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I'm trying to get my house rules straightened out for a future game, and I haven't touched this premise yet. I'd really like to include rules to reward players for their roleplaying with NPCs outside of combat, but I'm not yet sure how much XP to throw at players in this portion of game.
In addition to the amount of XP, I would also need to determine the circumstance(s) under which the players have earned it.
Anyone with suggestions, or rules they could share?
Generally, calculate the opposed check mod and the importance of the interaction and if it is on par with their lvl then it is CR= to PC lvl. Scale up or down as you see fit. Keep track of interactions and they may turn into favors or bounties as you go.
The rules are already mostly there. You get xp for overcoming challenges. That can include roleplay encounters as long as there is a challenge to be overcome. If the party has to talk their way into the royal ball, calculate the guards CR and XP the same way you would if they fought them. You can adjust based on circumstances but for the most part, the rules already state that 'roleplay encounters' should grant xp. Its just that combat is the most codified kind of encounter.
According to the PRD:
"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)."
You just need to define "easy or difficult" for your particular group. Just off the top of my head, I would say "average" DC's for intimidate or diplomacy would be something like 12+APL. I would also say that the numbers should be less of a deciding factor in roleplaying encounters compared to combat encounters.
When I GM I will often handle things based on what the characters do rather then what the players roll. I make sure that players who put points into charisma diplomacy and intimidate see benefits, and that players who ignore these stats feel the penalties. Basically, I use what the characters do to set the DC, and keep success and failure relative to the situation.
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I could use the standard XP table, but I feel like combat vs. social interaction is an apples-to-oranges comparison. Combat is almost always life-threatening, whereas a social interaction could simply revolve around garnishing some information from an NPC through roleplaying/dialogue.
I want to reward players for taking the time to converse with NPCs in greater detail than "I'm looking to buy a sword."-type pleasantries. I feel like I could use a quick, balanced rule for such interactions, and I feel like the XP on the default table is probably excessive.
It's apples to oranges for a melee based character, but most off your skill monkeys would prefer dialogue to combat. The beat stick shines in combat, it's nice to throw a bone to the rest of your party every now and then...
I could use the standard XP table, but I feel like combat vs. social interaction is an apples-to-oranges comparison. Combat is almost always life-threatening, whereas a social interaction could simply revolve around garnishing some information from an NPC through roleplaying/dialogue.
I want to reward players for taking the time to converse with NPCs in greater detail than "I'm looking to buy a sword."-type pleasantries. I feel like I could use a quick, balanced rule for such interactions, and I feel like the XP on the default table is probably excessive.
The default xp table isnt excessive if the roleplay is a challenge that needs to be overcome, like 'get information out of the barmaid on the local theives guild', or 'talk your way past the royal guards at the ball'. They could simply kill the guards and hide the bodies, or capture and interrogate the barmaid, but they could instead acheive their ends with a roleplay encounter and things like skill checks or charm spells. You shouldnt want to reduce xp because a challenge was overcome with non-violent means.