I just wanted to find out what system(s) you guys use for level your players? XP is straight-forward enough, but I have yet to find a good system for rewarding roleplaying. Milestones seems intriguing, but I worry it may be too boring. Thoughts?
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C. Foster Payne
"If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around."
I use a combination of roleplaying rewards, ability use, end-of-combat XP, milestone, MVP, and first-use XP (though this is usually reserved for unique items, such as sentient/cursed/legendary items). I've been a DM for more than 30 years, and I have found that players like to be rewarded for a variety of actions, not just kill scores in the form of XP.
If I had a group that could do a proper sandbox game (being proactive about developing their own stories within the milieu), then I'd use milestones. Whenever they achieved a major goal that they'd set for themselves, like rescuing the princess, they'd get a level. And whenever they achieve a minor goal they set for themselves, like finding out who is actually behind the kidnapping of the princess, then they'd receive inspiration.
But I don't have that group; I have a group that needs to be led to water or else they'll die of thirst. Either that, or start a tavern brawl. So I use XP instead.
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"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
I'm doing milestone, but also keeping track of XP on the back end for a few reasons. It's possible they hit enough random encounters or other situations to level up without necessarily doing a story milestone, though that hasn't happened yet. But I also had two players join the campaign later, and not everybody can make every session; XP let the newer players catch up (since the first few levels go so quick), and also may wind up being a sort of reward for the players who show up more often.
- When I’m putting together encounters, the only thing I need to think about is the party. With XP out of the equation, I can balance around their collective and individual strengths and weaknesses.
- I can throw as many creatures in as I want. Maybe I’m feeling like a battle with 40 minions is on the menu, so I just make it happen without having to crunch XP.
- More flexibility for the party to grow as the story develops.
- Allows the focus to be on building a story and moving the adventure along, rather than racking up kills.
I keep track of the number of sessions between levels so that I can ensure they feel like they are progressing.
There was a UA that had a new “three pillar experience” system in it that I found interesting. However, the milestone thing has been working ao I have t bothered trying it yet.
I love Milestone, that being said I do have a system of tracking how much XP the PCs gain. I usually write my own campaigns so that works well to help me know when I need to throw something big at them or when I need to slow down on rewards. Just a way to track things while maintaining the primacy of story.
As a player, not a DM, I’ve played with both. I prefer XP when the DM awards XP for defeating all challenges. That means more than just fighting monsters. It’s more fun for me that way. Although I also prefer when the DM keeps everyone at the same level. If a player deserves a reward, give them an inspiration, not XP.
As a player, not a DM, I’ve played with both. I prefer XP when the DM awards XP for defeating all challenges. That means more than just fighting monsters. It’s more fun for me that way. Although I also prefer when the DM keeps everyone at the same level. If a player deserves a reward, give them an inspiration, not XP.
I have homebrew rules my first gaming group developed at the Table. Back then, when we were playing 1E and 2E, we developed a list of rewards other than XP. Inspiration is a clean, in-game boost. I like that it doesn't stack. Characters have only one stocked at any given time. Lets the player make the call when/where to use it.
Our groups gain levels when, after a session, the DM thinks it's time to level.
That's the same in both the groups I dm and the ones where I'm a player.
We started doing that when we discovered that XP didn't make the game more fun for us - it was time and focus spent on something that didn't give us anything back.
We don't do rewards for fun roleplaying - fun roleplaying is it's own reward, and we don't dock levels if a player misses a session - we find the game more fun when everyone is of the same level.
Often we will gain a level after reaching an important story beat, but the milestone isn't the most important factor - sessions played since last time we leveled is more important.
From my experience as a PLAYER (I've never been a DM before) I really like XP with a few exceptions however. I do enjoy it and I know other people I've played with do too when the DM gives XP for good roleplay or something cool the character did.
Going with XP does scare some people however because if they miss a session they'll lose out on getting some much needed XP that they'll need in order to level up. A way to fix this is if someone is gone reward them with the lowest amount of XP you gave out to the players that were present at that game.
I prefer XP over milestone as both a DM and Player.
As DM I like to award extra XP for clever ideas and unique solutions to encounters, both combat and non-combat. It encourages the players to put forth more effort.
As a player I enjoy receiving XP because I want to reap the reward of the effort I put in to role play and problem solving. If I level up at the same pace as the person across the table that barely pays attention then it can be discouraging.
I almost exclusively DM, and I slowly migrated away from XP. What I found was that my players were excessively competitive. They tended to compete to see who got the "most" XP during a session. It became unfun for certain players who wasn't competitive.
The first step was to pull the "XP" and tell the players I was keeping track of XP behind the screen for all players. There was some griping from the power games who wanted to "be the best", but that was squelched after I leveled them up (as planned) the next session. After that, i completely stopped keeping track of XP entirely and just leveled players up when it at key story points. Players were none-the-wiser and the "competitiveness" was done away with and the focus returned to role-playing and enjoying the experience.
I almost exclusively DM, and I slowly migrated away from XP. What I found was that my players were excessively competitive. They tended to compete to see who got the "most" XP during a session. It became unfun for certain players who wasn't competitive.
The first step was to pull the "XP" and tell the players I was keeping track of XP behind the screen for all players. There was some griping from the power games who wanted to "be the best", but that was squelched after I leveled them up (as planned) the next session. After that, i completely stopped keeping track of XP entirely and just leveled players up when it at key story points. Players were none-the-wiser and the "competitiveness" was done away with and the focus returned to role-playing and enjoying the experience.
Your post reminds me of a group I DM'd a while back. They didn't care so much about XP. It seemed like they played every MMO and cooperative game out there, so for them the fun was the sneak and the avoid and the accumulation of wealth. At one point I had to develop a banking system for these players managed by a federation or guild -- can't remember which. But it was lots of fun. We all went our separate ways eventually. College tends to do that.
Leveling the playing field is far and way more important than checking off levels.
I use a mix honestly. If the group seems to be doing a lot and gaining "experience" I might milestone them, but I also have them keep track of the XP they earn from Combat/Exploration/Social encounters as well. The Milestone XP just kind of "bumps" them over the edge.
I have used milestone and XP. THough for xpit is always party xp because i found it terrible when players were at different xp levels becausse it negativly effects the party when members die and also leads to too much conflict, for no gain.
In my most recent campaign i tired the Three Pillars XP method used in the UA and it is going well.
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Loex - A Lizardfolk Lvl 4/6/4 Hexblade Profane Blood Hunter/ Battlesmith Artificer/ Cleric of the Forge Arborea - A Warforged Lvl 1 Hexblade Warlock
I have not personally encountered players that try to one up each other with XP but I can see how that may happen. Most times the players will be trying to do something and one has a great idea or does something crazy that has a great out come and they rally behind that player saying something like "Oh wow, they should get extra XP for that!" and I it is not always based on success. Failure can be some of the best moments of the game.
Mind you, the people I tend to play with are more story and character driven players. They are far from being power gamers or murder hobos and don't really compete with one another. They get just as excited about the success of the other players as they do about their own.
But like I said before, mileage may vary. Everyone plays differently and that is one of my favorite things about D&D.
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She/Her College Student Player and Dungeon Master
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I just wanted to find out what system(s) you guys use for level your players? XP is straight-forward enough, but I have yet to find a good system for rewarding roleplaying. Milestones seems intriguing, but I worry it may be too boring. Thoughts?
C. Foster Payne
"If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around."
I use a combination of roleplaying rewards, ability use, end-of-combat XP, milestone, MVP, and first-use XP (though this is usually reserved for unique items, such as sentient/cursed/legendary items). I've been a DM for more than 30 years, and I have found that players like to be rewarded for a variety of actions, not just kill scores in the form of XP.
I usually do milestone. It allows me to be a bit more flexible with the story and encounters. IMO.
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If I had a group that could do a proper sandbox game (being proactive about developing their own stories within the milieu), then I'd use milestones. Whenever they achieved a major goal that they'd set for themselves, like rescuing the princess, they'd get a level. And whenever they achieve a minor goal they set for themselves, like finding out who is actually behind the kidnapping of the princess, then they'd receive inspiration.
But I don't have that group; I have a group that needs to be led to water or else they'll die of thirst. Either that, or start a tavern brawl. So I use XP instead.
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
― Oscar Wilde.
I like both at the same time: xp as the base way to track and milestones where it’s appropriate. This keeps the big story elements feeling epic.
I'm doing milestone, but also keeping track of XP on the back end for a few reasons. It's possible they hit enough random encounters or other situations to level up without necessarily doing a story milestone, though that hasn't happened yet. But I also had two players join the campaign later, and not everybody can make every session; XP let the newer players catch up (since the first few levels go so quick), and also may wind up being a sort of reward for the players who show up more often.
Milestone all the way, for a few reasons:
- When I’m putting together encounters, the only thing I need to think about is the party. With XP out of the equation, I can balance around their collective and individual strengths and weaknesses.
- I can throw as many creatures in as I want. Maybe I’m feeling like a battle with 40 minions is on the menu, so I just make it happen without having to crunch XP.
- More flexibility for the party to grow as the story develops.
- Allows the focus to be on building a story and moving the adventure along, rather than racking up kills.
I keep track of the number of sessions between levels so that I can ensure they feel like they are progressing.
There was a UA that had a new “three pillar experience” system in it that I found interesting. However, the milestone thing has been working ao I have t bothered trying it yet.
I personally like Milestone, it gives a lot of flexibility in your story.
I love Milestone, that being said I do have a system of tracking how much XP the PCs gain. I usually write my own campaigns so that works well to help me know when I need to throw something big at them or when I need to slow down on rewards. Just a way to track things while maintaining the primacy of story.
As a player, not a DM, I’ve played with both. I prefer XP when the DM awards XP for defeating all challenges. That means more than just fighting monsters. It’s more fun for me that way. Although I also prefer when the DM keeps everyone at the same level. If a player deserves a reward, give them an inspiration, not XP.
Professional computer geek
From my experience as a PLAYER (I've never been a DM before) I really like XP with a few exceptions however. I do enjoy it and I know other people I've played with do too when the DM gives XP for good roleplay or something cool the character did.
Going with XP does scare some people however because if they miss a session they'll lose out on getting some much needed XP that they'll need in order to level up. A way to fix this is if someone is gone reward them with the lowest amount of XP you gave out to the players that were present at that game.
I prefer XP over milestone as both a DM and Player.
As DM I like to award extra XP for clever ideas and unique solutions to encounters, both combat and non-combat. It encourages the players to put forth more effort.
As a player I enjoy receiving XP because I want to reap the reward of the effort I put in to role play and problem solving. If I level up at the same pace as the person across the table that barely pays attention then it can be discouraging.
Everyone's mileage may vary.
She/Her College Student Player and Dungeon Master
I almost exclusively DM, and I slowly migrated away from XP. What I found was that my players were excessively competitive. They tended to compete to see who got the "most" XP during a session. It became unfun for certain players who wasn't competitive.
The first step was to pull the "XP" and tell the players I was keeping track of XP behind the screen for all players. There was some griping from the power games who wanted to "be the best", but that was squelched after I leveled them up (as planned) the next session. After that, i completely stopped keeping track of XP entirely and just leveled players up when it at key story points. Players were none-the-wiser and the "competitiveness" was done away with and the focus returned to role-playing and enjoying the experience.
I use a mix honestly. If the group seems to be doing a lot and gaining "experience" I might milestone them, but I also have them keep track of the XP they earn from Combat/Exploration/Social encounters as well. The Milestone XP just kind of "bumps" them over the edge.
I have used milestone and XP. THough for xpit is always party xp because i found it terrible when players were at different xp levels becausse it negativly effects the party when members die and also leads to too much conflict, for no gain.
In my most recent campaign i tired the Three Pillars XP method used in the UA and it is going well.
Loex - A Lizardfolk Lvl 4/6/4 Hexblade Profane Blood Hunter/ Battlesmith Artificer/ Cleric of the Forge
Arborea - A Warforged Lvl 1 Hexblade Warlock
DM - "Malign Intelligence"
I have not personally encountered players that try to one up each other with XP but I can see how that may happen. Most times the players will be trying to do something and one has a great idea or does something crazy that has a great out come and they rally behind that player saying something like "Oh wow, they should get extra XP for that!" and I it is not always based on success. Failure can be some of the best moments of the game.
Mind you, the people I tend to play with are more story and character driven players. They are far from being power gamers or murder hobos and don't really compete with one another. They get just as excited about the success of the other players as they do about their own.
But like I said before, mileage may vary. Everyone plays differently and that is one of my favorite things about D&D.
She/Her College Student Player and Dungeon Master