GM's & Players - what is the typical "format" you use to give out Role-Playing XP?
Do you give it out every session? Does everybody get the same amount? Do you give bonus'?
Curious to hear what options are out there as I don't recall seeing a "standard" in the CRB.
I personally award small XP awards for good RP and once we decided to pick up action points those could be awarded. I do it on the fly if someone does something that stands out so that my other players will take note of what just happened.
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I'd love to do this, but have always thought it would lead to hurt feelings. Feelings don't have DR.
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I use a sort of hero point system. Good rp gets you hero points. I dont use xp anymore, just level up according to the needs of the story.
I share it out evenly at the end
All xp in Pathfinder is supposed to be shared
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Indeed.
Pathfinder is very easily done without XP.
Event based leveling is easy to do, and APs make it easier.
This leads PCs to focusing on progressing the story, instead of just killing enemies, which in turn, awards RP.
Now, for other rewards, the Hero Point system, or a variation of it, is a great way to reward good RP.
One of the things we are strugling with now is RP vs. Good RP that many of you talk about.
Our DM awards a bonus at the end of the night for whoever RP'd the best. Problem is the last 2 sessions have gone to the player who is "RP-ing" a dumb / slow character; which to me is way easier than just about anything else, especially RP heavy characters. So it's almost like players are punished for going out on a limb and playing RP heavy charaters when the players themselves are not very good at "acting."
When it actually comes to RP-ing, are you guys looking for / judging the players ability to "get into character" or something more along the lines of the player's abaility to advance the story line?
I would consider effort to be the top decider.
If it's obvious they put in extra effort, then they should be rewarded.
Very good point!
GM's & Players - what is the typical "format" you use to give out Role-Playing XP?
Whats this XP you speak of? In PF there is no need to use XP anymore. Spells and Item Creation no longer use it like in 3.5. You can simply reward your group a level when you deem it time(or when the module/AP tells you to).
If you are going to use XP. I would reward it evenly. Keep everyone at teh same level. Its a pain and makes your job harder if you have characters at different levels. A rogue disables a trap... whole party gets xp. Paladin one shot smites a Dragon... whole group gets xp. Bard RP's an answer to a problem.... Whole party gets xp. I have awarded bonus xp for good RP in the past. Back in 3.5 when I used XP. Now I award extra gold or Hero points or an RP boon like a bonus to their next social roll.
Our DM awards a bonus at the end of the night for whoever RP'd the best. Problem is the last 2 sessions have gone to the player who...
This is why you award XP to the whole party. Otherwise you have hurt feelings.
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Some people are just better actors, or simply more clever.
You shouldn't punish them for being so, but they shouldn't hog the spotlight either.
When you reward, with effort considered, then even those who are not exceptionally clever, or great actors, will know that their effort will be rewarded.
It's a balancing act, as much of being a DM is, but the rewards of greater enjoyment as a whole, are worth it.
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CRB says that an RP encounter has a CR equal to the party's APL, more or less depending on the difficulty.
My personal guidelines for a awarding XP is as follows:
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Plot-centric RP Encounter: CR = APL
Non-essential RP Encounter: CR = APL - 1
CR Modifiers
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+1 if roleplaying exceeds my expectations
+1 if the stakes are dire
-1 if the players put little effort into it
-1 if the encounter is brief
I always award XP to all players, but give credit to those who exceeded my expectations -- I let the party know why they got bonus XP. Then the good roleplayer feels goods for helping the party and the rest of the party feels good for having a great roleplayer in the group. Remember, this is a team game.
I'd love to do this, but have always thought it would lead to hurt feelings. Feelings don't have DR.
I agree with this. It punishes players who just don't care to RP, don't do it well, or are even just shy. The other issue I see with BBT's "effort" system is best shown by a GURPS session last Friday.
That session was specifically made to focus on me and my character for at least a while. I came back to my hometown, saw my family, met a high priestess of my faith, etc. My friends, God bless 'em, stepped back and let me enjoy my time in the spotlight.
If we were being graded on effort for the bonus XP, there may have been a situation where others may have kinda forced their way into the situation, because who likes mossing out on XP?
Those are my concerns. I'm sure BBT's system works for loads of groups, and it's good, I just don't think it's for everyone.
We give plenty during our sessions. Usually XP for roleplaying or story advancement is about 1/2 what you'd get for combat, but there are often more awards for doing so, so it about evens out. We use a completely homebrewed system that we've had around in various incarnations since 2nd Ed.
With Ultimate Campaign I no longer bother to worry about bonus xp for the extra work of good roleplay. the ones who lag behind just spending downtime to catch back up, the roleplayers have that time to do other things.
Roleplaying is it's own reward. It's fun in itself.
I don't give give bonus XP for roleplaying. After all, that-s an aspect of the game that some players enjoy. I don't give out bonus XP for someone making a hard skill-check, even though building a skill monkey is an aspect some players enjoy.
After a few campaigns where we did event based leveling, I went back to using XP.
As GM, I like to use "roleplay points"... if a player has some pretty good insight into how their character would act I'll hand out a roleplay point. This includes things like if the party rogue is hanging back in the shadows, not saying anything, while the group confronts someone. If a player (like in this example) doesn't have a lot of input during a roleplay scene I'll ask them what was going through their PC's mind. If it is a good, insightful response I'll often award an RP point.
In addition, I do so for generally cool RP... a great joke that gets the whole table laughing or a cool one liner that surprises everyone or any other form of insightful interaction like above.
The points are worth LVL x 50 experience on the medium track, and most nights everyone in the group gets at least one, sometimes three or four.
I think it has encouraged players to participate more in RP and I like that it is mechanically rewarding for the group!
...if a player has some pretty good insight into how their character would act I'll hand out a roleplay point. This includes things like if the party rogue is hanging back in the shadows, not saying anything, while the group confronts someone...
As a Player, how do you bring it to the attention of your GM that this, in and of itself, is RP-ing without coming off as telling the GM they suck? :) I think a lot of GMs, mine included, would see this as not RP-ing at all, just sitting back while the rest of the party RPs.
I long ago quit giving out RP XP because it always reinforced behavior in people that were good at role playing and rarely, if ever, encouraged behavior in those that were not good at role playing. So the fundamental purpose of it (to encourage EVERYONE to RP) failed miserably and all it did was make the RP players advance even more quickly than the non RP players.
Of course I have long since stopped using XP entirely. I really consider XP to be an archaic means of managing game play.
...if a player has some pretty good insight into how their character would act I'll hand out a roleplay point. This includes things like if the party rogue is hanging back in the shadows, not saying anything, while the group confronts someone...As a Player, how do you bring it to the attention of your GM that this, in and of itself, is RP-ing without coming off as telling the GM they suck? :) I think a lot of GMs, mine included, would see this as not RP-ing at all, just sitting back while the rest of the party RPs.
As a player? I would wait for a moment that wouldn't interrupt and say something to elaborate like, "My rogue listens from the shadows, not saying a word... Plotting just where and when he is going to gut the villian."
I mean sometimes players just don't have anything to add, and thats okay, too. As others have said it might not work rewarding every group for roleplaying, but it has worked very well at our table.
I don't use XP at all. Everybody levels up on a story/event basis, together.
For RP benefits, I give out reroll chips. A basic poker chip; after you roll and don't like the result, you can cash in a chip and re-roll the die, taking the better result.
Back when we used experience points, one of the DMs had tossed you a poker chip if you impressed him with RP. He didn't set the bar very high, and he didn't give you more than a few during a session no matter how much RP you did. At the end of the session you turned them in for 25 XP. After a few months he stopped. Partially because the novelty wore off, partly cause it was the same people getting poker chips over and over again.
Another DM many years ago (2nd ed) handed out slips of paper to each player at the beginning of each session. On it was written the number of XP earned in the previous session. I was not a fan of this system, in part because of the level disparity between characters, in part due to the secrecy. One character in particular had powerful magic swords that improved with his level, and he got the most spotlight in the story. My character had no magic items and no backstory tie-in to the campaign. It sucks being the new guy starting at 4th level, when the other party members are 5th-8th.