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Third Edition D&D has both simplified and complicated the mechanics of the D&D game when the metagame is considered over time. The progress in conceptualizing combat from various “to hit” charts in the DMG, to THAC0, to BAB is wonderful. Moving from simple ability checks, to non-weapon proficiencies, to the skill point system is probably my favourite. Where 3.xE fell short for me, though, is in the realm of Experience Points. Perhaps being a child of 1E and calculating each monsters’ XP based on how many hit points they had has me accustomed to doing detailed XP; 3.xE XP is too simple for my taste.
The simple nature of 3.xE XP is a thing of beauty when the new DM is considered. Taking the CR of critters, looking the XP value up on Table 2-6 in the DMG, and dividing this value by the number of PCs is all there is to do. All the PCs will have the same XP total, adjusted by the slight ad hoc XP adjustments a DM may like to do.
Each PC having the same XP total is where my sensibilities become chafed. I’m sure most players/Dungeon Masters have experienced the Third Wheel problem in their games: a player that doesn’t roleplay, tends to follow the group consensus, and rarely originates any ideas of their own to aid the game. The Third Wheel generally just enjoys listening to the story as it develops and feels their die rolls in combat are enough to add to the story. Having a Third Wheel is not a bad thing at all; they get into the action as much as the next player. Still, their role is more “reactive” than “proactive”. A Third Wheel will feel some resentment towards them (in my experience; granted, some groups are much more communal and hold no resentment towards players of this sort) primarily when XP is cranked.
“Rexx, it bugs me that Rebeneaux directed the fight against the catoblepas, did most of the spell damage, told Diosturm what to do, figured out how to get into Baltron’s Beacon, yet my XP earned was exactly what He/She earned with Diosturm.”
Thus, a long time ago I began to develop an XP system that awards each player according to their proactive and reactive involvement in the game. This system was very similar to the XP awards system of 2E.
Difonix.com (aka Rexx’s) XP System for 3.x D&D
The key to this system is a 3x5 card that each player is given at the start of the game. They date the card and place their character name in the top left corner. It is the player’s responsibility to track what their character does during the game on this card. In effect, the player creates a game log for their PC. They will write down the skill checks they’ve made successfully, any ideas they came up with during the game, heroic actions they did, critical hit damage, spells cast in an effective manner, and the like.
Here’s an example of a player’s XP card.
From the notes on this card I calculate the PC’s XP earned for that particular session.
There are four key elements to the XP earned in any given session. They are: Roleplaying (RPing), Summation (Σ), Encounter Level (EL), and Combat. Sometimes there will be a fifth element, Story.
Roleplaying (RPing) XP Awards: This is the XP that is earned when the PC’s player is present at the game. The base XP per session is 50 XP per PC level. Thus a 1st level PC gets 50 XP while a 8th level PC would earn 400 XP base. I modify this total by how well the player roleplays their character during the session. This has ranged from -50 XP to +250 XP beyond the base. This is totally subjective to the DM. If the player is absent and the PC falls into an NPC mode (in the hands of the DM or another player), it will earn no RPing XP for that game.
Summation (Σ): This is the XP that is earned from all the various skills checks, saving throws, ideas spawned, heroic actions committed, funny moments, etc. I note the XP earned as a +# and then add up all the results. This result can range from 0 to 1000+ XP depending on what the PC did for that game. Typical values I assign:
[u]General Skill Check Success (not keyed to the PC’s class)[/u]: +5, +7, or +10 per check. Examples would be Spot or Listen checks, Diplomacy checks for the untrained user, Search checks for loot.
[u]Class-related Skill Check Success (a skill that lets the PC’s class “shine”)[/u]: +12, +15, +20 per check. Hide and Move Silent checks are typical, as are Knowledge (something) checks. The idea is to reward the PC “trained” to do the skill because of their class.
[u]Class Ability[/u]: +15, +20, +25 per significant use. By significant, I mean the use of the Class Feature {those things with (Ex) and (Su) next to them} that moves the game forward in a positive manner. So Track for a Ranger, Bardic music abilities, Slow Fall for Monks, and the like. If the Class Feature directly aids in Combat, there’s no additional XP earned as Combat XP is more than enough.
[u]Spells Cast[/u]: +25 XP per spell level, +15 for 0-level spells. This only applies to Spells cast that move the game forward in a positive way. Casting detect secret doors just for the heck of it without any real suspicions of a secret door being present, earns no additional XP for the spellcaster. Using detect magic to look for something dropped in the mud is a good use of the spell and worth the 15 XP it garners. Clerical healing spells can be dicey to adjudicate; I generally award XP only if the healing spell allows the party to continue the adventure without resting.
[u]Saving Throws Made[/u]: +25 per successful save.
Encounter Level (EL): EL XP is my way of doing Group XP. For every encounter during a session, take the EL level and cross index it against the average party level on Table 2-6 of the DMG. Take 25% of this value and that’s the XP value for that particular encounter. Add up all the EL XP for the session and divide by the number of PCs. That is the EL XP each PC gets. For example, a party of four 2nd level PCs defeats an EL 2 trap, EL 3 critter encounter, and negotiate past an EL 1 adversary. One-fourth of the EL 2 is 150 XP, the EL 3 is 112, and the EL 1 is 75. All said and done, each PC would earn 84 XP for the session. The purpose of the EL XP is to give PCs some credit for being around while the rogue disarmed a trap, the cleric turned the undead, or the bard sweet-talked the party past the City Watch.
Combat: The other key element of XP is the combat details. By the standard 3.xE rules, it’s about the primary way to gain XP and tends to lead to erratic behaviour from PCs trying to scratch up 30 XP to gain a level. For my system the DM tracks the damage done to adversaries by each player. This is probably the most tedious element of the Difonix XP system. Really, it’s not that bad. Table 2-6 from the DMG is used to determine each adversary’s XP value. Take the appropriate value based on the party’s average level, and halve that value. So a CR 3 critter to a 3rd level party is normally worth 900 XP; it’s now worth 450 XP.
Here’s an example of the DM’s combat notes.
With these notes, I can determine how much damage each PC did to an adversary and then give that PC a proportional amount of the adversary’s XP value. For example looking at the sheet, the lurking strangler in the Lair of the Architect has 11 hp. I placed a slash through the “11”, noted a “2” below it with “Spade” written in between. This means nine points of damage was done by the PC “Spade”, aka Gerzin. The “2” has an “X” through it and “Graum” written beneath it. That means the PC Graum finished the bugger off. Thus Spade earns 9/11 (81.8%) of the XP value of the lurking strangler and Graum gets 2/11 (18.2%) of the XP value. The strangler is a CR 2 critter and is worth 300 XP (normally 600 XP, remember, halve the XP value). Thus “Spade” earns 245 XP and Graum earns 54 XP. Add up all the combat XP for all the critters in this manner and you have all the Combat XP for that session.
Story XP: After a chapter of campaign has been completed, I tend to award a Story XP. It’s kinda like an Xmas Bonus in XP. This ranges from 100 to 1000+ XP depending on the level of the PCs and the scope of that particular chapter. After The Whispering Cairn scenario is completed, I intend to award 200 XP to each PC. I may give one PC a little more if their overall actions were critical for the party’s success.
Ad hoc: In a way, this whole system is a detailed “ad hoc” XP system. Even still, some things happen that falls outside of the standard realm of XP awards. A PC that keeps an in-character journal on the Difonix.com site gets some additional XP every session. A PC that keeps accurate logs of the party’s finances earns a little more. The PC that threw the net to entangle a critter so the rogue could finish it off would get some ad hoc XP based on the critter’s XP value. Often an adventure gives notes on Ad Hoc XP and this is where that comes to play.
Okay, time for some logic for all this tedium. Yes, it is tedious to a point. The details required appease my sense of balance to the game. PCs that are very proactive advance quicker than the Third Wheel PCs. In my mind, that’s how it should be. It’s a way of nudging those sedate players into greater acts of heroism outside of just rolling a d20 and occupying a chair at the table. Still, the system assures that that player still earns XP even if they aren’t getting a piece of the “action” in regards to combat and the like.
The player tracking their activities on a card is critical. If they are lax in their details, then they’ll be potentially shorting themselves some XP. So remind the player to “write that down” if you feel it’s appropriate. If the DM remembers a detail a PC forgot, go ahead and note it on the card and award XP. The cards also double as a campaign log of sorts and allows a DM to look back and remember details they may have forgotten.
Effectively I’m taking the XP value for a critter and splitting it up into quarters. One quarter goes towards EL XP that all PCs share from. Two quarters (a half) goes to the combat XP and is awarded to the PC that dealt the damage to the critter. The last quarter covers the RPing and Summation XP. I find that this system advances PCs a tad quicker at lower levels and slows things slightly at higher levels. Again, this appeases my 1E/2E-molded sensibilities.
If you’ve read this far: thank you. If this system doesn’t seem too intimidating and you want to give it a try, I encourage you to ask questions. At least, use the 3x5 card idea to track character actions and ideas. This was something I gleaned from the pages of Dragon many years ago… If you want more examples, I’d be happy to scan and post the links to visual aids.
If you’re satisfied with the standard 3.xE XP system, I commend you and your players! Keep at it and I hope the best for your games. If you’re looking for something different, cannibalize what you like from the Difonix XP system or use it wholesale. It’s Open Game Content. ::wink::
About the combat Xp:
I think splitting the Xp based on damage dealt may be an unwise decision because not all partymembers may be equally capable of dealing out damage.
- If your fighter acts early in combat he may be able to take down a foe before the others can react (claiming all Xp for himself).
- If the cleric heals the fighter or the bard provides a magical boost while the fighter deals damage, should they not be equally rewarded? The combat part of your system will not encourage the party to act as a team, in my opinion.
- If the wizard casts "hold person" on an opponent and the rogue finishes it off, should the rogue gain all the Xp?
- Many attacks, high attack bonus, and high strength will give fighters and barbarians a lot of Xp (especially at low levels).
- Since a monster's power is not weakened by loss of hp (it still hits as hard as before and can use its abilities etc.), the defeat of a monster may mean more to a battle than just the loss of the last 2 hp. Especially if the party at that time have several people dying, few resources, etc. In other words, should the aditional damage dealt be counted, or only the number of hp left?
I suggest that instead of counting damage, you should count the number of meaningful actions done by each partymember. "Meaningful actions" are of course open to interpretation, but a meaningful action should contribute to the defeat of a monster in a significant way.
I have used a system nearly identical to Rexx's for several decades (we still play 2nd ed - so there are some obvious differences). In answer to one of Wraithlord's suggestions, in the combat XP part I do indeed aware XP according to damage inflicted and not strictly based on hp remaining. If the creature has 2 hps left and the barbarian clobbers it for 14 pts of damage - he gets XP based on all 14pts of his attack and not just the two that were effective (this is solved by setting up an XP/hp damage number before combat begins - if a creature's XP value for combat is 60 and the creature has 12 hit points, then each hit point of damage with earn the PC 5 XPs. Then if said creature from the above example has 2 hit points remaining and the barbarian clobbers it for 14pts of damage, he just earned 70 XPs!). That may have been a poor example since the death blow earned more than the total creature value and that almost never happens, but ... you get the idea.
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I think splitting the Xp based on damage dealt may be an unwise decision because not all partymembers may be equally capable of dealing out damage.
Definitely the most common criticism a new player to my game will have is this. This is quickly dispelled once they see the system in action and realize that it is pretty balanced. Combat is typically only 25% of a session's time for me. The rest of that time the warrior-types rarely get to do much except roleplay and problem-solve. During these periods, the combat-poorer classes are using their Class Abilities/Features and are taking the lion's share of the Summation XP. In effect, the XP rewards different PCs better depending on what is going on in the game. Warrior-types will lag behind other PCs when the game gets into a roleplaying/mystery/problem solving period. Then when a combat does occur, dice permiting, they get the lion's share of the combat XP and they catch up to the wizards/bards/clerics. Good, they're supposed to.
- If your fighter acts early in combat he may be able to take down a foe before the others can react (claiming all Xp for himself).
- Many attacks, high attack bonus, and high strength will give fighters and barbarians a lot of Xp (especially at low levels).
Warrior-type characters are supposed to do most of the combat damage because that's what they do. Also those warrior-types are usually the ones taking all the damage too. Thus I'm fine with them earning a lot of XP via combat. Remember, the adversary is only worth half it's normal XP value in this system. I can definitely see this as being a problem if the game is a combat-centric campaign. But then, I'd suspect most of the characters are proficient in combat situations and will be getting their share of the XP thus making this a moot point.
- If the cleric heals the fighter or the bard provides a magical boost while the fighter deals damage, should they not be equally rewarded? The combat part of your system will not encourage the party to act as a team, in my opinion.
Quite the opposite actually. The spellcasters earn 25 XP per spell level for spells cast during a session. A spell that dramatically turns the combat in favour of the heroes get's bumped to 50 XP per spell level (granted, I didn't relate every possible scenario in my original text; I figured it was long enough as is). So though the warrior-type did all the combat damage, the other PCs are still getting a "share" of the XP. This also applies to such spells as bless and the like. If that spell is responsible for the PC hitting the advesary, I tell the player to note it next to note about casting the spell.
- If the wizard casts "hold person" on an opponent and the rogue finishes it off, should the rogue gain all the Xp?
Actually the wizard would get the half of the critter's XP value and the rest would go to "group" combat XP as who finished off the adversary is irrelevant. The same applies to clerics and turned undead cowering. Other PCs finish off the undead but the cleric get's half the combat XP and remainder is group XP. The same logic applies to any Area of Effect spell unless there's some ad hoc parameters. The DM's XP award logic needs to be dynamic for the situation as long as the logic is clear to the players.
- Since a monster's power is not weakened by loss of hp (it still hits as hard as before and can use its abilities etc.), the defeat of a monster may mean more to a battle than just the loss of the last 2 hp. Especially if the party at that time have several people dying, few resources, etc. In other words, should the aditional damage dealt be counted, or only the number of hp left?
SirMarcus' situation applies only if the last few hps of the combat are critical to the success of the scenario. Then I award "Killing Blow" XP. If it's just a matter of finishing off another lizard man that really isn't critical to the "big picture", the "extra" damage beyond what is needed to kill the critter is ignored for XP determination.
As an aside, the critter's actions are affected when it's down to it's last couple hp as I use the Clobber rules from the DMG. Most likely the critter is at a partial action and is easier to surround and finish off.
I suggest that instead of counting damage, you should count the number of meaningful actions done by each partymember. "Meaningful actions" are of course open to interpretation, but a meaningful action should contribute to the defeat of a monster in a significant way.
That's exactly what this system does. "Meaningful actions" is everything that moved the game forward noted on the player's 3"x5" card, regardless of whether it happened in a combat situation, disarming a trap, burying the dead, riding a horse, or using a tree (the traditional PeeXP).
Hope that helps clarify things. Thank you for the great questions!
SirMarcus: I had to snicker at "using this for decades" then I had think...it has been "decades"!