In D&D/Pathfinder, unless the GM overrules it, a person who talks their way past a fight costs everyone XPs.Sorry, but this statement is false. You get xp for "overcoming" challenges. You don't have to kill the challenge to overcome it.
Pres Man's got it right here. And again, simply making a character with high diplomacy ranks and Charisma score is not roleplaying. Having a character with high ranks in "talkie" skills doesn't make him any more well developed than a character with high ranks in swim or acrobatics.
Another suggestion, since I play 4E as well, is to implement the fate aspect system from fate 3.0 into 4E. You bring character focus (background) back into the game, offer a mechanical advantage, and even allow the characters to participate in the story line.
Perform a search on google using "4E fate"; this would work for any version of D&D.
Pres Man's got it right here. And again, simply making a character with high diplomacy ranks and Charisma score is not roleplaying. Having a character with high ranks in "talkie" skills doesn't make him any more well developed than a character with high ranks in swim or acrobatics.In D&D/Pathfinder, unless the GM overrules it, a person who talks their way past a fight costs everyone XPs.Sorry, but this statement is false. You get xp for "overcoming" challenges. You don't have to kill the challenge to overcome it.
I'm looking at two APs here. Both of them make TACIT assumptions that the way you deal with encounters is by killing people; they even say "If this encounter is bypassed, have the NPCs come in as reinforcements on encounter XXX."
None of the encounters have 'We'll run away if we're outmatched" thresholds defined (even miniatures wargames have this...).
What I care about are the following:
A) Motivations
1) Does your character have motivations of their own?
2) Can I give your character rewards for following his motivations?
B) Descriptions
1) Can you come up with anything more descriptive than "I attack the orc in this square?"
2) Can I give you die roll modifiers for doing so?
C) Failures
1) Is it fun for you to roleplay your character going through drawbacks or poor decisions, or poor die rolls?
2) Can I get the other players to give you rewards for doing so?
Yes, I've had to shave some hams down to size in the past. I've also found that by telling people up front what I expect of them that I'm likelier to get it - and players who mostly napped when the rogue was sneaking or the bard was blithering were now paying attention, and social convention helped trim the excessive levels of ham.
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I'm looking at two APs here. Both of them make TACIT assumptions that the way you deal with encounters is by killing people; they even say "If this encounter is bypassed, have the NPCs come in as reinforcements on encounter XXX."
No published module can cove every possibility to they are written with a 'most likely' assumption. When you run it, you not only have to be ready for the PC's to try something outside of the ordinary but you might have to figure out how to handle the results... including potential rewards.
I'm looking at two APs here. Both of them make TACIT assumptions that the way you deal with encounters is by killing people; they even say "If this encounter is bypassed, have the NPCs come in as reinforcements on encounter XXX."No published module can cove every possibility to they are written with a 'most likely' assumption. When you run it, you not only have to be ready for the PC's to try something outside of the ordinary but you might have to figure out how to handle the results... including potential rewards.
Besides, I'm sure the comment about "bypassing" the NPCs wasn't discussing overcoming their encounter through non-lethal means, but instead if through the party's action they just don't encounter them.
Ever hear someone say that you can't legislate morals or common sense? Well, the same is true for roleplaying. You can't really force someone to do it, exactly the way you want them to.
Personally, I agree with the player in this case and I wouldn't award XP for roleplaying.
Do as you will, have fun.
[He] has said that knowing my mentality is one of controlling other's play-style he can't game with me anymore, neither as a player or DM.
I think that sentence is the heart of the matter.
No matter what you do in game using or not using XP carrots he is unhappy. He may be looking for an out and thinks he has one. I don't have any of the other details and so can't make any deeper judgements.
I hope it all works out for you, in any event.
GNOME
He's just trying to find a way to come out about his wargaming tendencies.
Warhammer, all the fun of battling in a fantasy world but without the roleplaying.
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I'm looking at two APs here. Both of them make TACIT assumptions that the way you deal with encounters is by killing people; they even say "If this encounter is bypassed, have the NPCs come in as reinforcements on encounter XXX."
There are also APs where they will blatantly state something along these lines: "If the matter can be resolved nonviolently, award full XP as if all four were defeated in battle." "The ghost never initiates attacks, so quick- thinking PCs should have a chance to deduce what he wants before it comes to a fight." Ultimately, things like this are up to GM discretion, but even in APs they recognize that there are sometimes non-combat ways to solve a problem.
As far as the OPs point, I'd say he probably has a decent idea for a reasonable way to handle balanced Flavor XP. It sounds like it's based on the attempt, not necessarily the result. To use the "strong, silent type" that people seem to think shouldn't be punished, here's an example:
Personally, I think his system would be fair for giving the latter two attempts 2-5 XP just for describing things in a way matching the character and how it would behave. Perhaps more for the better description, but not much. And you could do that for most anything the characters do, meaning the system stays fairly balanced as far as the OP's system went.
To toss out my own experiences, I wouldn't necessarily do this for everything. Perhaps for a particularly spectacular bit of RP. Two things that happened in a game I play in, for example, that I liked:
Both of the above examples were at level 4, where that much XP starts to matter a bit less. Were I the GM in that situation, I might have even chopped the Flavor XP down a bit, but I'd still have given it.
Creativity, bravery, or just flat-out making things interesting and not just boring dice-rolling deserves some kind of reward. I do like the idea of making that reward applicable one-time bonuses, or even the Hero Points system, though, when Flavor XP is thought to be an issue. Just my thoughts on the matter.
Non-RP: "I draw my Great-Axe and attack the wolf."
Bad RP: "Silently, [Strong, Silent Name] grabs his axe and swings it at the wolf." "The axe chops the head off the wolf, and [Strong, Silent Name] just looks around for the next target."
Good RP: "Without a word, [Strong, Silent Name] grabs his Great-Axe and brings it flashing down in an overhand strike at the wolf's skull." "The axe splits the wolf's skull in two, cracking the earth beneath the creature as if nothing had interrupted its swing. Silently, [Strong, Silent Name] wipes the blood and dirt off the blade of the axe on the wolf's fur, then slides it back onto his back."
From your example, I'm guessing you measure "role-playing" directly in terms of word count?
From your example, I'm guessing you measure "role-playing" directly in terms of word count?
I assume you get points for funny voices, too. ;-)
I assume you get points for funny voices, too. ;-)
Where does it end? In addition to voices, you could "act out" swinging the axe. But why stop there? You could run around the host's apartment "acting out" everything. Does LARPing merit an even BIGGER xp award?
... and if so, wouldn't I get a super-duper award if I ACTUALLY cut off the DM's head?!
Bad RP: "Silently, [Strong, Silent Name] grabs his axe and swings it at the wolf." "The axe chops the head off the wolf, and [Strong, Silent Name] just looks around for the next target."
Good RP: "Without a word, [Strong, Silent Name] grabs his Great-Axe and brings it flashing down in an overhand strike at the wolf's skull." "The axe splits the wolf's skull in two, cracking the earth beneath the creature as if nothing had interrupted its swing. Silently, [Strong, Silent Name] wipes the blood and dirt off the blade of the axe on the wolf's fur, then slides it back onto his back."
I wouldn't call either of those roleplay. To me, that's simply descriptive text, most of which ought to be provided by the DM, who measures how effective the attack is and informs the players.
Obviously, it's different if it's done in a pbp game but even then the DM would provide that kind of descriptive narration. In my viewpoint, roleplay comes from the interaction between PCs and NPCs, not through descriptive action.
Of course, everyone plays their game differently so my viewpoint isn't necessarily valid.
I'm looking at two APs here. Both of them make TACIT assumptions that the way you deal with encounters is by killing people; they even say "If this encounter is bypassed, have the NPCs come in as reinforcements on encounter XXX."Pres Man's got it right here. And again, simply making a character with high diplomacy ranks and Charisma score is not roleplaying. Having a character with high ranks in "talkie" skills doesn't make him any more well developed than a character with high ranks in swim or acrobatics.In D&D/Pathfinder, unless the GM overrules it, a person who talks their way past a fight costs everyone XPs.Sorry, but this statement is false. You get xp for "overcoming" challenges. You don't have to kill the challenge to overcome it.
And I'm looking at the Core Rules of the Game.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game characters advance in level by defeating monsters, overcoming challenges, and completing adventures—in so doing, they earn experience points (XP for short). Although you can award experience points as soon as a challenge is overcome, this can quickly disrupt the flow of game play. It's easier to simply award experience points at the end of a game session—that way, if a character earns enough XP to gain a level, he won't disrupt the game while he levels up his character. He can instead take the time between game sessions to do that.Keep a list of the CRs of all the monsters, traps, obstacles, and roleplaying encounters the PCs overcome. At the end of each session, award XP to each PC that participated. Each monster, trap, and obstacle awards a set amount of XP, as determined by its CR, regardless of the level of the party in relation to the challenge, although you should never bother awarding XP for challenges that have a CR of 10 or more lower than the APL. Pure roleplaying encounters generally have a CR equal to the average level of the party (although particularly easy or difficult roleplaying encounters might be one higher or lower).
I see killing monsters listed as only ONE of many ways to gain experience points, and other ways to gain experience points include "overcoming challenges" and "roleplaying encounters." And this is hard coded into the rules of the game, not something that namby pamby GMs do when they feel nice.
An AP is not the rules of the game. An AP does not override or overrule the rules of the game. And others have noted some APs do mention other kinds experience awards and APs by space limitation, etc. may not be able to include every possible award for every possible solution.
And I make a reasonable, educated guess that the reason XP awards are specifically listed for combat is because it is easiest to calculate what the XP awards of monster fights are. XP awards for overcoming other obstacles, challenges, etc. via roleplaying and problemsolving, etc. have to be based on in part by exactly what the PCs decide to do, thus it's a poor idea to try to include an exact amount for such XP. It is more up to the GM's discretion to assign a "CR" to a non-combat encounter and judge how well the PCs handled it.
The issue of the OP, as I see it, is whether to give these awards individually to players or to give them to the group as a whole (I personally prefer to do the latter, as I think it's important to reward gameplay in a way that does not foster unhealthy competition. And as I noted earlier, there are other ways to reward individuals for a good idea or performance).
Also it should be noted it says, "defeating monsters", not "killing monsters". Certainly killing can be a way of defeating an opponent, but not the only way.
Also it should be noted it says, "defeating monsters", not "killing monsters". Certainly killing can be a way of defeating an opponent, but not the only way.
Very true, you're absolutely right.
What if you defeat it in a game of scrabble, but then it eats all your friends and you have to run away? Do you still get full XP ?
Sure, but depending on how good the monster is at scrabble you might get a -1 to the CR of the encounter due to "favorable terrain."
What if you defeat it in a game of scrabble, but then it eats all your friends and you have to run away? Do you still get full XP ?
I would consider that two separate encounters.
The first, the Scrabble match, you would get full XP for for defeating it. The CR might be raised or lowered depending on the monster's intelligence score/Linguistics modifier.
The second, in which it attacks the party--it depends on the situation.
-- Did the party provoke it to attack them after the Scrabble game was won? (In that case, they brought the near TPK on themselves, and I'd probably give them no or very little XP as they failed to successfully deal with the encounter.)
-- Did I know that the way I designed the monster was that the only solution to survival, besides beating it with a Triple Word Score, was to run away?
-- What other circumstances led to the attack and the near-TPK?
In any case, I would probably give the survivor at least partial XP, and perhaps full XP if he was the guy who didn't want to provoke the monster and did the most sensible thing in the situation.
I assume you get points for funny voices, too. ;-)Where does it end? In addition to voices, you could "act out" swinging the axe. But why stop there? You could run around the host's apartment "acting out" everything. Does LARPing merit an even BIGGER xp award?
... and if so, wouldn't I get a super-duper award if I ACTUALLY cut off the DM's head?! ** spoiler omitted **
Thats a bit snarky (yes I read the spoiler) Kirth & Hogarth - the guy is sharing, invalidating peoples style of play just to make yourself sound smart is not cool.
Some DMs are going to award XP for RPing, good play, paying for the pizza and so on and some are not, only award xp following RAW, Others level characters when it feels right without xp...
If the majority of the people involved are happy then then the person who finds situation is so intolerable can sod off and find another game.
I wouldn't call either of those roleplay. To me, that's simply descriptive text, most of which ought to be provided by the DM, who measures how effective the attack is and informs the players.
I have no problem with players describing their actions as it relates to the dice rolls... It gives the players more ownership of the story.
The player describes the action and the DM describes the result.
Player "I drive my sword into the Ogres Leg"..
DM "You are rewarded with a spray of blood, The Ogre looks very annoyed and swings the tree he uses as a club at you".
I have no problem with players describing their actions as it relates to the dice rolls... It gives the players more ownership of the story.The player describes the action and the DM describes the result.
+1 Agreement
Wow. I never knew the huge gambit of different ways of doling out XP for RP or combat or just showing up.
Personally I hate the added bookkeeping of figuring out individual XP for anything. Oddly enough this thread seems like the best argument for dumping XP entirely and just leveling everyone every X sessions (for my tastes that would probably be every 6 or so).
I'm starting to crave systems like BRP where XP just doesn't happen.
In the game I run, at the end of the night when I'm tallying up xp (and I do include story rewards, cool idea rewards, etc. not just kills) i hand out little slips of paper to the players and have them vote for the player who they thought was the most in character, as well as who they thought was the MVP (could be through combat, diplomacy, a solid plan...). The winners get around 1000 xp (varies from level to level. it was 100 at 1st).
edit: they're 12th level now.
Oddly enough this thread seems like the best argument for dumping XP entirely and just leveling everyone every X sessions (for my tastes that would probably be every 6 or so).
...which is why so many of us HAVE dumped it.
Has other challenges though, but nothing Earth Shattering.
In the game I run, at the end of the night when I'm tallying up xp (and I do include story rewards, cool idea rewards, etc. not just kills) i hand out little slips of paper to the players and have them vote for the player who they thought was the most in character, as well as who they thought was the MVP (could be through combat, diplomacy, a solid plan...).
I had a great GM do something very like this for us: He changed it up a bit though.
MVP was awarded by party Vote and used the same criteria listed above.
Role Play was awarded by DM Fiat and could be for anything from 'legitimate' RP to just entertaining the group :D
Also, no player could take both awards for the night. If there was a sure-winner for RP, that was announced first. If not, the MVP was selected and then the RP was bonus was alloted. The GM used a flat 10% bonus. So, in a good group of players, everyone stayed pretty close and everyone loved the system it was mostly player driven and encouraged interaction both in 'RP' and in "action"
It is definitely a tool I will use in the future!
GNOME
Thats a bit snarky (yes I read the spoiler) Kirth & Hogarth - the guy is sharing, invalidating peoples style of play just to make yourself sound smart is not cool.
Honestly, I was just kidding at the expense of people who think "funny voice = awesome roleplaying". No offense intended!
As other people have suggested, I'm also a fan of not tracking individual XP.
In the game I run, at the end of the night when I'm tallying up xp (and I do include story rewards, cool idea rewards, etc. not just kills) i hand out little slips of paper to the players and have them vote for the player who they thought was the most in character, as well as who they thought was the MVP (could be through combat, diplomacy, a solid plan...). The winners get around 1000 xp (varies from level to level. it was 100 at 1st).
I had a DM about 15 or 16 years ago who handled things pretty much the same way, minus the MVP. It was fun to get individual awards like that but it led me to agreeing largely with the player in the OP's group.
I support as much roleplay as humanly possible, but there's always a player who isn't as skilled at it as some others who never gets that little bonus, which can lead to a little bit of a negative experience by virtue of never measuring up.
I support as much roleplay as humanly possible, but there's always a player who isn't as skilled at it as some others who never gets that little bonus, which can lead to a little bit of a negative experience by virtue of never measuring up.
The real world is tough enough as it is, the game is tough enough for that matter. Why add another layer of competition? Some people don't feel comfortable with roleplaying (whatever that might be), but they like showing up, hanging out, and slaying the dragon. I'd hate to penalize 'em for a shortcoming.
As someone said earlier about "power-gaming", roleplaying is its own award. People get bragging rights to the really cool or funny roleplaying they did, but very few ever remember someone's specific "I did 150 points of damage at 5th level" situation.
The guy whose bard started vomiting after seeing the giant snake, that had sneaked into camp, and was in the process of eating one of the horses is one of the best remembered stories in my group.
Saying, "I'm giving you guys an extra xp because Frank's roleplaying was awesome tonight." is going to give everyone in a group a great feeling. Saying, "Frank was clearly better than the rest of you losers tonight, so I'm giving him extra xp." is not going to.
I guess what I am saying is, it is probably better to award the individual player with fame (which will live on even after these characters have died/retired) and reward the party with xp, then it is to reward the individual player with xp.
I guess what I am saying is, it is probably better to award the individual player with fame (which will live on even after these characters have died/retired) and reward the party with xp, then it is to reward the individual player with xp.
^this
aside - pres man, did you frequent the WoTC boards once upon a time?
I guess what I am saying is, it is probably better to award the individual player with fame (which will live on even after these characters have died/retired) and reward the party with xp, then it is to reward the individual player with xp.^this
aside - pres man, did you frequent the WoTC boards once upon a time?
Yup.
*also that should have been "than" and not "then", doh!*
I'd hate to penalize 'em for a shortcoming.
Well they aren't being penalised, they are still playing and still getting the normal XP they are entitled to.
They simply aren't getting a bonus for adding that extra layer.
I'd hate to penalize 'em for a shortcoming.Well they aren't being penalised, they are still playing and still getting the normal XP they are entitled to.
They simply aren't getting a bonus for adding that extra layer.
If your group is okay with it, more power to ya :)
Both campaigns I'm in have abandoned XP altogether.
Works wonders.
So have I... in the PbP games I'm running, I am just choosing a suitable moment and instructing everyone to level up.
I still (loosely) track XP but I do it, not the players. Usually it's to their advantage... there's a couple times they would have been technically shy of leveling, but we hit end of story arc or solved a major part of the plot, so I just basically said, "You have gained a level." Call it additional end of arc XP (yes, I know people are supposed to get that anyway but it's usually a bigger bonus than one would expect).
I keep the XP tallied though just to have some guidelines for about how long it would take them to improve their skills rather than just do it seemingly randomly.
ETA: I think individual XP awards became important in 3.x because item crafting and a few other mechanics cost XP to do. Now, mind, I houseruled out these XP costs in 3.x long before Pathfinder came out, as I think a lot of people did, but Pathfinder making that mechanic officially go away really helps. There's actually little functional reason for anyone to need to know their precise XP tally, which IMO is a good thing.
As someone said earlier about "power-gaming", roleplaying is its own award. People get bragging rights to the really cool or funny roleplaying they did, but very few ever remember someone's specific "I did 150 points of damage at 5th level" situation.
The guy whose bard started vomiting after seeing the giant snake, that had sneaked into camp, and was in the process of eating one of the horses is one of the best remembered stories in my group.
Saying, "I'm giving you guys an extra xp because Frank's roleplaying was awesome tonight." is going to give everyone in a group a great feeling. Saying, "Frank was clearly better than the rest of you losers tonight, so I'm giving him extra xp." is not going to.
I guess what I am saying is, it is probably better to award the individual player with fame (which will live on even after these characters have died/retired) and reward the party with xp, then it is to reward the individual player with xp.
This is my experience as well. My two most memorable moments in a RP situation revolved around playing a character to type - in a Wheel of Time game my near complete pacifist Ogier (he was some heavy skill based class), when forced into a fight, critical hit a Trolloc, screamed at the sight of blood and brains (he used a mace and with his 18 Str could really hit with it) and promptly dropped his weapon. it was the first time he had ever even struck another living creature so I felt it would be a pretty traumatic experience for him. This still gets talked about to this day nearly 7 years later from a campaign we played maybe 5 sessions of.
So have I... in the PbP games I'm running, I am just choosing a suitable moment and instructing everyone to level up.I still (loosely) track XP but I do it, not the players. Usually it's to their advantage... there's a couple times they would have been technically shy of leveling, but we hit end of story arc or solved a major part of the plot, so I just basically said, "You have gained a level." Call it additional end of arc XP (yes, I know people are supposed to get that anyway but it's usually a bigger bonus than one would expect).
I keep the XP tallied though just to have some guidelines for about how long it would take them to improve their skills rather than just do it seemingly randomly.
This is what I do as well. I'll also give them the level if they are close though I don't actually give them the XP. They just need to earn more to level up next time. I've noticed that this means I presume they win every combat and overcome all skill challenges as well as picking up all quest rewards (I'm playing 4E) but I don't really mind that element since I tend to view things like failed skill challenges as just an opportunity to add a twist to the story and not something I want to be docking PCs XP for failing.
Both campaigns I'm in have abandoned XP altogether.
Works wonders.
A quick question, then, if you don't mind. How do you handle XP costs for spells & magic item crafting? Do you just ditch them, or have you come up with a substitute?
Greg
A quick question, then, if you don't mind. How do you handle XP costs for spells & magic item crafting? Do you just ditch them, or have you come up with a substitute?Both campaigns I'm in have abandoned XP altogether.
Works wonders.
PFRPG doesn't use those. In 3.5, I just substituted them for a (possibly additional) GP cost.
PFRPG doesn't use those. In 3.5, I just substituted them for a (possibly additional) GP cost.
I was a fan of the levin "system" in Green Ronin's Game Master's Guide, although not the name so much.
PFRPG doesn't use those. In 3.5, I just substituted them for a (possibly additional) GP cost.
I didn't know that PFRPG got rid of them... still playing 3.5.
Thanks,
Greg
I didn't know that PFRPG got rid of them... still playing 3.5.
Thanks,
Greg
So true; I never played 3.5 so was a bit surprised when I heard about this mechanic... just seemed 'strange' to me and I'm glad it didn't port over.
I guess as the other poster suggested, up the item cost or something, XP just seems like an odd decision for them to have made, and kind of out of line with what (I think) the XP system was trying to achieve.
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I guess as the other poster suggested, up the item cost or something, XP just seems like an odd decision for them to have made, and kind of out of line with what (I think) the XP system was trying to achieve.
Especially when you consider that in 2E, you GAINED experience when you did something useful with your class abilities...like creating a magical item. 3E seems to have done away with the concept of the non-adventuring wizard.
Yeah I had come across from 2nd Ed straight to PF. I actually stopped playing altogether when 3rd Ed came out as I didn't like where I saw it going - odd when you consider PF is notionally 3rd Ed, but because it says Pathfinder not D&D I'm ok with that - even though I still keep calling our games a D&D session...
I'll confuse myself if I think too hard.
Anyhow,
We went down the path of awarding XP bonuses based on RP, and this worked pretty well, similarly if RP wasn't your thing then perhaps adding to thegame in other ways (you keep the journal/log, do all the mapping, wirte back stories or world development etc) was another way to earn some brownie points.
Fobbing off XP altogether was the next logical step, and simply tying advancement to the campaign unfolding. The better the decisions, the better the plot advancement, the faster you level.
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I may be suffering from anachronism but, having played the various incarnations of D&D since 1978, getting (or giving!) an xp reward at the end of a session isn't something I'm very willing to give up. There's a sense of accomplishment I get, and I know the players in my group get, as the xp tally gets updated on a character sheet.
I'd never say abandoning the xp system isn't a good thing. I confessed to my potential anachronism, after all... but it just wouldn't work for me. I'm an accommodating player so I'd live with it if my GM did things that way but I'd prefer an xp reward.
So true; I never played 3.5 so was a bit surprised when I heard about this mechanic... just seemed 'strange' to me and I'm glad it didn't port over.
I guess as the other poster suggested, up the item cost or something, XP just seems like an odd decision for them to have made, and kind of out of line with what (I think) the XP system was trying to achieve.
And here, I actually like using XP for these things (at least the miracle and wish - magic item is debatable). It puts a higher price on those types of spells making them more "personal" and taxing. The other option would be to have a Con or Wis hit maybe to indicate the toll it takes on the caster.
To each his own, I guess.
Greg
I may be suffering from anachronism but, having played the various incarnations of D&D since 1978, getting (or giving!) an xp reward at the end of a session isn't something I'm very willing to give up. There's a sense of accomplishment I get, and I know the players in my group get, as the xp tally gets updated on a character sheet.
I'd never say abandoning the xp system isn't a good thing. I confessed to my potential anachronism, after all... but it just wouldn't work for me. I'm an accommodating player so I'd live with it if my GM did things that way but I'd prefer an xp reward.
I'm in a similar boat. I'd consider dropping XP, but I still have a sentimental attachment to it - been playing since blue book basic D&D - and I also know my players really look forward to it. And they aren't huge "in character" RPers. Some prefer "my character does..." to "I do...." which is fine by me.
But I am curious to see how others manage it.
Greg
I've DMed for well over 20 years, and I've found the XP system to be nothing less than a major hassle. I go for the X amount of encounters to go up a level. To offset the incidental XP penalties/awards, I use action points. In regards to the OP's original question, I award action points during the evening that must be used by the end of that gaming session, but for exceptional role-playing, I award action points that may be held onto for later sessions.
i have a "lets have fun" reward. it can be for a great idea, a great move in combat, saying something funny, etc. anything that adds to the fun of the game. it can even be for bringing great beer. having good food on hand, or anything.
what the reward is, is that i have made up about 300 mechanics cards. a player does one of the above actions, and the other players can nominate him her for a card, then i issue the card.
the mechanics cards have a small bonus, or an action point, or a collect x amount of this card to do something mechanical. such as collecting 3 encounter power recharges cards allows you to recharge an encounter power that day.
players are only allowed to have 5 of these cards at anygiven time. so there is incentive there to use them. they have an indirct influence on xp rewards by giving that last needed +1 to hit, or damage, or a + to a skill, or a + to will or whatever to help win a combat.
but thats what i do. i also use paizo's plot twist cards. costs an action point.