I’ve never seen a system, but I have seen adventures where experience is awarded based on role playing goals in addition to combat. And in my opinion, overcoming an opponent without combat is just as viable as with combat and should receive the same XP award.
Seconded. I give the same amount of XP (if not playing milestone) regardless if the chars defeat the encounter by creative usage of skills like hiding, stealth, intimidation, etc., or defeating them otherwise. This way players get more creative instead of mill treading killing each encounter, which can quickly become boring.
I also usually reward about 50XP every time an ability or roll is attempted (for a given situation). Also if they roll play a situation to get some sort of desirable result (interacting with npc etc...).
If it's a campaign I also like to track character firsts. So like first time they meet a creature I might give them a 25XP, or the first time they use an ability or visit a location etc...
I usually steer clear of dungeon crawls, and prefer a more story driven plot and rewarding players for exploration and social interaction is a good way to keep the world feeling alive.
Great inputs, guys! :) So far I've also rewarded XP for overcoming an encounter by roleplaying. Its more all those grey areas, I find a bit harder to manage - eg. when is the noble satisfied with the groups answered, when is the bard convinced by their singning and stuff like that. Maybe I have to be more determined on the end-goal of the social encounters :)
Haha :) Great RP and an great way to get a lot out of something not so big ("just" a triggered trap).
My current group is a mixed bundle of new players (who is more of hack'n'slash guys) and a couple of way more experienced players, who like to RP. Overall it's a good mix and they complement each other pretty well. I tend to give more XP for overcoming monsters (in a battle, for example), than for RP - and I really want to find the right balance, so the group earns equally for both.
Example: One of the recently Encounter of the Week here on D&D Beyond, was a bard who really is a copper dragon who lures the players to tell tales all night. This can turn out as a Social Encounter (Skill Challenge), but it can also end by the players and the copper dragon combating. Let's say the battle the dragon and they win. They earn 2,900 XP. No problem. But what if they trick the dragon or they get the three successes before the three failures? Would you still reward them 2,900 XP?
It should be creative, but I would grant them the same amount of XP, regardless of battling (taking 20 mins. with 5E in a VTT, or 40 mins. with PF in a VTT, or 15 mins. with 13thAge in a VTT), or using skills where they are proficient in, need to describe how to achieve a positive result - not just rolling dice, and create some kind of story (like a montage scene) to illustrate their victory - IF they are...
Just saying I sneak past the Dragon and rolling stealth won‘t work (it won‘t anyway, because Dragons are always alert and have a pretty high perception).
5E offers a milestone XP approach option as well. Instead of peanut counting every single XP, the group focusses more on roleplay. 13th Age for example roughly says, after ~4x3 encounters, the players characters will get another level of experience.
It is quite tiring, if you run battles on mass in a VTT, and people quickly become bored. I want to avoid this, and if they progress with the story by resolving a challenge by any means, why not.
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Has anyone made some kind of logical/simple system for rewarding your players XP for social encounters (5e)?
I’ve never seen a system, but I have seen adventures where experience is awarded based on role playing goals in addition to combat. And in my opinion, overcoming an opponent without combat is just as viable as with combat and should receive the same XP award.
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Seconded. I give the same amount of XP (if not playing milestone) regardless if the chars defeat the encounter by creative usage of skills like hiding, stealth, intimidation, etc., or defeating them otherwise. This way players get more creative instead of mill treading killing each encounter, which can quickly become boring.
100% agree with the above.
I also usually reward about 50XP every time an ability or roll is attempted (for a given situation). Also if they roll play a situation to get some sort of desirable result (interacting with npc etc...).
If it's a campaign I also like to track character firsts. So like first time they meet a creature I might give them a 25XP, or the first time they use an ability or visit a location etc...
I usually steer clear of dungeon crawls, and prefer a more story driven plot and rewarding players for exploration and social interaction is a good way to keep the world feeling alive.
Great inputs, guys! :) So far I've also rewarded XP for overcoming an encounter by roleplaying. Its more all those grey areas, I find a bit harder to manage - eg. when is the noble satisfied with the groups answered, when is the bard convinced by their singning and stuff like that. Maybe I have to be more determined on the end-goal of the social encounters :)
Haha :) Great RP and an great way to get a lot out of something not so big ("just" a triggered trap).
My current group is a mixed bundle of new players (who is more of hack'n'slash guys) and a couple of way more experienced players, who like to RP. Overall it's a good mix and they complement each other pretty well. I tend to give more XP for overcoming monsters (in a battle, for example), than for RP - and I really want to find the right balance, so the group earns equally for both.
Example: One of the recently Encounter of the Week here on D&D Beyond, was a bard who really is a copper dragon who lures the players to tell tales all night. This can turn out as a Social Encounter (Skill Challenge), but it can also end by the players and the copper dragon combating. Let's say the battle the dragon and they win. They earn 2,900 XP. No problem. But what if they trick the dragon or they get the three successes before the three failures? Would you still reward them 2,900 XP?
It should be creative, but I would grant them the same amount of XP, regardless of battling (taking 20 mins. with 5E in a VTT, or 40 mins. with PF in a VTT, or 15 mins. with 13thAge in a VTT), or using skills where they are proficient in, need to describe how to achieve a positive result - not just rolling dice, and create some kind of story (like a montage scene) to illustrate their victory - IF they are...
Just saying I sneak past the Dragon and rolling stealth won‘t work (it won‘t anyway, because Dragons are always alert and have a pretty high perception).
5E offers a milestone XP approach option as well. Instead of peanut counting every single XP, the group focusses more on roleplay. 13th Age for example roughly says, after ~4x3 encounters, the players characters will get another level of experience.
It is quite tiring, if you run battles on mass in a VTT, and people quickly become bored. I want to avoid this, and if they progress with the story by resolving a challenge by any means, why not.