I've been testing a new experience system for my D&D groups... but first i will tell you why i need this system.
if you are not into experience points, this will not be for you. but if you are interested in this, read on !

first off the pros and cons of the other systems...
i'll start with milestones since its the easiest one to explain for.

Milestones

• easy to figure out for DMs, they simply decide when their players level up.
• the problem with this method is that players have literally no insight as to when they will level up and more often then not, 6 or 7 sessions later they still haven't leveled up and wonder why ? they do a fight, to them thats worthy of level up but no, its not coming. and it then leads to players asking, when are we leveling up ? which a question the DM have to answer more often then he should.
• exemple... let's take one of the adventures in the yawning portal adventure book. people have been saying, just in the sunless citadel that they should level up in the middle of it, and at the end. but thats a real bummer... my players took like 12 sessions to complete this adventure... that means they were level 1 for like 6 sessions when the actual dungeon masters guide suggest you become level 2 right after the first session. this is literally 5 sessions too much. now to get to the end, it took them another 5 sessions... again 11 sessions, thats 11 weeks in a row. the book also says that they should level up to level 3 afer the second session. this prooves milestones just sends a major message that is, its gonna be along road for you to level up.

Experience points

• from the dungeons masters guide itself. players should be leveling up to level 2 after 1 session and then to level 3 after the second session. afterward its gaining a level every 4 sessions. so basically following that reasoning... players shouldn't be taking more then about 40 weeks to become high level and finish the campaign. which is what D&D expects its players to do. most people take 2 years for a campaign and many takes 3 years.
• experience points are great at showing players how much they accomplished, they have an actual value to look at and know when to expect the next level up. which results in them asking often how much XP they gained. i preffer this question to the fabled when we level up ? because this one is more entertaining to answer.
• experience points also shows the players how much they did during that session, and so if they gained barely any XP they know it was their fault for not doing much. though the next point will proove that DMs are too lazy for this to happen right.
• DMs have already a lot of job to do, so starting to do maths for accounting Experience is just something they think is useless. so they skip this step entirely. but those DMs usually only gives experience points for the monsters and that became a problem because of it. experience is gained at all times int he game, not just for fighting monsters and that became a problem for many players. so because of DMs lazyness experience points got a very bad reputation of being too time consuming and being never on point.

all that said... how can we take both world and make what 5e did, reduce this equation to its smallest point and satisfy both sides at the same time...
heres the answer i came out with, and mind you there was a few iteration but my players stand by this one, they really like it and they like how its done.

Objective Experience Points 

• first off, we deal away with the big numbers that makes no sense... so i give literally just 1 point of experience per objectives reached.
• per session a player can gain up to 5 points. the maximum for an whole session. 1 objective might be to reach the forteress the player are supposed to find, thats 1 point for them. the second objective is usually a combat encounter. so that would be another point for winning that fight. reguardless of how the players succeed these objectives, points are awarded.
• importance of points, to give some importants to all the elements that makes the game, i always make a point of awarding experience on numerous objectives that fits the bill of the game. not just for combat or encounters, but also for players fun around the table. so heres a few things you should always consider giving points for.
  • Combat is always giving a point reguardless. players just love combat, players expect their characters to gain experience through combat. so unlike milestones who just do not care and let down players after a combat. the point you are gonna give them for that encounter will be gladly taken with joy. so combat should always yield an experience point.
  • Role play encounters, while these are great they shouldn't always yield an experience point. only award 1 point out of the 5 for this one. there are too much role play encounters through a session to count them all in, so they all get into the game.
  • players fun, if there is a moment where all players and the DM started laughing their ass off, that must be awarded 1 experience point. this can usually be the MVP of the session the thing players and dm will forever remember hapenning.
  • Objectives, the players are enroute to find a fortress inhabited by goblins to rescue a friend in need. those are definitaly objectives the players should be awarded experience for. finding the fortress is 1 point, if thats a big deal to do. rescuing the friend is definitely another point of experience that should be awarded. see objectives are what awards experience points, its like milestones where players must reach a point in time and space to gain the experience. but at the same time its something the players can count on, its not just in the DMs head. the players can expect themselves to gain a point if they do these objectives because the DM gave them those objectives. this gives the players a way into the head of the DM about the advancement. and this is what makes them stop asking you when they level up. because they can just look at what they did and expect themselves to have this much experience.
  • Hidden objectives. yes you can also hide objectives, if they find that secret passage that leads to a vault with a special scroll. something they never knew was there to begin with. they should be awarded an experience point for that as well. its fun and easy to hide objectives in a map. also helps players search everywhere for the things they don't know about.

now we know how much points are worth every aspect of the game. 5 points per session is an easy number to remember, its also a good way to do things...
now how does the player level up ? good question, they use their experience points as Cash to be spent on leveling up. i even added more to buy then just level up. they can also level up their other needs. as they can buy feats or buy charms too. but as their cash go down thoguh, they lose time for leveling up. but in exchange they can actually gain feats or charms faster. they can even gain ability score improvement faster and not have to wait 4 levels to gain them. but again thats at the detriment of actually leveling up.

i simply have sheet to look at that resembles this...

Conclusion
in conclusion this system has pleased my players and while now i get the fabled how many experience today. i don't really mind the question and simply give them what they ask for. it makes my players happy, see how long till the next level up. and they know they can count by themselves the objectives they did. i also suggest that you always keep a count of what you gave to give the same to other players that weren'T there that session. the idea is not to give players who are there a reward, but more to please an itch the players have about leveling up. so this is a group experience point system. individual systems tends to breka down when 1 or 2 players are far behind. now if the players are behind other players, its not gonna be a big deal and their abilities they bought would make it up for it.

this is a fast, simple system that anybody can pick up.
i believe in it and my players have been loving it too.
its also easy to make it faster or longer by just adjusting the costs.

so here it is in hope it helps a lot of DMs out there who want experience points but not the way D&D does it.
thanks for reading up to this point.

leave your comments and ideas about it. i'm interested.