XP Flow

[Kilcannon 177]

I have never completely used any system made npcs or enemies 100% by the book. Vampire Dark Ages, Ad&d 2nd edition, 3.0, 3.5, pathfinder, shadowrun, Dark Heresy, Mutants and masterminds, Heroes unlimited, star wars d20, star wars saga, Marvel from the early 90s, and now FFG all had to alter

[Inquisitor Tremayne 424]

We play twice a month for about 5 hours, here is my guideline for awarding XP from my house rules doc:

 

I want the “leveling” pace to be slower than what is presented in the core book.  Therefore I will use the following guidelines when determining XP at the end of each session.

·         XP will be awarded prior to each session via email

·         +5-10 XP per session base

·         +10 completing a major story arc/adventure

·         +5 XP playing to a character’s motivation in a significant way (something dramatic or story/encounter changing)

·         +1-5 XP for other creative ideas, creative roleplaying, in-character suggestions, or rp situations

 

All in all the average XP for a session is around 8-10xp.  Most of my players tend to ignore their motivation.

[Kilcannon 177]

We play twice a month for about 5 hours, here is my guideline for awarding XP from my house rules doc:

 

I want the “leveling” pace to be slower than what is presented in the core book.  Therefore I will use the following guidelines when determining XP at the end of each session.

·         XP will be awarded prior to each session via email

·         +5-10 XP per session base

·         +10 completing a major story arc/adventure

·         +5 XP playing to a character’s motivation in a significant way (something dramatic or story/encounter changing)

·         +1-5 XP for other creative ideas, creative roleplaying, in-character suggestions, or rp situations

 

All in all the average XP for a session is around 8-10xp.  Most of my players tend to ignore their motivation.

Wow I just feel that takes way too long to see character growth.

[Inquisitor Tremayne 424]

 

We play twice a month for about 5 hours, here is my guideline for awarding XP from my house rules doc:

 

I want the “leveling” pace to be slower than what is presented in the core book.  Therefore I will use the following guidelines when determining XP at the end of each session.

·         XP will be awarded prior to each session via email

·         +5-10 XP per session base

·         +10 completing a major story arc/adventure

·         +5 XP playing to a character’s motivation in a significant way (something dramatic or story/encounter changing)

·         +1-5 XP for other creative ideas, creative roleplaying, in-character suggestions, or rp situations

 

All in all the average XP for a session is around 8-10xp.  Most of my players tend to ignore their motivation.

Wow I just feel that takes way too long to see character growth.

 

Well considering some sessions are a single combat, I'm fine with that.  We've been playing for ~2 years and they have around ~500 XP, so I'm cool with that too.

 

Plus, I feel the majority of character growth has come in the form of story developments and personality development over mechanical benefits.  My players may feel differently of course cause who doesn't love more XP!?  

[Grayfax 991]

 

 

We play twice a month for about 5 hours, here is my guideline for awarding XP from my house rules doc:

 

I want the “leveling” pace to be slower than what is presented in the core book.  Therefore I will use the following guidelines when determining XP at the end of each session.

·         XP will be awarded prior to each session via email

·         +5-10 XP per session base

·         +10 completing a major story arc/adventure

·         +5 XP playing to a character’s motivation in a significant way (something dramatic or story/encounter changing)

·         +1-5 XP for other creative ideas, creative roleplaying, in-character suggestions, or rp situations

 

All in all the average XP for a session is around 8-10xp.  Most of my players tend to ignore their motivation.

Wow I just feel that takes way too long to see character growth.

 

Well considering some sessions are a single combat, I'm fine with that.  We've been playing for ~2 years and they have around ~500 XP, so I'm cool with that too.

 

Plus, I feel the majority of character growth has come in the form of story developments and personality development over mechanical benefits.  My players may feel differently of course cause who doesn't love more XP!?  

 

Yeah, we prefer slower story growth so we can focus on the story, not on the growth.  New powers are cool, but the character is cooler and more memorable.

[Kilcannon 177]

I have high xp and intense story and character development. Guess I don't see why high xp takes away from that.

[Inquisitor Tremayne 424]

Depends on your players. 

[Kilcannon 177]

Guess I have good ones

[Donovan Morningfire 10,200]

Depends on your players. 

True on both sides of the issue.

 

Some players do prefer the character growth to be centered around things that can't be purchased with XP, such as Luke's growing maturity or Han becoming less self-centered over the course of the prequels.  For players like that, the XP awards aren't as important.

 

But there are players that really enjoy seeing their character evolve in terms of game mechanics, and look forward to picking up additional skill ranks or new talents at the end of a session.

 

If considered in a vacuum, neither one of these approaches is inherently superior to the other.  But depending upon the type of players in a group, the superior method is the one that gives the group what they want.

 

Personally I lean more towards the higher XP awards as I really like seeing the characters I play and those played in the games i run grow and develop in between sessions, going from wet-behind-the-ear newbs into highly-capable heroes.  But again, it's a matter of personal taste, and something the rules themselves acknowledge.

[Kilcannon 177]

I prefer running the games that possess both aspects. Would love to play in a game like that too. If I played like I did in High school or even college once or more a week then lower xp might make sense but as an adult with a wife that doesn't game one every 2 or 3 weeks has to get my fix for running. And prefer to see my players go from padawans to knights and discover story growth and depth all in one. Luckily found players that enjoy both.

[Inquisitor Tremayne 424]

If it makes everyone feel better I am going to start upping the xp awards because we are looking to wrap up this campaign in the next 10-12 months.

 

My friends so far have been fine with the leveling speed.  I solicit feedback regularly and more xp has never come up, so we must be doing something right.  

[Donovan Morningfire 10,200]

If it makes everyone feel better I am going to start upping the xp awards because we are looking to wrap up this campaign in the next 10-12 months.

 

My friends so far have been fine with the leveling speed.  I solicit feedback regularly and more xp has never come up, so we must be doing something right.  

Hey, if your players are happy with the XP awards you're giving, then don't change what ain't broke.

 

After all, it's the players at your table that you have a responsibility to make happy, not those folks posting on an internet forum.

[Ujani 0]

I've realized over the past few months that I've been giving the players a rather large chunk of Xp each game with it averaging around 35 Xp every weekend for a 6 hour session. However, if you follow the Gm rules for creating a nemesis, you can create fun and engaging npcs and encounters consistently. Use the book rivals and minions as a guideline and then make your own to better suit the party.

[sithlord71 30]

I also like the 5 xp per hour. Makes it reasonable in the long run. Also i have added a house rule on spending xp on force powers.

I have it set that the player's can only purchase one force upgrade per power at a time. This allows a slower advancement in those powers.

After all, without teachers and such, and keeping under the empire's radar,,it should take longer to acquire.

In the end,it works fine and without problems.

( But every group is different )

[Thenger 13]

We also have a 23-years long Star Wars campaign with the D6 system that I plan on converting to this system after I get my hands on F&D. Those characters are serious overpowered for that system, and I think I'll be starting them out at something like 1500-1600 XP and a cap of 5 specialization trees each. I'm looking forward to seeing what it's like to run sessions for characters that advanced.

Wow, okay a 23 year long campaign is nothing but sexy.  That takes some dedication to work on something that long.  Hats off to you and your group for that.