question about xp in either 1st or 2nd edition dnd

[Windy El]

I was told by a friend about a way to gain cp in either 1st or 2nd edtion dnd.

it was something like: 1xp per gold piece picked by rogue
"x" xp per HD of monster slain for fighter
and so on.

Is it true and if so what edition or books does it come from?

thanks in advance

[Anonymouswizard]

I don't have access to my 2e books, but essentially there was no truly 'right' way to give out XP. Off the top of my head, I believe in 1e everyone gets 1XP per gp looted, but in 2e it differs slightly.

Basic:
-Every monster gives out a small amount of XP.
-GM gives out XP as he believes the players deserve.

Optional:
-Warriors get additional XP for defeating monsters.
-Wizards and Priests get XP whenever they cast a spell that helps solve a problem.
-Wizards get XP for making magic items and spells.
-Priest I believe get XP for doing priestly things.
-Rogues get 1XP per gp of treasure, letting them get more XP than everyone else, as well as having lower XP requirements (generally).

Oh, here Warrior is Fighter/Ranger/Paladin, Priest is Cleric/Druid/Specialty Priest, Wizard is Mage/Specialist Mage, and Rogue is Thief/Bard. 2e decided to group it's classes into 'classic' groups' in the PhB as Kits hadn't been invented yet.

[Lo'Tek]

The Dungeon Master's Guide gives one general rule:
"Maintain what you feel is the proper rate of advancement for player characters"

Then there are lots and lots of ideas how many XP the players can get for something. These rules are stupidly complex (there is a table for hit-dice to XP conversion and another one for special ability to hit dice in the Dungeon Master's Guide) and these often don't match with the values assigned to monsters in the books.
This makes it ridiculous to solve the question with math and even if you do, there are story points which are simply put "at the DMs discretion"

Experience can be a tool to influence players.
Example: The group does a lot of talking, planning, observing and you notice that the one playing the warrior is very inactive and starts to get bored. You may decide to give him less XP and tell him to get experience he should get in a fight.
Now this can lead in one of two directions:
1: The player becomes more active, interacts more with the game world and in the end enjoys the game more
2: The player becomes annoyed with you because he sees himself in the role of a protector of the group, and seeking out fights would be against what he believes to be the best course of action. Not only didn't he get much to do (you could have thrown a fight at them after all), he is now also punished for it.

I have a group where one player is quite talented when it comes to dialects and improvisation. In my opinion it is a good idea to let him play non plot relevant NPCs in interactions with other group members, however giving him bonus experience for this is not.
A lot of it is trial and error. You have a thief in the group? Hint to her that stealing stuff means getting experience. She starts to disrupt the game by stealing the focus and making the game about "how many purses can i cut today?" while the rest of the group takes a backseat? Make it clear she has become so good at it, it is no longer a challenge worth rewarding with xp.

An orc is worth 15 XP. Two orcs are a challenge for a level 1 warrior. He could very well die.
A level one warrior getting in what might be his first real fight to the death, doing some good RP (instead of just dice-rolling the monsters to death), taking a wound and surviving, victoriously?
Congratulations, he is now level two (-> 2000xp)

After some smaller quests and dungeon raids the group has discovered a threat by an evil cult and are way on their way to stop them. The last battle our heroes might have lost, their friend and protector dead, but the war is not yet over. The gods themself have noticed them and offer their support: they answer the prayers of the groups priest and our warrior returns to life to fight for another day (level 9).

I have made some alteration to the leveling progress in my house rules. A warrior gets a new profiency at level 3. I reversed that: Instead of picking it at level three it should be picked at level 2. Learning a new skill means becoming more experienced which means advancing to level 3. Lean back and enjoy the show when your players add a new dimension to their character.

If a knight is level 10 and has a fortress, followers will gather. I reversed that: you want to be a level 10 knight? You must build a reputation, gather followers and earn/build/buy/conquer a keep.

There are other things one should take into consideration. For example: Are magic items rare or common? A sword+1 is worth 500xp (Dungeon Master's Guide). Note how disproportionate this number is to "player has a good idea (50-100xp)".
Finding a rare +1 sword in the depth of the spider cave, the first magic item the group has ever owned, might be worth 1000xp. Killing 10 Orcs all armed with +1 swords can be worth 350xp (35xp for a 2HD creature ~= 1HD orc with a magic weapon). Killing all 10 orcs at once with a fireball might add 50x3 for casting the spell, or set the total xp to 150, because blowing up 1HD mobs from a hundred meters distance simply counts as "spell used to solve problem".

Last but not least note that the experience points needed to advance grow exponentially (Warrior: 2k, 4k, 8k, 16k, ...).
If your campaign is planned to reach its peak in the 7-9 area and in the epilogue the heroes have earned a keep and a reputation that attracts followers, then we are talking half a million xp. Now consider this: your group has full time jobs, other hobbies, families and you shedule a game every two weeks, some of which are canceled. Compare it to: we live together and play three times a week.
The context changes the pacing: The later group is free to take side quests, while the former should stay on track. Both need a year for the main campaign and both earned their keep, reputation, followers and 10th level. The later group actively had to convince people to join their course in multiple week long side quests. The former joined forces with a local ruler in a single session.

Experience is not a math problem. "Maintain what you feel is the proper rate of advancement for player characters"

[Thrudd]

I was told by a friend about a way to gain cp in either 1st or 2nd edtion dnd.

it was something like: 1xp per gold piece picked by rogue
"x" xp per HD of monster slain for fighter
and so on.

Is it true and if so what edition or books does it come from?

thanks in advance

1e DMG was 1 xp/gp for treasure recovered from the adventure, plus xp per monster defeated based on monster strength.

2e DMG had xp per monster defeated, and the system of class-based rewards you are talking about, and had xp for gold as another option in a sidebar.

[MeeposFire]

1e and 2e both had rules on using gold gives XP. In addition rogues had an additional optional rule to give out extra XP for certain actions and one was obtaining treasure.

Honestly if you don't use one or all of the optional XP gains in the book and you do use only the combat XP for killing monsters then level gains will be really slow compared to what most modern games are used to. This is what leads many people to say that 2e has really slow level gains because many people did not use the optional XP tables (in many cases they did not know they exist especially the gold for XP part). Slow is not bad of course but just remember how slow it is going to be and make sure that is what you are comfortable with.

For instance low level characters may fight 10 orcs and it could be a dangerous fight for them (a few lucky rolls could easily wipe a 1st level party). 10 15xp orcs gives a total XP of 150 divide by say 5 characters and each is only getting 30XP for a very dangerous encounter out of the 1200-2000+XP for the next level (I am just going by memory I do not remember 2nd level XP values all that well). As you can see you would have to do a lot of fighting to get a level on its own and that was not a gimme fight either.

[D+1]

1e DMG was 1 xp/gp for treasure recovered from the adventure, plus xp per monster defeated based on monster strength.All adjusted for degree of threat actually faced. Also, a flat 1000xp bonus for being resurrected (a little-known rule but it's there), and xp value gained from magic items that were kept rather than sold.


and had xp for gold as another option in a sidebar.
2E DMG covers giving xp for fun, character survival, good play, achieving story goals and killing or otherwise defeating creatures. Like the DMG it was noted that xp should be adjusted for the degree of threat/difficulty actually faced. Individual awards were entirely optional rules, and under those rules rogues could earn 2xp for every gp of stolen treasure. I don't think it was actually a sidebar, but it was stated that it was OPTIONAL to simply award 1xp/1gp of non-magical treasure as a group award with a warning that you didn't want to give out too much that way.

[Conradine]

I vaguely remember older systems giving xp for exploration of wilderness hexes. Does somebody remember that?

[LibraryOgre]

I was told by a friend about a way to gain cp in either 1st or 2nd edtion dnd.

it was something like: 1xp per gold piece picked by rogue
"x" xp per HD of monster slain for fighter
and so on.

Is it true and if so what edition or books does it come from?

thanks in advance

These specifics sound very similar to the Class-Based XP awards from the 2nd Edition DMG, some of which were expanded for various classes in their specific handbooks.

Wizards got 50 xp/spell level for casting spells to solve problems. Clerics got 100 xp/spell level if a spell furthered their ethos. Warriors got 10XP/HD/Level for defeating monsters. And rogues got XP for using abilities and acquiring gold.

[Thrudd]

I vaguely remember older systems giving xp for exploration of wilderness hexes. Does somebody remember that?

No, that doesn't sound familiar. It's not in Basic or 1e, and hex maps had gone out of style by the nineties, for the most part. Old D&D was always XP for gold (that was returned from the dungeon) and XP for monsters.

[FreddyNoNose]

I was told by a friend about a way to gain cp in either 1st or 2nd edtion dnd.

it was something like: 1xp per gold piece picked by rogue
"x" xp per HD of monster slain for fighter
and so on.

Is it true and if so what edition or books does it come from?

thanks in advance
The DM is not bound by that. You should talk to him before you surprise him with your cunning plan.

[Storm_Of_Snow]

Oh, here Warrior is Fighter/Ranger/Paladin, Priest is Cleric/Druid/Specialty Priest, Wizard is Mage/Specialist Mage, and Rogue is Thief/Bard. 2e decided to group it's classes into 'classic' groups' in the PhB as Kits hadn't been invented yet.
They were essentially grouped in 1st edition, with the main four (plus Monk, and Cavalier when UA got released) and subclasses that used their parent classes to hit/save tables and so on.