Experience point rewards and level progression

The point of experience points.

“Do we level up?”
“No, you need 1,300,000 XP. You only have 1,299,990.”

Experience points are a core pillar of an RPG, but there are a number of options regarding how best to implement them which can considerably alter the structure of your game.

Your first decision will probably be what kind of advancement pace to use. This depends on player preferences, group stability, and a realistic estimate of the real-world timeline of the campaign. Only guaranteed a few months? Use fast progression. No player plans to move house, change jobs, college courses or shifts at all for a while? Use normal or slow progression. If you’re using a published adventure path, this may also influence the choice.

Another decision is whether to use individual or group awards. Individual awards can potentially lead to fairer and more accurate rewards, but only if you are able to adjudicate with a fairness akin to King Solomon. Otherwise you risk players disagreeing with the results if they see decisions as subjective. There may also be greater risk of more dominant players scene-stealing, more recklessness, and less party teamwork, with some characters rushing to get the glory or the kill.

Role-playing and non-combat experience point bonus rewards should scale with the character level. For example, 1/6 XP value of an equal challenge rating encounter per session. (This includes good role-playing of characters in situations with no real danger or obstacles. Most encounters should still award experience points according to the CR when overcome by any means, with or without combat). After several sessions this would equate to about 10-15% of the XP needed for the characters’ next level. Characters still present but with players not in attendance would not receive this bonus.

Bonus awards for completing a story arc or module bonus can be double the current CR but should be capped at a maximum of 10% of the total relevant encounter awards accumulated over the course of that module. If necessary, you can reduce the usual combat encounter XP by an equal amount to avoid the swifter level gain.

XP award variants can be used to help dissuade behavior that goes against game design. For example, consider using chained encounter awards to penalize frequent resting, with bonuses for more encounters between rests. First encounter per rest: Minus 2 CR penalty. Second encounter per rest: minus 1 CR penalty. Third, fourth and fifth encounters: standard award. Sixth and further encounters per rest: add a +0.5 CR cumulative bonus.

Reward success over failure, and good ideas over bad. You may need to make judgment calls regarding surviving an encounter versus overcoming an encounter.

The XP award for defeated foes usually includes foes that surrender or flee. But they shouldn’t give XP again a second time. If they’re likely to regroup and fight again, save the reward till then, or give half for the first encounter and half for the rematch. This becomes a little more complicated if you have a foe or recurring villain that increases in power between encounters. Use common sense depending on the challenge, and how much they commit to an attack on the party.

In recent years, there has been a shift by many toward favoring milestone XP awards, but this, as well as being plain lazy, can also be ridiculously arbitrary. If an adventure paths states “characters should be x level by this point,” don’t just let them level up if the characters are short by a significant amount. Add side quests and extra encounters. A character who’s happened to avoid a string of major encounters to arrive at the next chapter in their story shouldn’t have the same XP as their counterpart in a parallel campaign who explores more and has survived more danger. It should be obvious, but if a character has experienced more, they should have more experience points. XP is a reward to be earned by overcoming significant challenges. It gives a feeling of steady progression when given each session, allowing players to enjoy anticipation as they approach the next level rather than nothing at all for several sessions, and then “oh yeah I guess you’ve all leveled up now.” A bonus based on accumulated individual encounter awards should be enough of a boost to mark the completion of a module.

Consider when and how characters level up. While it’s okay to allow heroes a sudden surge of power or divine blessing as they sweat their way through the Seven Saunas of the Dark Detoxifier, this may not always feel appropriate. For immersion purposes, training, study and downtime may be required, along with proven use of skills and location of sources required for spell research. Suddenly learning a new language or skill may require a role-playing explanation, or you can allow gradual passive ‘off-camera’ training.

Finally, XP awards should only be given for in-game actions of characters, not for players. Don’t give XP bonuses for attempted bribes, even if a player brings you movie tickets, absinthe, or a basket of thumbkittens. And if they’re tacky enough to try bribing you with snacks, give them a damn penalty.