List Bad Things to Get XP For

[Altair_the_Vexed]

I learned a lot by messing up in the past - I used to smoke, obsess over crushes, goof off work... and it taught me plenty.

Why should we just learn from our good experiences? We can learn from mistakes!

Here's my start of a list of RPG situation that should grant XP (or its equivalent) to anyone who survives. How much? Not much - but it all adds up...

1. Any time a party member dies (unless you killed them - then you just get the usual XP for defeating them)
2. The first time you get hit in deadly combat
3. The first time you get poisoned
4. The first time you trigger a trap

There must be more! Tell everyone about them!

[Khedrac]

Sounds like about 1/3 of the xp sources in RoleMaster.

• Damage Taken
• Criticals received
• Fumbles (not sure about this one)
• Dying

Someone also mentioned a system similar to BasicRolePlaying (RuneQuest & Call of Cthulhu) where you got the skill gain check for failing not for succeeding, but I don't recall any details.

[Professor Chimp]

How about xp for all the times you:

• faceplant into a nice big, juicy cow pie aka "At least you found a soft spot to land" XP

• woke up late for work in the morning aka "Failing those perception checks against the midnight ambush while you sleep" XP

• were mauled by rabid dogs aka "Good job on those fortitude saves, but we're still gonna amputate the leg" XP

• dropped the soap in prison aka "Not being genre-savvy" XP

• got scammed into buying overpriced stuff in a store, only to realize it much later aka "Hindsight" XP

• provoked a barroom brawl aka "They're mandatory anyway" XP

• could've gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids aka "Should've cut and run when Mystery Inc. got involved" XP

• get mindraped by the local eldritch horror without permanently lodging yourself into the fetal position afterwards aka "We have an amazing mental health plan" XP

[Bogwoppit]

Definitely get xp for dying. Just hope your game system / setting allows resurrection.

How about xp for failed skill checks that make things worse? Like failing diplomacy so hard you start a fight.

[Freed]

Every time a wight drains a level, you gain XP! So... nothing changes......

[BarbieTheRPG]

Some systems have rules for surviving mistakes. No system mentioned here. D&D?

[Quertus]

This is tricky. See, I'd likely learn every time a party member was injured, while my signature character, for whom this account is named, would just consider that an example of the meat shields doing their job. Quertus, on the other hand, might get XP every time creatures die too fast for him to study their capabilities. It's questionable whether he should earn XP every time something manages to penetrate the muddled mess that serves as his defenses, as, every time this happens, he simply replaces it with a different muddled mess

How about the first time you get cursed? The first time you provide an Attack of Opportunity (D&D)? The first time valuables get destroyed? The first time the opponent beats you to a destination / in a competition? The first time you cast the wrong spell? The first time you use the wrong tool? The first time you enter the water? If you enter a new setting / rules set, every time your tried and true techniques inexplicably fail?

[Jay R]

XP for every time I quote a (non-Monty-Python) movie and both the DM and at least one player respond correctly.

In a recent game, I received points for concluding a briefing before a mission with the following from The Court Jester.

Jay R: I'd like to get in, get on with it, get it over with, and get out. Get it?
DM & player: Got it.
Jay R: Good.

[JAL_1138]

The first time you blunder into a trap that a 10ft pole would have set off harmlessly.

The first time a chest turns out to be a mimic.

The first time you prod something with a 10ft pole and draw back a 9ft pole instead.

The first time you read explosive runes.

The first time you fail a swim check.

The first time a pool of water turns out to be a water weird or elemental.

The first time you can't use your weapons effectively in water.

The first time you can't cast properly underwater.

The first time your spellbook is ruined by getting wet.

The first time you catch a horrible disease or get poisoned by drinking un-purified water.

The first time your vessel is attacked by aquatic monsters.

The first time your vessel sinks.

The first time you have to ditch most of your cumbersome gear and/or heavy currency/loot to avoid drowning.

The first time a coin turns out to be a Lock Lurker.

The first time you run afoul of the potion miscibility tables.

[Stealth Marmot]

XP for exotic STDs cured by your cleric (with various CRs based on how bad the thing is he got)

[Gnaeus]

I learned a lot by messing up in the past - I used to smoke, obsess over crushes, goof off work... and it taught me plenty.

Why should we just learn from our good experiences? We can learn from mistakes!

Here's my start of a list of RPG situation that should grant XP (or its equivalent) to anyone who survives. How much? Not much - but it all adds up...

1. Any time a party member dies (unless you killed them - then you just get the usual XP for defeating them)
2. The first time you get hit in deadly combat
3. The first time you get poisoned
4. The first time you trigger a trap

There must be more! Tell everyone about them!

When my rolemaster team realized that we got exp for taking crits and damage, next time we needed to level, we started hurling ourselves face first from trees for exp. Reward the behavior of which you want to see more.

[Jay R]

When my rolemaster team realized that we got exp for taking crits and damage, next time we needed to level, we started hurling ourselves face first from trees for exp. Reward the behavior of which you want to see more.

Agreed. And one of the behaviors you need to not reward is playing stupid games with the rules.

In the Errol Flynn movie Captain Blood, the pirate ship’s articles include an additional share for pirates who are injured. So directly before being paid in Tortuga, Honesty Nuttall shoots his own little toe off. During the treasure allotment scene:

Blood: Honesty Nuttall, no injuries, one share.
Nuttall: 'Old on, Captain, how about me little toe, ‘eroically shot off in battle?
Blood: Honesty Nuttall, one share, and nothing for the toe he just shot off himself.

If I had a player who tried throwing himself out of a tree for experience points, I would show him that scene, and then tell him that, according to the historical documents, there are no rewards for self-inflicted wounds.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

Some systems have rules for surviving mistakes. No system mentioned here. D&D?

Nope - I deliberately mentioned no system, which is why this is in the all-purpose forum for general advice or system-independent posts.

It's for a laugh, mainly - but with possible practical applications.

[orbispelagium]

If someone makes a preventable mistake, it'd be fun to give them XP if they deliberately take steps to avoid that happening again the next time it's a risk.

This seems like a good incentive system, especially for players who haven't quite learned the structure and idioms of tabletop games yet.

[veti]

The first time you hit a rust monster with your holy avenger.

The first time you take off your helmet so you can hear the weird whispering guy with tentacles on his face more clearly.

The first time you try to eat a black pudding. (This one works in real life, too.)

The first time you try to hide in a shadow.

The first time you miss a session.

The first time you commit an act of egregious theft, vandalism or murder, without asking the DM about potential witnesses first...

[GungHo]

If you permanently kill yourself, you should be given XP equivalent to your challenge rating.

[Jormengand]

In Stars Without Number, you get XP for completing goals that you set yourself. In the session I'm playing, this has included kissing someone and stopping various party members (the method by which they ought be stopped was never specified).

[Stealth Marmot]

If you permanently kill yourself, you should be given XP equivalent to your challenge rating.

Wait, what if that XP was enough to level up and let you survive your own suicide?

[Sariel Vailo]

commiting suicide of a grief character oh wait id actually give someone xp for that

[GungHo]

Wait, what if that XP was enough to level up and let you survive your own suicide?

1d100 reincarnation table.

[Sariel Vailo]

1d100 reincarnation table.

agreed definitely agreed

[MasterMercury]

Gave XP to my wizard for succeeding to bed the princess...he promptly died the next session.

[sengmeng]

I've been giving xp for taking shots of liquor...

[Slipperychicken]

I've seen GMs give XP and treasure for killing people.

And then they wonder why their PCs spend all their time killing people and looting their bodies...

[wumpus]

Definitely get xp for dying. Just hope your game system / setting allows resurrection.

How about xp for failed skill checks that make things worse? Like failing diplomacy so hard you start a fight.

Bushido had reincarnation rules: the more xp you had (forgot just how karma points worked) the more bonuses you got for your next character. A properly heroic death (presumably including seppuku) would almost certainly gain "xp" in the next life (can't remember if the priests could resurrect or not. Certainly not at the level I played).