I've made up a spreadsheet already where all I have to do is punch in the CR XP values from each encounter and it spits out how much experience each player should have depending on the party size. But that only keeps track of the experience everybody got through cooperation.
What I'd like to know is if there's a good spreadsheet or system out there for keeping track of individual XP rewards. For instance, if the party cannot gain entrance with the King but the Bard's performance helped put the guard's fears to rest, how's the best way to keep track of her individual XP for that challenge?
TY!
In general, all XP awards should be shared out evenly between the participating characters. In other words, if the fighter, wizard, cleric, rogue and bard are all there for the chat with the guards, they should all get XP from it, even if the only person doing anything is the bard (I know that my players would all use Aid Another to help the bard out on that Diplomacy check, for example).
If you are determined to use individual awards (which can be frustrating for everyone involved), I'd suggest setting up a sheet in the spreadsheet for each PC, drop story awards onto it, and on the front page display a "party total" and "individual total" for each PC.
You might be right, it's probably best to reward everybody equally and only give out specific XP rewards in very specific situations. Good advice