stronger) by doing something different than mass murder.

I can't help but consider bad taste when I see a bloodthirsty (only evil blood of course) LG paladin. "GIMME MOAR ENEMIES! I NEED TO GET STRONGER FOR LATHANDER! ROAR!"

OoC xp are a good way to remember him that no, he doesn't strictly need moar enemies, roar.

[HurinTheCursed]

I believe up to 10% xp can be added for good roleplaying.
It doesn't destroy the balance more the the core mechanics already do, it's incentative for better roleplay but not enough to cause some players to steal the spotlight when they wouldn't already have.